Which of these breeds would you recommend?

[lv9777]

I love my BR! She is by far my smartest bird and easy to train with food. She is my top hen and full of personality. Very sweet, but is always underfoot and in the middle of whatever I am doing. She definitely has "FOMOOT" Fear of missing out on treats.

 

[HenHouse Henry]

We are considering adding a couple of more chickens to our flock and are considering breeds that are consistent and great layers (good personality is a bonus). These are the ones we are considering:
-Barred Rock
-White Leghorn
-Isa Brown
-Golden Comet

Which would you recommend?

They would be joining a Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Light Brahma, Wyandotte, Speckled Sussex & Black Australorp.

Last March one of my new chicks was a Calico Princess, she is very friendly, and she has laid all winter long missing only 2 days in Dec. and 2 times this month. her eggs are x large and a light brown.. She is a large beautiful bird. oh and she talks all the time.

 

[fuzzi]

The Comets and ISAs are excellent layers and have nice personalities, but I would only recommend them if you plan to cull them around their second year. Because they are bred to lay daily, it really takes a toll on their reproductive system and the rest of their body. In my experience, my Comets SERIOUSLY suffered from some sort of reproductive issues eventually and I culled them just because I didn't feel it was humane to let them suffer. I did not know any of this before getting the Comets. They really are great personality-wise, but it's only humane to cull them. Chickens are tough and don't show pain until something really bothers them. So they likely suffer from reproductive issues and pain way before we can realize it.


I've never had Leghorns, but I've heard their personalities aren't the best. Great layers though. I LOVE my Barred Rock. She's hilarious! She's quite bossy and also "complains" to me a lot by making this "bwaaaaaaa" noise like she's warning me she's gonna do something bad if I don't give her a snack ASAP lol. She also likes to peer in at me from the back step when I'm inside, hopeful for a treat. I think Barred Rocks are generally spunky like this, from what I've heard. They aren't known for being super sweet and cuddley (but they can be), but they are a great flock addition because they are friendly, have big personalities, and are solid layers. Mine is not aggressive at all. She can sometimes boss the other chickens around a bit and puts the pullets in their place, but she's never excessively rough. Just a good chicken all around. I think she is over 3 years old (idk age because I adopted her from a rescue farm) and she still gives me 4-5 eggs a week.

View attachment 3385712
The one and only, Big Rhonda.

I keep reading about heritage versus hybrid types. I want chickens that will breed true if I decide to get a rooster. Are Barred Rocks a heritage breed?

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

My ISA Browns were the sweetest and most fun chickens, and laid very consistently for the first 18 months. They only lived to be about 2 years old. I personally won't get them again because I don't want to go through that again, but if you're only worried about consistent laying & sweet birds, they're the greatest.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I keep reading about heritage versus hybrid types. I want chickens that will breed true if I decide to get a rooster. Are Barred Rocks a heritage breed?

I'm no expert, but to my knowledge they are considered a heritage breed. Although, some lines are more bred for production (but not nearly to the extent of a Production Red/Golden Comet-type layer), and others are bred more true to the chicken that was bred 100s of years ago.

But to answer your question about breeding true: yes, they will! A Barred Rock hen and rooster will produce Barred Rock offspring. They are often a choice for dual-purpose flocks because they can be used for meat as well.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

My ISA Browns were the sweetest and most fun chickens, and laid very consistently for the first 18 months. They only lived to be about 2 years old. I personally won't get them again because I don't want to go through that again, but if you're only worried about consistent laying & sweet birds, they're the greatest.

I had Golden Comets (similar production breed) and I completely agree. Sweetest and funniest personalities and my favorite chicken ever was one of the Comets, but I will likely never get them again because I would hate having to cull them after year two. It wouldn't be so hard if their personalities and temperament weren't so great!

 

[samanthaoverton]

Leghorns are simply the best layers of white eggs. Wish they layed other colors. The white feathers are dominant though. My rhode island over leghorn pullets look almost identical to their mummies but with the occasional gray specks or spotting. But the males have copper splashes. They also have great feed to egg ratio. Mine will be 3 in April and are oddly laying very well. I added five pullets and I have other breeds. I have this huge bowl of eggs in the fridge.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I keep reading about heritage versus hybrid types. I want chickens that will breed true if I decide to get a rooster. Are Barred Rocks a heritage breed?

Barred rocks are a breed. Different people have different opinions on what "heritage" means so I try to not use that term. Any breed will breed true, that's a requirement of being a breed.

If you breed a barred rock to a barred rock you will get a barred rock.

These terms get confusing. One definition of a breed is that it is recognized by a national organization like the APA (American Poultry Association). The British, Australians, French, and other countries have their own national organizations. They have their own requirements for a breed. For example a British Araucana can have a tail, an American Araucana cannot so a breed can look different in different countries. The Cream Legbar is an approved breed in the UK and can lay a green egg. The last I heard the Cream Legbar was not approved in the US and the consortium trying to get it approved were debating whether to require blue eggs of if they would accept green eggs like the British. Then you have the color thing. Different country's organizations approve different colors for a breed. Some breed organizations don't consider a specific color a requirement for a breed. There are other characteristics that define the breed. Colors can be approved but a chicken with all those characteristics can be an unapproved color and still be that breed. Not everybody will agree with this. It gets confusing. With a barred rock the breed is Rock and Barred is one of 8 colors approved by the APA.

A hybrid is when you cross two specific lines of chickens to get a specific result. In some cases it may be a 4 way cross. These specific lines don't have to be breeds, in the case of Cornish X meat birds or the commercial hybrid layers the parent flocks are not breeds but they produce consistent results. Which parent is the father and which the mother is usually very important. Some hybrids have been given names but this does not make them a breed, they will not breed true. One hatchery makes Cinnamon Queen's by crossing a Rhode Island Rooster with a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen, for example. There are many others.

You have the mixes. With the current boom in backyard chickens, several hatcheries have developed mixes and given them a marketing name. They are not hybrids because they don't produce a specific result but they produce a type where they have some similar traits. I can't remember an example off the top of my head.

You have the EE's and OE's. Many people talk about them as if they were a breed but there are no standards. We can't agree on a definition on what makes a chicken an EE. When someone says EE or OE it tells me nothing about colors, size, traits, or even color of eggs the hens lay.

I'll stop my rant, I could keep going. I'm sure this is a lot more than you wanted. I consider your question as to whether they breed true to be a good one. You are thinking.

 

[maryn7]

I love my BR! She is by far my smartest bird and easy to train with food. She is my top hen and full of personality. Very sweet, but is always underfoot and in the middle of whatever I am doing. She definitely has "FOMOOT" Fear of missing out on treats.

My BR was the same, down to the clever and appraising look in her eyes (though not exactly "sweet" - she liked us, but was all business). She did sing a *lot* when her sister laid eggs - BRs tend to be chatty birds.

They will also breed true, but be aware that the birds from the hatchery are considered "hatchery quality" versus what you'd get from a breeder. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but if you really want to get into breeding and showing, you might want to go more the 'pedigree' route.

Our hatchery BR laid well, project managed construction around the yard (riding the shovel, eating all the worms in dug holes, and offering advice on where to dig next), and acted as rooster for our little flock, warning for predators and alerting me when her sister was sick. She was definitely the smartest chicken I've had. She passed this spring, but we'll definitely get a BR with our next set of chicks. Fun, bossy birds.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I love my BR! She is by far my smartest bird and easy to train with food. She is my top hen and full of personality. Very sweet, but is always underfoot and in the middle of whatever I am doing. She definitely has "FOMOOT" Fear of missing out on treats. View attachment 3386474

Holy chicken! She is such a beauty! Look at her looking at you, like, she's interrupting your statement. I love when they tilt their head and chat.