Your very last chicken... what would it be?

[featheredplanets]

Mine would be the Cream Legbar. Average amount of fair sized blue eggs. Can be sexed from hatch. Relatively hardy birds.

 

[legojenn]

Before I got chickens, I had a list of ones that I wanted based on looks the bird and colour of their eggs more than anything. Now, I just care about temperament. I don't care which type of chicken I have as long as they're funny and friendly little monsters who are comfortable in my back yard.

 

[Acre4Me]

I think my first rooster was a BJG and he was awesome. He came with our first batch of laying hens and I had no idea what any of them were. We named him Elvis and he crowed pretty much around the clock, does yours do this? I really liked him.

Edit: sorry, I see you don't actually have one. My bad.

We currently have a BJG rooster (20 months). He crows, but not a lot. Several times a day, but if its just the chickens out back, he's pretty quiet. He starts to crow when we stay out back, near their run, too long. His crow is very easy to tolerate - it is deeper than many roosters it seems, so it is not jarring as much as some other roosters I've heard.

 

[Acre4Me]

What are the 2 chicks in your avatar? SO cute ... look like they have troupes on

These are our Red Dorking chicks we got this summer. They are now about 17 weeks old. We have never had them before, so wanted to try them out. We have 2M and 2F in this batch of Red Dorking, so we will get rid of 1 male. We like the look of them, the males have an attractive look. Hopefully their attitude is a good one (no human aggression) as they mature. They haven't hit sexual maturity yet - no crowing, no chasing, and it's cold, so we will be better able to tell next spring.

 

[Morrigan]

Looks like the Dominque snd speckled Sussex are pretty crafty or sneaky...

The Sussex are sneaky. I leave a gate cracked and turn my back for one minute, and the next thing you know they sussex are all scratching in my garden.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Buff Orpington.

 

[FortCluck]

Jersey Giant... Hands down

 

[FlyWheel]

Over the years I've had Silkies, Rhode Islands, Australorps, Barred Rocks, Cuckoo Marans, and this time Gwen chose a Silver Laced Wtandotte for our current "flock". But I'd have to say my favorite "breed" of all time has to the Easter Egger, and not just because of the eggs. They have such great personalities and I have yet to meet one I didn't like

So yeah, I too would choose an EE,

 

[FlyWheel]

The Sussex are sneaky. I leave a gate cracked and turn my back for one minute, and the next thing you know they sussex are all scratching in my garden.

Chickens ain't dumb. Ethical? Eh. But not dumb!

 

[Ebony Rose]

If you could only have one breed for the rest of your days, what would it be? What is the one chicken that will always have a place in your coop (and heart) and why?

Just curious to see all the responses and reasonings because I may or may not be needing to see what else I can add to my spring chick order list.

This is all just for fun. Pictures, rankings or long lists of recommended breeds will all be appreciated.

I'd go with bantams because, as Forest Gump might say, 'They're like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." You ALWAYS get a heaping helping of personality. Their small size translates into less feed. They're pretty much self sufficient too, give them food, water and a safe environment and they'll pretty much take care of the rest. The hens are frequently broody and in my experience, are exceptional mothers. The cockerels can typically be raised with one of their 'brothers' if they've hatched out together and formed a solid understanding of who's the boss; clues to this good relationship between brothers starts becoming evident by a few months of age, and by a month prior to sexual maturity is plainly evident. I look for bonding of the cockerels as a culling criteria to ensure both a peaceful home for myself and my chickens, but also to give myself a backup rooster should something disastrous happen to one of them.
Eggs and meat from my chickens is simply a bonus. I raise quail for eggs and meat. That said, bantam hens lay a nice small to medium sized egg but you may need to observe where they're laying as their desire to brood is high, so they are prone to hiding their clutch. If I decide to collect their eggs (not allow them to brood), I always leave one egg in their nest so that they don't misinterpret them being missing as the nesting site being 'dangerous'; I used to take all of the eggs from the nest (as hens love to lay theirs all together), but found that they'd often abandon the nest unless I left them a token egg. I got tired of hunting for new laying spots
Bantams are my perfect chicken.