What is your favorite breed of chicken?

Imaginethat!

Imaginethat!

Deceased
I've ordered "the special" which means I get all kinds without knowing WHICH kind. So I've been looking at different chicks and trying to guess WHAT breed they are. Surprisingly ( :D ) a lot of chicks look alike. Like the fuzzy yellow ones for instance.

Anyway, what is your favorite breed of chicken, and why?

BTW , when can you start telling the cockerels from the pullets? Is there an attitude? Are the males usually larger than the females?

TIA!!!

Imaginethat!
 
marsh

marsh

On TB every waking moment
I have several kinds - silver laced Wyandotte, Buff Orpington, Black sex-linked, Americauna, Rhode Island Red (new) and barred rocks. The barred rocks are by far my favorite. They are good layers and fun to watch. I have a juvenile cockrell barred rock because I want to continue the flock, favoring that breed. I will say that the Rhode Island Reds are really pretty and I am looking forward to seeing them all grown up. The Silver Laced Wyandotte are beautiful as are the Buff Orpingtons. (I understand that the BOs were Queen Victorias favorites.) They seem to have a really good disposition and I can put them in with the juveniles without pecking. ( The barred rocks would be very aggressive in establishing order.) The black sex linked are my least favorite - blah birds.

I have had the meat birds given to me in the past. They grew to be huge waddling on very short legs. Grotesque. I am not into those at all.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
For overall great birds, Buff Orpingtons. They lay well (I've got some 5 year olds still laying a couple eggs a week), will set and hatch chicks, but don't spend all their time on setting, either. They are very pretty birds- not spectacularly pretty like the Silver Laced Wyandottes or some of the other decorative breeds, but feminine and a very pretty golden color.

I do like the SL Wyandottes, and have 5 each of those pullets and the Buff Orps in this year's order.

I've always wanted to get some Partridge Rocks, and finally ordered some this year. Straight run- and got 4 roosters and a single pullet :-(.

Silver Spangled Hamburgs are also very, very pretty birds- but flaky and flighty. I never did like the Rhode Island Reds or Hampshire Reds- just personal preference, I think. They go through a really ugly gawky stage while growing that seems to last forever. But I did have some Rhode Island Red bantams, and those hens (apparently the "old fashioned" type) were very pretty birds- deep bodied and graceful.

I also really liked my Black Australorp hens ("black" really doesn't describe them, especially the roosters- in the sun they're green and purple iridescent!), but the roosters were very aggressive and nasty. And nothing I did changed that. I now have 4 Dark Cornish roosters which are 4 and 5 years old, and they are very polite and well mannered. A couple of them tried attacking me in the very beginning- and one good "lesson" solved it permanently.

The prettiest hen I have is a cross between a Dark Cornish rooster and a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen. Sort of a golden laced color and absolutely gorgeous.

If you ever want to really have fun with breeding chickens, try a few Araucana BANTAMS. The full size ones can be pretty, too, but I've been disappointed in the last few I've gotten from Murray McMurray. It seems they are infusing laying hen blood to improve egg laying rates, and they have all looked alike- like Brown Leghorns. But the bantams are all sorts of colors, and the chicks they hatch are as well. I have two cockerels right now who are "red, white and blue"- seriously! Red bodies, cream-white hackles, and blue tail feathers. Really neat.

Summerthyme
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
I like Gold Links or the other hybrids in that line for layers. They lay well, are mellow to be around and are tough enough to survive our winters. This year I'm going to try some Araucanas on the advice of a friend. He says they lay nearly all winter up here. That would be impressive!
 
A.T.Hagan

A.T.Hagan

Inactive
When the chick lust comes on any chicken breed will do, but I'm particularly partial to Plymouth Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds. There's a lot to be said for a Buff Orpington too and New Jersey Giant Blacks are nice birds as well.

If you want to see what each breed looks like as chicks check out the Feather Site: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKBabyChicks.html

Some of them you still can't tell one breed from the other, but some are fairly distinct.

Some good chick brooding info there too.

Some breeds you can distinguish gender very early on the basis of coloring and so on, but most times you simply have to wait for the secondary sex characteristics to begin to show.

Give the Feather Site a good look.

.....Alan.
 
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Salal Sue

Senior Member
Where we lived before, our chickens were not penned. We got an assortment of banties--and fell in love with the Seabrights. They seemed to be extra intelligent (I know, intelligent chickens??!!??) --so much so that they became real pets. Their intelligence, coloring and ability to fly very well made them safe from both dogs and hawks. They are pigeon sized so not much for eating, but did OK on the eggs !!
 
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Gingergirl

Veteran Member
Thank you Imagine...my family thinks I'm nuts! I did help a friend with her poultry for awhile several years back. I found them kinda interesting, and I LOVE fresh eggs. (Also liked the young, fresh duck. But I don't know how many more times I would be able to slaughter them before I reached my limit.)

Salal, I've never heard of Seabrights. Have to look them up.

(Just added) Wow, they are stunning.
 
PilotFighter

PilotFighter

Bomb & Bullet Technician
I have switched completely to the Delaware hens now. They are great birds. Good egg layers, and very sweet hens. One of the prettiest as well as best chickens I have ever raised.
 
Imaginethat!

Imaginethat!

Deceased
[Some of them you still can't tell one breed from the other, but some are fairly distinct.

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, most of my chicks could be a few different breeds. Guess I'm going to have to wait :rolleyes: and that is not my strong suite! :D

Imaginethat!
 
Imaginethat!

Imaginethat!

Deceased
(Also liked the young, fresh duck. But I don't know how many more times I would be able to slaughter them before I reached my limit.)

I have never done the "deed", so you are a step ahead of me. Since th is is part of my plan of economic survival, I hope that I don't reach my limit too quickly!!! :shk:

Imaginethat!
 
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Gingergirl

Veteran Member
Imagine,

Unlike me, my Dad was raised on a farm. He told me the critter raised and slaughtered by someone else always sat better on the table. On the other hand, I once worked with a man that so disliked his pigs, he took real pleasure in dining on them. I think my Dad just liked his animals too much. But I suspect few can resist their amusing ways.
 
A

Alefbet

Guest
Favorite breed, and Doing the deed.......

One of my favorite breeds of chickens is the Dark Cornish that Murray McMurray produces. They are a wonderful eating chicken as well as a very nice brown egg layer. They are a very proud bird. Love to watch them. They are also as advertised by Murray, a good forager.
I have had chickens for a lot of years, and as far as getting burnt out on the slaughter, there are some things you can do to help that not happen. One of them is get someone in your area who has like ideas about being independant and who perhaps would like a fresh chicken or two. Get that person to help out. Any job goes quicker and easier if you have help. Another thing I do is I decide very quickly after I can tell the cocks from the hens just WHO is gonna get the ax. I make it a point to NOT get attached to those birds. It sounds weird, but it helps. IF you can't get help on the butchering I would make sure that I butcher the bird a day or two ahead of the time I want to eat it. This does a couple of things it gets the...bad taste out of your mouth so to speak. It also lets the carcase of the chicken spend a nice couple of days in your fridge cooling out and getting marvelously tender.

Hope this helps some,

Alefbet. :D
 
PilotFighter

PilotFighter

Bomb & Bullet Technician
Gingergirl said:
Pilot,

I took a look and you're right, the Delawares are very handsome birds.
Click to expand...


GingerGal,
Ideal Poultry is have a fall hatch of the Delawares as we speak. I have an order placed now for another 15 of them. They are due to arrive on the 26th. These are the only chickens I am going to keep from now on. They lay a very dark brown egg. They are also a nice sized meat bird. I just butchered a few cockerls, and they were great eating. I have raised a lot of different chickens, and I have really found these to be just about the best I have ever had. I had Buff Orpingtons mainly, and got rid of everyone of them.
 
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nutkin

Hormonal...and Armed
What is your favorite breed of chicken?
Click to expand...

Why...breaded, of course!

hehe

:lol:

Sorry, guys/gals...couldn't resist. I wish we could have chickens (my Mom raised them, growing up....they had a couple of different kinds).....pining away for a true country place, not just a home in a small rural town.

sigh.

I've read this thread with interest though....thank you. :)
 
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