The Girl and I have begun our search for this years flock. The minimum order over at Mypetchicken.com for our area is 6. We decided to start with a round of replacements first. We have to replace White Fatty and Picasso because of that mean old Ricky Raccoon mistaking them for a snack. And then there is Martha. Martha flew the coop this past fall in an act of chicken rebellion. She had a free spirit from the get go and would come and goes as she pleased. However, we have not seen her in about 3 months now so we decided to order a replacement for her as well. This time around though, we will be ordering the full size version of the Barred Plymouth Rock. No more of those tiny Bantams. They are way to quick and wiry to catch. Nope. No small birds here. We like ours nice and fat here on the farm.
So that leaves us with 3 new birds to select. We are hoping YOU can help us out. Here are our requirements.
Girls only. No roosters allowed.
Birds must be fat {or have lots of feathers to weigh them down}.
Birds must be friendly and like to be held.
Must get along with others.
Egg color may NOT be white.
Can you help? Do you have a favorite variety you’d like to share?
Lori says
Hey there! We’ve had chickens for 3 years now and my favorite breeds are: Black Australorp (and I know MyPetChicken carries them) and the Rhode Island Red. Both are nice big, fat hens with nice large brown eggs! (You really need to pick up a couple silkies, just for pure enjoyment).
Blessings!
Mavis says
Thanks Lori. We have a Black Australop {we call her Black Fatty} and she has been by far our favorite bird. I will take a look at the Rhode Island Reds. Thanks for your suggestion.
Christy says
I have absolutely no input….but look forward to reading what others write. We’ll begin a chicken flock this spring and want fattys that don’t fly the coop or terrify my 2 little girls (who, by the way, are already terrified of all living creatures that are non-human!…awesome.)
You Can Call Me Jane says
We really like our Wyandottes and recently added some Buff Orpingtons to our flock. Both are good sized birds and good layers. We don’t hold ours (except to clip wings, etc.) so I don’t know about their reputation of being friendly. We’ll likely be ordering more of both breeds this spring since some of our layers are aging out and joining our hen retirement group:-). Happy hen shopping!!
Angela says
So sad to read about your chicken loss. We’ve had chickens for a few years now. At first we had exclusively Rhode Island Reds. They are hardy birds and good layers. Last spring we branched out and got some Barred Rocks. They are some big chickens!! Talk about your fattys!! This fall we got some Buff orpingtons and Americaunas. They haven’t started laying yet, so I can’t really attest to their egg output, but they sure are pretty birds. Unfortunately, we’ve received roosters in every batch of chicks we’ve got, grrrr!! Let us know what you decide on!
Peggy says
My son highly recommends Brahmans as they have a really sweet temperament and were good layers. I mean we got eggs well into the winter when the temperature in the coop was far below freezing (this was in Alaska where our temperature dropped to -40 or lower for weeks on end.)
I personally love Americaunas as they are sweet little (but not bantam sized) birds who are loving and generally do well with others. We even had one who loved to have her head scratched and would follow our son around in the coop.
Melannie says
Our favourites from those we have been raising for the last couple of years are
Australorps
Araucanas
Rhode Island Reds
We get them from here http://www.townlinehatchery.com/hatcherychicks.htm
They are all excellent layers, we love the Araucanas becuase of the coloured eggs they lay.
We find all quite hardy which is good as we live in SW MI.
Kari says
Ameraucanas for sure. Nothing beats a blue egg! It’s like Easter every day! They do lay a bit later than the Barred Rocks, though, so you must be patient. They don’t have combs, but do have cute fuzzy cheeks. Very sweet girls!
Lauren says
I love my Easter Eggers. They have pretty muffs, can come in any color, lay colored eggs, are generally friendly, usually large (mine are Barred Rock/Araucana crosses so they are very heavy), the best part is since they are a mixed breed they are cheaper to buy than chickens you get from a hatchery (My Pet Chicken has them but you can find them cheaper elsewhere) and they have hybrid vigor.
I also love my boyfriends Buckeyes because they are overall a great bird (very friendly, brown eggs, heavy, hardy, beautiful red color) and make crazy vocalizations but they are voracious feeders who will not hesitate to check you for tasty tidbits with a rather harsh bite, may be too much for your little ones, but definately a breed I would recommend looking into when they are a little older and can hold their own in the barnyard.
If you haven’t had silkies yet get one! The are bantams but with their tiny wings and mutated feathers they cant fly and really don’t see the need as they are self appointed lap chickens. I had a cochin silkie cross, Sara, that was so friendly she would ignore the grain I threw down every morning and just go straight to me and demand to be held and petted. Unfortunately if a bird in your flock is going to be killed by a predator it will be your silkie (only problem I have had with the breed so far) my sweet Sara was killed by a dog last fall and it crushed me.
Mavis says
I am a little nervous about getting another Easter Egger. I LOVE the green eggs, but our Egger {Peter} has always been a little on the skittish side and does not like to be held. But then again, I do love those eggs. 🙂