3 BEST & 3 WORST CHICKEN BREEDS | Opinions of a Breeder & Homesteader
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ค. 2024
- After years of breeding several different varieties of poultry, today I am going to talk about my top 3 favorite and least favorite breeds of chickens. Hear my opinions as a breeder and homesteader!
Breeds discussed: black copper marans, golden deathlayers, commercial hybrids, English orpingtons, ermine Ameraucanas, and Blue laced red wyandottes.
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PSA: Before you leave a nasty comment, please consider how miserable your life has to be for you to want to insult someone over their OPINION OF A CHICKEN. Kim, there’s people that are dying 😂😂✌🏻
I am new to this. What is the name of your favorite one and where can I buy it?
Thanks
I noticed a marked difference in the behavior between some marans I ordered from a hatchery vs bbs Marans from a breeder. The ones from the hatchery sound like yours.
I am planning to have a couple of free-range chickens for the first time.
Only for eggs. Which breed small medium-sized breeds, brown eggs layer, cute , and would allow me to pet and pamper them do you recommend?
Are golden comets good?
@@melba5337 I have noticed the same thing. It depends which hatchery they come from. It's not just the Black Coppers, we have had "picking" issues with all other Marans as well. But like I said, it depends on which hatchery they come from!
I am 10 years breeding chickens. Personally, I love my buff orpingtons.
They're my favorite too, mainly since my first 3 were buff orpingtons. Raised them from chicks as pets, they were incredibly affectionate, curious and livley, not to mention great layers.
I would love to add a buff Orpington to my flock my last one died as a chick. I currently have a lavender Orpington. Next year when we order our chicks
I just bought my first buff orpingtons
I just bought two of them
I hope they can handle the heat of Arizona. I have the pen where I can see them from my window.
@@juneramirez8580 Mine buff orpington could. She died however in an animal attack.
Do I have chickens? No
Do I plan on owning chickens? No
Did I click and watch this video all the way through, fully invested? YES
Here for the chicken tea, I love it 🤣
😂
Me, too! But I love learning things from knowledgeable people. And I thoroughly enjoyed the video, thank you!
Hey, chicken breeder from Europe here. I know in some chicken breeds is a difference between the birds from the 2 continents and over here in Europe it's already a topic between Marans breeders, that there seems to be a increasing number of complaints about them as father pickers and even over all how aggressive they can be. I breed them myself and in 11 years I never had this issues once. I think breeders need to import new blood and breed more carful, to solve this issue.
About the hybrids in general, I just say people to stay away from those. I could go on four hours with reasons why.
And about the Deathlayer, well... they definitely are known for being a almost wild breed. It's a very old breed with very strong wild instincts and if you don't handle them all the time from the first day, they will act like wild chickens, but it's a trait that some want and look for. It's the perfect bird for free ranging, they lay a ton of eggs and if you have them in a mixed flock free ranging, you will see all other breeds will be picked up by predator's, but most of them will be safe.
I have had chickens as pets for over ten years, never bred any because every rooster I got…usually accidentally, was a jerk. But I heard feeding your chickens whole oats adds vitamin E more heavily into their diet and it helps to calm them down…the hard part for me is finding whole oats!
I absolutely love all of our Easter eggers. Every single one of them have been so sweet. They love to be pet and picked up. They were very close to each other too. In fact, one that i named Bunny was killed by a hawk (we now have them very secure in a huge run with buried fencing as well as buried cinder blocks under the fence, very high fence, and netting over the top... i dont want to lose anymore of my babies!) And another of our easter egger girls got very depressed and no longer laid and just died. I cried for days because she was one that actually made the attempt to get to know me and make a relationship with me by randomly flying up on my shoulder one day and just staying there. Then after that she never ran from me and always let me pet her/pick her up. When she was getting sick we took her to the vet and there wasnt anything they could do so i had to make the choice for her to be put down peacefully. I held her while she was going and right before she died she opened her eyes and looked at me, then closed them and died in my arms. She was the sweetest thing. I will definitely buy more easter eggers. I dont want anyone to think of us as horrible owners because we lost 2 wonderful girls but we really do take great care of our girls and love them like family. They are extremely safe now because man, i loved those girls.
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s obvious how much you care about your birds ❤
@@cathryndenson2076 thank you so much 💓 I really appreciate your kind words!
Australorp and wyandotte are my favorite. Australorp lay like nobody’s business and Wyandottes are so friendly.
I beg to differ about wyandots being friendly, I have a silver and 2 gold laced and all are brats
@@ConorNuggz12 really a lot of it has to do with genetics not the breed. If you bought chicks from aggressive chickens that’ll be passed down. I have bought my chickens from reputable hatcheries and culled aggressive chickens and I find now most of my chickens are very friendly. A lot of different factors but my Wyandottes are super docile towards me. I have blue laced red and golden laced
@@ConorNuggz12and the roosters are intolerable when sexually mature even when raised by hand and handled often with on issues.
Love my Australorps and my silver laced Wyandotte( TSC said she was an Australorp). All friendly, eat from my hands, and allow me to pet them occasionally. Can’t wait until I can get more chickens in a few years and I will get a few more breeds and possibly find more favorites.
I bought Austrolorps because they hold the record egg laying in a yr! And they have let their reputation down, But being black helps keep the hawks away! [SO FAR], Hawks think they are crows and don't mess w/them! I just watched a crow dive bomb a hawk & run it out of town as if its tail feathers were on fire!!! lol
Thanks for the heads up on the Deathlayers. One guy here was selling hatchlings at $100 each, if anyone was buying. I have no use for wild birds, and hadn’t heard they need higher protein starter.
I would have to go with the Brahma, just super chill, calm breed that i will always have
Brahma and Giant Cochin for sure, follow me around the Homestead like a pack of dogs waiting for treats😅
My Brahmas and Marans are always really chill.
Same, I love my Brahmas… such chilled out,friendly birds 🦅
I just got my first Brahmas a few days ago and I'm pretty impressed with them. I wish they laid more but they are really sweet and beautiful
I love love love my lavender Orpington and my light Brahma. They are so cuddly and friendly.
Love them all, but especially Buff Orps and Australorps!
I have a lavender Orpington rooster and he’s mean as a striped snake. We call him devil rooster! He was my daughter’s is the only reason he hasn’t ended up in a stockpot but I think I’m gonna rehome him with a disclaimer. They can do what they want with him.
Pick up an aggressive rooster, cuddle and carry around. Works wonders.
@@buds8423 Nothing worked with our rooster. The second you let him go he was his normal devilish self. We recently rehomed him to a guy that has lavender Orpington hens. Hopefully he’s a happy boy and I don’t have to fear for my life every time I go in the coop and run.
I agree 100%! I have wyandottes for the first time, hatched from an incubator. They are adorable! So loving, relatively calm. Love to be petted. Clifford the Big Red Rooster is just a large sweetheart!
I have 23 Black Copper Marans and and know a couple other people with them and have no such problem. They are the most calm and friendly birds in my flock.
I've got one out of seven birds in total and it's a bstard ...it has to go
Agreed, I have never seen them pluck feathers, not mine anyhow.
@@oftin_wong HA!
It her experience and she is allowed to have one.
maybe need more protein.
I like my golden laced wayondottes but my buff orphingtons are my favorite
My favorite Speckled Sussex- very smart, very friendly personality. Good layers & very pretty
@hollyporter1193 - 100% agree. I've owned them for years, always friendly. Only have a flock of 7 chickens now that I've gotten older and don't need all those eggs! I have a Speckled Sussex named Chit Chat because she always has something to say, follows me around everywhere telling me of all her adventures! Loves to sit in my lap - and talk lol! They just have the coolest personalities.
They are very pretty. I've been thinking on getting some. I have Partridge Chanteclers right now. I'm in Grande Prairie Alberta and there are Sussex breeders here.
I agree they are so beautiful and wonderful.
Loved this video very informative and interesting to watch. We don't have chickens but would love to get some one day.
I'm a Rhode Island Red fan. I've only had 1 but she is by far my favorite. She comes running to me, flapping her wings, when I go into the yard. She lets me pick her up without a fuss. She eats anything. She's just the sweetest! All my other birds have had a more standoffish, "livestock" personality.
Good information needs to be presented, even if not popular. Great video.
This was fun and really informative. Thanks!
My Marans are some of my calmest breeds I have. They never pick feathers or cause problems, they do good in the cold. I also love Ameraucanas though they are extremely friendly and beautiful and lay nice blue eggs
I totally agree with you on the prairie bluebell.. they were a pain in the butt!!
Love love love that your top breed is the Wyandotte! I have the same chicken and two other Wyandotte, but she is one of my fav girls! I also have two Jubilee Orpington chicks. They are really silly and I think we are going to do well with them. I have to say my very, very fav chick is my little one and only lavender orpington. She is about 3 weeks old now and she is sooooo sweet! She listens and talks to me all the time! Love her to pieces❤️ Thanks for sharing. I really liked your informational video :)
I’ve had chickens for quite a few years now. All different breeds. And from different sources. Before you give up on the breed get them from a different hatchery. They might be completely different than the ones that you don’t like. You could order Rhode Island reds from three different hatcheries and have three completely different chickens really. So I say if you get some chickens that you don’t like, but you still want to try that breed, see if you have a different experience with a different hatchery.
Also each individual bird often have their own personality, as well as flock dynamics if introduced to a larger flock (ie some unwanted traits may be prevalent within the flock and replicated). I lost my cross-breed (no idea what a mixture of) alpha last year, and she escaped at every opportunity, clipped wings or not. She got the next two to escape when presented with any walking opportunity to escape, but now she has gone, those two do not bother to escape now at all.
I agree.
@@davinasquirrel7672 yes, if you have one, that’s really good at escaping. They will definitely teach the others how to do that. A friend of mine had that same experience. Once she got rid of the escapee, everybody else stayed put.
@@nogames8982 The escaper was the alpha hen, so that did not help. The things I did to keep her in got ridiculous! Now for the rest, there are small 2ft/60cm sections of fence, and they never bother. Such extremes.
I respect your opinion. My French marans are amazing and so sweet. One even jumps on my lap and takes a short nap when I go out with my afternoon tea
I have two groups of marans. One was from a hatchery and one from a local breeder. Their behavior would make people think they were two different breads of chicken. A lot of it I believe comes down to the bloodlines.
@@melba5337 absolutely, I just got mine from McMurray nothing special, probably has to do with the pecking order as well. My Brahma and Silver Laced Cochin are the top 2 hens (out of 7) - and I would say the Marans are somewhere in the middle, so I don’t think feather plucking would even be tolerated in my flock.
Loved hearing your thoughts on different breeds, my English Orpingtons are also pretty dumb!
EGGCELLENT VIDEO! VERY INFORMATIVE- I LEARNED ALOT AND CAN TELL YOU KNOW YOUR BIRDS!
Thank you for this awesome and funny review of these breads. ❤
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Stay blessed 🙌
Thank you for this it was informative and good to know that a breeder has some of the same experiences with some breeds.
I have over 100 copper Marian’s and they are the sweetest chickens I’ve ever known, my cuckoo Marian’s however pluck each other like mad!
I am not sure about the Jubilee Orpington, I have Buff and Blue Orpingtons and I have found mine to be pretty intelligent. They work out how to escape into the vege garden all the time - no matter what I do. They free range permanently on our property, so need to be smart enough to avoid predators - cats and hawks being the major two for this area. So far I haven't lost any Orpingtons due to predation. And of course, they have been hiding the eggs again! I eventually find them, but they quickly move somewhere else that is even more difficult to find
They are beautiful ❤ I have lavender Orpingtons and love them. We're thinking of getting silkies soon 😊
They make these little chicken sunglasses that clip onto their beaks for stuff like this. They’re a bully prevention, it doesn’t hinder eating and drinking it just blinds them in the way that they can’t targetedly pick on one another. It might help.
Do you know what they are called because I'm trying to introduce 2 hens into my flock of 4 and I have 3 that are bullying the new ones and I've tried everything!!!
I would like to know also!@@michellecurtis9696
Clip the point of their beaks with a finger nail clipper to make it not so sharp so they can't draw blood and pull feathers. Usually by the time the beak gets pointed again they have settled their pecking order and all is fine.
Different strains of the same breed cn be very nice or bad tempered. Where I live we get very nice black astralorps my daughter is several states away the same breed from their local hatchery was so mean she got rid of them. While her little sister had a pet rooster of the same breed.
thanks for your input. I'm in Southern California doing research on which chickens I should buy for the first time. I don't think your breeds will work for our climate but I appreciate the insight.
Good morning I have four Buff Orpingtons and one Rhode Island Red. Your video is very informative, thanks for posting. I have subscribed to keep in touch.
Well done. Thank you!
I want a breed that lays large eggs, goes broody (but not excessively), good temperament. I may happen to try the Wyandottes!
Great video and first of yours I’ve watched as I am searching for my first chicks now. Glad to hear your comment about the Miran as someone offered to give me theirs and said it was bossy. I will not accept now having a little more info.
So far the chicks are doing fine. I do put out a gallon jug of frozen water for them and they do hang around it. We are expecting temps between 111 and 113 already. I am going to wait until our summer is almost over before I purchase any more. Thank you for getting back to me!
I agree with your top two picks! I have both kinds and live in a climate that can get very hot in the summer and freezing in the winter. They both have done well in the extreme heat here, I do have covered runs and a mist system. Winter isn’t the biggest problem for them here because we don’t often go below freezing and if it does snow it doesn’t last.
I'm an expert in dog breeds and it's interesting how similarly we chose our breeds... AMAZING BREEDER! Love your ethics!💙
Thank you for all this wonderful information!!!
i got my first set of silver laced wyandottes after being a diehard RIR fan for years, im so excited to see how this goes
I love my silver laced Wyandotte. She is so calm and sweet. Doesn’t want me to pick her up but doesn’t bother a soul in the coop.
We were lucky to find a great chicken breed our first time out! We are in Texas and got ourselves some Black Australorps. Now we have ten little black puppies running around the yard that lay eggs. They're hilarious and so, so, gentle. Your birds are stunning!
Im in South Africa, fascinating breeds you guys have in usa, love your passion
What a fun video! I had great fun raising pure breed chickens and learning that they are all different in so many ways. I don't necessarily agree with your favorites, but that's what makes raising chickens so much fun. There is a breed for everyone if you are lucky enough to have the time and the resources to try different varieties. I personally enjoyed the older flightier breeds, Lakenvelders, Hamburgs, Leghorns because we lived in the country with predators and they proved that (some) chickens really can fly quite well. But there are other breeds that were just our sweet gentle friends in the garden like the Orpingtons, Australorps or Wyandottes.
I agree with your view on the orpingtons - dumb as rocks, and take weeks to adjust if you change anything in their environment. But, I still love mine and their good points outweigh the bad :)
I've never kept Orpingtons, but I'm quite sure they can't compete in the stupidity department with Cayuga ducks! Moved the feed bucket in the coop over 6 inches? I'M NOT GOING IN THERE! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! 🦆 🤣🤣🤣
I have to agree with you about the Wyandottes. My favourites and also my bestsellers, especially to families who want pretty, healthy, good tempered egg layers. However, my second favourite would be Marans. Never had a feather pecking problem, easy going and good layers of dark brown eggs.
Blue laced red is what my friend is planning to get when he starts with chickens after he retires. They sure are beautiful birds!
Hello , very nice and helpful video !
Somebody, an elderly nice man thought me about chickens to prevent them from jumping over the fence, try to trim the feathers on only one side!!
It does work for me !
Love my leghorns! ❤ Love seeing others favorites, very interesting
We learned the hard way that Wyandotte’s go broody HARD during the summer. That hen wouldn’t leave the nesting box no matter how hard we tried
Really? All the wyandotte's ive owned have been pretty chill tbh
So does mine, named elizabeta..
Mine have never done this. They can’t wait to get back out and eat bugs lol.
A lot of good information here. I have 5 Rhode Island reds right now. I absolutely love them.
I got Rhode Island Blues..three are black and one is grey with black. I think they are a cross of RIR and Lavender Orps. That's what I was told. They are good layers with good sized eggs. I've only had one be broody.
Beautiful birds, girl! 😅😅😅
I’ll have to give some of these a try. I’m a buff Orpington girl but maybe one of your favs will be my new fav. Tfs👍👍
I have one Buff, she is so friendly, to humans and the rest of the flock. But a bit of a broody.
My lavender Orpington rooster is mean as a striped snake! We call him devil rooster. He was my daughter’s is the only reason he hasn’t ended up in a stockpot. I’m probably gonna rehome him with a disclaimer and if they wanna make chicken noodle soup with him they can go for it. Won’t hurt my feelings one bit haha!
Awesome video!!! I missed out on gaining any info about farming from my Grandparents because they passed when I was a kid. But my Grandma taught me how to sew, cook, and can, before she passed. I've always been the type to listen to other peoples experiences and mistakes, so it saves me the hassle and frustration of making the same ones. Thank You!!
Love my buff Orpingtons❤
Lots of comments loving on the buffs, I might have to try that color next!
Me too. The sweetest!
I adore mine too!
Thank you for your insight. I just started raising chickens, we picked up few at our local tractor supply. Not sure exactly what breeds I have but we picked 4 different kinds. Fairly certain we have a Black Copper Maran, an orphington of some sort, and a black laced wyendote. We are looking to increase the flock. TY For this video
I quickly found out Wyandotte are the best for me as well. Very good layers and super calm birds. Have 15 coming up now.
Great, clearly communicated content thanks!
In our pet flock our favorite breeds are the Speckled Sussex and Appenzeller Spitzhauben for friendly personalities and companionship (in our experience). Appenzellers do have the flying ability, but they did great with kids and who doesn’t love chickens with heart shaped spots. 🥰 If I had to pick one breed to breed it would be the Welsummer.
Welsummers are one of my most favorite
My speckled Sussex is super sweet and calm also. I have one each of speckled Sussex, silver laced Wyandotte, buff Orpington, barnvelder, black copper Marans, and an Easter egger and 4 sapphire gems and they all get along so well.
@amo2641 - When I sold my large flock of different breeds, I kept my Welsummers and my favorite Speckled Sussex. Welsummers are economical eaters and lay decently as are the Sussex. Had Bielefelders which I loved, loved, loved but ate way too much. Also had Cream Legbars which were not that good of layers and I generally wasn't impressed with them. I don't know what happened to the Black Australorps as a breed, decades ago they were awesome, now just so-so so I sold them too.
I have never heard of these breeds. I love your favorite. My least favorites I have owed were the white leghorns. They are good layers, however, can be mean to one another and are too nervous. My favorites were Rhode Island reds and barreled rocks. My dad loved his fancy Japanese bantams.
I will be following you..really learned a lot thank you
The copper marans we got from a farm near our home were great. Very friendly to us and each other. I didn't know they could even be that aggressive.
I dont have any roosters, but I started with Speckled Sussex, Lavender Orpintons, Buff Brahma, and Rhode Island Blues. I am pleased with these girls. They are fun to watch...very entertaining. ❤
You should get the speckled sussex instead of the orpington. Awesome birds. friendly, smart, good foragers, easy keepers, good broody (not as good as the orpington, but still good) mid weight, good layers.
Feather pickers often need more protein. I've had no problems with my Marans. Interesting about the genetics.
My favorite breeds are Black Australorps and Buckeyes. Australorps are egg laying machines. They are also good moms. One of my Australorps brooded and hatched a clutch of ducklings. She took great care of them, but freaked out a little when they went in the water. 😅
Buckeyes are big bodied dual purpose. They are awesome free rangers, and are the friendliest birds I've ever had. They will follow you around like puppies. I have one in particular I call my "gardening buddy." Always right beside me when I'm digging in the dirt, waiting for me to dig up some treats.
Thanks for sharing!
We feed high protein all-flock when laying season ends, and we didn’t notice any difference in the plucking. They’re just jerks 😩 I’ve never had a buckeye, I’ll have to check them out- I want a gardening buddy too 🤣 thanks for watching!
My gardening buddy is an austrolorp named Sneezy. She's the one left out of 3 sisters (Meanie and Skittles passed in 2022 from heat stroke and dog attack respectively). These 3 formed my 'pawk pawk army' (I trained them to come for insect hunt in the yard/garden by mimicking mother chicken's sound). Sneezy now even learns her name, when there's not enough insects in the garden, instead of calling with 'pawk pawk' sound, I whisper "Sneezy!" and she'll come running.
I have 2 blue Ameraucanas too. As young chicks and poulets, they were flighty but now they're the most friendly and comical. They follow me around and when I don't give them attention, they will start to poke at my legs/knees as if saying, "hey! hey! look at me!"
And 2 BCMs I call them Omelette and Tortelette. I hope they won't, and so far they don't pick feathers. I didn't know they're known to pick at their own feather. All I knew was they're the most docile - every BCM owners on TH-cam said that. Well, that's not at all. I babied them since 2 day old (we didn't hatch them) and trained them to follow me from their coop to the fenced in run every morning and then back in to their coop in the evening, because we didn't have specific area yet for them. One of the roosters that I named King Edward (because he looked so handsome and regal) was a jerk. He liked to stalk me or my husband and when we turned our back on him, he slammed his whole body at us. Even so, I was devastated when he got killed by stray dogs that entered our yard.
None of the above ever went broody. My broody hens always have been the Wyandotte breed or a mix of something with Wyandotte. The last 3 years, we had 4 "mammas" hatching and raising our chicks: Lisa (Splash Wyandotte) and her twin Mona, then Stormy (her mother is a BCM and father is a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte) and this year 2 (Bob, a blue laced red, and Coppertop a Maran x Wyandotte like Stormy).
I like Buckeyes as well. My Buckeye hens are very smart and opportunistic foragers. Decent layers as well.
My Buckeye rooster, Roy, is kind of a bastard at times. He can be aggressive but I correct that and he is good for a few days until he “forgets” who’s boss in the run…that’s me btw. My Wife dislikes Roy but I like him. He is good at fertilizing the hen’s eggs and a good protector of the flock. He is only doing what his instincts tell him to do. I think he is a good rooster and performs his duties well, even if he does come at me occasionally, haha. I’m blessed that God has placed him in my care.
We aren't allowed roosters where I'm at, but I have heard that the roosters can be buttheads. The hens, however, are the best!
I have a friend whom raises b c marans she has 80+ and no feather picking! I've raised chickens over 40 years and saw feather picking in lots of different breeds of chickens!
Quick Bielefelder rooster update: he wasn't happy when I grabbed a hen to get her apron off. He stepped toward me to intervene, but I said, "GG! No!" and he just walked off vocally complaining. Sweet birds! Keep in mind: I've spent many hours around them. He knows his name.
I have to agree, Wyandottes are great birds!
For me here is SoCal barredrock has to be my favorite, good layer , good with heat, quiet and friendly
Barrock eats too much (same with Brahma and Orpington) and lays less than california white. So to me stay away from feed ratio egg birds.
I love buff orpingtons, and had several when I lived in Seattle about 15 years ago. Also Australorps and an Americauna. The last lived 11years, and since she was a pet, I was glad of it.
What a great life span! Sounds like she had a wonderful long life with you 💜
Me and my family have had chickens for abt 2 years now, we started with the light sussex and we are in love, great egg layers, dont get broody all that often(great to a non breeder), curious, follows u everywhere for a good snack! The roosters however we have found are very protective of the original ladies, for that reason we vad to let our latest go to make the intruduction with our wyandotte chicks easier
I've never bred layers but I've raised a lot of them. And the two breeds that hit all the marks for me, are the black astralorps and Isa browns. Very cold and warm hardy, docile almost to the point of being pets. Love them and will most likely never have any other breed. Thanks for sharing
Wow the English Orphington looks a lot like my Besty which i discovered is a Java which is a heritage breed. Never heard of them. I love her. Love them all. 🥰
Never had a problem with the black copper marans that I had. I only had four but they were same as the others. I free ranged.
We live in Alabama so we have a completely different climate. I absolutely LOVE the Black Astralorps and have had wonderful results with them. We have had great results with Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rocks, and Black Copper Marans. Its funny how breeds act different from state to state, but climate makes the difference. Oh, and Dellawares do well here also!!!!!!
Seventy years of chicken breeding here. Leghorns, Hamburgs and Campines are all crazy in my experience. Ameraucana are a nice breed, friendly foragers good feather quality and good broody hens. Light and dark Brahmas are friendly but very slow growing which I consider a positive trait as it is not the result of breeding for early maturity and the birds are long-lived and winter doesn't bother them a bit. Lay quite well too and excellent broody hens. Finally if you'd like to let hens and cocks raise their own chicks try a game such as Cubalaya, Sumatra or Yokahama. The parents will take care of the chicks all summer and teach them about predators, foraging and other essential chicken skills. And they are gorgeous! They were originally bred for fighting but no longer used for that and I often have groups of two cocks and a few hens with chicks hanging together. All my birds do get locked in coops at night because of predators and foxes and hawks can still get them in the daytime if you're.not vigilant!
thanks for sharing
Thanks for your review!
While I have not owned all varieties of chickens, here are mine from what we have owned here in SW Michigan:
Favorites: Buff Orpington, Barred Rock, Leghorn, Speckled Sussex, Isa Brown
Least Favorites: New Hampshire Browns, Brahma Bantams, Silver Laced Wyandotte (nice, but not real smart either...)
Love my Isa Browns amid all of my other breeds. Sweet natured, friendly, egg machines.
My wife and I purchased 4 Praire Bluebell Eggers from Tractor Supply early this year. 3 did not survive the first 48 hours. The one survivor is colored like a wild crow, black with a rainbow sheen. She is the least human friendly bird out of the 6 pullets we are raising this year.
I got 4 prairie bluebell eggers and they are crazy! Don't love them...
@@karissamuth501I got one this year and she runs from us anytime we try to pick her up. She is also crazy to. She’s only 7 weeks old and she’s always trying to duke it out with the Americana
This spring, I picked up four chicks from TSC and never had any issues. My hatchery order had one expire and one gone missing, it happens. The rooster flock follow me around as I'm doing stuff outside.
Yes!!! We have one, she's not friendly AT ALL.
So interesting! I have 2 cuckoo marans in my little flock and one of them is definitely a feather picker!
She's also the only one who is mean to me when she has been broody.
Although ppl might have different opinions about your video, I personally did enjoy it much!
Just one Correction / info about the Golden death layers, it is an Egyptian Fayoumi breed
Oh Wow! We just ordered Americana's and Blue laced Red Wyandottes. Half our flock is gone now from predators over the last year and we decided to try other breeds when replenishing. Our ducks are coming next week and our chickens in June. Our speckled sussex ate a lot and sometimes made you feel as though you were being hunted by velocaraptors. They love to peck at everything, including a strand of hair and would leap up to do so. Ouch! Our austrolorps are good layers but not social and very domineering in the flock. We love our easter egger. She is the lowest on the pecking order, but when one of the sussex was injured from a predator attack that I stopped and we introduced her back to the flock, the egger is the only one that treated her kindly and the others still reject her because of her damaged eye lid that can't open. My egger lays a lot of blue eggs. We have a bard rock and I have to say she is protective. Our buff orpingtons are sweet and good layers but two have gotten sick with a mucus problem. One we didn't have knowledge how to help at the time and she was starving to death so we put her down but another we used herbs and swiped the mucus out until she was well and introduced her back to the flock. I am so glad to here your favorite choices. Now I am even more excited about our new flock coming in. I thank Jesus for helping us make good choices.
Not a breeder, but in all of my 10 years of 4-H poultry, I’ve never taken into consideration that the slimmer breeds have a higher chance of getting out. Major brain fart. Explains why my Ameraucana keeps getting out lol
I enjoyed your video . Those who give animals a stellar lives . Helps reduce some of the need for large, cage egg farming.
I am with you on the flighty thing, and slim-bodied flyers!
Mine are pets, so I get different breeds each time.
Only going off one for each breed as a sample, but...
Silver Dorking (this one is a bit dumb, could be her or the breed)
Wheaten Maran x White Plymouth Rock (she is only 1/4 Rock, but looks more Rock) - Friendly, but shy in the pecking order, always comes running to me
Columbian Wyandotte - nice heavy pretty bird, good sized egg
Buff Orpington - large friendly bird (to people and flock members). Does go broody at the drop of a hat.
Gold Penciled Wyandotte - shy bird (but bottom or near bottom of pecking order)
Breed to avoid for stupidity, the Silkies. Dumb as a bag of rocks. Avoid the flighty or more dominate breeds, particularly if the rest of the flock are fairly chilled. I am personally into a heavier (and more chilled) bird anyway.
I love my deathlayers! They have learned to knock on my door for snacks. It's an all day thing.
Rhode Island reds are my favorite. I’ve raised them in South Georgia and in East Tennessee and they’ve done great in both places. They handled the heat and the cold. They are prolific egg layers easy to keep up easy to feed as they eat anything my second favorite would be bard rocks
I have chickens as pets with a bonus of eggs. My favorite chicken is my Easter Egger. She has such a lovely, friendly personality. But...she does fly over my 5 foot fence.
My favorite eggs come from a road island red/ black australorp hybrid. They called her Black Aquila. She has a docile and calm personality. She is gloriously beautiful, and so soft and silky!
My favorite are my Easter eggers also
My favorite birds are the silver deathlayers & my French black morans.
I also have English black morans.
The English black morans are aggressive, but the french morans are gentle.
I do open range all my birds.
Began with Bielefelders and love them! Company sent a Barred Rock Rooster who attacked me repeatedly and bloodied the Bielefelder rooster numerous times. "Odd Cock" got offed. Moved to Rhode Island Reds, now back to wonderful sweet Bielefelders.
I love my Beildefelders too. Roos are so pretty. I got my roo from someone that was getting rid of them. Him and another roo had chased off a coyote. Great protectors.
@@jansauvey7547 love reds
I have 4 Plymouth Barred hens and despite being fantastic layers, they were unfriendly from chicks and are now just mean/bullies. As I've a mini farm setup, won't have them again. My Golden Comets lay just as well and all are very friendly...though one smaller one is an escape artist and can get "serious air" over 5 foot mesh.
When I go out to free-range the chickens, one flies up five feet in anticipation of getting out. The Golden Bantam, who was gifted to us, flies forty feet in happiness.
I'm not yet ready for chickens, but am leaning HARD into Bielefelders from all the good things I've seen about them over several years now.
Marans are one of my top 3 favorite birds. I have never had the pecking feathers problem. And I am absolutely sure it is a problem for you by the pictures. Guess I have been lucky. Have you ever had brahmas? They are #1 on my list. They are a big and so beautiful and the most docile in my flock! But for your homesteading purpose may not be a great. The hens do lay but not as much as my other hens. Thank you for sharing!
love this i had a Rhode Island Red rooster that was very aggressive
Prairie Blue bells are actually Whiting True Blues, since it’s a trademarked name, Hoovers could not use the name.🐣my BCM have not had picking problems, they are actually the sweetest and one of the most calm breeds ( Salmon Faverolles is the other calm breed).
Thank you for the great advise.
I am from South Africa and have raised some buff orpingtons successfully. I would really like some wine dots, they sound lovely.
My girl who has been the best girl is a blue laced red Wyandotte! I absolutely adore her.
I used to keep a variety of chickens (in France) and my favourite was my golden Ardennaise. She was a real beauty.
I had a terrible experience with blue laced red Wyandotte’s. And I absolutely love my black copper Moran’s. So I think it truly does depend on where you get them. And also what you’re looking for in a chicken. I find these breed videos interesting but take them all at face value.
My experience with the wyandottes was the same. I don't care for them at all.
@@down2this754 I absolutely loved the silver laced ones. And I plan to get them again. But I won’t be bothering with the blue ones anymore.
Your BLR Wyandottes are gorgeous!!! Mine were not so vibrant. Goodness, this hen is beautiful! I tried hatching out some Erminite Ameraucana eggs, but the breeder had some less than ideal (super crowded) breeding pens, so none hatched. Bummer. But I may try again with the BLR Wyandottes... Thank you for your video.
Genetics are so interesting. I only have one BC Marans so I am far from experienced with that breed, but she is calm and sweet and has the most beautiful feathers of my entire mixed flock (over 30 hens). I’m so glad she is atypical because I love her! I really dislike my two splash Amerecaunas. They give me gorgeous blue eggs but they are my meanest, most aggressive hens in my flock by far and they are super high strung. My two BLR Wyandottes are so lovely! They are broody, which I don’t prefer only because I can’t have a rooster, but they are stunning and calm and don’t cause any trouble. I love them, especially my splash girl.
My favorites are my Marans. I have Black Copper, Blue Copper, Splash, and Wheatens. I also love my Splash Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and Olive Eggers (Opal Legbar x Welsummers)...Australorps are the best layers though in my opinion.
Lots of people are mentioning australorps, I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for sharing!
My fav, sweetest rooster ever was a Welsummer.
Hi. New the your channel & love it. On the marans do they stick to their own breed to do feather plucking or do they do that to other breeds in the flock?
Welcome! They don’t discriminate!
Nice list. Apparently I’ve dodged a bullet with all my Marans because this has never been an issue for me.🤷🏻♂️ Those Ermine Ameraucanas are gorgeous. The Deathlayers look like a really big golden Campine.