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 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?
@@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!
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.
All Marans use quite a bit of iron to make that dark color bloom. They are craving blood because their diet needs more of it. Its a unique need for that breed, no hate just commonly unknown diet requirement. Free range Marans rarely have this problem since they can supplement from high iron weeds. I even caught my Marans in the road once feasting on roadkill. I built a chicken salad bar with spinach and mustards after that.
That is not true, they need more protein, not iron. If you saw them eating road kill it was protein not iron. To lay darker eggs they need protein, most commercial food doesn’t have enough for them. There is a big difference in between those two supplemental needs, you could actually kill them by adding that much more iron to their diet. It will cause liver failure. You’re on the right track just wrong reason.
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 in the US about them as feather 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 from the US 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 the Deathlayer will "magickly" get away and stay safe. I did not have this breed, but I have Brakels and they are closely related to the Deathlayers. When my neighbors dog got into my yard and started chasing the chickens, all were running around and flapping with their wings, but the Brakels literally took to the air and flew away some 4 houses in other gardens.
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 raised the black and white Marans. Lovely birds and I liked them nearly as much as the barred Plymouth Rocks. You do have to look close at their feathers to tell which is which. I've never had an issue with my chickens pecking to the point of bringing blood. I suspect that the nasty black goo I apply to the injured area at the first sign of a bird being singled out and pecked helped to prevent all the birds in the flock pecking. I don't raise chickens as pets yet, so they become pets and usually they choose me to be their buddy. I've raised farm hybrids which I considered good birds for duel purpose. I don't like to breed them beyond the first generation.
I'm absolutely sure of it. I have had the same experience. No pickers among any of my marins. I keep both copper and cuckoo marans and have had no problems what so ever. I do know if any chicken gets too inbred, they'll start having issues, so I agree that perhaps some new blood might be good for the flock. Also, I almost never buy from the large hatcheries. It seems to guarantee problems. I try to find individuals who breed high quality birds, then buy birds from different individuals who have birds which are in no way related. Doing that, I end up getting healthy birds, and a near 100% hatch rate even in an incubator. If I use a broody hen, it's even better.
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.
Aw. I am so sorry for your loss. Easter egger are the best… I have one named Peanutbutter who always jumps onto my back when I bend down in the chicken yard haha. She will also fly up onto my shoulders when I walk into the run sometimes. She is extremely social, one of the few chickens that my entire family can pick up
My sister gave us her 4 Buff Orpingtons and 2 Easter eggers along with her self made coup that was built with winter in mind (no ventilation, reflective ceiling, 4 inch gap on the bottom because of wheels). I had been working extremely hard to make sure the chickens were good, checking on them like 4 times a day because we couldnt let them out until the coup had a metal fence around it to help protect against hawks. i came home after a long day with my father out the house and came home to one of the easter eggers dead... My heart was and is broken about it, i knew it was likely dehydration and to make sure- i dont have a vet that could do an autopsy so i looked online, and found she might have had a heartattack or stroke based on how she was laying once we found her
I once worked at a place that had 17 acres of woodland and the chickens just wandered about doing chicken things. It was interesting to see what wild chickens did. What sticks in my mind is how at dusk they would fly into a tree and sleep in the natural hollow where a branch meets the trunk. It seems like they would share egg sitting duties with the pheasants and sometimes you'd see pheasant chick's following a chicken about vica versa
Ain’t nature grand! I have an “escaped” meat rabbit that hangs out with my hens. He eats the morning scratch grains with them, tucks under the deck during hot sunny afternoons with them and then returns to the enclosed & roofed chicken run at night. He and a few hens cuddle up and sleep on top of the rabbit cages. It’s weird and quite amusing. 🐓🐇
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.
Nice video. Orps and Wyandottes were on my short list, but because I'm an idiot I ended up doing my own 3 way cross to get what I needed for the living conditions where I am (and aesthetic considerations). Barred Rocks for hardiness/utility, barred large fowl Cochins for thick down/body weight/temperament, and lavender and splash Ameraucanas to throw some pea comb genetics, fuzzy cheeks, and a little bit of egg variety. 3 generations in, and I'm starting to get 8-10lb , fluffy, blue barred, fuzzy footed, bearded, pea-combed birds that eagerly eat snow instead of touching their heated water. (and also have the spirit of a golden retriever) or, as most poultry snobs would say, I have trash easter eggers.
I am 68 years old and raised chickens most of my life. I started as a child when my parents had chickens. A couple of good breeds I always liked was Rhode Island Reds and Barred Plymouth Rocks. The Wyandotte's were also a very good breed. I raised Bantam's for many years and really enjoyed them. I don't have any chickens now but my neighbor does and I enjoy hearing the roosters crow. Maybe I'll build a coop and get a few someday. I enjoyed your video, thank you for sharing.
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.
I've had a lot of RIR hens and roosters. Great layers, good for meat, good mothers. Mine were not interested in human attention and actually avoided touch. Even so, I really like them as they are good farm birds that are free range.
I have 4RIR that were given to me. They truly are tame. Great layers. I wish I could turn them out to free range but we have wild predators and I’d be so upset to lose any. Also my two dogs would have to be confined
“All my other birds have had a more standoffish, ‘livestock’ personality.” 😂 Those birds are just trying to keep it “not personal” for when you send them to Freezer Camp!🤣🫣😂 It’s kinda hard to send to Freezer Camp the ones that just want to love on you. Especially when they tilt their heads and say, “What’s ya doing?!” or “You knows I loves ya, right?!” 😊😂
i have 4 RIR and two of them mainly just follow the leader kinda and i call them Stouges because they dont do anything without one of the other 2. another one is named Olivia and she is sweet as can be but is terrified of everything despite being introduced to something multiple times. my last one is named Ginger after the chicken in chicken run because she tries to escape and has 3 times, and is also mean and loves to challenge me by pecking the heck of my hand despite the others never pecking me once.
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!
I agree. Leghorns are flighty. My Hamburgs might as well have been sparrows. Never owned Campines. My current favorite is my Welsummers. Mine have been friendly, calm, good layers and foragers. My newest ones are Blue Andalusians. We will see how that goes, but I have a feeling they might be pretty nutso also.
I’ve owned golden campines. They are absolutely crazy and I personally think they are way worse than leghorns. All they do is try to escape and mine absolutely refuse to lay in the layer boxes. They also are not very friendly and are nearly impossible to catch. I can imagine they’re similar to the golden death layers in the video. But that’s just my experience! 🙃
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 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!
@EB_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
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
Speckled Sussex are my favorite. I love that they are medium sized dual purpose. Ours were great layers and smart. We lost all of our flock one year except a single Sussex. She was like a dog. She followed us everywhere, came when called, was always happy to join us and the dogs or the horses in whatever we were doing. If I ever get chickens again they is the first breed I will get and definitely would always keep if I have chickens.
Same here. Speckled sussex are so beautiful, calm, excellent layers and great meat. My rooster was the sweetest rooster I've ever had. The hens were all sweet, too.
I love my black copper Marans! I buy eggs from breeders & hatch them myself. They all have been sweet, non feather picking chickens. Going on 8 yrs with them. Our favorite breed is Serama, not for homesteaders, but we enjoy them so much, cos they’re so such sweet, friendly pets.
My favorite breed over the past 20 years of raising chickens is Speckled Sussex. They are calm, friendly, curious and beautiful. My second favorite breed is Buff Orpingtons for the same reasons, but also because they get along with everyone and are never aggressive.
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.
I appreciate your list. Might I give my three favorite breeds? 1. New Hampshire - layers a ton of XL eggs, friendly, outgoing. They tend to be top of the pecking order. 2. Americana - for all the reasons you said. Solid birds, lots of fun eggs. 3. Red/black/golden sexlinks - excellent egg production. Hardy in Utah weather. Friendly and intelligent.
Least favorite (out of chickens that I have owned) would go to Golden Laced Wyandotte, purely because they are pretty aggressive to other chickens, and they are super flighty. I have a variety of breeds, so a breed that doesn’t get along well with my other chickens is a problem. I don’t plan on getting rid of the one I have currently, but once she’s gone, I probably won’t be getting another anytime soon. Favorites (oh boy I have a lot) would go to Plymouth Rocks, Rainbow Dixies, and Easter Eggers. I love my Plymouth Rock girl, even though she has scoliosis. She’s a little special, but she’s super sweet. She’s also very vocal, which I understand many people would find annoying and unfavorable, but I like having my daily discussions with Jelly! My rainbow Dixie is a massive dual purpose girl, about the same size as my large rooster currently. He’s still got time to grow, but she is massive. She doesn’t enjoy being picked up much, but she likes to sit in my lap and get pets. She kind of always looks like a confused dinosaur, and I adore her for it. She was attacked by a dog about seven months ago, had a nasty injury, but with the help of some antibiotics and painkillers, we were able to get her through. She has shown great resilience, and despite not being super warm hardy (due to her size, probably), she is very cold hardy and handles any weather like a champ. My all time favorite chicken is the Easter egger. I currently have an Easter egger by the name of Peanutbutter, and she is just the absolute sweetest. Jumps on my back whenever I’m handing out snacks, flies up to my shoulder when I walk into the run, stands on my foot and picks at my pants to get picked up. She is such an amazing and social bird, she loves my entire family. She also lays very beautiful light blue eggs (not unlike your Amaraucanas) and she lays almost every day! I love her little bears and muffs, and her small size makes her easy to snuggle. She is a wonderful chicken, and I will certainly be owning more Easter eggers in the future.
Kinda Funny. We bought 4 Blue/Red Laced and they are quite the characters. They are our first chickens ever and its kind of a relief to see you speaking so highly of them.
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.
@@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 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.
@@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.
Gold Laced Wyandottes as far as temperament and going broody. Blue Orpington and Australorps are great but the Roosters can get extremely large and stiff legged but are very docile. All the Sussex's are good and most go broody. Buff, Speckled, Coronation and Light Sussex and are great all-rounders. Overall the Golden Wyandottes are my picks for great chooks, not the best egg producer but well behaved and quiet and great broody hens and mothers. 2nd place would go to Buff and Speckled Sussex. Orpington and Australorps deserve 3rd spot. Australorps were bred from Orpington's so I lump them in together. In 4th spot Cream Legbars because of their blue eggs and the Roosters are true gentlemen but they are a little too timid and flighty overall. If you have the room select your favourite breeds but always keep some Wyandottes for going broody.
@@TheHomesteadTrail They are the Golden Retrievers of chickens -- faithful, loving, come when called, and will sit in your lap while you pet them. Just the sweetest ever.
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 Wyandotte variety. I found your opinion helpful. Thank you very much sincerely. I have some safires too. California whites. Silky bread, Rhode Island Reds two chicken houses. Keeping safe, & well fed/watered. ❤😊
I'm new with chickens. I bought 4 Buff Orphington & 2 Black Sex Links from Tractor Supply & I just love these girls. They're only around 4 months & the most friendly, loveable, & funny chickens ever!
Yes, have fun with them! My hens are amusing and comforting to me every day….and I’m almost 3 years into owning chickens. I’ll never be without hens! For future info, TSC sells “straight run” chicks and you may end up with some roosters in there. I found a local feed & supply store that sells “guaranteed females” for a few dollars more. Worth it for me as I don’t want roosters.
@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.
Thank you so much for sharing. We are in California and I appreciate your clarifications on why you rated these chickens the way you did. I have zero experience and would love them to be friendly, happy "pet like" never to be eaten, but eggs would be great right after getting along with each other and us. Thanks again!
Thanks, fun to watch. many, many years ago I had a banty hen as a pet. She got very smart. Better than a lot of dogs and most cats I've had. And the little eggs were fun for a kid
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
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 have a new flock of silver and gold lace Wyandottes. I love them, but I was not sure of what I purchased, I mean their nature. I am gladder than ever now. Thank you for sharing. Mine are 10 weeks old.
I had an older beautiful Golden Orpington rooster, that I bough for my hens from a local breeder planning to hatch some chicks. He acted as an aristocrat, walked kind of funny, carrying himself around our garden like a lord checking his lands. He was a quite type who spent a great deal of his time just watching the skies and while he let me pick him up and gently pet his wattles, he was too proud to ever take a treat from my hand. My mom called him an inapt rooster only good for showing off and as he was the only male in the flock, she suggested to replace him with a more energetic one. I filled the incubator up with all the eggs I could collect, keeping my hopes low, wondering if at least some of them will hatch, as although I have seen him to court his 9 ladies every now and then, entertaining them with his little dances, I have never ever seen him to mount any of them. Turned out every single egg was fertilized, he just clearly preferred to keep certain things private.
My first rooster was an older one too, he had that stately walk. He sacrificed himself for some predator to save his girls. My younger roo is much more flexible and faster, I realized that the first roo was just an old gentleman.
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!
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...)
I’m delighted with your opinions - you are shedding light on some interesting “issues”. I have 8 hens that free range on my ppty. I need “community” birds that play well together. I’m SO glad you revealed that Copper Maran issue. Also, I appreciate your comment on weather. I’m in central NC and we do have some beastly hot & humid days here. My Beilefelder (sp?) is a dual-purpose German breed and seems to suffer the most in summer - altho it won’t cut down on her voracious appetite! My fave are my 2 Ameraucanas - tufted checks, sweet and curious puppy-hens. Lots of pretty eggs from those 2. My least favorite hen is the very pretty & docile Barred Rock - it’s just that she sounds as if she’s crying ALL day. Too sad for me hear as I love those chicken sounds from my “crew”. My girls come when they are called, they follow me around the ppty and they “help” me when I garden. They gather on my back deck and knock on the door for treats. Yes - I’ve been trained to promptly provide treats. 🤣. Lots of hiding spots and shade during the day and a locked, predator-proof enclosure and hen house for the night. No rooster for me, too small a ppty for all that noise! Will add Wyandotte!
I have a red lace Wyandotte. Just 1 among my silkies. Silkies are my favorite but are Wyandotte is probably everyone's favorite. Lays great super friendly never gone broody (hatchery girl) we just really love her ❤️
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 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.
My favorite chicken was Elvis, a pet Silkie!(Precious little guy who'd sit in your lap for hours as you read a book. Who doesn't love a chicken with an Elvis Pompadour! Very clean bird, too! )
We LOVE our sweet Ameraucana too. They came from a great breeder in Columbia La. Also, our German Bielefelders are gorgeous and so incredibly docile and sweet. They are probably my favorite. Our white French Bresse are gems, as well. (From Bresse Farms in Ms). Then, we absolutely LOVE our BCMs. They’ve never feather picked and came from two different places (a breeder in Columbia, La and from Justin at Bresse Farms in Ms). Ours are happy birds and get along well. We will replace a roo who decided we were no longer to enter his tractor, but other than that, they’re nice birds with very dark eggs.
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.
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.
@@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.
You have gorgeous chickens. The last wyandotte with wine colors in her feathers are beautiful! We used to have a white leg horn rooster, our only rooster. We had kept him as a pet. He lived up to 5yrs (as far as I remember), but then family thought he served better purpose on the dinner plate. I couldn't fathom eating the rooster I raised... He's not aggressive though he has a beef with slippers.
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.
I like my eastereggers, I have 2 which are still laying after 8 years and they are calm. I also recently got some polish last year, they are friendly and curious, on the down side they are lightweight and that combined with their crests seems to make them less good for cold wet winter weather.
Great information! Thank you so much as I’m carefully considering choose three hens for my first little flock. For me, here in Florida, I’ve been told to consider Buff Orpingtons, Plymouth Rock, and Rhode Island Red…
I don’t think you can go wrong with that line-up! All good birds. Any reason to go with only 3 birds? You may have a community restriction, of course. Chickens are flock animals. Five would be no more work than 3 hens and I recommend that as a better base. If you’re going with a straight-run of chicks, you may end up with 1 hen and 2 roosters. This happened to my neighbors. The roosters tormented that hen and the neighbors had no idea since they both worked long hours. Enjoy your chickens - they are SO much fun! (go for 5!) 👍🏻
@@joannc147 thank you so much for your reply! Glad I’m on the right track. As for three, no restrictions on the number I can have…was just worried about having more eggs than I can consume…though I’m sure my neighbors would appreciate fresh organic eggs for free … question: if I was to get adult hens from my neighbor (she’s about 1/4 mile from me) do you think they’d try to go back home? I ask because she has far more hens than she needs and said I could pick several to start my flock. They’re all healthy and producing eggs. Thoughts?
@@lizzieb6311 hey! First, # of eggs is rarely 1 each day. During the sunny days of summer, you’ll have max production and 3 hens may give you 9-15 eggs per week depending on age and breed. I have 8 hens and only rec’d 8 eggs per day TWICE this season….3-5 is avg. As to getting adult birds from your neighbor, I’d say that may be the most tempting option. However, the drive to return to the home evening roost is a strong one. Sorta “home roost or die”.situation. They would definitely have a stress issue. I’m not qualified to answer this one as I raised mine from 2 days old….in my home, in the guest bathroom. That put the stress on ME and not the birds! 🤣 Adopting adult birds will require that you have an inescapable situation for them as of mid-afternoon. I have a 20’ fully enclosed & covered run. I also have current hens that would squabble with the newbies but would also teach them where to roost at night. In your case, their “sisters” will call to them - are they out of earshot? Lots to research! Worth the effort, hens are great. Good luck!
@@joannc147 what wonderful information! I am so appreciative! I think I’ll do the chicks in the hall bathroom option like you did…they can bond with me that way too! I’m glad my instincts were correct on the adult hens likely wanting to return home…they certainly don’t need any extra stress. I think I will go with five hens….i have a very large backyard (3/4 acre) and i think I may get a tractor coop as I have MANY red tail hawks, owls, and a pair of bald eagles I see now and then…they definitely need cover otherwise I’d turn them loose. I do love hens. My neighbor has Plymouth Rocks..Rhode Island Reds..and Buff Orpingtons. The buffs are as cuddles and sweet as a dog! It is so odd to me how they seem to enjoy being held. I can’t wait to get started with them. Again…thank you!! 🐔🐔🐥
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 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.
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.
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.
Thank you! I appreciate this information. I have a flock of a dozen Rhode Island Reds, and a white hen given to me by a friend. They are excellent layers but they are SO MEAN to each other! It took me FOREVER to figure out what was happening to their feathers. Every time I go out to the chicken yard, they are clamoring at the gate knowing I will probably be bringing a little treat for them. I couldn't seem to catch them in the act, but now I finally realize they are feather picking terribly when I'm not around. Next time I'll try to find your #1 pick.
Thank you for the wonderful video. I’m new to this, but I read a list that mentioned the chickens that got along with other chickens the best and I’ve tried to stick to those. Plus, i wanted chickens that would lay eggs in high volume. I have Buffalo Orpingtons, White Sussex, Rhode Island Red and Wyandottes.. I may have 1-2 other breeds in very small quantities, but that’s it. They all get along pretty well. The Sussex were my first batch and they have been welcoming enough to the newer groups of chicks/hens.
This was a great video! Very helpful! We are just getting started on our flock and purchased some that were advertised as being docile and they are not. But not everyone has the same experience, some people on here need to realize that! lol! I’m grateful for your information and can’t wait to add on some of those favorites!!!
My favorite is the speckled Sussex because I fell in love with my girl Penny who has the nicest sweetest most amazing chicken ever! The door latch broke one day to the coop and all my chickens got out. I had a fenced in yard so it wasn’t a big deal and while all the other chickens ran around the yard and went into hiding, penny walked all the way up the steps and I sleep at the back door waiting for me. I went outside and scoop there right up and gave her snuggles, and put her back in the coop, and I had to chase the other ones around and get them back in. I miss my penny
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!!!
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.
"Literally watch a car as it runs over them" 😂😂😂 (The Jubilee English Orpington) My favorite breeds are my Ameraucanas and my Wyandottes also! We had the sweetest, smartest rooster that was a Wyandotte.
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 RUclips 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.
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!
Wyandotte's are very great birds they sweet and I'm Convinced that they live a long time mine I had for 7 years and she was already retired chicken and I got her
My beloved blue laced red Wyandottes were my faves too. They had gorgeous blue and brassy red feathering, but some fools exerted pressure to tone them down to gray and maroon for the breeding standard. So dumb. They were breathtaking blue and red birds.
My top three are actually the three I have right now. 3. Blue laced red wyandotte. They are pretty clever and beautiful to look at. Mine aren't the friendliest but they do tolerate me pretty well. My rooster is one to. Beautiful handsome boy. He has very little silver in him. He's just about entirely black and red. 2. Easter eggers. They come in so many colors and patterns. No two of mine look alike. The roosters are also always gorgeous without fail. They're pretty skittish so I don't lose them to predation often. Every once in awhile one decides it likes me and will tolerate my affection. 1. Barred conchin. They're do fluffy and sweet. They're beautiful. My favorite chicken Lilly is quite affectionate. She just went broody for the first time. Such a sweet girl. I don't have least favorite chickens. I love all of them.
For UK hen rescuers, Warrens are our most intensively farmed breeds. They get repaid for their prolific laying by being slaughtered at 18 months! Luckily, we got ours from a local rescuer. Too old to tame? Not a bit of it! After 2 nights our 3 put themselves to bed at nightfall. In one week, 2 would eat out of my hand, the other 1 took 2 weeks. After a month, the greediest one would jump onto my lap for treats. When we clean out their coop or enter their run with shard leaves, they crowd around our feet. They were still laying, 3 a day until last week which is too many for the 2 of us, now it's 2 a day, which still gives us extras to give away. They are enormous fun and clever little creatures
Totally agree. Wyandottes are the best. Have bred gold laced, silver laced and whites, over the years, that I lived in Australia (now living in the USA, Ohio) Unfortunately no longer can… city living sucks! Miss my chooks. (Chooks is Aussie for chickens)
My best hen is a buff orpington. She always comes running when she hears me approach the pen and likes to get a petting. I have several laced wyandottes (love them), a black jersey giant, and a few others. They all seem to get along. But I suspect I have an egg eater. I rarely see more than 3 eggs a day from my seven hens.
I raised chickens for years, and found my two favorite breeds - Australorps and Sex-links. They were my pets and I sold their eggs. Australorps are so fun to watch, because they like to "talk" to each other, and are great egg-layers. Sex-links are such a pleasure to watch and would come running over to me and always stayed close by. I let them out during the day, keeping an eye out for hawks or anything else. They love their dirt baths!! They were also incredible brown egg-layers, with the richest color yolks ever. Many of them were double-yolk eggs. And I had a few Americaunas. The people at work loved their small blue eggs (especially for their kids) and the yolks were as big as the eggs from the Australorps and Sex-links. One of our Americaunas was such a mean little thing. He would march around his area l ike a soldier, so we called him Meany. We had seen him at a couple of county fairs and then bought him. He was really something! He and a couple others had two little ones we called Rico and Anita. Anita was the sweetest thing ever, but Rico was just like his daddy! And, we had a flock of guineas, that made wonderful guards! All of my fowl were able to stand hot summers and cold winters! We would clean their coop and pour their dried leavings all over a big garden. That was fabulous fertilizer! Those days were a lot of fun!
Pecking order.I use to have a few chickens, Barred rocks and a white Orpington. Everybody pecks. They are chubby as at the time I lived in colorado and it would get cold. If you let them in the garden they will fertilize the crops.
I've narrowed down my choices to Good to Excellent Layers, Rose Combs, Non-Setters, Good Temperament, Non-Flighty, Hardy, Free-Range, and Long-Lived. A mix of heavy and lighter breeds for where we live, which is the Ozarks. We make sure to have plenty of chickens, so they can pile up on the roost in the winter and keep each other warm. It gets plenty cold in the winter, and the summers can be awful. I chose from tried-and-true breeds. My personal favorite is the Barred Rock. Buckeyes Barred Rocks/Dominques Black Astralorps New Hampshire Reds Rhode Island Reds Red Stars Anconas
I’ve got 6 barred rocks. They are heaven. A little care and handling and they come to say hi then get back to work. They are actively catching up bugs about 7-9 hours a day now. The neighbors started feeding them as well. So almost no food cost, cold tolerant, incredible workers, regular if not spectacular layers. They get along great with other livestock and seem supportive of each other. Not a trait I’m used to in chickens.
Yep, nailed it. If we were going up to 5 I would add Cochins and Buff Orpingtons. We have 6 kids, and they are super handleable. The Americaunas are the friendliest (my daughter trains her chickens to do tricks 😂), but I don't necessarily need my chickens to be like pets, I just need them to be gentle enough for a kid to handle.
We just started with chickens. Long story so I'll skip most of it to say I hatched Silkies and Easter Eggers for my 1st graders. Mainly because of the egg colors, I figured it wouldn't get them engaged and it did, and becauae they're docile and I have 2 grandbabies. Only 1 of each survived, so I am looking for somewhere around KY for 1 more of each. We just bought 2 Rhode Island Reds and two Sapphire Olive Eggers and One Blue Gold Laced Wyandotte, one Silver Laced Wyandotte, and two Prairie Blue Eggers from Rural King. One of the Reds, Penelope and The Blue Gold Laced Guinevere, will come right over and jump in your hand. Most of the rest are OK with being picked up but not thrilled with it.
Nice! I recently got 6 chicks, 2 of each breed, including 2 Midnight Marans. Interestingly the guy who grabbed the chicks chose 1 Maran who was about 3 weeks older that the other 5 chicks. She turned out to be mild-mannered and acted as a mom to the others. The small Maran got picked on by a couple of rowdy hybrids, Starlight something (supposed to lay olive colored eggs). She lost a lot of her feathers quickly until I found the Pick No More, now she's feathering out. My first hens were Orpingtons, Buff and Black Austalorp, and 2 Barred Rocks. They are all very mild-tempered and easy. I will try your Blue Laced Red Wyandotte next time!
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.
![BRASIL vs. URUGUAY [1-1] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 12](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-hWBAuxF1eY/mqdefault.jpg)
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 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.
Same. I have chocolate but love them and no issues with fertility. My cochins on the other hand 🙄
All Marans use quite a bit of iron to make that dark color bloom. They are craving blood because their diet needs more of it. Its a unique need for that breed, no hate just commonly unknown diet requirement. Free range Marans rarely have this problem since they can supplement from high iron weeds. I even caught my Marans in the road once feasting on roadkill. I built a chicken salad bar with spinach and mustards after that.
This is very interesting, thank you for sharing!
We have 3 marans and they don't feather pluck either. They do range all around they yard, more so than the other breeds we have.
That is not true, they need more protein, not iron. If you saw them eating road kill it was protein not iron. To lay darker eggs they need protein, most commercial food doesn’t have enough for them. There is a big difference in between those two supplemental needs, you could actually kill them by adding that much more iron to their diet. It will cause liver failure. You’re on the right track just wrong reason.
Meat both have protein and iron @@Sea-cucumber1151
I agree. We feed ours with a supplement of iron and are perfectly calm and loving
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 in the US about them as feather 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 from the US 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 the Deathlayer will "magickly" get away and stay safe. I did not have this breed, but I have Brakels and they are closely related to the Deathlayers. When my neighbors dog got into my yard and started chasing the chickens, all were running around and flapping with their wings, but the Brakels literally took to the air and flew away some 4 houses in other gardens.
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’m a fan of the Foghorn Leghorn
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I raised the black and white Marans. Lovely birds and I liked them nearly as much as the barred Plymouth Rocks. You do have to look close at their feathers to tell which is which. I've never had an issue with my chickens pecking to the point of bringing blood. I suspect that the nasty black goo I apply to the injured area at the first sign of a bird being singled out and pecked helped to prevent all the birds in the flock pecking. I don't raise chickens as pets yet, so they become pets and usually they choose me to be their buddy. I've raised farm hybrids which I considered good birds for duel purpose. I don't like to breed them beyond the first generation.
I'm absolutely sure of it. I have had the same experience. No pickers among any of my marins. I keep both copper and cuckoo marans and have had no problems what so ever. I do know if any chicken gets too inbred, they'll start having issues, so I agree that perhaps some new blood might be good for the flock. Also, I almost never buy from the large hatcheries. It seems to guarantee problems. I try to find individuals who breed high quality birds, then buy birds from different individuals who have birds which are in no way related. Doing that, I end up getting healthy birds, and a near 100% hatch rate even in an incubator. If I use a broody hen, it's even better.
@@carolannroberts You can order them from azure standard!
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!
I'll sell you a chicken.
Same 😂😂😂!!! I find this so fascinating 😂.
I cannot imagine a person leaving you a nasty comment. Great video with special knowledge most people do not talk about and interesting commentary.
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!
Aw. I am so sorry for your loss. Easter egger are the best… I have one named Peanutbutter who always jumps onto my back when I bend down in the chicken yard haha. She will also fly up onto my shoulders when I walk into the run sometimes. She is extremely social, one of the few chickens that my entire family can pick up
❤❤❤🐔❤❤❤
My sister gave us her 4 Buff Orpingtons and 2 Easter eggers along with her self made coup that was built with winter in mind (no ventilation, reflective ceiling, 4 inch gap on the bottom because of wheels). I had been working extremely hard to make sure the chickens were good, checking on them like 4 times a day because we couldnt let them out until the coup had a metal fence around it to help protect against hawks. i came home after a long day with my father out the house and came home to one of the easter eggers dead... My heart was and is broken about it, i knew it was likely dehydration and to make sure- i dont have a vet that could do an autopsy so i looked online, and found she might have had a heartattack or stroke based on how she was laying once we found her
I once worked at a place that had 17 acres of woodland and the chickens just wandered about doing chicken things. It was interesting to see what wild chickens did. What sticks in my mind is how at dusk they would fly into a tree and sleep in the natural hollow where a branch meets the trunk. It seems like they would share egg sitting duties with the pheasants and sometimes you'd see pheasant chick's following a chicken about vica versa
Ain’t nature grand! I have an “escaped” meat rabbit that hangs out with my hens. He eats the morning scratch grains with them, tucks under the deck during hot sunny afternoons with them and then returns to the enclosed & roofed chicken run at night. He and a few hens cuddle up and sleep on top of the rabbit cages. It’s weird and quite amusing. 🐓🐇
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.
Nice video.
Orps and Wyandottes were on my short list, but because I'm an idiot I ended up doing my own 3 way cross to get what I needed for the living conditions where I am (and aesthetic considerations).
Barred Rocks for hardiness/utility, barred large fowl Cochins for thick down/body weight/temperament, and lavender and splash Ameraucanas to throw some pea comb genetics, fuzzy cheeks, and a little bit of egg variety.
3 generations in, and I'm starting to get 8-10lb , fluffy, blue barred, fuzzy footed, bearded, pea-combed birds that eagerly eat snow instead of touching their heated water. (and also have the spirit of a golden retriever)
or, as most poultry snobs would say, I have trash easter eggers.
Those sound awesome, I want some lol
🤣🤣 They sound great! Fun with genetics. 👍🏻
I am 68 years old and raised chickens most of my life. I started as a child when my parents had chickens. A couple of good breeds I always liked was Rhode Island Reds and Barred Plymouth Rocks. The Wyandotte's were also a very good breed. I raised Bantam's for many years and really enjoyed them. I don't have any chickens now but my neighbor does and I enjoy hearing the roosters crow. Maybe I'll build a coop and get a few someday. I enjoyed your video, thank you for sharing.
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.
I've had a lot of RIR hens and roosters. Great layers, good for meat, good mothers. Mine were not interested in human attention and actually avoided touch. Even so, I really like them as they are good farm birds that are free range.
I have 4RIR that were given to me. They truly are tame. Great layers. I wish I could turn them out to free range but we have wild predators and I’d be so upset to lose any. Also my two dogs would have to be confined
“All my other birds have had a more standoffish, ‘livestock’ personality.” 😂
Those birds are just trying to keep it “not personal” for when you send them to Freezer Camp!🤣🫣😂
It’s kinda hard to send to Freezer Camp the ones that just want to love on you. Especially when they tilt their heads and say, “What’s ya doing?!” or “You knows I loves ya, right?!” 😊😂
@@TheRogZone Yeah, that's what happened with my RIR! She's just a pet now. :D
i have 4 RIR and two of them mainly just follow the leader kinda and i call them Stouges because they dont do anything without one of the other 2. another one is named Olivia and she is sweet as can be but is terrified of everything despite being introduced to something multiple times. my last one is named Ginger after the chicken in chicken run because she tries to escape and has 3 times, and is also mean and loves to challenge me by pecking the heck of my hand despite the others never pecking me once.
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!
I agree. Leghorns are flighty. My Hamburgs might as well have been sparrows. Never owned Campines. My current favorite is my Welsummers. Mine have been friendly, calm, good layers and foragers. My newest ones are Blue Andalusians. We will see how that goes, but I have a feeling they might be pretty nutso also.
I’ve owned golden campines. They are absolutely crazy and I personally think they are way worse than leghorns. All they do is try to escape and mine absolutely refuse to lay in the layer boxes. They also are not very friendly and are nearly impossible to catch. I can imagine they’re similar to the golden death layers in the video.
But that’s just my experience! 🙃
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 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!
Australorp and wyandotte are my favorite. Australorp lay like nobody’s business and Wyandottes are so friendly.
@EB_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
@EB_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
@@victorbunch7725 where did you get your australorps from? My black australorps lay daily. They are absolute machines at laying.
Speckled Sussex are my favorite. I love that they are medium sized dual purpose. Ours were great layers and smart. We lost all of our flock one year except a single Sussex. She was like a dog. She followed us everywhere, came when called, was always happy to join us and the dogs or the horses in whatever we were doing. If I ever get chickens again they is the first breed I will get and definitely would always keep if I have chickens.
I’m with you! I love my Speckled Sussex hens! So friendly and curious!
Same here. Speckled sussex are so beautiful, calm, excellent layers and great meat. My rooster was the sweetest rooster I've ever had. The hens were all sweet, too.
My favorite too
Same. Speckled Sussex have been my favorite breed for 20 years now.
@@sremel9 so sorry you lost your flock. That's why I can't do it again. I cried so many times.
I love my black copper Marans! I buy eggs from breeders & hatch them myself. They all have been sweet, non feather picking chickens. Going on 8 yrs with them. Our favorite breed is Serama, not for homesteaders, but we enjoy them so much, cos they’re so such sweet, friendly pets.
I love love love my lavender Orpington and my light Brahma. They are so cuddly and friendly.
I can’t believe more people don’t have Brahmas. They’re gorgeous and mine are like little puppies following me around. Such sweet girls.
@@debbiebrown9032I’m struggling to find a breeder of Brahmas that have fertile eggs 😢
My favorite breed over the past 20 years of raising chickens is Speckled Sussex. They are calm, friendly, curious and beautiful. My second favorite breed is Buff Orpingtons for the same reasons, but also because they get along with everyone and are never aggressive.
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.
My boyfriend's blue splash maran does that too! And my pullet blue splash maran sat on me for the first time today. ❤ love them
I like my golden laced wayondottes but my buff orphingtons are my favorite
I appreciate your list. Might I give my three favorite breeds?
1. New Hampshire - layers a ton of XL eggs, friendly, outgoing. They tend to be top of the pecking order.
2. Americana - for all the reasons you said. Solid birds, lots of fun eggs.
3. Red/black/golden sexlinks - excellent egg production. Hardy in Utah weather. Friendly and intelligent.
I'm an expert in dog breeds and it's interesting how similarly we chose our breeds... AMAZING BREEDER! Love your ethics!💙
Least favorite (out of chickens that I have owned) would go to Golden Laced Wyandotte, purely because they are pretty aggressive to other chickens, and they are super flighty. I have a variety of breeds, so a breed that doesn’t get along well with my other chickens is a problem. I don’t plan on getting rid of the one I have currently, but once she’s gone, I probably won’t be getting another anytime soon.
Favorites (oh boy I have a lot) would go to Plymouth Rocks, Rainbow Dixies, and Easter Eggers. I love my Plymouth Rock girl, even though she has scoliosis. She’s a little special, but she’s super sweet. She’s also very vocal, which I understand many people would find annoying and unfavorable, but I like having my daily discussions with Jelly! My rainbow Dixie is a massive dual purpose girl, about the same size as my large rooster currently. He’s still got time to grow, but she is massive. She doesn’t enjoy being picked up much, but she likes to sit in my lap and get pets. She kind of always looks like a confused dinosaur, and I adore her for it. She was attacked by a dog about seven months ago, had a nasty injury, but with the help of some antibiotics and painkillers, we were able to get her through. She has shown great resilience, and despite not being super warm hardy (due to her size, probably), she is very cold hardy and handles any weather like a champ.
My all time favorite chicken is the Easter egger. I currently have an Easter egger by the name of Peanutbutter, and she is just the absolute sweetest. Jumps on my back whenever I’m handing out snacks, flies up to my shoulder when I walk into the run, stands on my foot and picks at my pants to get picked up. She is such an amazing and social bird, she loves my entire family. She also lays very beautiful light blue eggs (not unlike your Amaraucanas) and she lays almost every day! I love her little bears and muffs, and her small size makes her easy to snuggle. She is a wonderful chicken, and I will certainly be owning more Easter eggers in the future.
Kinda Funny. We bought 4 Blue/Red Laced and they are quite the characters. They are our first chickens ever and its kind of a relief to see you speaking so highly of them.
I don’t have chickens but think they are beautiful. Learned a lot also. Thank you for sharing.
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.
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.
Gold Laced Wyandottes as far as temperament and going broody. Blue Orpington and Australorps are great but the Roosters can get extremely large and stiff legged but are very docile. All the Sussex's are good and most go broody. Buff, Speckled, Coronation and Light Sussex and are great all-rounders. Overall the Golden Wyandottes are my picks for great chooks, not the best egg producer but well behaved and quiet and great broody hens and mothers. 2nd place would go to Buff and Speckled Sussex. Orpington and Australorps deserve 3rd spot. Australorps were bred from Orpington's so I lump them in together. In 4th spot Cream Legbars because of their blue eggs and the Roosters are true gentlemen but they are a little too timid and flighty overall. If you have the room select your favourite breeds but always keep some Wyandottes for going broody.
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!
@@TheHomesteadTrail They are the Golden Retrievers of chickens -- faithful, loving, come when called, and will sit in your lap while you pet them. Just the sweetest ever.
@ulexite-tv ❤❤❤
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 Wyandotte variety. I found your opinion helpful. Thank you very much sincerely. I have some safires too. California whites. Silky bread, Rhode Island Reds two chicken houses. Keeping safe, & well fed/watered. ❤😊
Lol! My blue splash Ameraucana is constantly in BROODY Jail!
I'm new with chickens. I bought 4 Buff Orphington & 2 Black Sex Links from Tractor Supply & I just love these girls. They're only around 4 months & the most friendly, loveable, & funny chickens ever!
Oh enjoy them!! I had two buffs that only lived a year but they were super sweet!
Yes, have fun with them! My hens are amusing and comforting to me every day….and I’m almost 3 years into owning chickens. I’ll never be without hens! For future info, TSC sells “straight run” chicks and you may end up with some roosters in there. I found a local feed & supply store that sells “guaranteed females” for a few dollars more. Worth it for me as I don’t want roosters.
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.
Can't beat a Speckled Sussex for all the reasons you mentioned. My beautiful girl was killed by a hawk.
Thank you so much for sharing. We are in California and I appreciate your clarifications on why you rated these chickens the way you did. I have zero experience and would love them to be friendly, happy "pet like" never to be eaten, but eggs would be great right after getting along with each other and us. Thanks again!
Thanks, fun to watch. many, many years ago I had a banty hen as a pet. She got very smart. Better than a lot of dogs and most cats I've had. And the little eggs were fun for a kid
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 was torn between Orpingtons or Wyandottes. Thanks for the video 🙏 I wasn't sure if wyandottes were docile, but this gives me some peace of mind
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
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.
Lol so I just bought two olive eggers and six marans. I didn't know this about them picking. Goodness
I have a new flock of silver and gold lace Wyandottes. I love them, but I was not sure of what I purchased, I mean their nature. I am gladder than ever now. Thank you for sharing. Mine are 10 weeks old.
I had an older beautiful Golden Orpington rooster, that I bough for my hens from a local breeder planning to hatch some chicks. He acted as an aristocrat, walked kind of funny, carrying himself around our garden like a lord checking his lands. He was a quite type who spent a great deal of his time just watching the skies and while he let me pick him up and gently pet his wattles, he was too proud to ever take a treat from my hand.
My mom called him an inapt rooster only good for showing off and as he was the only male in the flock, she suggested to replace him with a more energetic one.
I filled the incubator up with all the eggs I could collect, keeping my hopes low, wondering if at least some of them will hatch, as although I have seen him to court his 9 ladies every now and then, entertaining them with his little dances, I have never ever seen him to mount any of them.
Turned out every single egg was fertilized, he just clearly preferred to keep certain things private.
My first rooster was an older one too, he had that stately walk. He sacrificed himself for some predator to save his girls. My younger roo is much more flexible and faster, I realized that the first roo was just an old gentleman.
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!
Good information needs to be presented, even if not popular. Great video.
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.
They are beautiful ❤ I have lavender Orpingtons and love them. We're thinking of getting silkies soon 😊
I’m delighted with your opinions - you are shedding light on some interesting “issues”. I have 8 hens that free range on my ppty. I need “community” birds that play well together. I’m SO glad you revealed that Copper Maran issue. Also, I appreciate your comment on weather. I’m in central NC and we do have some beastly hot & humid days here. My Beilefelder (sp?) is a dual-purpose German breed and seems to suffer the most in summer - altho it won’t cut down on her voracious appetite! My fave are my 2 Ameraucanas - tufted checks, sweet and curious puppy-hens. Lots of pretty eggs from those 2. My least favorite hen is the very pretty & docile Barred Rock - it’s just that she sounds as if she’s crying ALL day. Too sad for me hear as I love those chicken sounds from my “crew”. My girls come when they are called, they follow me around the ppty and they “help” me when I garden. They gather on my back deck and knock on the door for treats. Yes - I’ve been trained to promptly provide treats. 🤣. Lots of hiding spots and shade during the day and a locked, predator-proof enclosure and hen house for the night. No rooster for me, too small a ppty for all that noise! Will add Wyandotte!
My barred rocks sound the same and they always "cry". Louder than my australorps.
I have a red lace Wyandotte. Just 1 among my silkies. Silkies are my favorite but are Wyandotte is probably everyone's favorite. Lays great super friendly never gone broody (hatchery girl) we just really love her ❤️
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 totally agree with you on the prairie bluebell.. they were a pain in the butt!!
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 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.
My favorite chicken was Elvis, a pet Silkie!(Precious little guy who'd sit in your lap for hours as you read a book. Who doesn't love a chicken with an Elvis Pompadour! Very clean bird, too! )
We LOVE our sweet Ameraucana too.
They came from a great breeder in Columbia La.
Also, our German Bielefelders are gorgeous and so incredibly docile and sweet. They are probably my favorite.
Our white French Bresse are gems, as well. (From Bresse Farms in Ms).
Then, we absolutely LOVE our BCMs.
They’ve never feather picked and came from two different places (a breeder in Columbia, La and from Justin at Bresse Farms in Ms).
Ours are happy birds and get along well. We will replace a roo who decided we were no longer to enter his tractor, but other than that, they’re nice birds with very dark eggs.
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.
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.
You have gorgeous chickens. The last wyandotte with wine colors in her feathers are beautiful!
We used to have a white leg horn rooster, our only rooster. We had kept him as a pet. He lived up to 5yrs (as far as I remember), but then family thought he served better purpose on the dinner plate. I couldn't fathom eating the rooster I raised... He's not aggressive though he has a beef with slippers.
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.
I like my eastereggers, I have 2 which are still laying after 8 years and they are calm. I also recently got some polish last year, they are friendly and curious, on the down side they are lightweight and that combined with their crests seems to make them less good for cold wet winter weather.
Great information! Thank you so much as I’m carefully considering choose three hens for my first little flock. For me, here in Florida, I’ve been told to consider Buff Orpingtons, Plymouth Rock, and Rhode Island Red…
I don’t think you can go wrong with that line-up! All good birds. Any reason to go with only 3 birds? You may have a community restriction, of course. Chickens are flock animals. Five would be no more work than 3 hens and I recommend that as a better base. If you’re going with a straight-run of chicks, you may end up with 1 hen and 2 roosters. This happened to my neighbors. The roosters tormented that hen and the neighbors had no idea since they both worked long hours. Enjoy your chickens - they are SO much fun! (go for 5!) 👍🏻
@@joannc147 thank you so much for your reply! Glad I’m on the right track. As for three, no restrictions on the number I can have…was just worried about having more eggs than I can consume…though I’m sure my neighbors would appreciate fresh organic eggs for free … question: if I was to get adult hens from my neighbor (she’s about 1/4 mile from me) do you think they’d try to go back home? I ask because she has far more hens than she needs and said I could pick several to start my flock. They’re all healthy and producing eggs. Thoughts?
@@lizzieb6311 hey! First, # of eggs is rarely 1 each day. During the sunny days of summer, you’ll have max production and 3 hens may give you 9-15 eggs per week depending on age and breed. I have 8 hens and only rec’d 8 eggs per day TWICE this season….3-5 is avg. As to getting adult birds from your neighbor, I’d say that may be the most tempting option. However, the drive to return to the home evening roost is a strong one. Sorta “home roost or die”.situation. They would definitely have a stress issue. I’m not qualified to answer this one as I raised mine from 2 days old….in my home, in the guest bathroom. That put the stress on ME and not the birds! 🤣 Adopting adult birds will require that you have an inescapable situation for them as of mid-afternoon. I have a 20’ fully enclosed & covered run. I also have current hens that would squabble with the newbies but would also teach them where to roost at night. In your case, their “sisters” will call to them - are they out of earshot? Lots to research! Worth the effort, hens are great. Good luck!
@@joannc147 what wonderful information! I am so appreciative! I think I’ll do the chicks in the hall bathroom option like you did…they can bond with me that way too! I’m glad my instincts were correct on the adult hens likely wanting to return home…they certainly don’t need any extra stress. I think I will go with five hens….i have a very large backyard (3/4 acre) and i think I may get a tractor coop as I have MANY red tail hawks, owls, and a pair of bald eagles I see now and then…they definitely need cover otherwise I’d turn them loose. I do love hens. My neighbor has Plymouth Rocks..Rhode Island Reds..and Buff Orpingtons. The buffs are as cuddles and sweet as a dog! It is so odd to me how they seem to enjoy being held. I can’t wait to get started with them. Again…thank you!! 🐔🐔🐥
@@lizzieb6311 yay!
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 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.
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.
Thank you! I appreciate this information. I have a flock of a dozen Rhode Island Reds, and a white hen given to me by a friend. They are excellent layers but they are SO MEAN to each other! It took me FOREVER to figure out what was happening to their feathers. Every time I go out to the chicken yard, they are clamoring at the gate knowing I will probably be bringing a little treat for them. I couldn't seem to catch them in the act, but now I finally realize they are feather picking terribly when I'm not around. Next time I'll try to find your #1 pick.
Thank you for the wonderful video. I’m new to this, but I read a list that mentioned the chickens that got along with other chickens the best and I’ve tried to stick to those. Plus, i wanted chickens that would lay eggs in high volume. I have Buffalo Orpingtons, White Sussex, Rhode Island Red and Wyandottes.. I may have 1-2 other breeds in very small quantities, but that’s it. They all get along pretty well. The Sussex were my first batch and they have been welcoming enough to the newer groups of chicks/hens.
This was a great video! Very helpful! We are just getting started on our flock and purchased some that were advertised as being docile and they are not. But not everyone has the same experience, some people on here need to realize that! lol! I’m grateful for your information and can’t wait to add on some of those favorites!!!
My gran grew up on a farm. Her favorites were Leghorn & Rhode Island Red 😊✌
I don't like white chicken or white eggs, but I did buy some brown leghorn they are my best layers.
But white eggs
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.
My favorite is the speckled Sussex because I fell in love with my girl Penny who has the nicest sweetest most amazing chicken ever! The door latch broke one day to the coop and all my chickens got out. I had a fenced in yard so it wasn’t a big deal and while all the other chickens ran around the yard and went into hiding, penny walked all the way up the steps and I sleep at the back door waiting for me. I went outside and scoop there right up and gave her snuggles, and put her back in the coop, and I had to chase the other ones around and get them back in. I miss my penny
I love orpingtons! I always recommend them to people for first time owners. They're so sweet and docile
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.
@@michellecurtis9696 they’re called peepers lol
"Literally watch a car as it runs over them" 😂😂😂 (The Jubilee English Orpington)
My favorite breeds are my Ameraucanas and my Wyandottes also! We had the sweetest, smartest rooster that was a Wyandotte.
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 RUclips 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!
Thank you for this nice video. Super nice.
Loved hearing your thoughts on different breeds, my English Orpingtons are also pretty dumb!
Wyandotte's are very great birds they sweet and I'm Convinced that they live a long time mine I had for 7 years and she was already retired chicken and I got her
My beloved blue laced red Wyandottes were my faves too. They had gorgeous blue and brassy red feathering, but some fools exerted pressure to tone them down to gray and maroon for the breeding standard. So dumb. They were breathtaking blue and red birds.
My top three are actually the three I have right now.
3. Blue laced red wyandotte. They are pretty clever and beautiful to look at. Mine aren't the friendliest but they do tolerate me pretty well. My rooster is one to. Beautiful handsome boy. He has very little silver in him. He's just about entirely black and red.
2. Easter eggers. They come in so many colors and patterns. No two of mine look alike. The roosters are also always gorgeous without fail. They're pretty skittish so I don't lose them to predation often. Every once in awhile one decides it likes me and will tolerate my affection.
1. Barred conchin. They're do fluffy and sweet. They're beautiful. My favorite chicken Lilly is quite affectionate. She just went broody for the first time. Such a sweet girl.
I don't have least favorite chickens. I love all of them.
For UK hen rescuers, Warrens are our most intensively farmed breeds. They get repaid for their prolific laying by being slaughtered at 18 months! Luckily, we got ours from a local rescuer. Too old to tame? Not a bit of it! After 2 nights our 3 put themselves to bed at nightfall. In one week, 2 would eat out of my hand, the other 1 took 2 weeks. After a month, the greediest one would jump onto my lap for treats. When we clean out their coop or enter their run with shard leaves, they crowd around our feet. They were still laying, 3 a day until last week which is too many for the 2 of us, now it's 2 a day, which still gives us extras to give away. They are enormous fun and clever little creatures
I have 2 Marans. One blue and one cuckoo, I've never had the feather pecking issue. They are very chill, mellow, and laid back.
Totally agree. Wyandottes are the best. Have bred gold laced, silver laced and whites, over the years, that I lived in Australia (now living in the USA, Ohio) Unfortunately no longer can… city living sucks! Miss my chooks. (Chooks is Aussie for chickens)
My best hen is a buff orpington. She always comes running when she hears me approach the pen and likes to get a petting. I have several laced wyandottes (love them), a black jersey giant, and a few others. They all seem to get along. But I suspect I have an egg eater. I rarely see more than 3 eggs a day from my seven hens.
Blue red Wyandottes are some of my favorite looking chickens. I've had a few! I've had Wyandotte in lots of colors
I raised chickens for years, and found my two favorite breeds - Australorps and Sex-links. They were my pets and I sold their eggs. Australorps are so fun to watch, because they like to "talk" to each other, and are great egg-layers. Sex-links are such a pleasure to watch and would come running over to me and always stayed close by. I let them out during the day, keeping an eye out for hawks or anything else. They love their dirt baths!! They were also incredible brown egg-layers, with the richest color yolks ever. Many of them were double-yolk eggs. And I had a few Americaunas. The people at work loved their small blue eggs (especially for their kids) and the yolks were as big as the eggs from the Australorps and Sex-links. One of our Americaunas was such a mean little thing. He would march around his area l ike a soldier, so we called him Meany. We had seen him at a couple of county fairs and then bought him. He was really something! He and a couple others had two little ones we called Rico and Anita. Anita was the sweetest thing ever, but Rico was just like his daddy! And, we had a flock of guineas, that made wonderful guards! All of my fowl were able to stand hot summers and cold winters! We would clean their coop and pour their dried leavings all over a big garden. That was fabulous fertilizer! Those days were a lot of fun!
Pecking order.I use to have a few chickens, Barred rocks and a white Orpington. Everybody pecks. They are chubby as at the time I lived in colorado and it would get cold. If you let them in the garden they will fertilize the crops.
Great talk. I like the sweedish flower. They are a bit aggressive and pretty chill.
I've narrowed down my choices to Good to Excellent Layers, Rose Combs, Non-Setters, Good Temperament, Non-Flighty, Hardy, Free-Range, and Long-Lived. A mix of heavy and lighter breeds for where we live, which is the Ozarks. We make sure to have plenty of chickens, so they can pile up on the roost in the winter and keep each other warm. It gets plenty cold in the winter, and the summers can be awful. I chose from tried-and-true breeds. My personal favorite is the Barred Rock.
Buckeyes
Barred Rocks/Dominques
Black Astralorps
New Hampshire Reds
Rhode Island Reds
Red Stars
Anconas
Orpingtons are great. I used to have a hen that would "step up" onto my wrist, and she loved being petted and loved.
I really like my bared rock hens. Great layers, friendly, and intelligent.
If I could have only one breed It would be the barred Plymouth Rocks or the Speckled Sussex. I enjoy them both more than the other breeds.
I’ve got 6 barred rocks. They are heaven. A little care and handling and they come to say hi then get back to work. They are actively catching up bugs about 7-9 hours a day now. The neighbors started feeding them as well. So almost no food cost, cold tolerant, incredible workers, regular if not spectacular layers. They get along great with other livestock and seem supportive of each other. Not a trait I’m used to in chickens.
Yep, nailed it. If we were going up to 5 I would add Cochins and Buff Orpingtons. We have 6 kids, and they are super handleable. The Americaunas are the friendliest (my daughter trains her chickens to do tricks 😂), but I don't necessarily need my chickens to be like pets, I just need them to be gentle enough for a kid to handle.
We just started with chickens. Long story so I'll skip most of it to say I hatched Silkies and Easter Eggers for my 1st graders. Mainly because of the egg colors, I figured it wouldn't get them engaged and it did, and becauae they're docile and I have 2 grandbabies. Only 1 of each survived, so I am looking for somewhere around KY for 1 more of each. We just bought 2 Rhode Island Reds and two Sapphire Olive Eggers and One Blue Gold Laced Wyandotte, one Silver Laced Wyandotte, and two Prairie Blue Eggers from Rural King. One of the Reds, Penelope and The Blue Gold Laced Guinevere, will come right over and jump in your hand. Most of the rest are OK with being picked up but not thrilled with it.
Im in South Africa, fascinating breeds you guys have in usa, love your passion
Nice! I recently got 6 chicks, 2 of each breed, including 2 Midnight Marans. Interestingly the guy who grabbed the chicks chose 1 Maran who was about 3 weeks older that the other 5 chicks. She turned out to be mild-mannered and acted as a mom to the others. The small Maran got picked on by a couple of rowdy hybrids, Starlight something (supposed to lay olive colored eggs). She lost a lot of her feathers quickly until I found the Pick No More, now she's feathering out. My first hens were Orpingtons, Buff and Black Austalorp, and 2 Barred Rocks. They are all very mild-tempered and easy. I will try your Blue Laced Red Wyandotte next time!
I LOVE Silkies and Brahmas! Super sweet birds
My favorite rooster was my silver laced Wyandotte. It lived to 15 and was sweet as can be. I was very sad when he stroked out.
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.
Loved this video very informative and interesting to watch. We don't have chickens but would love to get some one day.
I have to agree, Wyandottes are great birds!