Before I started writing for Hobby Farms and Chickens , before I focus my journalism on agrarian issue , I was known as the Chelsea Chicken Lady — one of the two individuals responsible for flummox the city ofChelsea , Michigan , tolegalize backyard quite a little . But even before that , I was a longtime chicken owner , helping friends , menage , neighbors and perfect strangers choose chicken breeds and navigatepoultry issues . I was called on for service duringChick Daysby local feed and farm - supply stores and folks have it away I demo my birds at poultry shows around the Midwest . And long before that , I was a kid who helped take care of her grandmother ’s rooster and hen .
It ’s safe to say that chickens have been part of my biography for most of my creation . It ’s also safe to say that , over the years , I ’ve catch to know numerous dissimilar breed of chickens . My close association with poultry has give me insight into these Gallus gallus breeds , brainwave that many microflock owners have count on to help guide their breed choices with question like , “ I ’m thinking about [ insert breed of interest here ] , and I interpret that they are docile / flighty / aggressive / poor layers / great mothers / etc . What ’s the good verity ? ”
The honest truth is that I can only go by my decades of experience . I do know that what I ’ve encountered with a few chicken stock completely contradict the oecumenical data found online . So … get out your salt mover and shaker , because those cereal of salt may come in ready to hand as you study my honest verity about the 18 chicken breeds we ’ve raised over the year . Here are the first five .
Ameraucana
We added White , Blue and BlackAmeraucanas(pictured above ) to our farm because of their beautiful baby - blue ballock , the same sort laid by their rarer Araucana cousins . We had read that , like Araucanas , Ameraucanas had reproductive issues due to genetics . To our delectation and relief , this was never evidenced in our flock .
The Ameraucana girl laid an norm of three to four testicle each per calendar week , and every Ameraucana egg we incubated think of . And we did n’t have to brood many . The Ameraucana girls surprise us again by being almost as meditative as our Orps … not necessarily a good affair when we had customers waiting for dark - egg dozens .
Our Ameraucana hens were fabulous mothers , guide their dame well into maturity . Pullets really stay with their mother as adult , creating little multigenerational young woman group in our flock . We made another unexpected find about Ameraucanas , too . They turn out to be our longest - producing layers , with our girlfriend on a regular basis laying at least one egg per week well into their sixth year — and some beyond .
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These Ameraucanas also turned out to be our longest - live chicken . Our Black Ameraucana , Dolly , turned 11 this retiring June . Our Ameraucana boys were also nothing to sneeze at . After our Orpingtons , our Ameraucana roosters were our salutary protector , always watching for predators or anything unusual in their runs or in our grounds . Our Blue Ameraucana rooster , Jefferson , was one of my all - fourth dimension preferred roosters . He was n’t as cuddly as my Orpington son — our Ameraucanas basically permit our comportment — but he protected his flock , engender many chicks , and never failed to make his hens his precedency .
Old English Game Bantam
We never mean to raiseOld English Game Bantams , or any sort of bantam for that matter . bantam would not produce eggs of a marketable size of it , and integrating them with a large - fowl flock would be almost inconceivable . We had already made accommodations — figuratively and literally — for our Silkies . We were set … until I made a running to our farm - supply store and heard the cheeping from the Chick Days stock tanks .
I right away fell in dearest with the teeny baby chicks with the chipmunk stripe down their rachis . I could fit three of them on the palm of my manus ! They were so niminy-piminy . I could n’t resist .
I had dead no theme what breed these babies were . They were listed as “ Assorted Bantams . ” consecrate research determined that these bird were Old English Game Bantams . I was horrified to say that this dame was originally bred to game combat , was aggressive , extremely active , and would not interact well with other crybaby breeds .
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Uh oh
I presently distinguish that these write - ups were completely incorrect . Not only were our Old English Game Bantams well-disposed with us , they endeared themselves to the other chicks in our brooder . Everybody wanted to be their friends , and the nightly chick - carpet snoozefest had the Old English Game Bantams smack in the center . When it was time to move our juveniles to their coops , the Old English Game Bantams went along , happily settling in with our Easter Eggers .
The maven of the trio was Belle , identify so because she was a pretty lilliputian princess . While all three of our Old English Game Bantams eagerly rushed over to greet us , Belle would wait for me to put out my palm . She ’d then hop onto my hand and , from there , to my shoulder .
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Belle was my fraud parrot . She adored perching up there while I completed my outdoor chores . She was the epitome of affectionate .
In fact , Belle was the footling chicken that attended all the organizational meetings that led to the metropolis of Chelsea O.K. backyard - flock ownership . The council members were enchanted by the charming little Belle , who mirthfully let anyone who so desired oblige her . Never did we find any aggression towards us or any world or any agonistic tendencies towards the other birds .
The Old English Game Bantams were indeed highly active . They behaved like youngster in a candy shop , die hard all over the chiliad , investigating everything . We chose to discontinue breeding the Old English Game Bantams to rivet on the standard breeds , but I would in spades urge this Gallus gallus to anyone seeking a cute poultry pet .
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Orpington
One of my top three Gallus gallus stock , my husband , Jae , and I jump raisingOrpingtonsbecause they were on the Livestock Conservancy ’s Priority List of endangered poultry species . In addition , Orpingtons were supposed to be docile and tender .
Over the years , we have arouse Buff , White , Black , Blue , Lavender and Jubilee Orpingtons . With only one exclusion — Angel , the first Buff Orpington cockerel we brood — every single one of our Orpingtons has been gentle , favorable and sweet-flavored in disposition . All of our cock ( except Angel ) have been carefully attentive of their biddy , calling them for treat , alerting them to possible piranha , and unwaveringly shepherd them as they roam our acreage .
They were also excellent fathers . In fact , two of our son — Arnold and Claude — sic eggs concisely so the broody of the moment could debase her legs . Our Orpington hens were first-class layer , producing an average of four to five large brownish egg every week .
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I estimate about one-half of the little girl would go brooding at the drop of a hat . One of our Black Orpington hens , Fitz , was so enamored with motherhood that she hide 18 of her bollock under a bush , then led us on a frantic search one night when she was n’t present for lock chamber - up . We transferred Madame Broody and her tremendous clutch to a incubator , and of course all 18 successfully hatched .
Orpingtons are first-class foragers ; swift demolishers of stray toads , mice and snake ; and incredibly intelligent . Observation taught them where their humans emerge with those tasty kitchen scraps , and for years we ’d discover a mob of Orps wait for us outside our kitchen slew - glass room access . The bolder ones would knock on the doorway with their beaks to call us .
Orpingtons were one of the chicken breeds that plunge our fowl farm and , class later , they are still our main stock .
Silkie
It ’s hard not to love aSilkie . This living fluffball is so gentle and endear that you ’ll require to own them all .
That ’s pretty much what pass to us . We started with a quatern of Buff Silkies . The next thing we cognise , we had Blue Silkies , Black Silkies , White Silkies and Splash Silkies . We keep bearded and whiskerless , and all of them were lovely , though we soon phased out our whiskerless bunc . ( They just were n’t “ poofy ” enough for us . )
Everything I ’d translate about this loveable stock ’s disposition was honest . Silkies are surprisingly broad . My sons carried them in middling parade , pucker them under an arm to seek for Easter eggs with them , sit around on the couch — inside!—and read with them on their laps . Silkies are the thoroughgoing pet crybaby .
They ’re also amazing setters and mothers . If Orpington go broody at the drop cloth of a hat , Silkies go broody at the nictation of an heart , even on golf game balls and rocks . Our Silkie hens were n’t majuscule layer — each average out about two to three eggs per week — but they happily dream up and raised other poultry ’s young and continued to mother them even when the chicks were fully adult .
There are some drawbacks to these beautiful bantams , however . They are terrible foragers , even in their own enclosed run , maybe because their visual modality can be obscured by foreland bagatelle . Silkies are also short on brains . I ’ve lost counting how many times we ’ve had to show our Silkies the entrance to their coop , the locating of their nestboxes , how to roost , how to drink from their waterer , etc . The term “ addlehead ” was probably coin after an clash with a Silkie .
They also do poorly in cold weather due to their feather structure . Still , Silkies are idealistic for exhibition , their striking looks winning them many prize . They ’re also perfect microflock domestic fowl , peculiarly for small urban and suburban yards . Of all the poulet strain we ’ve raise over the years , Silkies — chicks and concoct eggs — have always been our best vender . Silkies join Orpingtons as one of our original breeds and one of our top three dearie .
Wyandotte
Like the Orpington , theWyandottewas one of the first chicken breeds we raised on our poultry farm , and for the same reason : They were on the Livestock Conservancy ’s Priority List and were described as friendly , docile and great for family with children .
We began with six Silver - Laced Wyandotte dame , which we raise the accurate same way as our half - 12 Orpington babies . The birds received band of cuddles , TLC and hand - fed mealworm treats to rail them to recognize and trust us . While this method — which we still use — worked marvellously with the Orpingtons , the Wyandottes grew less and less lovesome as they grow up .
Stunning birds , the Wyandottes were a very cohesive flock . The hens always stick within a few pes of their rooster . The hens produced an average of four large brown eggs per week , but show dead no tendency towards broodiness . In all honesty , they were an splendid backyard breed : dependable layers , excellent foragers and beautiful to behold .
But I just could n’t get past their aloof attitude , especially when they were described as well-disposed .
I bought four child pullets — also Silver Laced — from a unlike stock breeder just in case our Wyandottes ’ disposition stemmed from inbreeding . regrettably , these novel fille showed the exact same attitude towards us … and towards our old Wyandottes . Our existing deal totally disregard the younger quadruple , even though the pullets joined the original flock outside once they were previous enough to give the incubator . There were no pecking - purchase order squabbles or biddy fights between the two groups . They simply acted as if the other hiss were unseeable .
I was mystified and perturbed and , at long last , decided that Wyandottes were n’t for us . Despite their beauty , their excellent laying and foraging , and their tight - crumple devotion to their group , that detach , dusty calm simply did n’t sink in with me . Wyandottes were the first breed we give up .
Stayed tune up for future instalment of this honest flavour at pop chicken breeds !
