Reviews by feather13

Everybody seems to love Silkies because they are so soft and fluffy. We've had five and they've been hard to keep since our other hens tend to bully them. I'd get more only if I could keep them separate or had 5+ bantams. The one we have now has laid maybe two eggs in over ten months.

We adopted our BSL hen three years ago when a friend couldn't keep her. She lived through an outbreak of respiratory disease that killed almost all of the other chickens and also survived a vicious husky attack. She is a small, grizzled thing, but I love her. She loves to eat insects that dare to venture near her and is fairly good with people. She lets me pet her sometimes, but mostly she just wants to be in the front of the line if there's any food to be had. She's the alpha hen in our thirteen member flock, but she's not mean like our Australorp. She's more like a grouchy, elderly neighbor lady. She minds her own business, but will peck anyone who comes to close to her. This is a great breed to have if you want a very consistent layer of light brown, medium sized eggs

We got two barred rock chicks with eight other breeds (silkies, a buff orpington, rhode island reds, a light brahma, and a wyandotte) to add to our small flock of three older hens. Both barred rocks turned out to be hens. One is much larger than the other, but they are both sweet and good with people. They don't like to be held very much, but they are curious. They are also beautiful birds. I haven't noticed them being bossy and they are in the middle of the pecking order with one very old, grizzled black sex hen link at the top!

We got two RIRs in a batch of ten chicks. We got them from a trusted local breeder, although I wouldn't know the difference between a RIR and a Production Red. Ours are small and friendly. They don't want to be held like the Buff Orpington or the Silkies, but they let us pet them. The only downside is that they are incredibly loud. They are louder than our two cockerels and I'm considering whether or not to give them away. I can't imagine the neighbors appreciate them. They are five months old and I don't know if they are laying yet.

We got a Buff Orpington in a bunch of ten chicks. She is by far the sweetest chicken we've ever had besides Silkies. I don't know if she's started laying yet, but she is always first in line when I go down to the coop and is a very gentle, very sweet bird. Most of our pullets and our two cockerels except for the Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Reds, and Silkies are skittish, so I'm happy to have a friendly bird.

Let me preface this review by saying that I only have one light Brahma rooster. I have no experience with multiple Brahmas or any hens (or any type of rooster, for that matter!), so take this review with a grain of salt. I got him as a chick from a reputable local breeder and he was trouble from the start. He had repeated bouts of pasty butt and never liked being held. He is enormous and gorgeous, but a scaredy cat and clumsy (he knocks things over and will step all over other chickens to get away from people) and super skittish. He does not tolerate being held, although so far (at almost five months old) he is not aggressive to people or other birds. He hasn't started crowing yet, but with a flock of thirteen birds (eleven of which are hens and pullets) and living in a densely populated suburb, I think I will choose the Silkie roo over him even though that little one is a screamer. Hope to find a good home for him because he is truly striking looking and not aggressive.

I hate to be the outlier here, but our Australorp is my least favorite bird. We inherited her from a friend, so didn't raise her from a chick. I would not get another Australorp as ours doesn't have a very interesting personality and lays only one every week during the warm months and never in the winter. We are also slowly introducing new chicks into the flock and she is incredibly aggressive towards them (although she's never pecked or been aggressive towards the adult birds).

We have one Red Sex Link in our flock and I love her! She's one of the best breeds we've had. She's fairly quiet, lays almost every day, is beautiful (she looks just like a rooster!), has a great personality, and is curious. She's at the top of the pecking order, but I've never seen her be aggressive or pick on any other hen. She was attacked last weekend by a stray dog (she is too fearless for her own good) and I'm so relieved that she wasn't seriously injured. I highly recommend this breed for beginners and those with children.

Our Welsummer was an addition to an established flock and at first was picked on a lot. But now she's right at home. She is the least friendly of our birds (along with the Faverolle) and will escape into the front yard if given a chance, but lays GORGEOUS eggs. They are a dark red/brown with lovely speckles. I recommend this breed if you'd like to have some egg color variety, although it doesn't make the friendliest pet.

Along with the Speckled Sussex, our OEG bantam is our favorite of seven breeds. She is such a sweet little thing with a lovely voice. She is the only bantam in the flock and often forages alone or apart from the others, but is not picked on. We just love this little bird! She's a good layer and her eggs are surprisingly large (given her tiny body size). There are only two drawbacks for us though. Before we clipped her wings, she'd fly up onto the neighbor's garage. We were nervous about this for a number of reasons (the neighbor has dogs being one). She is also very broody. Lately she's been escaping from the chicken run and making a nest in the front yard under the bushes. At first I thought she'd been carried away by a hawk or cat, but found her sitting on her little nest. She had covered four eggs with leaves and was sitting on them. We don't have a rooster and it breaks my heart to see how badly she wants to parent! I put the eggs in the coop nest for a day, then substituted plastic Easter eggs for them. Am hoping she won't try to escape again! I HIGHLY recommend this breed.

Of the seven breeds I currently have, the Speckled Sussex is my favorite (along with the OEG bantam). She is a really beautiful hen, lays almost every day, and is extremely friendly. She's a big girl, but she lets anyone hold and pet her. I would definitely get this breed again.

Our Dominique is still young and hasn't started laying eggs yet, but she is my favorite bird of the five we have (OEG bantam, Faverolle, Speckled Sussex, Welsummer). She's beautiful and friendly. We recently added two young hens to the flock and she has pecked the Sussex, although it doesn't seem that she hurt it. She does like to peck, especially if you're wearing rings! But she seems to peck out of curiosity rather than intent to hurt. I highly recommend this breed.

Bought a young, white and black

Lakenvelder hen from a hatchery. It was eaten by an opossum a few weeks afterward, so I don't know how its laying abilities are. Maybe it was an anomaly, but this wasn't my favorite bird. The day we got it, it ran under the patio and wouldn't come out. After four hours, we were finally able to force it out. The next day it got wedged in the fence and almost ran into the neighbor's yard. It was a loner and didn't hang out with the other three young hens, was super hard to catch, and was skittish and unfriendly. I wouldn't recommend this breed and I wouldn't get another.

Our Faverolle is still young and hasn't laid eggs yet, but unlike other reviews, she is not submissive and is at the top of the pecking order. She isn't aggressive towards the other hens, but always takes the lead. We got her when she was already ready to go outside, so she hasn't been trained to be held or easily caught. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Her name is "Dog Chicken" because she runs like a dog, sleeps on her back, and chases any bird that lands in the yard. She is really fun to watch and I would recommend this breed.