Reviews by kari_dawn

I don't have a lot of experience with the wyandotte breed, and all of my girls are hatchery stock, but I do love my wyandottes, and will be getting more some day.

I currently have two blue laced red wyandottes, and they are sweet as pie. They are not as in-your-lap as my orpingtons. They are more of a regal look but don't touch kind of personality (except if you have treats, THEN you can touch all you want!). A bit independant, and definately food motivated! They will come "help" me with the gardening though!

Just like my other girls, they come running when I call them, and they will come sit on my knee should the mood take them. They are lovely eye candy, and very darling. Big, round, heavy birds who are a wonderful addition to any flock They forage pretty well for a dual purpose too!

Oh! And they go broody!




....at least mine do! ^.^ I haven't let her try to hatch eggs yet...I want to see how dedicated she is first. Maybe next time she goes broody, I will give her a shot!

My favie Ichabod is around 9 months old, and still doesn't look close to laying! But that's just fine by me. She is a doll! Why Ichabod? Well, I can thank my dad for that name...she has so much cheek fluff that from the back (and even from the front at times), she looks headless...much like Ichabod Crane from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow .

She is so darling and quirky, and just so darned adorable looking! If you want a sweet, quite bird with tons of personality and good looks, Salmon Faverolles are for you!

In my experience, these birds are wonderful pets.....once they reach laying age. All of my EEs have been skittish and a bit standoffish as chicks and as juvies...but once they reach laying age, they become sweet as pie.

My first experience with this breed was a feedstore special. I picked her because of her adorably puffy cheeks. Because of her squiggly markings, she was given the name Waffle. She ended up being a beautiful, gold laced, black bearded HUGE bird. She was shy, and was always quick to run for cover. I guess that is what saved her when her flock mates got dispatched by a predator. Around that time, she also reached laying age. When I got her more flock mates, not only did she become flock matriarch, but also began laying eggs (big, beautiful sky blue eggs). This is when her personality really started to shine. She stole my heart, and she will always be a bird I will never forget.

She would sit with me while I read a book, and even occasionally bring me "treats" that she had found in the yard (bleh! nothing like a fat white grub shoved up your sleeve by an approving beak to enhance your reading experience).

My current EE Clover was also painfully shy until she started laying. Now, she is always underfoot, begging for treats, and begging to be picked up and loved on.



Since EEs are not a breed per se, they may have any breed trait be it personality or looks, but they tend to be a dual purpose looking bird that is slow to mature as far as egg laying goes. All of my EEs have been late bloomers, not laying until around 30 weeks of age.

As others have said, there is an amazing amount of variability in their egg laying, appearance, and personalities. This fact makes it a tad hard to give a blanket review for all EEs...but they seem to mellow with age. Give them time, and I don't think you will be disappointed.

Every year, my elementary school would have a hatching project with chicken and duck eggs. It is one of the only things I remember from such a tender age. My sister, three years behind me, also got to experience the hatching project, and won a buff orpington chick out of it.

Knowing what I now know about chickens, I would never have raised her the way we did, but back then we knew no better. She had no coop, no flock mates, and no nest box. She DID have a 45lb dog for company and protection though. In the winter, Sandy (the dog) would snuggle under warm blankets. "Stupid Bird" as my dad called her (who was not so dumb as her name suggested), would climb up on top of the dog, and snuggle down in the blankets for warmth.

She was an absolute joy to have around. She came when she was called, knew all kinds of neat tricks, and was a fantastic egg layer. She lived in that yard for 9 years before my dad got a job with the state department, and we could not take her with us. By age 9, she had developed quite the set of spurs, but she still gave us a couple of eggs a week.

If you want a big, fluffy, beautiful bird with an absolutely charming personality, and wonderful propensity for egg production, Orpingtons are the way to go!

Just remember, different lines of birds will be different in personality, build, and egg production! I still keep orpingtons in my flock, and some of my most memorable birds are my wonderful buff orptingtons.