What breeds have you kept across your chickening life and why?

[troyer]

Interesting thread. I've kept a ton over the years. As a teenager and young adult I'd regularly hatch hundreds to even a thousand chicks a year from a number of breeds. Now an old man I don't have the free time. The purpose of raising all these breeds was I had aspirations of becoming an APA judge and my mentor said a judge should raise as many as possible, so I did and bred them as close to the standard and their original purpose as I could. Then gave up on becoming a judge because, and really even showing I just hate traveling (and you've got to do a lot of that if you're a poultry guy in the pacific northwest.).

So here's the list (I think, I'm old, my memory sucks), just the breeds I spent at least one breeding season with:

Buckeye
Jersey Giant
Plymouth Rock
Wyandotte
Rhode Island Red
Dominique
Delaware
Brahma
Cochin
Langshan
Dorking
Orpington
Australorp
Hamburg
Polish
Houdan
Favorelles
La Fleche
Campine
Welsummer
Leghorn
Andalusian
Minorca
Sicilian Buttercup
Phoenix
Sumatra
Naked Neck
Frizzle
Ameraucana
Old English Game
Modern Game
D'Anver
Japanese
Silkie
Rosecomb
Dutch Bantam
Call Duck
Khaki Campbell
Indian Runner
Cayuga
Buff Duck
Silver Appleyard
Rouen
Pekin
Chinese
African Goose
Embden
Bourbon Red Turkey
Bronze Turkey

Were you one of a couple breeders that at some point were breeding lemon blue Sumatra bantams?

 

[BGMatt]

Were you one of a couple breeders that at some point were breeding lemon blue Sumatra bantams?

I was not, bet those would be gorgeous though!

 

[troyer]

I was not, bet those would be gorgeous though!

They were incredible, with dark faces as well!

 

[KinTiN]

I started with red sex-links many years ago (Light Sussex/RIR cross). Lost some to egg overproductive issues, so I switched to pure heritage breeds.

Since then, I have kept (some bantam, some large fowl):

Orpington
Serama
Polish
Silkie
Wyandotte
Jersey Giant
Old English Game Bantam
Cream Legbar
Sussex
Welsummer
Pekin
Barnevelder
Sebright
Groninger
Silkie mixes

Not all at the same time.

I'm hatching Transylvanian Naked Necks, English Cuckoo Marans and Araucana this year.

I have had all of the above of varying colour varieties. I may even have forgotten a few breeds.

This is my ongoing rainbow flock project, whereby I don't keep any two chickens of the same breed and colour.

My favourites are probably Serama and Polish for cuddliness and feather variety (colour, pattern, silkied, crested, frizzled), followed by Silver Sussex and Barnevelder for their sheer beauty.

I'm a sucker for a laced or pencilled pattern, and black/white chickens.

Tell me your flock/breed history and what are your favourites!

My fiancé is insistent upon having Delawares because they are on the Conservation list, (recovering), and he is adamant about keeping them separate from other breeds. They are great for eggs and meat.

Since I am new to this, I am "testing" out Midnight Majesty Marans, (Copper Maran male x Barred Rock female), which are bred by Hoovers. There are a few other breeds I would like to get:

American Bresse is next on our list, which is said to have the best meat, but they are also excellent layers.
Buff Orpington - dual purpose and good demeanor
Bielefelder - dual purpose
Mystic Onyx - dual purpose and very pretty
Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner - dual purpose and very pretty
Golden Comet - dual purpose, but mainly eggs
Ayam Cemani - ornamental
Golden Deathlayer - rumored to lay eggs their entire life.

Currently our run is more than a 1/4 acre, and is currently divided to accommodate two breeds and keep them separate from each other. We won't be bringing in any others until we have additional coops and runs in place with adequate protection from predators.

 

[iritha]

My interest is low-input, cold-climate chicken keeping, so I've been "interviewing" small-combed breeds, I guess.

I'd tried Hedemoras and Buckeyes in 2 separate years but both times very unexpected circumstances meant the birds had to go to the freezer by winter.

I finally sourced some white Chantecler chicks in 2022 and got some Ameraucanas to round out my numbers to be certain there'd be adequate body heat in the coop for bad cold snaps.

Now my source of Chantecler chicks has vanished before I could try to obtain a not-brother for breeding, and I've decided to focus on an Ameraucana flock instead. Very excited to get the breeding flock going!

 

[Kaw-Liga]

Ameraucanas and EE all the way.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Across my 6 years of chicken keeping, I have owned Golden Comet, Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, New Hampshire Red, Black Australorp, Splash Orpington, Sapphire Gem, Black Sexlink, Easter Egger, Cream Legbar, Many mixed breed, Midnight Majesty Maran, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Golden Laced Wyandotte, Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Light Brahma, Speckled Sussex, Black Jersey Giant, Sapphire Olive Egger, Starlight Green Egger, and Prairie Bluebell Egger.

My favorites have been Buff Orpingtons and Prairie Bluebell Eggers. They have great temperaments.

 

[Evadig]

Our first hens were:

• Light Brahma
• Buff Orpington
• Easter Egger
• Golden Laced Wyandotte

We picked those because...they looked pretty. We didn't know a thing about chickens back then.

Next was a

• Light Brahma
• Golden Laced Wyandotte

because we figured that the first two turned out really nice, why not get them again? Um...they turned out to be bantams, and one was a rooster.

Our current chickens are:

• Welsummer
• Delaware
• Barred Plymouth Rock
• Cream Legbar
• Jubilee Orpington
• Buff Orpington
• Australorp
• Naked Necks (2)
• Mottled Javas (3)
• Buff Brahma
• Phoenix
• Twentse

The last two are rescue roosters. We got these breeds because of a variety of reasons, top one being they're all heritage (the previous ones were two, but I actively looked for heritage this time) and a couple aren't very common. Also, colors. We wanted a mixed flock!

 

[maryfrancis3]

I've had Leghorn, Silkies, Isa Brown, Wyandotte and Columbian Cochins. My Blue Silkie bred with my Wyandotte. Interesting looking chicks they were.