If you didn’t get chickens last year, or the year before, chances are good that you’re thinking about it now. You’re investigating local livestock ordinances. You’re deciding where to build your coop. You’re checking prices and availability at Murray McMurray.
And you’re studying Henderson’s Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart to figure out how to pick your breeds.
Henderson’s Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart is indispensable for anyone considering keeping chickens. It’s a comprehensive list of breeds, with their origins, egg-laying potential, heat- and cold-tolerance, and notes on their behavior. I love Henderson’s Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart, and I encourage you to spend time reading about your many choices.
When it gets serious, though, and it’s time to actually buy chicks, I can help you cut through the indecision. There is one chicken breed that’s beak and wattles above all the others.
You will be tempted by the breeds, like Brahmas, with froo-froo feathers, but those feathers decorate chickens that have less in the way of brainpower than your average chicken – and that’s saying a lot.
Pretty is as pretty does
You will be tempted by the ones with the big floppy combs, like Leghorns, because they look like Elvis. But those combs get frostbite instantly.
I'm all shook up
You will be tempted by the ones that are docile and friendly and good with children, like Orpingtons, but you will get very tired of the frequency with which they go broody and have to be kept in a cage for a few days to be convinced that, no, they’re not going to hatch a brood of chicks.
You will be tempted by Araucanas and Ameraucanas, because they lay eggs in pastel shades of blue and green. And they do – every other Thursday. They are freeloaders.
The go-to chicken – drumroll, please – is the Rhode Island Red.
These plain brown hens are barnyard stand-outs. They lay big brown eggs, practically every day. They’re curious and engaged, but not needy or clingy. They don’t bully, and they don’t tolerate being bullied. They never get sick and they never go broody.
It makes sense that it should be that way. If you’re doing the selective breeding, it’s much harder to get feathers and combs and Easter eggs coupled with temperament, egg production, and disease resistance than temperament, egg production, and disease resistance all by themselves. Focus on what’s important, and you get a plain brown hen.
George
The favorite in our flock is George, who’s always the first to come investigate when we’re working in the yard. She’s friendly and calm, and she hangs out near us, scratching for bugs and clucking. If she decides nothing interesting is going on, she rejoins the rest of the flock.
There’s a lot to be said for a mixed flock, with its quotient of stupid ones, flighty ones, and broody ones. We love our motley crew and, if you’re just now venturing into chicken-keeping, I’d encourage you to go that route. It makes watching them and caring for them more interesting, and it sure makes counting them easier. As much as we like them, I don’t think we’ll ever have a flock that’s all Rhode Island Reds. But we’ll never have a flock without them.
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AMEN TO THAT SISTAH!
Of course now you tell me!
I love my green blue eggs.. but my Americana’s are naked around the neck because they are being harassed by the barred rocks.. who are the most amazing color(s) but nearly killed one of my White Orpingtons.. and I guess white is just a bad idea.. tho the other white orpington is MASSIVE.. I MEAN REALLY MASSIVE.. with a massive comb and as wide as can be.
My RI reds are shiny and bright and happy and are laying lovely big brown eggs. They never start the trouble.. nor are the receivers of it.
So yes …
AMEN TO THAT SISTAH!
i believe my feelings on this topic are clear:) sending red wig and ipod.
Interesting. I haven’t been chicken shopping recently, and did not know any of this.
And speaking of idle curiousity… What the heck’s that lovely structure in the background of the first photo? (Sorry if I missed the explanation in a previous post.) An extremely overbuilt chicken coop? Similary overbuilt outdoor oven for gourmet pizza and fancy crusty bread???
Very mysterious…
I agree, Tamar. I think my perfect flock would be half RI/NH Reds and half Barred Rocks. I just love their markings and the ones I had in the past were quite curious and smart without being pushy. Plus they are hardy and productive.
I love Rhode Island Reds while my husband is a fan of White Leghorns and Dominickers so we have a mix. We derive so much joy from keeping our flock; from listening to their singing when they lay to watching the hens teach the chicks about bugs and snakes. Many a lazy afternoon have been spent just sitting in the garden and watching them.
We’ve had the frou-frous, frills, highly-strung bantams that explode straight up into a tree every time you sneeze; the fighters (game hens), lovers (if you count our cockerel with the sex addiction problem), the freaks of nature – and I loved them all.
A decade on, now we have brown layers (RI red hybrids), Buffs, and meat birds. Period. That is, we WILL only have those sensible breeds when the motley assortment mentioned above finally dies off. Note about chickens: the less useful the breed, the longer they seem to live.
Hmmm. I was thinking of Buff Orpingtons for the next try-out. Since I’m doing three hens, if I have one RIR, and one BO, what do you suggest for the third? That’s if I do it this way; I may say chuck it and order a bunch of a single type. I dunno.
Whaddya think?
I agree, Barred Rocks are bullies and Buffs are broody. But my first RI red, despite her craftiness in evading bear, fox and hawks, was sick on more than one occasion with a giant egg too large to lay. She also had a personality disorder that made her prone to feather picking (by the BR) and she disliked people, both traits I’ve seen in subsequent RI hens. As much as I wanted to do the dual purpose heritage bird, I’ve found that the production Red-Star was the bird for us. They are docile, friendly, hardy to VT winters, and great layers.
Whenever I take an unequivocal stand on something, I reserve the right to be wrong (I use ‘unequivocal’ loosely). I was ready to hear that everyone else on the planet had terrible experiences with RIReds, and was fully prepared to backtrack like mad. So I’m grateful to all of you who concur — you’re saving me a lot of embarrassment.
Christine, I’m sorry to hear about your RIs. Where do you get them? Ours are from Murray McMurray (as are those of most of our chicken-keeping neighbors, like Beth), and everyone we know who’s had them finds them calm and friendly and productive. But they’re not all created equal, as your experience shows.
Al — That edifice is the overbuilt altar of our overreaching ambition, also known as the base for the wood-fired oven. Which we actually hope to finish in the spring. But we said that last year. And the year before.
Jen — I love your chicken maxim, and am prepared for my Ameraucanas to live forever.
Paula — If I had only three, I would have all RI Reds. The Orpingtons are very nice chickens, but it’s a royal pain in the ass when they go broody — unless, of course, you want to raise chicks. Any chance I could talk you into four? Chickens are social animals, and I’ve read a number of places that four is the recommended minimum. And four isn’t more work than three. And you find lots of creative ways to use eggs. Trust me.
Right now I have two Buff Orpingtons and two Silver Lace Wyandottes. I have no complaints with either breed, althought the SLW’s are sneaky and break out of the pen every chance they get, and they will give you a vicious peck if they don’t like what you are doing (translation: anything but feeding them).
I had Rhode Island Reds years ago, and I agree that they are fantastic birds. But be careful of RIR roosters! Every one that I have met has been a mean bird. My family has a history with RIR roosters – back in the 40′s my grandmother traded a RIR rooster for two hens because the bird kept attacking my aunt. The no-nonsense part of their personality is not pretty when it comes to the roosters because they take defending their girls very seriously.
I plan to add to my flock in a couple of years when my girls start getting older, and RIR’s are one of the breeds that I am thinking of. I may just get some fertile eggs and roll them under one of the BO’s instead of buying chicks because it would be fun to do it the natural way. And, not having to set up a brooder and constantly monitor the chicks is a bonus.
I’ve just started reading your blog and I find your writing wonderfully hilarious. We moved from the suburbs a few years ago (with our illegal chickens in tow) to a small farm in western Illinois. The only hen left from our original flock is also our favorite. She is a warm and curious (and talkative) little rhode island red named Georgia. When I saw a picture of George, your little red hen, I thought immediately of Georgia.
That is too funny. We only have one rhodie in our flock of 21 hens, and she’s not terribly impressive. Boring, flighty, so/so layer. Perhaps we got a rhodie reject?
We have a mixed flock (7 breeds). I love the personalities of our buffs. They lay well, only had broody problems with 3 of 11, and they’re pretty friendly. Get out a lot, though. Our ameraucanas lay pretty well. We’re currently getting a wintertime total of approx 14 eggs a week from our 4 girls, which is a better rate than nearly all the other hens. (plus, I love their little ewok faces!)
Probably our best birds, though, are our barred rock and our marans. Good layers, relatively calm, forage well, don’t get out (knock on wood). Watch. All 3 will get out tomorrow, just because I said that.
Rae, if you got your RIR from a hatchery you may not have a true Rhodie. You may have a Production Red, or a Red Star/Red Sexlink. Most hatcheries to not keep good breeding practices, and they do not select for the best qualities. Unfortunately, that means that all too often what you get may bear only a little resemblance to what the Standards of Quality call for on the breed. Also, they may not have scruples about substituting a similar chick if it is going to be more work to get what you ordered.
For my next group of chickens I want to go to a serious breeder to get birds that have been selectively bred. Of course, there is a good chance that in a few years I will be complaining about how disappointed I am with the highly bred birds.
I must say – much as I love the chart, I found the breed selection tool at MyPetChicken.com easier to deal with for a beginner. Tell them where you live and what you want and they’ll tell you what breeds will probably work. It’s a life saver!
http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/which-breed-is-right-for-me.aspx
We love our RIR and also our Dominique hen although Kevin (the RIR, sorry) is our most dependable layer. Period Paragraph.
Hmm…our only RIR hen turned out to be a rooster, and a mean one too! Chicken soup tomorrow.
My favorite birds for production have been McMurray black stars, but for personality the ameracaunas are the funniest, quirkiest things. I’ll probably always keep at least a couple of them because I love the mixed basket of egg colors.
Lee loves our RIR too. I think he would like a whole flock of them. Why oh why does my wandering eye get so distracted by cooler chicken breeds?!? This year I’m going to be good though. We want some no nonsense chickens.
We’re getting two Rhode Island Reds, one Silver Laced Wyandotte and one Buff Orpington the week of February 6th. Day-old chicks from McMurray. I simply cannot wait. More so now that I know we made the right choices of breeds. Thank you for the indispensable chicken advice!
You hit the nail on the head with all those breeds. Not getting any eggs from my nine birds now, i would be fine with a whole flock of RIR’s. If you kept the rooster at your place and if we could borrow it every once in a while, we both could have a sustainable flock. I will look into finding a muzzle for it!
I’m new here and I hate to start off a new relationship with a disagreement but I am going to do it anyway. Let me just say I am an ardent lover of chickens and hate to imagine life without a flock.
I started with Buff Orpingtons and am still impressed with their gentle dispositions, winter hardiness and steady egg production. Plus, I DO like having a broody hen or two and they are getting harder to come by these days since that is a trait that’s bred out of modern layers. None of my last flock went broody. I have three in their first season of laying right now.
My last flock included a Delaware… best hen ever. Biggest eggs, nearly every day. First one to come running, neck stretched to it’s fullest extent, very friendly and curious. They are a heritage breed that I’ve heard are hard to find.
My current Ameraucanas (3) are cranking out the eggs like crazy. I love their funny looks and acrobatic abilities too. Kinda shy but gentle and quiet.
One RI, one black sex link, one bantam black Cochin and one black midget (tiniest hen I’ve ever seen!) bantam of unknown ancestry plus a white bantam Cochin rooster round out our current flock.
We have been getting 7-10 eggs a day since mid-December, until our current sub-zero streak of the last three weeks. Now we are down to 6 or 7 a day. Pretty good for ten hens living in Alaska.
I am hoping the bantam hens turn out to be brooders. (They came sort of second hand from a friend culling her huge flock… I have no idea of even how old they are but I asked for them). Our last bantam hen was the BEST mama so I’m hopeful.
I have enjoyed everything I’ve read here so far and look forward to more of your opinionated posts.
I like having a broody hen, it is such a pain to raise chicks indoors and I hate how many baby boy chicks die horribly at hatcheries. But, brooody hens are a pain too, Im glad they are not all that way, they will just sit there tenaciously and probably starve to death if they dont get those babies. Right now, one of our newish golden laced wyandots is broody, so I let her keep a mixed bunch of 6 eggs, I hope at least a few hatch so she’s happy again. Our longest lived chickens were blue andulusion and barred rock. Right now I have a funny bunch because I let my daughter pick out that we should get, an ornamental layer assortment from murray mcmurray, year before last. ALthough she did pick up a best large fowl at the fair with the sicilian buttercup—last year I added a few astrolorps and golden laced wyandotts to the others, we are trying for dual purpose birds. It would be nice to have more winter eggs tho.