What breeds of chickens do you have?

[lemonstartree]

And would you recommend them??

I've got buff Sussex, cream leg bars, warrens, black rocks and speckledy chickens.

The best egg layers are the black rocks and the speckledys. The black rocks ime are surprisingly good broody hens as well. Though also easy to stop them going broody if you don't want a broody hen.

Welsummers- lovely, friendly, smart birds, good layers of big brown eggs (for a non hybrid), but rubbish mothers- they hatch the eggs then just squash the chicks! Recommend

Araucanas- even better layers, start early in the season. Lay lots of very good size eggs for the smallish size of the bird and eat much less as they are a bit smaller. Eggs are blue/green. Recommend even more

Silkies- sweet, gentle and good broodies. Recommend as pets.
Silver Spangled Hamburgs- lovely pretty, bright little bantams but tiny eggs. Ditto!
Another bird we used to keep is the Barb d'uccle Belgian, gorgeous little pet birds.
I am currently considering getting some marans or hybrids for eggs over the Winter as my pure breds have shut down for the season now.

We started with 2 Wyandottes and a barnebar (Barnvelder X Barred Plymouth Rock).

All decent layers but quite big birds.

We lost one of the wyandottes in the spring so decided to have some Ex batts - best thing we ever did. We are overrun with lovely light brown eggs and the girls have us in stitches every day with their antics. They have no fear and we keep tripping over them as they are like a bunch of toddlers getting under our feet.

Two light sussex and a cochin.

The light sussex are lovely - very friendly, tame, good layers and hardy. They are also quite intelligent (as chickens go) and switched on.

The cochins don't lay so well, but are good broodys and make good mothers. They are also lovely and gentle with huge fluffy bums

I love my White Star the best - you get lots of white eggs and mine is the cheekiest and friendliest out of my 3. Highly recommended.

A Light Sussex and two goldline hybrids.

My Sussex is laying very well even though she's 2 now, but last year she was forever going broody, and also she isn't very tame.

The hybrids are more well behaved but one stopped laying completely after a couple of months.

I would love a White Star!

Pekins - fab, friendly, cheery-faced, happy little souls! Lovely little eggs.
Wyandotte bantam - friendly, lovely eggs, calm.
Welsummer - beautiful, but easily spooked, very flighty, still legs it when I go in the run after months of being nice to her...and sometimes horrid to the other hens, despite not being in charge? no eggs yet, so don't know about that.
Cochin - huge, ball of fluff, very placid and friendly (slow to mature, and no eggs yet)
Cream Legbar - not very friendly, but surprisingly calm, after a bumpy start as a complete drama queen who couldn't find her way into coop at night, and had to be lifted in screeching that we were trying to kill her! No eggs yet.
Rhode Island Red - calm, reasonably friendly, bustles about, lays nice sized eggs, and laid a whopper today of 79g!
Copper Black Marans - not very friendly (but have only just got them at 19-20 weeks ish), getting better, they walk speedily to the other side of the run now, rather than the mad, panicked flying away they did at first... (the meal worms are helping!), think we've had one egg, but it wasn't very brown, so might have been the Welsummers (it was spotty)

I would recommend all of them except the Welsummer, but she might be an odd one, as others have said they are friendly

HTH

Oh, and I would like a white egg layer too, as I don't have one yet...but DH has put his foot down...apparently 11 chooks is enough Maybe a white star of fate will wander into the garden one of these days..

this is great :-) thank you

do the Silkies lay ??

How big are Pekin eggs compared to a medium size supermarket egg?

Exhibition silkies (60) Friendly and not very much brain, even for a chicken.

Silkies do lay - usually every other day but they do lay through the winter. and they are lovely and fluffy

Silkies do lay, as above; a small, pinkish white egg. Mine is a really old girl though, I reckon about 14 years old?? She has laid about 2 eggs a year for the last few years! I really love Silkies. I forgot to add I also have a couple of Light Sussex bantams which are bright cheery little birds.

Luvverly rescue mongrels and they ain"t no spring chickens either so not exactly prolific layers.
But they"re my mates and I love them.They"re loveable and solid like big naughty children!

My pekins have just started laying so their eggs are small - about half the size of a medium egg, but they seem to have a higher proportion of yolk than supermarket eggs, and are my favourites as they are yum

We have:
Super Pansy - light sussex. She is amazing and lays every day.

Queen Charlotte - Rhode Island Red - friendly but not as good at laying as we were led to believe; maybe 2-3 times a week.

Aurora - Buff Orpington - big beautiful lady, like a golden lab! she should have started laying but hasn't yet but we didn't get her for her eggs, she is there to look pretty!

Mama Odie - Welsummer - strange bird, very nervy and flighty but others seem to do well. I wouldn't have another one.

Lady Gaga - Black Rock - does what it says on the tin! Reliable daily layer and a lovely family bird.

I have to say that given she is a pure breed, our light sussex really is a superstar and I would recommend this breed to anyone.

We have a Buff Orpington cockerel - so very beautiful and a true gentleman.

Aracauna, a real lady and blue eggs

Siver Laced Wyandotte, small breed- nick named Fang - go figure!

Lemon Pencilled Fresians, very reliable and bright and independent

Appenzeller Spitzhauben, very pretty and a good layer although she is liable to go broody.

And last but by no means least 4 ex batts. I always hear how gentle and 'thankful' these are supposed to be but these birds are mean psychos! I have to wield the metal dustbin lid like a matador to defend myself when feeding them!!

longtrainrunning your ex batts sound hilarious!!

I used to have a duck who would chase me and peck my ankles....

babycham42 Ungrateful bastards they are! And I definitely do not wear flip flops when I go into the yard!!

I have
Sheila the light Sussex, my superstar friendly motherly reliable layer, currently raising her chicks.
Wiggy the legbar hybrid aka asbo hen
Bluebell the speckledy hybrid, aka professor yaffle
Tiggy the cream legbar, teeny, quirky and mental
Father jack the araucana, ibid for tiggy
Rasputia the partridge Cochin, gentle and huge, attached at hip and handbag to tiggy.
Mrs Doyle my dear beautiful blue Cochin, gentle and calm, raised my last brood of chicks
Eight chicks now, out of 11 hatched from 17 set. Five silver laced Wyandotte banties, three I think are blokes and include Jeremy and rod. Three are lavender pekins, very pretty, particularly fearless Fred frizzle pekin who is such a bloke! (anyone want a frizzle cockerel before he goes to friends farm?) the other two pekins are girls, I think, one is frizzled. They're only three weeks old so time will continue to tell! Picks on my profile!

Silkie x Wyandotte bantams - Babs, Dolly and Jean. They are dim, but friendly enough, and like human company.

No eggs yet because they are still teenagers.

MrsvWoolf my Legbar is around 21-22 weeks now I think, the others that have started laying are about a week or so older I think, HTH