Australorp

Over protective over food and me, two of them attack my other breeds when I touch or feed them. They will eat just about anything you put in front of them but when they only receive layer pellet, they follow me around clucking and begging for snacks. They are very broody and will sit on their eggs for hours and when i take them away they go sit on my duck egg nests. But these girls are so social, they walk right into the house and dont flinch when the 80 pound dogs sprint by (or over) them. These are the girls I have harnesses for that will follow me around the feed store!

My Australorps are sweet and beautiful. My head hen can be a little bossy to the other flock members but for the most part gets along great with the other hens. When we are ready to set her she will be an excellent mother. Very dedicated. Goes broody too frequently though. Great interaction with humans. Fun, loving personalities!

Australorps are some of my favorites because they are so hardy and. lay LOADS of eggs they are also great show birds with a fantastic amount of docileness

One could make a good argument that these are the best brown egg layers . I would put them right up there with the Golden Comets and Red Stars breeds . These really do lay lots , and I do mean lots of big brown eggs . My experience has been that while the Comets may lay maybe about 20 more eggs per year , the Australorp egg production lasts at least one year longer although the feed to egg ratio is a little better with the Golden Comet . Would absolutely recommend this breed . Roosters are down right beautiful birds .

I'm very inexperienced, but I've known Leghorns, ISA brown crosses, one Australorp, and one Barnevelder. Of these, the Australorp is my favourite. A very sweet bird who likes fun as much as she likes being gentle. Gorgeous big and dark eyes, a lovely cascading tail, green and purple iridescence in the feathers, tall, funny "whiskers" on her face. She also lays lots of eggs (seven in a row - maybe another today). Eats well, not fussy. Won't drink water with levamisole in it though.

Great bird, easy to care, for very good for people just starting chicken keeping!

I love my austalorps. My barred rocks quit laying at the end of November, but my Australorps just keep plugging along!

One was enough for me. Not that it's a terrible breed, but my experiences with them aren't spectacular. Birds with "blah" temperaments simply aren't my cup of tea. However, if you're looking for something decently nice to look at, and lots of medium brown eggs, Australorps are for you!

~Alex

This is Thelma, she is about 7.5 months now. What a good girl she is. She has been laying a beautiful brown egg at least 5 times a week since she was 18 weeks old. Very quiet, no drama just a lovely chicken. I'm a first time chicken owner and have a small flock of 4, a SS, BR,EE and BA. If I knew then what I know now I would have gotten a couple more of these.

I love my two Black Australorps, Winn and Dixie. They are the clowns of my flock-always the first ones at the door or gate to greet me. They are excited about any treats I bring, but while the others are enjoying, they are looking at me like, "That's it? What else do you have-maybe it's behind your back or in your pocket." They make me laugh!

We LOVE our Australorp! She is hilarious, an awesome forager, and her eggs are delicious! She has done well in our backyard flock - tolerates being kept in her run and free ranging. She tells the other hens when danger is near and is always reliable at rounding the other hens before going to safety herself. Love love love this hen!

I had 2 Black Australorps and both of them had VERY big personalities. One was the 'runt' of my first flock and she ended up dying early at just 15 months. She was the friendliest chicken we had and would quietly sit on your lap. The other one is still going strong at 3+ years and this one is a 'talker'. She is not quiet at all like the breed standard which just goes to show that you can't always go by the 'norm' She is SO funny though and will talk back to you the entire time you are outside.
This breed may be cold hardy, but she is the only one who will stay in the run if there is a little bit of snow on the ground. Don't get me wrong, the others don't like snow either and won't come out if it's an inch or more, but Zelda will stay inside and yell about it if there is just a dusting and she's the first to run in when it starts to rain.

My australorp Aggie is my favorite bird. She follows me all over the yard looking for treats. She is an avid layer of beautiful eggs and a great forager while free ranging. She is at the top of the totem pole but this doesn’t bother me because there will always be a pecking order.

What a sweet and loving bird! They follow me around when I'm working in the yard. When in their coop, they sit and wait for me to walk by then jump up onto their pirch and hold a conversation with me. They follow my spoken directions for when to coop-up. I just love these girls.

5 star bird!

I got my Australorp with another batch of chicks from a hatchery last Febuary. Very quiet bird, really docile and doesn't mind being pet. She wasn't as docile as a chick but as she matured into a hen she was really friendly. She is two years old now. Her eggs are a different color from all the rest of chickens, usually pink with sometimes a purple tint in them. She is a really good egg layer and started laying at 4.5 months.

The only negative aspect of the breed is that they constantly attack other chickens and she has even drawn blood from my other hens before. Thank goodness I only purchased one because I was considering to purchase more. I believe they would of ended up tearing the flock with bloodshed. She has plenty of space and usually gets access to free range, a spacious coop with plenty of nesting boxes and high protein feed too. I will also mention that my other breeds get along really well so I presume that it has to do with the breed and genetics. Australorps probably aren't the worst breed but I never would consider buying again.

Chick.

Hen.

I had 3 of these hens, hatchery stock. They did well laying most days. of the breeds I have had, RIR, BO, BR, BCM, Leg, One of these hens was the only one I ever had go broody, it was great for the kids to watch her hatch out a couple chicks. Good birds I will get more.

I love my Australorps (I call them Austies!) We bought them from the hatchery at 2 days old. They act like parrots, lol, climbing my arm until they get to my neck and try to nuzzle me! It's bizarre to see a chicken behave this way!

When they were little, they would run underneath me when I would crouch down to talk to the other hens in the gated run.

They are inquisitive and would walk straight up to hens and for some reason they are the only chicks that were never picked on much when it came time for the new pecking order to be established. I would buy these again any day of the week!

Am I the only one who has come to the conclusion that Australorps are cats in chicken suits? My girls are almost a year old and are the first Australorps I've had. Spending a lot of time observing them over the past year, I've decided they are like cats! Maybe it is just my birds but they are fastidious! I've never once found poop in a nest box and not once have I had to clean an egg. They come out of the nest box pristine - just like from the store. I do keep their coop and run clean and they are not crowded but I'm not that obsessive about it. I never see poop on their fluffy butts. Even when they were chicks they didn't spray water everywhere or dump stuff over.

Their personalities remind me of cats - very feisty but affectionate on their own terms. They are exceptionally curious and have to be elbows deep in whatever we are doing. Which can be problematic if we're trying to do a construction job in their coop. They want to "help". If I sit or squat in their run, they will be on my lap or shoulder - particularly if it puts me in an awkward stance and particularly if I don't want them to - exactly like cats...

My girls are also really quiet. They yell a little bit when they lay and if they see me outside they will screech to get my attention but otherwise you wouldn't know they were there. They've been exceptional backyard pets in our typical suburban neighborhood.

They love to be held and petted but on their own terms and usually if you have food.

Unless my girls are just weird - I would think if you adore the sassy, independent but affectionate personality of cats, you would just love this breed!