BYC Debate Thread- What's The Friendliest Chicken Breed?

[HeatherKellyB]

I suddenly want a Bantam Cochin...

They're pretty awesome. Plus those big butts Watching them run away is the best! I can't think of the country song that mentions 'he loves to watch her leave' . That's me with bantam cochins My favorite rooster was a barred BC and I doubt any rooster will ever top his place in my heart. He was more like a puppy than a bird to be honest.

 

[SilverBirds]

What percentage of people said bantams (silikes or cochins in particular)?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

There's a lot of friendly breeds such as the Polish and the Brahma, but right now, I'm saying the breed of my friendliest chicken I currently own: Beth II the Isa Brown of the Red Sex Link class (though according to some, aren't the same thing, but I'll classify her as a RSL.)

What is the friendliest chicken breed(s)?
Red Sex Link class

Why do you think this?
My Isa Brown, Beth II, will follow me anywhere and will walk up to anyone to hang out with. My Golden Comet, Rocky, is also friendly towards people. Both hens will come to their own name. I've had other RSLs in the past who also were friendly towards people.

What evidence can back you up? Threads? Articles?
Read Rocky II; Special, No Doubt and Beth II; The Amazing Rescue in this post here: Thread 'Life With The Flock: Lacy Duckwing's Flock Thread' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/life-with-the-flock-lacy-duckwings-flock-thread.1505879/

What is your experience with this breed(s)?
I've been raising them for ten years now in mixed flocks. I usually get them as started pullets with only raising them from chick a couple of times.

What breeds are not very friendly? Why? Blue Rocks, EEs, and OEGB. Those are the ones I can currently think of out of the breeds I've owned. Those breeds were and are very skittish and took me extra time and effort to get them friendly around me, and some never did come around, even after owning the same bird from chick to past retirement. I've also had some mixed breeds that also was very skittish.

Anything else
A lot of chicken breeds need a lot of time spent with them to get them friendly. Several times I've gotten RSLs at 4 months old with no time spent with them before I bought them. Within the first few days they're used to me, friendly, and will come up to me. With Beth, she was trying to follow me within the first few hours of me having her. Comparing the RSLs to other breeds I've gotten at 4 months, the other breeds sometimes never came around, but the RSLs was within days.

 

[GregnLety]

Silkies and EE mixes are our friendliest

 

[Lizzy733]

My friendliest chickens have all been my hand-raised brooder babies! (from hatch or 1 wk olds) Each bird will have their own personality, but if you want girls that will crowd you and line up for pets, put the work in up front with whatever your breed of choice may be and spend lots of time with them when they're little.

Not everyone will want to sit in your lap 24/7, especially the more active breeds, but the only ones in my flock I can't just walk up to and scoop up have been the ones I got older or let momma silkie raise for me.

 

[Abriana]

I’ve personally found that the friendliest breeds are buff Orpingtons and Colombian Rocks. Between the two Colombian Rocks win though! All the hens I’ve had of that breed were lap birds who loved to be petted and held.

 

[Blue Raptor]

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Barred rocks fo me.

 

[JacksonChickies]

We're only a year into raising chickens and have mixed "cariboo special" birds so I have no bias.....our are friendly enough...but not snuggly. I blame the rambunctious 4yo

 

[Poodlemum]

Our Columbian Wyandottes are have been the slowest to mature, but far less bitchy than our silver and golds. Lower on the pecking order, but not bullied like the EEs. Perhaps it’s the Barred Rock in them… They’re incredibly patient and my girls love them so much! Nubbins our tailless CW is particularly tolerant

 

[JennyHeidewald]

• What is the friendliest chicken breed(s)?
  In my experience with my flock: In no particular order:
  #1 The "Beep Boops". AKA: Quail Belgian Bearded d’Anver bantam. We have two and the smaller one, Chimay, will jump up on my husband AKA: The Bearer of Grapes and Snacks. She owns him. Chimay is always seeing what we are up to, talks to us, any snacks? Lets me gently pet her back with my thumbs, I have to hold her since she kind of melts into my hands. Beep Boop, the larger one is also super friendly.
  "Chimay, Still Life" by Alexander D. Mitchell IV Beep Boop:
  
  
  
  #2: The cuddliest is our buff orpington/cochin mix, Choo Choo Tutu. Her mother (Choo Choo), was full Buff Orpington, also a cuddler. (I also trained my EE to cuddle, now those two try to cuddle at the same time). I'd thought Orpingtons were "meh", got one because hubby wanted one due to the Geico commercial, turned out to be one of the best birds. She had a bit of a 'tude with the roo that fathered her chicks, chased him once that I saw. Good egg layer, too.
  The Original, Choo Choo:
  
  Choo Choo Tutu and Jumper:
  
  
  
  #3 The BESTEST bird we ever had, that everyone liked, and was friendly, was Blueberry. She passed away last year, I really miss my Blueberry. I think she was a Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock Bantam, she had feathers on her legs which threw me because that breed isn't supposed to have any, but that is the closest thing I could find. Always curious, she'd "talk" and sound kind of like a duck. Very good Momma, too. The year we let her raise chicks we ended up giving her 12 once because the other broodies rejected them, we started out giving her 6, then my mom added the others later. She looked a little confused, but accepted them all. Sadly, I wasn't able to get any of her eggs to hatch, she managed to avoid the roos.
  Blueberry:
  
  
  
  
  Runners up: Japanese Bantam hen: Lowrider is always around me, another melter when petted, and is underfoot a lot, such a sweetheart. White crested black Polish hen, another one that is always seeing what I am up to. She is not a fan of being picked up because we had to deal with a bad case of bumble foot a couple years back.
  Lowrider:
  
  
  Old English bantam, my mom had the sweetest self blue OE hen, she was always around you, wanted petting, wanted snacks, jumped up on you, jumped up on mom's dog to get closer to mom... She survived being super sick/unable to walk when a month or so old, regained use of her legs. It was a hard loss when she passed a few years later.
  Silverado, photo by Alexander D. Mitchell IV
  
  
  
  Dutch Bantam hens. I looove Dutch bantam hens, they are such little characters. The roo wasn't so nice, he hated buckets and me. I had to rehome him. Bantams in general are sweet. Porcelain d'Uccle roosters (my hen, Sugar Spaz was a spaz. When she sadly lost most of her vision she calmed down, and when I was nursing her due to her failing health she talked to me a lot. I'd hold her for hours. My other hen was also standoffish). Standard or bantam cochin hens. I have only had one cochin roo ( a bantam) stay nice. To me at least.
  
  
  
  Standoffish: In my flock the more standoffish breeds: my Penedesenca hen ( known to be standoffish, good because they are alert and less likely to get eaten by coyotes), sapphire gem/cochin mix, starlight green eggers, the wheaten easter eggers (both of those hens are CRAZY, I don't know why. I had to catch the one to spray for mites and she screamed so much I thought I'd broken her leg. Set her down and she took off. She was FINE.),
  Myombre (AKA "Crazy Bird")
  
  
  
  the polish (except three, one a bantam), pretty much polish x anything mixes (some exceptions in the grand chicks), Silver Spangled Hamburg (I have one, she is beauuutiful, I want to pet her. Trexy does Not Wish To Be Petted. Trexy Pecks the Heck out of Human Hand). Australorps, if they don't know you. My mom's would run away from me and thus I had to get chicks so I could pet chickens. Then the long, dark spiral into chicken math madness ...
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  I think that it also depends on the individual bird, for example we had two Old English Bantam self blue hens, Silverado was super friendly, Moonflower standoffish. Moonflower got friendlier after Silverado passed away, might be a pecking order thing?
  Two different colors of Japanese Bantams, Lowrider, is super friendly, the two black tailed buffs are not so much.
  We have two buff orpington/cochin mixes, Choo Choo Tutu is a cuddler, her sister hates it. Two Welsummers, Indigenous is the more curious one. I'd say orpingtons are probably the best go-to friendly bird. And cochins, Truffle, and her daughter, Trufflumph are friendly.
  Friendly ones seem to get broody a lot, especially the d'Anvers, bantam cochins,