Whiting True Blue Temperament

[FunClucks]

Looking at breeding and selling eggs and chicks from WTB. What is the temperament of this breed? I have Prairie Bluebells, which are active and flighty, but generally will let me get a hand on them if I insist (read corner them up against the corner of the coop or sneak up on them while they're eating) and will let me hold them without panicking after I pick them up. They come up to me and stand by my legs waiting for Scratch. I have a few white leghorn chicks growing out right now that seem even more nervous than the PBBs. I also have a number of red sex-links and a buff orpington who are pretty calm about people, and will let me pick them up when they come to investigate food, and are calm when I hold them, although they aren't a fan of it. Where do WTB fall on the spectrum of flightiness and friendliness? Are they nervous, flighty, active, or friendly, calm, docile as a breed?

 

[GCrumb]

My Whiting's True Blue hen isn't friendly. As a young pullet she was flighty and nervous enough to be annoying. As a mature adult she's independent and alert and an active determined forager who isn't afraid of humans but wants us to mind our own business.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Mine were very independent. Not aggressive, but not a fan of close contact.

 

[Hatch in chicks]

View attachment 3474635sorry about the blurry picture, my child snapped itanyway this is her egg. if you're wondering why my kid is not at school, she is sick.

whoops it sound like I said my kid layed an egg, I meant the chicken layed this egg. LOL

 

[GCrumb]

@3KillerBs If I was free-ranging all the time like we used to do, I would go for this breed wholeheartedly, I think they'd be the best at evading our predators and finding their own food. Once they matured past the panicky stage, anyway.

 

[Hatch in chicks]

my whiting true blue is 1. her name is daisy she lays every day. she is a great layer. personality: shy, flighty, and loves roosting bars. we sadly have problems with dogs attacking our chickens, she's smart and fly's up to get away. we have a 50-foot-high barn well, she flopped just below it on a board. i got her down but it was the dog that scared her.

 

[MountainWoman73]

I had 2 WTB at one point and still have one of them. They're a little flighty, like other types of EEs. But not completely unfriendly. Mine will eat from my hand but doesn't want to be picked up.

 

[Adorae]

My Whiting True Blues are 8 weeks old today. Some will eat treats from my hand, but all will throw a fit if I try to pick them up. I do not spend much time with them, just some chores once or twice a day. They have feathered out to be pretty though. They love roosting on any little area they can find, so I need to get the roosts put into the coop.

 

[Adorae]

The almost week old chicks I have seem like they might be on the flighty side of the chicken spectrum. But I don’t have the ideal set up for raising them and haven’t had much time to get friendly with them either.

I look forward to hearing what people say about them as adults.

 

[NatJ]

This is a local store. They don't have many chicks at once, but they do have a good variety over time.

I was going to order the chicks direct from McMurray, but they were sold out in January.

It might be worth checking back on occasion. A few weeks back I saw some available on their website for several dates, but now they are back to being sold out. I think they list a conservative number, then allow order for more if the flocks are laying better or if candling during incubation shows better-than-expected development. I noticed last year there was a pattern of more chicks being listed on a certain day of the week-- checking every day for a week or two would probably show if the same pattern exists this year.