Are ISA Browns the friendliest chicken breed?

[gtaus]

She is planning an escape - keep an eye on her.

Well, that was my second thought. Better not let my guard down.

 

[gtaus]

I heard the BOs are the golden retrievers of the chicken world

Nice thought. Thanks. My BO is a sweetheart too.

It took a lot of patience & work to earn their trust but now I have it in spadefuls.

I think that is right. I have not spent much time with the birds to "tame" them. I can feed them bread by hand, but have not worked much on anything past that.

 

[Justso]

It may be the friendliest of the 10 breeds you have but generally speaking, they are far from the friendliest of the hundreds of breeds in the world.
In my mind they aren't even a breed. They are a hybrid sex link made up of several breeds, primarily Rhode Island Red and Rhode Island White (which by the way aren't color variations of the same breed but are separate breeds).
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html
ISA is an international company that breeds egg hybrids from a complex and proprietary assortment of breeds.
https://www.isa-poultry.com/en/product/isa-brown/
https://www.isa-poultry.com/en/about-us/history/

So basically, ISA is a brand, not a breed.

Thanks for this!

 

[gtaus]

So basically, ISA is a brand, not a breed.

I knew ISA Browns were a hybrid, but I did not know about breed v. brand. Interesting point.

 

[Compost King]

The Friendliest Chickens I ever had were ISA Browns, its why I no longer have them. I discovered that friendly chickens are annoying and get in the way and followed me when I went for a walk. Since my job is all back yard work I was tripping over chickens. Might be why I like Leghorns so much,, they stay out of my way.
The ISA Browns were great chickens overall because they laid huge brown eggs daily and if I had a business selling eggs I would consider them.

 

[BantyChooks]

I'm not a fan of red sexlinks. The few that I had took friendliness to the point of aggression. I've had many other birds of many other breeds that were docile and sweet without the mean streak.

 

[gtaus]

The Friendliest Chickens I ever had were ISA Browns, its why I no longer have them. I discovered that friendly chickens are annoying and get in the way and followed me when I went for a walk.

My chickens are not free range, so I don't have that problem. Years ago, I had geese and they followed me around the yard like a puppy dog. But they were not annoying and I enjoyed them.

 

[Compost King]

My chickens are not free range, so I don't have that problem. Years ago, I had geese and they followed me around the yard like a puppy dog. But they were not annoying and I enjoyed them.

yeah most people like that, I work in my backyard for a living and chickens that follow me can end up stepped on and I can end up falling down while carrying things... Although some chickens I have now will follow me at a distance due to me turning stuff over or picking things up free up worms and crickets and other bugs for food. I do not mind them because they are skittish and avoid being grabbing distance from me. Everyone has their favorite temperament in chickens I prefer unfriendly birds that keep to themselves. I also prefer cats to dogs for the very same reason. They won't follow me unless they want me to feed them. Kittens on the other hand I end up stepping on because they follow me around but luckily they are only kittens for a few months and cats for about a decade so once a decade I deal with kittens and having to watch my clumsy feet.

 

[Elliebeans]

I don't have an ISA Brown but I have a Hyline (my avatar) and as far as I'm aware they are pretty much the same thing. Got her at the same time as 2 silkies. None of them were hand tamed. My Hyline Mrs Jessup tamed up and became the friendliest by far. When I enter the run if she's not already at the door she comes sprinting from wherever she is up to me. She likes to follow me around and know what I'm up to, she'll even abandon treats to the other chickens to follow me which is pretty sweet. I bought some 3 month old hand raised silkies since then (though they hadn't been handled for a while so need some work) who are a bit of competition in the friendliness stakes for her but she's still doing well.
She's also very good with the rest of my flock (Silkies, Bantam Australorp and 2 D'Uccles). The only one I've ever seen her be a bit of a bully to is the rooster. She likes to keep him in his place.
She's definitely my favourite of the group.

 

[Chickologist]

My sweetest chickens out of all 16 of mine are my Buff Laced Polish pullet, Minnie, My Amerucana/Easter Egger mix pullet, Gidget, and my sapphire gem hen, Petunia. (shes a rare, new discovered breed!)