# Chicken breed reccomendations for a calm kid friendly broody standerd



## promiseacres (Apr 13, 2013)

So yesterday I rehomed our Buff Orphington Roo (that was supposed to be a hen  ) because he would not allow my 4 year old son to be in the coop unless I watched his (the roos) every move. Now my son of course is upset with me b/c there needs to be a "daddy" in the bunch...  I want my son to be able to collect eggs. So am thinking of getting either some Salmon Faverolle (saw one and LOVED his "look") or I really like the Dorkings or Brahmas.  The chickens are just for our own eggs at this time but I think it'd be fun to get a hen or two that might go broody and raise some LO's for us. I looked at Mc Murray but they don't list the Dorkings as a broody type? but I've seen them listed other places. I've also seen that both breeds seem to be good tempermentwise. Of course I'd love to find something local and have found a lady not too far via CL with some Red Dorkings (Trio for $40)(yes I prefer the Silver Grey). Temperement is my biggest concern and so far my current chickens seem to have the exact opposite of what was listed as "calm" or flighty. My leghorn is very curious and calm and my buff orphingtons really don't want anything to do with us except eat. My ISA browns are very friendly too. I think more of a Heriatage breed would be fun too. Any input would appreciated.
My #1 characteristic is Calm good with kids type breed and #2 is broody


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## Southern by choice (Apr 13, 2013)

We have all the breeds you mentioned. The roos of each breed mentioned are very different from the hens.

1. Dorkings are great birds but are extremely fragile as chicks and when young, they have a hard time in the cold climates. They are excellent free- ranged birds and do well in confinement.

2. Brahmas are also great but GIANT... some males can get quite aggressive

3. Favorelles... soso breed IMO 

I'm not sure if you range or confine...can't remember. I will say MOST- NOT ALL, BUT MOST roosters in confinement get very aggressive. They are protecting their hens and territory. Free range roosters rarely behave this way... on our farm everything is ranged. Right now I have probably 50 roosters...none fight , none are aggressive toward humans. Occassionally young roos will spar but the older roos keep the order. We have segregated our roos right now for breeding season... they are in a yard of 20x 80 ft... about 30 Roos in that yard. No issue. 

BTW- We had an Orp roo- he went in the pot- MEANEST ROO i have ever seen. When we tried to pen him( he was a perfect breeding roo) he got even worse. I will not breed a mean roo. EVER.

EE Roos are usually great if you are looking to just have a nice roo and are not really breeding purebreds.


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## promiseacres (Apr 13, 2013)

What is SOSO breed?? 
They are confined to a large coop, and 12 x 20 run. But this roo started this when he was not confined..... would literally run across the yard to get my son. In the roo's defence my son probably started it b/c he like to chase him...  I'm not opposed to letting them free range some after we get the yard fenced in...but it'll be limited b/c I just don't like their "mess" everywhere I'm wanting a tractor to let them "work" in the garden too. 

We do have a heatlamp set up on a thermastat. and these red dorkings I mentioned ARE north of me abou 2 hours so maybe they'd do as they are adults? That's good to know about confinement. maybe we just don't need a roo.


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## Southern by choice (Apr 13, 2013)

Yeah, some roos are just jerky! LOL
The mean orp we had really hated the little kids... and they never chase or mess with birds. He was just a nasty Roo.

SoSo meaning... we have them but I decided not to breed them. The hens are CONSTANTLY Broody. Maybe in the future... they haven't been real friendly... they go into the loafing shed and sit on all the eggs..we take the eggs every day. I swear I don't ever see them leave. Have no clue when they actually eat. 

I know people have different experiences of course, we have a poultry business though so this isn't based on just a few pet chickens.  We have raised a bajillion chickens. We have had 45 different breeds/varieties. 

My favorite heritage breeds are Barred Rock (any rock for that matter), Delaware, and Speckled Sussex.
All do great ranged but are also very content in being confined. The 3 I mentioned are my favorites because they are curious, friendly, very smart , extremely hardy. All 3 are cold hardy. The Delaware is a great layer  and great meat bird. 2nd is the Rocks. The sussex can be fragile as chicks but hearty once older.

The dorkings are not overly friendly, mine will go broody. 

If you get adult birds I strongly recommend they go into quarantine for at least 90 days. Always handling them last. If they are of show stock they have been exposed to ILT, MG and a bajillion other things... MG/ILT exposure results in carriers. Just for your info.

A friend of mine has ordered 2 rounds now of dorkings from a hatchery (if you want to know which one I can PM you) and they all died.
She is a very experienced poultry keeper.


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## elevan (Apr 13, 2013)

I like the following breeds for roos - Brahma, Barneveldar, Buckeye  - if you're just talking your own home flock.

Of course the best roo that I have is a mutt, so don't dismiss that as an option either.


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## Southern by choice (Apr 13, 2013)

Good point on the Buckeye! Forgot about them- they are pretty docile. Brahmas seem to be hit or miss IMO. Our Barnevelders (Roos) tend to avoid most human contact- not mean, just not  friendly. Our yours friendly?
My Dark Brahma Roo is pretty docile.


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## PendergrassRanch (Apr 13, 2013)

My one SF is a wanderer.  She and her Ameraucana friend are on lock down because they always go across the road to the neighbors house.


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## boykin2010 (Apr 13, 2013)

You need to try looking into pure English Orpingtons.  These are my all time favorites and I have had all of the breeds mentioned so far except for salmon faverolles. The English Orps  are completely different than the "American" Orpingtons you find in many hatcheries.  

The English Orps have been noted for being extremely docile and the english hens go broody every now and then ( I have one sitting on eggs now.)  I can go into any one of my pens and turn my back on the roosters without fear. I can walk up, pick one up, and scratch it's back. They all come up looking for treats. 

You will see the difference I am talking about if you go on google and type in American Orpington and English Orpingtons. 

the English are much bigger, fluffier, more docile, and hens go broody more often. 

I have several different rare varieties on my website. 
www.ewecrazyfarms.com

Here is some pics of a Legbar Orpington rooster and a Jubilee Orpington pair


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## BrownSheep (Apr 13, 2013)

My EE Roos are all nice boys but my all time favorite roos are my  Black copper marans. Very gentle and social.


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## elevan (Apr 13, 2013)

All the EE roos that we've had have been nasty.


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## Southern by choice (Apr 13, 2013)

elevan said:
			
		

> All the EE roos that we've had have been nasty.


  Oh my gosh! We have had 25 EE roos  and not one was nasty.... one was a giant 13lbs at 1 year old and my then young daughter carried him around like a baby doll... we still have some of his offspring.

It is amazing how different birds can be of the same breed. I guess it's just like any other animal.... some are just ignorant acting.  
RIR are notorious for being mean as !$#@ yet one of ours was a big baby and loved to climb in your lap, sweetest guy. Our current RIR are all fine, not aggressive at all but I know they can still get that way.

I love the English Orps!!! I don't have any though..


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## Southern by choice (Apr 13, 2013)

BTW- cool thread... it is nice to hear other peoples experiences with the different breeds.


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## promiseacres (Apr 13, 2013)

Think I should change the title....it is very interesting to hear others experiences....


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Apr 13, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> elevan said:
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I've had A LOT of EE's and never a single mean one. Some more flighty though.


My absolute favorites are Ameraucanas, Blue Wheatens to be exact. I've been raising them for two years now and have never had a single aggressive male, never have problems with them picking on each other, in confinement or out in the open. The mothers often go broody, but not enough to be annoying, they are great for free-ranging and are very calm and self-sufficient, and they are hardy as chicks too, I can't even remember the last time I lost one. Just my 2 cents though. *


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## TeamChaos (Apr 13, 2013)

Our cochin ladies are sweet and always broody. We've got a lot of roosters and if I had to pick one as the "sweetest" it would have to be my welsummer boys. They look like Cornelius from the Corn Flakes box and they are big, but friendly. So are my barnevelder boys but they cannot seem to get along amongst themselves.


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## Squirrelgirl88 (Apr 13, 2013)

Our Buckeye Roo is the greatest. He is calm, and just turns and walks away from you if you approach him. Our first rooster was evil. I still have scars on my legs. The Americauna Roo was second - he was barely a rooster, never even paid attention to the hens.

Third Try - Buckeye Chickens. They are docile, the rooster attends to his girls and leaves me alone. They do well in the cold winters in Ohio, and they are on the ALBC list.


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 13, 2013)

Have you considered Cochins?  They are big and fluffy, and pretty chill.  They also have feathered feet which is pretty cool.  They tend to be a bit broody as well I often find them in the corner of the coop setting.


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## boykin2010 (Apr 14, 2013)

I agree that cochins are a good choice also.  Good setters, and docile too. 
Mine never were good layers though.


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## boothcreek (Apr 14, 2013)

Exhibition Type Black Australorp! Dont go for the hatchery ones, its night and day in conformation and character between hatchery and exhibition. The exhibition type makes wonderful broodies and moms too.
My Aussie roo is a giant push-over, so are the hens. 
We have had the Exh. Australorps for over 23 yrs and when it comes to a great all around chicken(meats, eggs and brooding) and a good bird for kids to handle they win hands-down in my book. For 5 yrs we use to visit schools with agri programs bringing in our aussi roo for presentations. He would find someones lap, amd sit there quietly mumbling to himself before dozing off, a 10 lb black feather pillow.


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## TGreenhut (Apr 14, 2013)

I live my silkies! The roosters are sweet and I have never needed an incubator because the hens go broody all the time and make GREAT mothers.


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## ragdollcatlady (Apr 14, 2013)

I have to put in my 4 cents here  

My number one favorite is Salmon Faverolle. 

Our best fav was Weird Al and he was the absolute sweetest  rooster you could ever have. He was nice to his ladies, gentle with the babies and snuggly with people. Our salmon girls have always been at the bottom of the pecking pile, so I have to watch for that, but they are wonderful pets. When our babies were just old enough to be out during the day with the flock, but it was still too cold at night, we would just collect them at dusk and bring them in. Occasionally it would be too dark and someone would come in crying that they couldn't find the babies. We would go out with the flashlights and after checking the 2 or 3 favorite spots, I would suggest looking for Weird Al. He would have little baby chicken heads and butts poking out from underneath him.He didn't care what babies or how old. When they were too young to roost or fly up, he would tuck them in under a bush. When they could get up off the ground he would take them into the garage and tuck them in on top of a bale of hay. 


This isn't Al, it is his replacement Weird Altitude. Not as snuggly as Al but maybe once I have babies on the ground we will be able to sweeten them up (bought him as an adult)






Here he is leaning back and his beard looks all flat. Not sure why but his color is just fabulous!





My other suggestion is Cochin.

Julia was our cochin rooster. He would also feed his ladies and take care of the babies, also tucking them in at night under his wings.  Our first birds were hatchery stock (McMurray) and for more eggs I would still suggest some hatchery blood. These birds were raised in the kitchen and snuggled every night after dinner. These 2 boys were my personal pets and over the years I have given up letting the kids pick the birds they want as they end up preferring "my" birds anyway. I think that all the time I spend with them (mind you that isn't much, some days only 20 minutes after dinner) makes them sweeter and they end up being family favorites. 







I specifically chose these breeds for calm and docile temperaments and would have eaten any that didn't stay sweet. I don't do mean or high strung anything. Once I fell in love with these birds I wanted show stock as they are so much bigger and have better coloring. But they don't have as high of production levels in my experience. 

The other main breed I have is silkies and they are also some of my favorites, but I have had to get rid of a few roosters that aren't as sweet to people. Then again I have Hannibal, the ugliest chicken I have ever seen (blue barred showgirl), but he literally runs to follow me around and snuggles down so much in my arms that I just melt. 

But for a standard roo I suggest Faverolle or Cochin or you could do a best of both worlds and get a J.J.....he is a mix of both and huge. My DD was just in the newspaper with a pic of her holding her giant rooster letting little kids pet him at farm day.


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## promiseacres (Apr 15, 2013)

Thanks for everyones input love the photos! Especially the Cochin/sf roo! Love it.


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## Azriel (Apr 21, 2013)

WhiteMountainsRanch said:
			
		

> My absolute favorites are Ameraucanas, Blue Wheatens to be exact. I've been raising them for two years now and have never had a single aggressive male, never have problems with them picking on each other, in confinement or out in the open. The mothers often go broody, but not enough to be annoying, they are great for free-ranging and are very calm and self-sufficient, and they are hardy as chicks too, I can't even remember the last time I lost one. Just my 2 cents though. [/b]


2xs  I would tell anyone with kids to get the Wheaten Ameraucana, the hens are sweet and gentle, never try to peck when you reach in to get eggs, and they do go broody, but not as often as the Orps, and you can even handle the broodys without being picked. The roosters are great and will let me handle the hens with out problem, yet protect their flock as best as they can. Last time I was trying to take photos, I had to keep shooing them away because they wanted to jump into my lap or on my shoulder.
Wheaten Roo



Blue Wheaten hen


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