The Different Chicken Breeds
I started keeping chickens in October 2014 and it has been a steep learning curve for me. My go-to sites for all things chicken (and coops) is The Chicken Chick and Backyard Chickens.
Below are the chickens that I currently have in my yard and a bit of information regarding each breed. I have decided to only keep pure breed chickens at this stage. I am considering getting a trio of standard size commercial egg layers in the near future but am still umping and ahhing about it. At the moment I only have bantam chickens- bantam basically means a smaller version of that breed. So bantam Wyandottes are smaller versions of the standard sized Wyandotte. Bantam chickens typically lay and behave similarly to their standard counterparts but will have smaller eggs. If you'd like to get an idea of egg sizes from these chickens- head over to the Egg Laying page.
I should add that the descriptions below are based on my experiences of a few chickens. If you need a whole lot more information or opinions on these or other breeds My Pet Chicken and Backyard Chickens is a great place to start. If you are ready to buy some chickens, have a read of the Buying Chickens guide.
Below are the chickens that I currently have in my yard and a bit of information regarding each breed. I have decided to only keep pure breed chickens at this stage. I am considering getting a trio of standard size commercial egg layers in the near future but am still umping and ahhing about it. At the moment I only have bantam chickens- bantam basically means a smaller version of that breed. So bantam Wyandottes are smaller versions of the standard sized Wyandotte. Bantam chickens typically lay and behave similarly to their standard counterparts but will have smaller eggs. If you'd like to get an idea of egg sizes from these chickens- head over to the Egg Laying page.
I should add that the descriptions below are based on my experiences of a few chickens. If you need a whole lot more information or opinions on these or other breeds My Pet Chicken and Backyard Chickens is a great place to start. If you are ready to buy some chickens, have a read of the Buying Chickens guide.
Bantam Wyandottes (Matilda & Phryne)
Physical Appearance: What I would consider to be a standard type of chicken except that they have very pretty feather markings. If you Google these chickens, you will find some amazing laced versions. My Wyandottes aren't going to win any shows but I love them. They have nice clean yellow legs and feet i.e. no feathers and small combs and wattles. Nice plump body shape. Mine have nice white earlobes patches. Personality traits: Smart chickens. Quick to learn and will figure out how to get out of the coop (and broody breaker) very quickly! I think they are rather bold chickens and were quick to let everyone know who was boss in the coop. Matilda in particular is the top hen. Even when I remove her from the coop for several days to 'break her broodiness', she within minutes puts everyone in their place. Yes, they peck the chickens but thankfully they have never become aggressive to the point of drawing blood. Rather broody though. Matilda gets broody every couple of weeks now that she is laying. Then its a few days or a week in the 'broody breaker' (see The Chicken Chick's website for detailed information. I'll put up details of my version in the coming weeks). They are very inquisitive chickens and were the first ones in my flock to figure out how to create a dust bath and what to do in it (i.e. dig a hole in the turf and roll around in it). They are also defensive of their group- I've seen Matilda peck the rooster to save Phryne from his attentions. I've seen her stand her ground when Duke (Silkie Rooster) has run off and Matilda pecks Duke into submission! They never peck the humans though and are fantastic fun for the kids. My daughter loves feeding them as they will jump a little to get their treat and love being hand fed (along with the Faverolles and Mildred, the Belgium bantam). As broody hens though- they are hissing scary birds! And will peck without hesitation. Even though their pecks do not draw blood, it still took me a bit of courage to move them from the nesting box that they were hogging and into the Broody Breaker. And Matilda in particular will do her best to break out of the broody breaker. Once free, if she cannot get into the nest box will choose to sit on top of it! One very determined chicken. Maintenance: Pretty easy . I would rate them in the same category as the Salmon Faverolles except for their broodiness. Because they get broody, I need to set up another cage in the garage for them with food and water which means a little extra work. I do think that Matilda might make a great mom though- she is smart and would probably teach her chicks to be survivors. I do not think I would get more Wyandottes only because I already have Silkies and Pekins who are also likely to be broody chickens. But if I didn't care about that then I would definitely get a whole lot more. Eggs: Regular layers- every day usually. Nice light brown eggs about 37 g in size. Although in the winter they might miss a day here and there. And when they are broody, there are no eggs either. I have also found them to be rather noisy once they've laid their egg. But nothing compared to the Salmon Faverolles! Additional information: Check out this great page on Wyandottes from Raising Happy Chicks. |
Salmon Faverolles (Nina & Ella)
Physical appearance: I would describe them as sharp featured chickens with pointy beaks and tufty fluffy cheeks. They have feathered feet and lovely feathers. A good sized bantam chicken apparently bred for eggs and meat. As 1st year layers, I am amazed at how heavy they are relative to size. Probably explains why they are also my greediest chickens! Personality traits: Very smart chickens. Quick to figure out where the food and water is. Also the first ones to get into places I thought chickens would not be interested in. Since putting up a fence to keep the chickens off my deck, I found found the Faverolles in my raised vege beds and potted plants digging out the soil! Now I have to think about how to fence off the vege patch or just let them have the rest of the yard back! I wouldn't be surprised if one of them will be the first to fly over the fence into the wide world beyond. Its probably time I clipped their flight feathers... Nevertheless, I do love these chickens. As young pullets, it was impossible to get a hold of them in the yard. As laying hens, they will squat (see section on Egg Laying for more on this) and I can get a hold of them. These days I find they come to me to see what I am doing and are generally not phased by me anymore. They will even let me met pet them. As young pullets they would run a mile if I petted them or even attempted to do so. Maintenance: Very easy to keep. I think they might be my hardiest chickens as they seem to get over colds fairly quickly thus far. On the whole, I would keep more of these chickens. Eggs: Lovely light brown (started at 40 g and lately have been laying 47 g) eggs. Regular layers- every day in nice warm weather and every other day during the winter. Like to announce their egg laying very loudly and a at least a minute sometimes! Often these girls and the bantams will get going and it is a rackety affair for a few minutes. |
Polish Chicken (Lilly)
Physical Appearance: Impossible to mistake these chickens as any other breed. They have a fantastic top knot of feathers. Rather fashionable looking chickens and unlike the silkies though they have normal feathers. Their feathers can cover their eyes so sometimes its necessary to trim the feathers near their eyes. Apparently some owners have taken to tying this head of hair! Personality traits: They seem to be happy as solitary chickens. When I first started with chickens, I had 1 polish and 1 silkie who banded together as they were terrified of the full size Light Sussex chickens I had (side note: I returned the Light Sussex though because they were not healthy but would consider them again as they seemed like super smart chickens). Anyway so I got a second Polish friend for Lilly but they never hung around together. In fact the two Polishes seemed happy to be on their own and socialising when they chose to do so. The other chickens did pick on the Polishes initially but things settled down fairly quickly. Sadly Lola developed a middle ear infection from which she never recovered so had to have her put to sleep (she was one of 'those' chickens I was worried about from the start and seemed to be constantly unwell). Lilly is fine on her own and in fact when she started laying she a lot of developed self-confidence. She will now stand her ground against other hens and the rooster! She is still easily spooked which is probably because she can't see as well as the others due to her head of feathers. She doesn't like being held but quickly gets used to it and will settle into your lap. She used to come to me when I called her name but when she started laying, she stopped doing this. Maintenance: If I exclude Lola from this analysis, I would say Lilly has been fairly easy to look after. When she was a young pullet, I was worried about her because she was a bit slow to figure out where the food/water was. She was also not willing to hop up onto the steps to get back into the coop and I also had to train her to walk up the internal ramp to get onto the roosts. A whole lot more work than e.g. the faverolles, belgiums or wyandottes. However, now she does all of these things on her own and I really don't worry too much about her. I think I am happy with just 1 Polish as they are happy on their own too! Eggs: A very regular layer, about every other day, Lilly will lay a beautiful very white 45 g egg. I must add that I was very surprised by the egg size as Lilly is not my biggest hen- the Faverolles are! As for the noise she makes once she has laid an egg- its not too bad. I have noticed that lately she hasn't really been announcing her egg on a regular basis. |
Pekin Chickens (Biscuit & Tilly)
Physical appearance: Super soft fluffy feathers all over. Their feet are also feathered. Small comb and wattles. Personality traits: Ours are very inquisitive and as the youngsters in the group are incredibly 'cheeky and naughty'. They get into places and tend to tease the other chickens by hanging outside their run when I've let them out first to free-range. I think my Pekins are quite smart and quickly learn where food/water and shelter is. However, mine aren't too fond of being picked up during the day and they are way too fast right now for me to catch. Unless I corner them in the little coop. They are definitely fun to watch and will follow me around if I have treats to hand out. However, its taking a while to get them to eat out of my hand- I guess they are just suspicious of my ulterior motives! Maintenance: So far they have not been any trouble. I think they have a chicken cold once or just dust because I saw them sneeze BUT it was only for a day. Since then I really haven't had to take any special care with them. Eggs: I have been getting small (about 30 g) creamy tinged with brown coloured eggs from Biscuit who recently started laying at about 22 weeks of age. Tilly hasn't started yet. I am getting an egg from Biscuit about every 2-3 days. Thus far, I have not heard or noticed Biscuit announce the arrival of her egg- she is probably my quietest girl thus far. |
Silkies
Physical appearance: There is no mistaking a Silkie chicken with their hair-like puff ball appearance and puffy heads. Silkies do have feathers- just 'separated' into fibres rather than organised into the shape of a standard feather. Their skin is black whilst their earlobes are a vibrant blue colour. They also have five toes. Silkies are also hard to sex- I bought a silkie pullet who turned out to be a rooster. Often this is they way most people find out if its a girl or a boy- wait for the crow! Luckily, there are no restrictions to keeping a rooster (unless neighbours complain of the noise) where I live so kept. He changed his name from Marmalade to Marmaduke and now we just call him Duke. At night I put him in the baby coop and cover the whole thing with tarp- this stops him from crowing in the early hours of the morning which equates to happy neighbours (I hope!). Personality traits: Passive non-pecky little chickens. They tend not to wander too far from 'home'. Our silkies are usually ignored by the other chickens, although my broody Wyandotte and Silkie rooster will peck them occasionally. Sometimes they get spooked by the sudden movement of other chickens. They do like cuddles (once they get used to it) and will even fall asleep on our laps if we held them long enough. They are not inquisitive like the other chickens and definitely not as quick to figure out where things are. This is probably owing to the fact they can't really fly. If you want a super smart chicken rather than a cute fluffy one- stay away from Silkies. On another note- my rooster is fairly gentle with the girls. Sometimes he pecks them but most times they get aware or scare him off (e.g. the Polish will stand her ground and has a face off if he even so much as thinks about 'it'!). I keep thinking of selling him just because it can get tiring to close him up separately but then I see him on the lawn looking rather grand and I think "I just can't let you go Duke...not just yet." He is also lovely to hold and cuddle- usually protests in the beginning but then falls asleep in my arms...far more compliant than the girls. Maintenance: Not difficult but not as easy as normal feathered chickens. Rain is bad for them as their hair-like feathers cannot repel water so they will get soaked to the bone. My silkies do not seem to mind the rain and so won't go inside so I have to pick them up and lock them in the 'baby' coop. This can be annoying! The other thing to keep in mind is that when they are young then tend to pile on top of each other to sleep. So build some roost bars low to the ground and teach them too roost at night. Of course make sure they are not under the pooing chickens at night! Cleaning poo from their feathers is seriously annoying. Compared to other chickens I would say they are the highest maintenance chickens. I love having them but not sure if I would ever get more. Eggs: My silkies are still too young. Apparently it can take a full year for them to start laying eggs!! |
Belgium Bantams (Mildred & Fleur)
Physical appearance: I have the Mille Fleur version of the Belgiums with their gorgeous white, black and brown speckling all over. They are very small birds, more like a puny pigeon but oh so much cuter! Feathered feet are great but because they are so long they tend to do a hop and bounce across the yard! Seriously pretty chickens. Personality traits: Curious and smart little birds. Happy to be handled once they are accustomed to it. I can even get them to sit on my shoulder a bit like a parrot for a bit. Can be feisty for their tiny size. Maintenance: I think they are fairly easy care. They do seem to be the first to get lice/mites though and their feathered feet can snag on things so be mindful of anything poking out. They were the first to discover the one bit of wire in the entire run that was exposed... resulting in a bleeding toe (which I washed, sprayed with iodine, allowed to dry before releasing the chicken and she is just fine). So far they seem to be cold hardy as well in the winter (we get down to - 5 Celcius at best overnight). Eggs: Small white shiny eggs. About 35 g in weight that is mostly yolk. You really need 2 to make it into a decent breakfast. They were regular layers- laying every other day for me until it got cold. The only other time they stopped laying was when lice/mite problem was really bad. I hadn't realized something was wrong until the eggs stopped coming. This is when I picked them up and found the poor girls were covered in them. The infestation appeared to be worse on the Belgiums compared to the other chickens. (Again steep learning curve about importance of dusting for lice and mites). They can be surprisingly noisy but sound more like birds than chickens. In terms of volume, the faverolles and wyandottes beat them. |