[dbaggie]

I'm hoping to start keeping some chickens in the near future but as a total newbie I'd be interested in opinions as to what breed/type would make an ideal chicken for a new keeper.

I'm sure there'll already be a few discussion threads on this subject but for our circumstances there are 3 particular elements we'd be looking for:

• Hardiness - e.g. generally less prone to illness and not requiring specialist conditions/care
• Friendliness - we have 3 young kids some we'd like chickens which are happy to be petted and won't get too freaked out by kids kicking around the place
• Quietness - I know they won't be silent, but something which is generally on the quieter side (just thinking of the neighbours!)

Egg laying frequency and looks are only really of secondary interest for us.

Thanks

[hen addict]

Bantams of any type are popular with children, pekin, frizzel, sabblepoots, spring to mind lots of lovely colours to chose from.

[Sassy]

Light Sussex fulfil all your criteria, lay very well and I think look good as well.

[snow white]

Black rocks are supposed to be hardy,  Rhode island red and arucana are friendly and the arucana is my quietest, welsummer is noisy.  Vorwerk is quiet but not friendly.  What I am trying to say is every chicken has a different personality regardless of breed.  You could have three chickens same breed all different.  One noisy, one friendly and one who dies within a year.  You could ask the breeder for three friendly chickens and hope they are quiet!  They only make a noise when you come in sight, see a threat or sometimes after laying. 

[dbaggie]

Thanks for the replies 

Some good suggestions to think about - am I right in saying that Bantams are generally smaller varieties of larger chickens? If so, I think we're leaning more towards 'full size' chickens as we have a decent amount of space for them.

I like the look of the Light Sussex variety - is the 'Buff' type similarly natured?

What I am trying to say is every chicken has a different personality regardless of breed.  You could have three chickens she breed all different.

A good point! I appreciate that individual chickens will have different personalities - I just meant breeds/types which have more of a quiet/peaceful tendency, rather than a guarantee of quietness. 

[hen addict]

Are you free ranging or confining to a run? It can make a difference. Light sussex LF fair much better free ranging than confinement. Visit lots of breeders and talk about the different breeds before you make a decision. Hybrids v pure bred hens. Do you want eggs in the winter or not? Hybrids will lay some eggs during the winter pure hens stop laying from about late October/November time and stat again in February. Pure breed hens lay for a few more years than hybrids. The marans are a good bread to look at and come in a variety of different types, cuckoo, French, English, copper etc

[BabbyAnn]

I've only got limited experience of hybrid hens - the main reason for choosing them over pure breeds was because:

(1) they were a lot cheaper to buy POL (~£15 compared to £45 per hen)
(2) they had undergone the vaccination programme which I noticed some pure breed stockists did not do - this seemed important to me at the time as I'd never kept chickens before
(3) a good supply of eggs, albeit in the short term
(4) they seemed okay with confinement as free ranging is not really an option, especially as we do have foxes around here

I picked 4 different breeds - a Warren/Isa/Gold Star, a Bluebelle, an Amber and a Black Star.  Each come with their own personalities, but the Amber and Warren seem to be the friendliest.  The Warren is also street-wise and very clever, the Amber much more docile and chilled out and also regularly lays the biggest egg of the lot.  As for noise levels - this seems to be mainly when they are anticipating their treat/supplements (especially greens, fruit etc as they are unable to forage) but generally for the rest of the day they just make rosey and the odd squawk sounds.  They are noisiest when giving an alarm call (when the neighbour's cats come a visiting), or just after laying an egg and telling the world about it LOL.

As for concerns about your neighbours, perhaps let them know you are getting some and offer them any surplus eggs.  After I'd had mine a couple of months, I asked if there had been any problems and both sides were not in the least concerned, and even said it felt like being out in the countryside when they did hear them.  Bear in mind that they go to roost after sun down so it's really only daytime when there might be noise issues (and as my neighbours on both sides have children playing in the gardens as well as barking dogs, I don't let it upset me)

[splash101]

I've been lucky that all of my chickens (except the Rhode Island Reds) have been quiet. They cluck around and only make a noise when a cat runs along the bottom fence and the occasional egg call.

The friendliest ones we had were just common brown ones (I think they were a mix of warrens, isa browns) They came up to us and ate from your hand. and would happily sit on the kids laps.

The ones that were a bit highly strung were Black Rocks. Lovely looking birds but very skittish, not a chance of them coming near you or catching them.

Cream Legbars and light sussex dont do that well in a confined area and really decimated my garden in a very short time.

At the moment i have silkies. they are very quiet and are good in a confined area. I leave the run door open sometimes but they havent ventured out into the garden.
In terms of eggs, at the moment they are laying one a day or one every other day (each)
Beware though, Bantams and silkies in particular go broody very easily.

And of course, everyones birds are different and behave differently to everyone elses so not much help.

[Sassy]

In North Yorkshire I would expect to pay £10 a bird for pure breed Light Sussex!

[vanessa.xx]

I love Orpingtons they are friendly and have bags of character, plus they look so funny when they run

[joyfull]

some bantams are a smaller version of a large fowl but not all. You can also get bantams that are known as true bantams and these have no large fowl equivalent - such as barbu d' uccles, barbu d' anvers, sabelpoots (Dutch booted bantams) etc. The eggs may be smaller but the ratio of yolk to white is greater.
For large fowl I would opt for blackrocks, bluebelles - both hybrids, very hardy and will lay regularly and in pure breeds I would opt for the Buff Orpingtons and Cuckoo Marrans (Brenda Lee my cuckoo Marrans is now 8 and still laying the occasional egg).
Why not opt for 2 hybrids and 2 pure breeds 

[dbaggie]

Wow - loads of great advice, seems like we're spoilt for choice! 

Are you free ranging or confining to a run? Do you want eggs in the winter or not?

It will be a bit of both - the chickens will have access to a generous run and will be able to potter about freely throughout the garden whilst we're out and about to keep an eye on them. With this in mind, perhaps we'd be best to go for a breed which is happy with just a run as we obviously can't guarantee free ranging all the time. Having eggs in the winter wouldn't be critical for us.

As for concerns about your neighbours, perhaps let them know you are getting some and offer them any surplus eggs.  After I'd had mine a couple of months, I asked if there had been any problems and both sides were not in the least concerned, and even said it felt like being out in the countryside when they did hear them.

We are planning to speak to both neighbours about it first - we get on fine with both but have only moved in within the last year so don't want to go doing something which will irritate them!  One set of neighbourhoods don't tend to use their garden very much so I doubt it will be a problem but the others do like going out in their garden so best to be on the safe side and check. We will be offering free eggs though and good idea re: the follow-up!

The friendliest ones we had were just common brown ones (I think they were a mix of warrens, isa browns) They came up to us and ate from your hand. and would happily sit on the kids laps.

Our kids would love that!

Why not opt for 2 hybrids and 2 pure breeds 

Definitely worth considering - are hens quite happy with mixing with different types, i.e. they don't need to be in groups of the same type? I suppose I'm just used to my aquarium fish, many of which like to be in groups of certain minimum numbers....

Thanks for all the responses

[BIG ZOOK]

I love Orpingtons they are friendly and have bags of character, plus they look so funny when they run

+1 for the buffs .Great pets.

[dbaggie]

Just done a quick google for Buff Orpingtons and immediately came across a YouTube video titled 'Buff Orpington The Right Chicken for Your Backyard' - perhaps it's an omen!!   

[joyfull]

yes you can have different breeds together, I have large fowl, bantams and true bantams all together, some are pure breeds others hybrids and others crosses