What chicken breeds do I have in my flock and why? See here what I have learned about my chickens’ characteristics by breed. Whether you are here to see what I personally chose for my flock because you are looking to add new chickens to your flock, or just starting out with chickens I will tell you a little about the chickens I have and what I’ve learned about them by breed. From size to temperament, the color of eggs to the noise level. If you are new to chickens see my Common Chicken Questions.
Cinnamon – Buff Orpington
Meet Cinnamon. My orpington who lives up to the breed reputation. She is sweet, quiet, and social. She is not a big flyer and doesn’t like jumping onto things unless there is a good incentive or a lap. She is one of the top favorites because she is just so sweet. She has always been the best lap chicken out of all of them. She will sit on my lap as long as she receives pets. She likes being pet along the sides of her neck and she will rest her neck out along my arm. None of the other chicks ever do this and its almost as if she trusts me so much to give her the best pets. she will still remain alert to noises but will just melt like jello in my arms.
You can see her as a chick here. even as a chick she would let me hold her longer than any of the other chicks. like she just was more docile and enjoyed being held unlike some other chicks.
She lays a light brown egg. I would describe orpingtons as stout in size. Quiet, and very friendly in nature.
Orange – Black Asian Chicken
Here you will find Orange in her natural habitat. She’s a black asian chicken. And appears as the breed is listed. Named thus because I love puns and jokes and a coworker helped me think of the name. 1. Orange is the new black, and 2. because orange chicken is delicious. She is the first to hop up if she knows I have treats. She is definitely the loudest of my hens, she loves to announce when someone is using the nesting box, when she lays, and anything else she can think of to announce.
She is also one of the larger chickens in the coop along with Sassafrass being the same breed. I feel like these could be a good dual purpose breed since they are Larger, decent layers, and lay light brown eggs. She was also a VERY cute chick. She along with most of the others came from Hoover Hatchery from my local Tractor Supply.
Sassafrass – Black Asian Chicken
Sassafrass is the exception amongst the Black asian chickens. She is a beautiful reddish brown with black specks spread occassionally along her upper body. I only saw one that wasn’t a black chick in the brooder and I thought that would help me tell my chicks apart until I got to know them better. She has always been top of the pecking order. She’s the largest of my hens and has the sassitude to follow.
Black asian chickens tend to be larger in size. They stand taller than an orpington, and are quite heavy. They are good layers as well but definitely take a break as soon as cold weather hits. They lay a medium to light brown egg. They also don’t particularly make good lap chickens because they are just bigger, and dont seem to like being held as much as the others I have.
Chip – Americauna
Chip is my Americauna. I really wanted to rename her Starburst because she came out so vibrant with her neck feathers. The picture doesnt do her justice. She is my most skiddish hen. She does not let me simply pick her up like the others. But she embraces being held once she’s there. I think it’s because she always was at the back in the group and I didn’t pick her up as much as a chick… and general personality traits. She is also at the bottom of the pecking order.
Americaunas lay blue, almost pastel minty eggs. They are pretty small, but that could be because she is pretty small herself. They also look like Cleopatra, or a chipmunk pattern when they are just chicks.
Cherry – Swedish Black Hen/Americauna
Cherry is my shoulder chicken. She is petite and between her and Chip I receive a small blue egg every day. She is the most curious and explorative chicken I have. She loves to jump on my shoulder every time I go into the run. She will investigate things around the yard and she always tries to test her boundaries by climbing the highest point she can find. She never really leaves the other chickens though or goes where she can’t get back. I think she is genuinely the most intelligent chicken I’ve ever seen. She is melanistic so her skin to bones is black.
The breed is related to the popular Ayam Cemani, or the Swedish black hen, but she lays more consistently and she lays a blue egg instead.
Peach – Swedish Black Hen/Americauna
Peach is my rooster! I got peach and Cherry together as a pair of straight-run chicks from a local breeder. And I couldn’t say this is a great option enough. I knew the woman who bred them had given them lots of care and also they are VERY well suited to my climate. Living in Nevada it has dry hot summers and freezing cold and snowing winters and they have done the best out of the chickens I got this year. They also had the melanistic trait I thought was really cool and wanted in my flock.
They are Melanistic Easter Eggers, I wouldn’t classify them as another breed because they lay Blue eggs. Peach definitely carries the trait because of his heritage. So even though I don’t get eggs I absolutely love having him around. He enjoys a good ole head scratch and likes being picked up and pet. He demands such behavior as well. He is quite silly. His crow is not bad at all either. He doesn’t crow all day or in the middle of the night. He crows kinda like a good dog. When he notices something different or someone of note is around or when the normal expected time of sunlight reaches his face. *Which I have dubbed as a zero survival instinct when he crows at the coyotes. (Way to let them know where you are bud.)
Why these chickens?
I Chose all of these chickens because of their diversity and egg laying colors. I enjoy the colors in my egg carton, and hope to add more in the future. I hope to cross peach and one of the brown egg layers to get some olive eggers one day. To do that I will look to get some darker brown egg layers. I am planning on getting welsummers this year in my few I will get as replenishment. I wanted to start small but not too small to where they would get too cold in their coop in the winter. And I wanted to be able to expand on what I had. (I still haven’t given up on trying to hatch some eggs one day.)
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Meet Rose:
I am a 29-year-old woman persistent to learn to live a healthy lifestyle (as much as possible). Fitness and nutrition to gardening and chicken keeping. I am here to share and learn along the way.
Thank you for joining me on this journey and you can find out more about me Here.
