Friendly Chicken Breeds for a Backyard Flock
Have you ever considered raising chickens in your backyard? Friendly chicken breeds are the answer, especially if you have little kids!
If you have limited space, and/or little kids that want to help out, looking for chickens with the “right” temperament may be key to finding the right backyard flock. Friendly chicken breeds were at the top of my list when choosing a flock for a suburban backyard.
Choosing Friendly Backyard Chicken Breeds
After loads of research (like 5 years worth), it was apparent that chicken breeds are about as vast as dog breeds. You can choose chickens for any number of different reasons… egg quantity, meat, both, egg color, season of egg laying (who knew?!), pet, exhibition, cold tolerant, heat tolerant, and on and on it goes.
So what do you look for? What’s the most important? For me, I knew I wanted pretty birds with pretty eggs. But with 2 small kids running around, making sure the chicken breeds were friendly was at the top of my backyard flock list.
My girls really want to snuggle these birds! I have no clue if that’s going to happen, but we chose all friendly chicken breeds to give us the best chance!
5 Friendly Chicken Breeds
All 5 of our chickens are coming from Meyer Hatchery. Our chicks hatch on June 3 (how cool is that?!) and will be shipped the next day. I know shipping baby chicks may sound kind of awful. I’m just telling myself these babies have 1 rough day, and then a happy life waiting for them after that!
1. White Sultan
This crazy feathered beauty is my oldest’s pick. The White Sultan is really for looks – – not so much for eggs. She is noted to be friendly and calm, which is a must! She does lay 3-5 small/medium white eggs per week.
The White Sultan handles warm weather well, but not the cold. It will be important to watch her in the winter to make sure she is staying warm and dry. In all honesty, it’s probably not the best choice for first time chicken keepers. But when your daughter draws pictures of this chicken and hangs them all over her room, how can you say no?
Seriously though, can she be any cuter?!
2. Fibro Easter Egger
This black beauty is my 4 year old’s pick. My daughter is very into villains and this chicken looks a bit like Maleficent in all black (at least to a 4 year old). This is what happens when your kids pick chickens!
The Fibro Egger lays around 4-5 large eggs in a gorgeous shade of green!
She is noted to be friendly, calm and a good pet. I’m really looking forward to seeing her personality. Easter Eggers are favorites for backyard chicken keepers. Especially with little kids!
3. White Crested Black Polish
This is one funky chicken! Polish chickens are friendly birds. They are also a bit flighty. They can’t see well due to their mop of feathers around their eyes, so they can be startled easy. Much like the White Sultan, she is heat hardy but not so great in the cold. She lays 2-4 medium white eggs per week.
She won’t win any egg laying awards, but she’ll turn heads with her looks! And if we can keep her eye sight clear, I’m hoping she is as sweet as she is gorgeous.
4. Frizzle Sapphire Jewel
Welcome to the queen of egg layers! The Frizzle Sapphire Jewel is a hybrid chicken bred to lay 6 large blue (possibly brown) eggs per week. While not in this picture above, she should hopefully have frizzle feathers – – the feathers turn upwards, like wild bed head! Yes, I’m hoping for a chicken with bed head!
Most importantly, she meets our criteria for friendly chicken breeds. I think her bright white feathers are gorgeous even without the frizzle. But the eggs…I can’t wait to see them!
5. Splash Ameraucana
The final pick for friendly chicken breeds is the Splash Ameraucana. She is said to be quiet, calm and friendly. Can you ask for much more in a backyard suburban chicken?
How about gorgeous blue eggs, too?!
We can expect 4-6 medium/large blue eggs per week. Pretty eggs, pretty chicken, and friendly personality. She is the trifecta!
Suburban Chicken Keeping
It’s wild that we get to raise chickens in the suburbs. And to clarify, we can have chickens – – not roosters. But if I’m being honest, roosters kind of freak me out anyway, so no loss there!
If you’re interested in getting chickens, I highly recommend Meyer Hatchery. The best part of ordering is you can have as little as three chicks shipped to you. You can pick 3 different breeds! And you can order all females…which is super important in the suburbs where you aren’t allowed roosters.
If you’re unsure about what you’re looking for, check out Meyer Hatchery’s list of the friendliest chickens.
I’ll be sure to post updates on Instagram when the chickens arrive in June. And we’ll see if the friendly chicken breeds list holds true.
Are you thinking of getting chickens for your backyard? I’d love to know what friendly chicken breeds you’re considering!
