What would you consider the ideal Homestead chicken breed?

[MorelCabin]

I love my barred rocks. The only thing against them is that they do not go broody and i have to use the incubator to hatch out new stock. I cull hens at two years, and extra cockerals at 6 months. I have 6 ready to go next week.

A perfect breed for me would be hearty sized birds where the hens go broody. But I have a silkie mutt who sits on eggs for me, and I will probably get a few more just for that purpose. The barred rocks lay well, and are a good size for meat, so I will probably stay with them.

Exactly the same here, barred rocks with a few silkies to keep setting eggs for me. (not that I have any birds right now, but hopeful to get back to the country again soon
I would be tempted to try the black aust. though. Been told good things about them and they are a very large bird, and set too!

 

[country freedom]

Mine would be a mixed mutts flock!

HENS:
Camouflage patterned.
Broodiness is a must.
Must have a strong maternal fight drive to protect her chicks.
Able to raise chicks till grown enuf to be on their own.

COCK:
Camouflage patterned.
Must have a strong fight drive to protect his hens/chicks.

Does anyone know if I have missed anything?

 

[urban dreamer]

BARRED ROCKS or RIRs. My Barred rock has gone broody on me twice in the last four months. Both are great egg layers (BR is 3 and still laying strong). I would like to get a couple of Silkies or a BO for thier broody nature when we move out where we can have more chickens, but until then, I love my BR.

 

[justusnak]

We have 4 coops of standard breed chickens...
1) RIR Rooster, RIR hen and 4 RIR/Australorp mix. They are just about to go in the pot. At 3 yrs old, they are finished laying, and never go broody.
2) Buff Orps. 1 roo, 7 hens. EXCELLENT layers...broody, large, and they grow fairly quick. Mine are 3 years old...and still laying machines! However, with this heat, they have slacked off, and now are moulting.
3) Barred Rocks. 1 rooster, 6 hens. The best by far as egg layers. They lay right through the heat and cold. However, they have not wanted to go broody for me, and are 2 yr olds this year.
4) Wellsummers. 1 roo, 2 hens. They are my "trial" chickens. I dont think I will further this flock..The rooster is flighty, ( hence the name Screamer), non broody, and the hens are a little small. Pretty...but not very SS for me.
Once I empty a coop..I am going to try getting Black Langshans again. I had them once, and really loved them. Big, beautifull, good layers....friendly.
I have my small coop with 3 pens..Banty Cochin Frizzles, Banty Cochins, and Slikies. They are my setters.....man, just have to say..I need chicks, and they run to the nest and start setting! Crazy little birds...they are my "eye candy"
So, out of all my birds, I would have to say...Buff Orps. Large, friendly, broody, and great layers of large brown eggs.

 

[Wildsky]

We only keep for egg laying and my favorite is based on personality. It would be my RIR girl, she's so cute and funny and always right up in our business when we're outside.

She seems to be able to tell the time as well, if we don't go out to do chores on the DOT of 5pm - she'll be looking at me through the sliding door, with LONG neck.
She has never gone broody, lays lovely big brown eggs very regularly and she's 3 years old now.

I don't have experience with a lot of breeds, but we do have Buffs, Leghorns, Easter eggers, arucana's, D'uccles, and just got a pair of Polish crested.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

MTheN, last year I had a barred rock hen set and hatch out 13 chicks.. There is still hope!

i have two BR's that are walking chicks around right now. there is nope

the barred are probably our favorites... but i love my RIR.

we got Buckeyes which are supposed to be perfect for here. but wow they are nuts. and ridiculous so they get a C- for "easy of handling" and "personality."

a couple of my fav mutts are american banty x brahma...of all things. of course the best one is a pal so she isnt going in the pot. but she has a nice personality (but stands up for herself), is a great shape and size - heavy but not over the top, and a good layer. i was really hoping she would brood this summer.

i think your location is also a factor in determining what is best. for instance with our cold winters its good to have small/rose combs.

 

[Wifezilla]

Since I am mildly allergic to chicken eggs, my favorite homestead chicken is actually a Welsh Harlequin duck

They will outlay most chickens, will go broody, are friendly, and can be a meat bird too. They are also excellent foragers and can't fly.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

If I had to choose only one, I'd go with whatever my favorite dual purpose would be and really there are a few to choose from. I currently have mainly RIRs. I think I may have the only flock in town that is currently producing eggs too, because I have been getting first time customers and one of them indicated that others are out of eggs.
But I am now of the opinion that I would prefer to have a massive coop, separated in three, so I can have an awesome egg breed and a really big meat breed; plus a place to raise the meaties. I am slaughtering my cockerals, but I would like to do it in 7 to 8 weeks, rather than 12 to 14.

 

[Javamama]

Ducks. Seriously. My ducks aren't even laying yet and they are winning the race by miles. They forage so well that I'm not feeding much at all, they stick together in a little flock at all times, they don't whine and beg for food all the time, and they have the instinct to run for cover when a hawk is stalking the yard. The males don't crow, the females can be loud, but no louder than our chickens. If they lay as well as they are supposed to, then we are cutting back on chickens and raising more ducks.
A couple days ago I saw a hawk try to take a chicken, and not one of them raised their head to see what the commotion was about. The ducks ran for cover immediately.

 

[bibliophile birds]

if i had to pick just one of the breeds i've had, i'd probably pick the Buff Orps also. they are good layers and are BIG birds. they are calm and pretty too. all 3 of my BO hens went broody this spring, and 2 sat nests (i broke up the 3rd because we were all full).

my BO roo, Gulliver, is like a giant fluffy toy- he's so sweet to me and enjoys a good cuddle- but he's also a very good roo. he watches for danger and gather treats for the girls.

having said that, Gulliver's brother was the devil. he attacked me every single chance that he got. he was the first animal i ever killed on purpose (and the first animal i killed period that didn't make me cry). he was so mean, that the weeks leading up to processing day, i kept telling him how excited i was to get to kill him. i'm an ex-vegetarian, so you can probably imagine that that kind of talk doesn't come out often. the plus side: he was huge and really really tasty!