Chortle Chook Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Picking up form a message that Valkyrie put against the post about what breeds are on people's short lists, what breeds would be on your 'Never again ' list? I haven't had enough experience to have any on my 'Never again' list but wondered if there are any that people have found difficult. I think Valkyrie mentioned Silkies for their broodiness and it is true that I always have at least one hogging all the eggs under her in the nest. Makes me laugh though. Yesterday I had one sitting on 5 (having not layed a single one herself). Perhaps I should offer a surrogate service Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 ..hmmm, I wouldn't go on a quest for a blue egg layer (paying £35) as they can end up not laying blue eggs - no, just don't ask, it is just too painful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 personally I wouldnt have anything with feathery legs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 No more cockerels for me..........ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 No more Dutch or Japanese banties - lovely but just so small and delicate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 ...... will I keep a new hen that's 'not quite right' a few days after getting her! We thought after a week or 2 we'd take her back if she didn't improve but guess what, I'm attached now and don't want to part with her, so more vets bills for me - oh well, it's only money.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 ..hmmm, I wouldn't go on a quest for a blue egg layer (paying £35) as they can end up not laying blue eggs - no, just don't ask, it is just too painful Nooooo!! I've been known to say that I wouldn't have Indian Game again but ....... the boys are the very best of the best table birds, so unless I can find a sure fire way to hatch only males, it looks like I'll always have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 I'd never hatch any auto sexing breeds again. At the time I hatched Cobars - I wanted a cockerel & was lucky I just got 1 boy hatch. But it must be heartbreaking to hatch auto sexing breeds, knowing at 1 day old, out of the shell that they are boys & you will have to sort it. I find it easier when they are a few weeks old personally & at the straggly stage of feathering. As much as I love gingers - they don't live long at all. So I've not been tempted to get any more. However, I will give ex batts a chance once I've got more room as every day of freedom they have is a bonus. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouldercroft Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 ...... will I keep a new hen that's 'not quite right' a few days after getting her! We thought after a week or 2 we'd take her back if she didn't improve but guess what, I'm attached now and don't want to part with her, so more vets bills for me - oh well, it's only money.... same here - except my poor RIR didn't make it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurmurf Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 orpingtons. NOISY whingey don't-know-when-to-shut-up.... and gorgeous with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 ..hmmm, I wouldn't go on a quest for a blue egg layer (paying £35) as they can end up not laying blue eggs - no, just don't ask, it is just too painful So sorry about your hen - she looks pretty so that is some comfort? I've not come across a breed I wouldn't like again yet. But there is plenty of breeds left for me to try and find one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Oh dear I started something! Well yes the orpies and yes the whingeing and whining drives me to distraction. Chubby piggy things and weigh a ton! But sooooo pretty. I love them really, but thinking banties if I do venture into orpie owning in the future but by then I'll have moved house and will have them at the furthest point so they can't hear me in the kitchen and howl at the door for treats. They don't get them either, but they'll try it on just in case. I've also been put off by our buff sussex - one of our home grown and always handled chicks. But she has the temper of a demon and will draw blood on my hands and arms - many a time I've rolled her over and given her the "don't bite the hand that feeds you or you'll end up in the oven like your brother did". So far for the past couple of months she's behaved - just picked on the other birds instead. Not all birds are the same, I know that - Mostin's are little angels in comparison! And finally furball, the gobbiest bokker of the lot! Mainly because someone is already in the nest box and she wants to hog it. At the moment she's into pancake mode and screaming AGAIN - she even went broody when we had the snow! But she's a funny little character all the same with her fluffy topknot bouncing up and down as she's always eating. Then she goes punk in the rain. She also loves the hair dryer for those horribly wet days when she's the only one outside and the others are sheltering in the greenhouse. I swear she gets soaked on purpose so she can have a blow dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Much as I love my araucana & she lays the most gorgeous she is horrible to my sablepoots. So for this reason & no other I wouldn't necessarily have another araucana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 I'm with CHP on the autosexing breeds, I'd never hatch them again I also wouldnt have Polands again, mine were fab and so funny but got hopelessly picked on because of their lack of vision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 I agree about polands, I had a poland araucana cross and her hair was a nightmare - always mucky and needing a clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 No more Araucanas for me. I waited ages to get a couple of Lavender Araucana hens from a local breeder. They are beautiful but scared of their own shadow and lay about 6 eggs a year if you're lucky! I don't care if the eggs are beautiful blue and gorgeous green.....never again! Freeloading wastes of space, bless 'em! However, I love my Silkies and would never be without them even though my Partridge Silkie is perpetually broody (even in winter) and my Cuckoo Silkie had sourcrop leading to pendulous crop, which requires daily massage. Contrary, moi? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkisland Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 No more pure breeds for me, too expensive, too broody, and unreliable as a source of eggs. Pretty girls though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixie chick Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 No more Araucanas for me. I waited ages to get a couple of Lavender Araucana hens from a local breeder. They are beautiful but scared of their own shadow and lay about 6 eggs a year if you're lucky! I don't care if the eggs are beautiful blue and gorgeous green.....never again! Freeloading wastes of space, bless 'em! Really surprised me to read that. My Lavender Araucana is the most reliable layer (apart from Nov-Feb) of huge, greeny-blue eggs - one almost every day! She is beautiful and friendly too - top of the pecking order.... You cant really write Araucanas off after your experience, guess you were just unlucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Mine too - mad as hatters but great layers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 My Betty Boop was a good layer too. We really miss her & her gorgeous green eggs. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Just my luck to get the only two useless Araucanas then? I last had an egg from either of them on 12th August 2010. Violetta laid 43 eggs last year and Gabriela only laid 5! DD calls them The Wuss Sisters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneyolktoanother Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 awww they are lovely though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 Those Wuss Sisters are just stunning. No wonder they don't lay eggs. Far too posh to push, my dear Actually I'll admit that the breed I think I might not have again (and you'll probably all hate me for this ) is a Pekin. They are so pretty but for me they were a bit more like guineapigs than chickens. I also don't think I'd go in for very tiny girls. The bigger the better for me although at the moment space won't allow this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy chick Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Those Wuss Sisters are just stunning. No wonder they don't lay eggs. Far too posh to push, my dear Actually I'll admit that the breed I think I might not have again (and you'll probably all hate me for this ) is a Pekin. They are so pretty but for me they were a bit more like guineapigs than chickens. I also don't think I'd go in for very tiny girls. The bigger the better for me although at the moment space won't allow this. oooo I'm desperate for some more pekins!! I wouldn't go for hybrid again. Mine aren't much better layers than the bantys and they chase me, attacking my shoes as I go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 I agree about polands, I had a poland araucana cross and her hair was a nightmare - always mucky and needing a clean. i have an araucana (we hatched her well, a broody did) and shes the stroppiest, tempermentle mare that i have ever had Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
