Chook breeds for Freya

Three Jappies and a Bitzer sitting in a row

A little bird told me Freya, 13 year old owner of "only two types of chicken!" (woe how can this be?) was looking for some new chicken breeds to try so I wrote this post just for you Freya.

There are some gorgeous birds out there and it really depends if your focus is their decorative qualities, (living garden ornaments as my brother calls them :)) personality type or big egg production.

Here are a few of my favourites and that combine at least two if not three out of three!

The Japanese Bantam:

Tiny birds, small eggs (30g or so) and BIG personalities. They can become very tame, sitting on your lap or arm readily. They cope well living with larger birds because they fly well and they are pretty self confident.
Michael has noticed Mimi "shouldering" bigger birds away from treats in a very quiet determined way that is very amusing (that's Mimi in the pic below)

Jappeies have gorgeous tails that they fan out when strutting about which are nearly as big as them. They come in some gorgeous colours.

Even though their eggs are small they are actually quire useful for small baking jobs as there is no waste.

You can baste a pie for example without having to throw away unused egg.

Also handy if you need to halve a recipe (ever tried to halve an egg? Ever left unused egg in the fridge and forgotten it was there for a week or two? Yerk!).

Downside of Jappies? They do go clucky.. a lot. Best to have a clucky cage ready come Spring!

Below are four of my five Jappies in situ as I type.  Note: The rather stark looking clucky cage (a rabbit pen in fact ) is a temporary measure to help ease the birds out of their hormonal urge to "sit" on eggs and hatch chicks.  A futile exercise with infertile eggs.)

The next  photo gives you an idea of their size. You can literally hold them in your hand!

Mimi checks out my foot

Meditation time?

The Australorp

The only Australian breed of chook. Great calm temperament and friendly. Regular and frequent  layer of gorgeous eggs ranging from 40g (bantam) up to 90g. Vegemite our black Australorp laid a 90g and when I showed Michael he winced - "Is she alright?" he said with concern!.

Little Vegemite surveying the vegie garden

Her shiny feathers in the sun

Happy the Bantam Blue Australorp - Blue is a rare colour but becoming more popular

The Polish 

What can I say about Polish? Amazing! Curious and diligent diggers for bugs they are like puppies. Always under your feet and quite enjoy a cuddle (especially if purchased young). I've had Bibi go to sleep on my lap as I stroked her. They lay a good medium sized eggs 3-4 days a week and come in gorgeous colours. 

Bibi is a Bearded Polish (no not like a bearded lady - much prettier but a bit more lugubrious looking *rofl*) One thing to note is that Polish are a rare breed because they are less hardy than say Australorps. 

Bearded Partridge Polish

 BiBi and Jack were inseparable.

BiBi and Mangrove Jack 

Jack in the sun

Silver laced Polish - LuLu

So Freya these are three amazing breeds of chicken that I have in my garden. If you want to learn more about chickens I can highly recommend www.backyard poultry.com  (an Australian site) for more information and do feel free to email me with any questions! :)