Latest reviews

A standard breed
Pros: sociable, pretty, good personality
Cons: stop laying in winter, clingy
I have kept 3 easter egger hens for the past 5 years. They have all been a pleasure to have in my flock. They all lay decently sized blue eggs. The main issue i have with this breed is that they completely stop laying in the winter time. Another issue is that they are clingy- but that doesnt bother me very much because i enjoy their attention. Others have found it annoying though. One of my EE hens may or may not have stolen a hamburger from my mother. Overall- i consider them a good breed. They dont really earn their keep with eggs but they make up for it in the personality department- if youre just keeping them as a hobby then i recommend them. i could go on and on about the antics my birds have gotten up to.
Purchase Price
~4$
Purchase Date
Spring 2017

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Great incubator!
Pros: Great quality, not too expensive, holds a lot of eggs, easy to control humidity and temp, clear digital displays, comes with an automatic turner.
Cons: The water tray can be a little hard to clean.
I really like this incubator. I bought it for my first hatch, so I was definitely nervous and inexperienced going into the whole thing. But this incubator is so easy to use, that I really didn't have any trouble at all.
Not having to open the incubator to fill up the water trays is great, and maintaining the humidity and temperature levels was easy. The egg turner worked wonderfully, and the built in thermometer and hygrometer showed the correct reading throughout the whole incubation.
Despite my inexperience, I had a 100% hatch rate.
The only thing is that, after the incubation, it was a bit difficult to clean out the water tray. But other than that, I have no complaints. It's really a great incubator!
Purchase Price
$150
Purchase Date
4/2/2022
I hate flies & gnats
Pros: Kills flies and gnats
Won't harm most farm animals
Premixed
Cons: Shouldn't be used around cats
I've been purchasing this for several years. I love that it's premixed. Just spray and go.
Purchase Price
$12
Purchase Date
2021
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My experience with VetRx
Pros: It is affordable and treats several seasonal issues in chickens. I have used it with success in all seasons of the year.
Cons: Take Care in the container design, you could dispense too much. Try gently shaking as oppose squeezing the container or putting some first on a Q-tip
:weeSince I purchased VetRx a little over a year ago, I have had success in using it on my girls. I have a hen, that from time-to-time sneezes, or swallows a piece of something that's too large for her and recently, her comb was injured and bloody by one of the other hens. I brought her inside and worked the VetRx on her comb from the bathroom tube for a few days.
The VetRx has also been used on another hen's comb, on the veggies leaves and a small drop by dropper when I had to get a small drop down one of the girl's mouths. They are all, "faring," well after each use. Just has been my experiences with VetRx.
Purchase Price
$11.79
Purchase Date
2021 March
Speckled Sussex pullet...
Pros: Very pretty plumage
Cons: loud, food crazed, not friendly, skittish
Got her with a few others at Coastal farm store as chicks. Never was friendly. Lays every 2 days or so. Avoids me unless there are treats. Got for the plumage, but just disappointed in the breed, at least the quality from Coastal farm.
Won't be purchasing again unfortunately.
Purchase Price
$4
Purchase Date
August 8nd 2021
Disappointed
Pros: Broody, predator-savvy
Cons: Broody, flighty, mean to other birds, not a good layer, food devourer, EGG EATER!
Purchased from Coastal. Do not recommend unless you like the looks. Contrary to the breed, my pullet went broody right away. One of the top hens in the flock and mean about it. Eats any eggs in the nest, unless she's broody.
If you have predators, know they'll stay safe. They can fly (figuratively). Eats the most feed out of everyone, also contrary to the breed.
Purchase Price
$4
Purchase Date
August 8nd 2021
They are awesome!
Pros: Excellent layers, friendly, broody, good foragers.
Cons: none
I have a 6 soon to be 7 Orpington hen she is still one of my best layers! They are my favorite breed so far.
Purchase Price
$8
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fingerandus
i love Orpingtons mine are Australian black Orpingtons .....
Best chicken breed!!
Pros: Loyal, friendly, calm, quiet, curious, great free rangers, predator savvy, amazing layers, big eggs
Cons: Large breed, take up a lot of room in the coop
My two BOs came in the mail from Meyer Hatchery, and I was immediately in love with their personalities. Being almost a year old now, they are by far the friendliest in the flock and love attention. One of them walks up for hugs and loves trying to eat my hair and more curious than anything. The other enjoys riding in the basket of my bike and traveling to parks with me. :love
Definitely a must have breed for me.
Purchase Price
$4
Purchase Date
August 2nd
Works great/EASY to use
Pros: No mixing required
Easy to use
Purchase Price
7.99
Purchase Date
June 6, 2022
Pros: Great little birds! Good foragers, cold hardy (except for the roo's big combs), broody, and good little egg layers
Cons: If they get scared, they are loud!
Very difficult to find quality birds.
Wonderful, rare, historical little birds. They need more breeders!
Purchase Price
$5 day-old from Privett Hatchery
Pros: Amazing layers, 'standard chicken' look
Cons: Highly aggressive, unable to be handled, skittish, loud
Oh, boy, are these guys a lot to handle! I have three (used to be four) leghorns, and they are absolute jerks! They pick on the other birds, scream to no end (yes, they're all pullets), and I cannot get near them for anything! I wouldn't recommend these birds if you like having an intimate relationship with every single bird you own (like me). Only get them if you're looking solely for egg laying, and not looks, personality or style.
Purchase Price
$5.00
Purchase Date
2-28-22
Pros: Beautiful, fun to watch, good for small flocks
Cons: Don't like being handled, poor layers
I have two of these beautiful chickens, a male and a female. I don't get what people mean by the males being unfriendly--both are so sweet! The female hates being held and will run off, but the male is very sweet to us! He acts like a rooster, of course, and bosses the other birds around. I'd recommend these birds as protectors of the flock and ornamental birds.
Purchase Price
$4.00
Purchase Date
2-28-22

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Brahmas we started with a flock of white, buff and dark. We still have them and love them.
Pros: Good in cold weather, low maintenance rarely do they get sick. Consistent layers of beautiful brown eggs. We have 11 hens and get about 45 eggs a week. Beautiful birds we adore them.
Cons: Feather legs get wet in the winter and muddy in the spring. They eat a lot.
We adore them, they are beautiful well mannered chickens. Our rooster is huge and everyone that sees our flock falls in love with them. Their eggs are big and delicious. Everyone wants them so we rarely have to many. I have hatched out 100 eggs for our friends and family to start their flock with. As well as sold some to. Fresh water and food they are happy. They are not very messy for their size. Their very calm and quiet birds. So glad to have them.
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Pros: Consistent layers
Cons: Loud, aggressive with other hens, not friendly
My red star hens are the worst hens in my flock, they will come up and bite you at feeding time, attack other hens, avoid the rest of the flock and people, and will scream until other hens get off the nest or they attack them to chase them off the nest. These are free range hens on five acres, I have no problem with my Easter Eggers or Barnevelders so there is no reason for them to act this way.
Purchase Date
august, 5, 2021
T
Thomas Lamprogiorgos
I understand you. This happens because they are industrialized capitalistic animals, with big needs and high levels of stress. They also suffer from pain because their beaks are usually trimmed. Their only puspose is to convert small amounts of fully formulated layer feed into eggs. Try commercial white leghorns. They eat less, lay more and are not aggressive.
Great feed for the price
Pros: Price, chickens like how it tastes, good egg production
Cons: Not the best quality ingredients, may not provide enough calcium as some of my hens' eggs have a brittle shell
This feed gets the job done if you just need something affordable. Nothing wrong with it. There are feeds with higher-quality ingredients out there, but this feed is decent enough and I haven't found a cheaper feed at TSC yet. I just bought a bag of DuMor organic, so I will have something to compare this to. Up until this point I have only used Producer's Pride.
Purchase Price
$12.99 for 40#
Purchase Date
April 2022
Cute, but impractical.
Pros: Pretty little birds
Cons: Flighty, broody, fairly aggressive on the nest. Poor layers of tiny white eggs. Not winter hardy. Do not do well in confinement.
My initial mixed flock included Buttercups. They are a pretty, small bird and the comb gives them a unique look. At least one of the hens was very broody and would peck you rather nastily if you tried to move her to get the eggs she had set on, which was usually only 2-3. Despite their small size they did not do well confined to our 10'x20' covered run. I'm surprised by the reports of them being friendly. I assume that they were handled frequently when growing up. Mine were quite flighty and quick to take cover when I entered the run unlike the Australorps which came to the gate looking for treats and follow me around talking while I refilled feeders and waterers. I lost one to the dog and the other two in a particularly cold winter in the Mid-Atlantic despite having a fully enclosed coop to shelter in that they wouldn't use. the Australorps were fine, roosting in the rafters, but take to shelter when it gets really cold.

If I were able to have a large, free range flock, I wouldn't mind having one or two for decoration, but in these days for endemic avian flu, and having a Russell terrier mix that goes after any bird that gets flighty despite years of training, that's not practical.
Purchase Date
April 2015
The ultimate backyard chicken
Pros: Great egg production even later in life! Fast to start laying large brown eggs. Excellent temperament and personality, docile, friendly, can be great pets, good in mixed flocks. Very hardy, good in confinement, good in free range, talkative but not loud, quick to mature.
Cons: Chicks grow fast and you need a large, escape proof brooder setup.
The Australorp has to be the ultimate backyard chicken.

My first flock was mixed and the Australorps stood out as the best layers, and having the best personality and temperament. Though much larger than the other breeds, they sat in the middle of the pecking order, not that there was much pecking on their part.

After 7 years of neglect, only the Australorps are left. I had figured them to be at the end of their productive life and bought chicks to "replace" them (I can't see Gertrude and Myrtle ending up in a pot), then come Spring they started laying 3-4 eggs each a week down from 5-6 in their peak laying years. Once the new pullets start laying, I'll need to start actively selling to keep from being buried in eggs. Should be able to run a slight profit with them at a bargain price.

They are very friendly and not the least be flighty. They are talkative, but not loud. They always call to me if they see me in the yard asking for treats, which are usually weeds or kitchen scraps. Man, they love weeds and I wish I could let them forage more, but concerns over avian flu and a Russell terrier mix keeps me from letting them forage unsupervised. The dog has finally learned to leave them be for the most part after 3 years, but she got a couple hens before that.
Purchase Date
April 2015, Feb 2022
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Gypsi
Gypsi
What climate are you in? I loved my Australorps but they only lived 3 to 5 years, except the daughter of one who made it to 8. It gets very hot in north Texas and I always lost them in summer.
Data
Data
I'm in Delaware. It gets miserable hot and humid in the Summer and I've lost track of the times I found them without water, but they do have plenty of shade available in the run.

Australorps are known for heat tolerance as long as they have shade (It gets pretty hot in most of Australia in the summer.). I could see them having trouble with hot sun without shade and sufficient fresh water. Without shade their black plumage absorbs a lot of heat which puts them at risk of heat stroke. They should be fine in hot, dry shade as long as plenty of cool fresh water is available you might need to add electrolytes to the water to make up those lost in respiration. I'd watch for panting, wing lifting and other signs of heat stress which indicate additional cooling procedures are necessary. I found good article on heat stress in chickens https://www.vetpoultry.com/blogs/ba...pot-signs-and-prevent-heat-stress-in-chickens.
Gypsi
Gypsi
I've switched to Americauna but they always had this huge elm tree for shade and a couple of ponds to drink out of. It Does get very very hot and fairly humid in Fort Worth, TX. I loved my Australorps.
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