The Best Family Friendly Chicken Breeds
If you are like me and have young children in your life, you might want to add friendly, docile chickens to your backyard coop or homestead. Thankfully there are quite a few breeds out there that are known to be gentle and good with kids.
Before You Choose a Breed
I would consider this guide to be a speed-date with chicken breeds. We’ll take a quick look at eighteen different family-friendly breeds, but you will want to read more about each one to make sure they are the right fit for you. Here are a few other considerations to keep in mind when selecting the right breed.
Free Range or Coop
Some of these breeds will work just fine as backyard chickens in smaller spaces. Others are more avid foragers and would be best in a free-range homestead or farm situation.
Climate
This one is huge! Where I live in Minnesota it can get down to -49 actual air temperature. It is crucial that we select breeds that are winter hardy.
Your situation might be different. Maybe it gets very hot where you live so you will want birds with less plumage that do well in warm climates. Or maybe you live somewhere a little more mild so you don’t have to worry about hot or cold hardy breeds at all.
Unless you are able to add supplemental heat in the winter or have methods in place to keep them cool in hot weather, I advise sticking to breeds that are well adapted to your climate.
Production
All these breeds have varying levels of egg production. Some are fancier looking but don’t produce as much as other breeds, like Faverolles for example. When picking the right breed of chicken for your family, think about what the goals are for your flock. If you want plenty of fresh eggs, look for those breeds known for being strong producers.
Size
Several of the breeds mentioned below are on the larger side of chicken breeds. Given that they are also known to be docile, many of these could be considered gentle giants.
If you think your kids might be intimidated by a larger chicken, consider going for a smaller breed.
Another option is to get a Bantam version of the same breed. Bantams are sort of like mini versions of standard chickens. Think a mini poodle compared to a standard poodle.
Bantams will be smaller and along with that do lay smaller eggs.
The Best Family Friendly Chicken Breeds for Backyards or Homesteads
All of these below are known to be docile, and friendly birds that are a great choice for families.
1. Ameraucana
This is one of the best chicken breeds in my opinion and I always have a few in my coop. They lay beautiful blue or even blue-green eggs. They are very consistent layers, keeping on even in the cold of winter.
Ameraucanas can come in a variety of colors from a silver gray, cream, and almost calico.
Another bonus about this breed is they are well adapted to both hot and cold temperatures.
Ours have done very well free ranging around our five acre homestead.
Here’s one of our first Ameraucana hens named Maria.
2. Blue Andalusian
This gorgeous breed of chicken is actually considered to be a rare/exotic breed. They are a blue/silver color, some with a dark lacing around the edges of their wings. The roosters are dark, almost black on top with long impressive tail feathers.
We got a bonus chick in our order back in our first year on the farm and it was a Blue Andalusian rooster. We named him Bertram and he was wonderful. Super friendly around us, very gentle with his hens, an all-around wonderful chicken.
Blue Andalusians lay white eggs and are best in a free-range setting. The hens aren’t broody (meaning they won’t often try to hatch their own eggs) and they do well in warmer climates.
3. Black Australorp
If you want a popular breed that lays well, Black Australorp might be your best choice! Known to be excellent layers, you can expect large brown eggs from Australorp hens.
These are another beautiful bird with black feathers that almost turn blue in the sun like a mermaid’s tail.
While they can do alright in cold weather, they have large combs which can be susceptible to frostbite.
4. Bielefelder
One of the coolest things about Bielefelder is their chicks are sex linked! This means when the chicks hatch you will be able to tell which are males and which are females.
They are a larger breed and can be used for both meat and eggs. They lay brown eggs.
5. French Black Copper Maran
Everyone wants these in their coop for the gorgeous dark, chocolate brown eggs that they lay.
Marans make a great addition to backyard flocks and do well in more confined situations.
While they can do very well in cold climates, they have larger combs which need to be protected in extreme cold from frostbite.
These hens are also known to be pretty bossy, so expect them to be the head honchos in the coop!
6. Orpington
I recently shared a full profile about Buff Orpington chickens. Honestly I fell in love with them while doing the research and we have five Buffs coming our way in a couple months!
These fluffy birds can come in several colors, one of the more popular being the yellow/gold buffs. With all their feathers they do really well in cold temperatures. You can expect brown eggs from Orpington hens.
They are such a friendly breed they practically become family pets, the Golden Retriever of chickens.
7. Plymouth Rock
If you are looking for very good layers that also comes in some gorgeous colors, then definitely check out the Plymouth Rock.
Their feathers come in buff, barred, white, and the absolutely stunning silver penciled. This cold-tolerant breed will lay brown eggs and are considered an American Heritage Breed.
8. Polish Crested
We have had Polish Crested at our homestead for several years.
They are a smaller chicken with a lot of fluffy and funky feathers on top of their head. Because of this, they are better suited to a backyard flock. All those feathers make it hard for them to see predators so they won’t do as well in a free-range setting.
These girls will lay a smaller, white egg.
Polish hens are very good mothers and will happily hatch out chicks for you. They are also incredibly fierce protectors of their chicks.
While I don’t recommend Polish chickens for homesteads that free-range like we do, I do think they are a wonderful chicken to have.
9. Welsummer
Welsummers are large birds and are a dual purpose breed for both meat and eggs. They are known for being a particularly docile breed that lay a darker brown egg, often times covered in beautiful speckles.
They also do well even in very cold climates.
10. Wyandotte
Known to be good egg layers, Wyandottes are also beautiful! We have had Blue Laced on our farm for a few years and they remain some of our most beautiful chickens. They also come in gold laced, silver laced, and white. brown eggs.
The are brown egg layers.
11. Brahma
This breed is known as one of the most family-friendly chickens out there but they aren’t the highest egg producers. However, they are very winter hardy and are prized for their ability to continue to lay consistently even during cold weather. They lay brown eggs and come in buff, dark, and light variations.
12. Rhode Island Red
When you think about a farmyard chicken, this is probably the one that comes to mind. Rhode Island Reds are possibly the most popular chicken breed in the United States.
They were bred at first to be dual purpose, but in the last few decades are more suited to being kept as layers. They thrive under hot or cold conditions and are very easy keepers.
They are a lovely red/rust color and the males have large black tails.
13. Sex Links
If you have bought brown eggs in the grocery store, you have probably eaten eggs from Sex Links! They got their name because the sex of the chicks is linked to their physical appearance. That is why they are popular in commercial set ups, as the males can be easily separated out from the females right away.
It should be noted, however, that this traight dowes not pass onto the next generation. So if your Sex Link chicken hatches out chicks, you won’t be able to tell males from females just by looking at their colors.
Sex Links are one of the best chickens for winter laying and do very well even when it gets very cold.
They are available as Black Star (beautiful black, red, and white feathers) or as Red Stars. The Red Stars start laying eggs at just twenty two weeks, almost a full month earlier than you would expect from other chickens.
14. New Hampshire
This breed was developed from the Rhode Island Red. They lay larger brown eggs and do well in hot and cold climates.
New Hampshire’s have a solid build and can be used for meat or eggs. They do very well in free-range forage settings.
15. Cochin
Another of the famously kid-friendly chicken breeds, cochins are quiet and easygoing. They work well in a backyard setting, colcume in several colors, and are a medium sized bird. Their particularly fluffy feathers make them look larger than they are!
Cochins lay brown eggs and are wonderful mothers.
16. Naked Neck
These goofy looking buggers have zero feathers on their necks. I’ve seen them listed as being cold hardy, but I can’t imagine having all that bare skin exposed in super cold temperatures.
Naked Neck chickens are wonderful layers and they will give you many brown eggs.
The hens tend towards broodiness and are wonderful mothers.
They also are great foragers and can be at home in a backyard or homestead.
17. Langshan
If you are interested in helping to preserve a heritage breed, you might consider raising Langshans. They are currently listed as “Threatened” by the Livestock Conservancy.
These chickens have a very upright appearance, feathered feat, and they come in black or white.
They lay a darker brown egg.
18. Salmon Faverolles
These chickens remind me of Mainecoon cats. They are particularly fluffy, with feathers on their legs even. They even have one extra toe!
These birds don’t lay as many eggs as some but they are incredibly calm and are one of the best backyard chicken breeds.
They lay a cream colored egg and are known for being good mothers who will hatch eggs readily. Learn more about this breed here.
19. Crevecoeur
If you want a chicken with a little appeal, then the Crevecoeur might be your bird! One of the oldest French breeds, this stately bird stands tall and with some very fancy feathers on top of their head. Their feather color is a dark black.
They lay white eggs and do well in warm climates. They are best suited to backyard or contained situations.
Where to Buy your Chickens?
My personal choice is to order chicks online/from a catalog. I’ve had really good success with both Murray McMurray and Hoover’s.
I prefer Murray McMurray because when the chicks come, they are delivered to my local post office in our small town, less than ten minutes away.
For whatever reason when I order chicks from Hoover’s, they deliver them as far as the next large town, about a half hour away. Not a huge deal but it’s a little more inconvenient to have to trek into town.
Aside from that, their prices are pretty close to the same, the chicks have been healthy from both, and the customer service at both has been good.
New to Raising Chickens?
I’ve packed everything you need to know about raising chickens into one simple course! From coops to nutrition, dealing with predators, I cover it all!
