Raising chickens is one of the things that many people love, especially those who have large areas in their homes. With the many types of poultry in the market, the breeder is confused and does not know which type will be suitable for raising at home.
The breeder usually wants to get a chicken that produces eggs and meat, but there is an important point that must be taken into consideration, which is the behavior and temperament of the chickens.
In the following lines, we will help and facilitate your task of choosing a breed, by presenting the most important breeds that are considered the worst breeds. This is to avoid it from the beginning when planning to have poultry at home.
What Are The Worst Chicken Breeds?
These are the chicken breeds that are classified as the worst chicken breeds to raise in your house.
- Leghorn Chicken.
- Rhode Island Reds Chicken.
- Barred Rock Chicken.
- Old English Game Chickens.
- Cornish Chicken.
- Malay Chickens.
Now, let’s talk about them in a bit of details:
1. Leghorn
As a quick summary we can say that Leghorn is an active and strong breed with no significant health problems.
Leghorn chickens are called Dynamo Eggs! The most important thing that distinguishes the Leghorn chicken is that it is as wonderful as a laying chicken. One hen lays about 4+ eggs per week! An average of between 280 and 320 eggs per year! Therefore, it is a very preferred breed for the poultry industry.
It lays white shelled eggs, one egg weighs about 55 g (2 oz). The size of the eggs increases as the chickens age. The best age at which it lays eggs is when it becomes three and four years old.
As for the mood, Leghorn is a very intelligent and active bird that loves to forage. It can fly well, so it jumps and flies high and moves between trees if available.
Although it is an active and resourceful bird that can provide food for itself if it is allowed to roam. However they cannot be raised in a backyard barn. As they get bored very quickly because they are high-energy birds.
It is very noisy and disturbs the surroundings, So they can never be a good choice for urban backyard breeding. It is best to keep them away from human contact.
The Negative Traits Of Leghorn Chicken
- They are flighty, nervous and disobedient, which may make them difficult to manage.
- Very noisy.
- They are overreactive and can be easily agitated.
Related Article: 8 Chicken Breeds That You Shouldn’t Put With Each Other.
2. Rhode Island Reds
It is one of the most successful chicken breeds in the world. It does not require a lot of care to be healthy which is one of the reasons why this chicken live long. Rhode Island Reds mainly bred for laying eggs, as they are the best hens in laying eggs and they are pretty meaty. They may start laying eggs at an early age of up to 16 weeks. But usually Rhode Island chickens start laying eggs at the age of 18-20 weeks.
Rhode Island hen lays many eggs enough for a family laying 5-6 medium to large light brown eggs per week at a rate of 200-300 eggs each year. This is a high rate since other chicken breeds lay 150 to 250 eggs per year.
In terms of temperament Island Reds are opportunistic noisy birds. They are known to be lively, inquisitive and impulsive; they never rest and are a constant nuisance!
They do not tolerate confinement well. Keeping them in a confined space may lead to the emergence of aggressive behaviors.
They like to roam in a wide yard and search for food. They are active researchers, love to eat insects, seeds and small worms.
They are not afraid of frogs or mice. The rooster of Island Reds has a bad reputation for being one of the most aggressive roosters, so it is not one of the breeds that can be raised in a flock or in the yard of the house.
The Negative Traits Of Rhode Island Chicken:
- It’s an aggressive chicken breeds that can attack you!
- It’s popular for having an aggressive behavior towards other chickens.
Related Article: 3 Dumbest Chicken Breeds That You Need To Know.
3. Barred Rock
It is one of the important chicken breeds in America. It has a dual purpose, it is an excellent egg layer and It is also very good at producing meat.
It lays about 200 medium brown eggs during the year, its body grows and reaches maturity at 20 weeks and weighs about 9.5 lbs for males and 7.5 lbs for females.
It has good genetic traits that make it strong, healthy, disease resistant and also affects its comb colour. [1]
When talking about their behavior, They have very unkind behaviors and act very noisy if they are confined in insufficient space. Despite being a well-produced breed, due to its inconvenience and aggressive behavior, it is better not to keep it in homes.
The Negative Traits Of Barred Rock Chicken
- They tend to have mean and aggressive behaviour.
- They are not peaceful at all and tends to start troubles and hurt others .
Related Article: The 3 Smartest Chicken Breeds You Need To Know.
4. Old English Game Chickens
Old English Game chicken are famous for its violent past. They were raised for the sole purpose of cock fighting. Nowadays, they have earned their place in our worst chicken breeds list due to their aggressive nature.
Their aggressive behavior extends beyond their rooster. Their hens are famous for their hostility and attacking other chicken breeds to establish dominance. It’s even said that having multiple rooster in the same flock can lead to death of multiple chickens.
The other drawback is that they are pretty noisy! It’s not always that easy to contain them in a coop. This is why it’s considered one of the least desirable chicken breeds by poultry professionals.
The Negative Traits of Old English Game Chickens
- Quite aggressive towards other chicken breeds.
- Very noisy.
5. Cornish Chicken
Thanks to its unpleasant behavior, this chicken breeds proudly earned the nickname of “Jerks”. Their negative behaviour most probably starts ant a young age. But what do we mean by negative behaviour?
Unfortunately, Cornish chicken exhibit some sort of cannibalistic tendencies. In the world of poultry farming, such an act usually leaves the owners less than impressed.
The second reason why I don’t think that it’s a good breed to have is its low value in meat production. Its hens are quite small ranging around 4 pounds which makes them a disappointing choice for those raising chicken for meat.
The Negative Traits of Cornish Chickens
- Cannibalistic behaviour.
- Low meat production.
6. Malay Chickens
Often referred to as the “beafy abominations” in the world of poultry. In my opinion, it’s one of the ugliest breeds of chicken. They are non for their distinctive and peculiar appearance with their long necks and legs. Chances are it will catch you eye most of the time, but not for its visual appeal.
Furthermore, they need large space requirements thanks, to their appearance which makes them impractical for many poultry keepers.
Another negative point is that it’s one of the worst egg laying chicken breeds. . They rend to have low egg production ratio which is around 1 to 2 eggs per week. In addition, they are known to be one of the most egg protective breeds. They tend to be quite aggressive when someone approaches their eggs.
The Negative Traits of Malay Chickens
- Needs large space which might be impractical for some backyard chicken keepers.
- Low egg production ratio.
- Pretty aggressive when it comes to their eggs.
This is the end of our article today about the worst chicken breeds. If you want to know more about these breeds (or more bad breeds), you can check the video below:
