black australorp

[jaseemtp]

I live in Texas near Fort Worth. I am looking at getting 6 to 8 hens this spring. I came across these hens at a swap meet and have become very interested in them.
My question is has or does anyone have experience with them.
From what I did read is they can forage for them selfs pretty well and the ones I did see were pretty large bids.  Another plus is that they are suppose to be pretty quiet and since I'm not really suppose to have chickens that would not be a bad trait

[ouphie]

We just started with chicken about 2 months ago.  We have a Rhode Island Red, a Delaware, and two Australorps.  The Red is by far the loudest followed by the Dela.  The Austros barely make any noise.  The four of them have picked the ground clean but we feed them veggie scraps and they dig in.  Not too sure about the quality of the eggs as we don't have capture nests, just a single box.

The chickens are awesome.  Good find and good luck with them. 

[LibertyBelle]

Australorps are excellent production layers of large brown eggs, and are very calm and docile.  Though I don't know if it's just the particular strain I have or what, but broodiness is almost none existent in my 'Lorps. But then, that's what Silkie Bantams are for, right?   

[mxitman]

I have had a dozen breeds of hens and roosters and by far my favorite would be the Lorps... I have them setup in a tractor most of the time and even though they have access to the feed bin the barely eat out of it...I rarely have to buy any feed for them. When I had a flock of Delawares which are beautiful birds...they practically lived on the feeder box. The Lorps I have only produced a Large Size A brown egg, vs the AA on the Delawares and others...but it could just be my breed. I get about 5 eggs a week from each bird during the summer and probably 2-3 during the winter with no extra lighting...Plus they are very quiet and even the rooster is very friendly...

[RationalHusker]

I have 4 australorp hens and a rooster.  All only 10 weeks old.  They forage well, are active but calm and quiet.  They don't particularly like to be handled.  Had them in a tractor with broilers and they held their own.  Aren't bothered by cold nights.  Healthy.

[CandyBabyE]

I have only one, given to me by my boss who found her.  She is shy around the rodies and barred rocks, but that is probably because she was introduced to an already existing flock.  I love the dark brown eggs.  And she is pretty quiet except when she is laying and she really likes to announce her success. 

[rikkrack]

Ours are loud when they announce their accomplishment. Other than that don't hear much out of them. Ours are not broody at all. But they are the most productive of our bunch.

[johnauck]

We bought several Australorp bantams last January for a breeding group. I like the bantams, they are reasonable size for a bantam and lay a decent size egg. I think bantam breeds are hardier and better at foraging for themselves.

The hens go clucky and we've had 2 broods hatched from them this Spring. Good hatch rate in the incubator too.

Here is a picture of the black rooster and hen. We have a grey one and some splash hens (wite with black flecks).

[jaseemtp]

I have ordered 10 of these lovely dark ladies.  I will be able to let y'all know how well it works out in a few months.  I am going to keep them in a chicken tractor and move them around.  I plan on feeding them some sprouted grains to add a little variety to their diet.

[RationalHusker]

I think you'll have good luck with them.  Mine are now about 19 weeks and have started laying.  Good foragers and also handle confinement well.  They free range during the day when the weather allows, and are cooped up at night.  I've noticed that they tend to stay in the coop until the temps get over 20 deg F.  But if it's at or near 20 and not snowing or blowing too hard, they're out scratching around.  The past month they discovered my landlord's abandoned feedlot, which has lots of weed seeds and rotting hay.  They love it.

Good luck.