Is a New Hampshire Chicken the Right Chicken Breed...

excellent layers, Good Family Chicken, real dualpurpose bird, 4H showmanship bird, great quality eggs

somewhat agitated rooster

floppy comb, magnificent hens, chicken coop, slugs, German bloodline

Helpful Breed Review

"I've kept chickens for most of my life, I like the red variety as they look like a classic bird and tend to get on quite well in the pecking order. My chicken lays a golden brown medium sized egg, it is a particularly small New Hampshire Red bird so I'm aware that the egg size is usually larger. Melanie is fully feathered and doesn't tend to malt in the summer unlike other birds. She is quite a broody hen, so once to twice a year we sit her on fertilized eggs and allow her to hatch. New Hampshire's are fantastic mothers and continue to be up to 4 months into their baby chick's life, teaching them the integral skills needed to survive the pecking order. One top tip, if you are considering keeping cockerels ensure you have them kept in a space away from neighbors as their crowing is extremely loud.."

From sarahabbott195 Jul 8 2015 1:11PM

2.8/5

Health Tip

"I began raising New Hampshires, because I am a fan of the old heritage, simple, and productive breeds. The New Hampshire has exceeded my expectations, and therefore remains a stable member on our small farm. We hatch a lot of New Hampshires every year. These babies are easy. They jump out of the shell, eat and grow with vigor. I give ours medicated feed, because sometimes during the rainy season we develop coccidiosis on the farm. However, the New Hampshires have never personally been afflicted. Occasionally, a few chicks may feather peck, so I often use a red bulb in their brooder. Our hens are hard working girls. They mature, surprisingly early for a heritage breed, sometimes as soon as five months. Their eggs are a nice shade of brown (not cream) and are medium in size. The girls lay almost every day! Which, more than our other heritage breeds on the farm. They do slack off during the coldest and the hottest weeks of the year, and for molting. But, then again, so do all the chickens we’ve ever raised. I haven't found mine to be crazy about brooding either. The hens personality is a bit business like. If I am feeding them, they are busily confessing their admiration for all of humankind. However, if I am not feeding them, they are busily being chickens, ignoring people completely and rooting around the yard for bugs. Sometimes, I get a particularly sweet hen. But, find that unless one spends time playing with these birds as they grow up, they don’t tend to make great pets. Roosters make fine meat, fowl. I butcher ours around six months, as I find them a bit small before then. The meat is very good, but it is not in the quality of a commercial meat, fowl like the Cornish Rock, or the quality of a finely fleshed animal such as the Dorking. Our roosters personality varies, but appears to be strongly affected by how they are raised. Almost all the roosters I have raised in small groups with a couple of hens, have been aggressive to both the hens and humans. All the roosters I have raised in large flocks, that contain a number of their brothers, are very well behaved boys. It seems to me, that these boys like to test their muscle, and the other cockerels in the pen help keep them in line. I now raise my boys in this fashion, and don’t have any worries about even children entering the coop. Health wise, I have no issues with the New Hampshires . I have heard of fertility troubles, but haven’t experienced it myself. They handle the hot and cold weather just fine, although I do have to put oil on the roosters combs and wattles in the winter. I find the breed overall extremely simple to raise, really enjoy them, and recommend them to both farmer and backyard owner.."

From RhodeRunner Oct 8 2009 11:06AM

5/5

Behavior Tip

"This chicken was less flighty than my rhodies but not as friendly as my sexlinks. She was bigger too than either and probably could be used as a dual purpose bird though I didn't try that as she died of disease. Produced fairly well large oblong light brown eggs. She was not as hardy however as my others.."

From hisfarmgirl May 12 2014 10:35AM

3/5

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