10 Best Chicken Breeds For Kids

Looking for the best chicken breeds for kids? These friendly, gentle chickens lay plenty of colorful eggs and make a great addition to your family!

10 Best Chicken Breeds For Kids

Raising chickens with kids is a blast, and it’s a great way to teach responsibility and respect for God’s creatures. I love showing my son where his food comes from, and how hard work pays off. In this case – in the form of delicious eggs.

Depending on your child’s age, you can involve them in the routine care of the chickens in several ways. Because my son is so young, I typically do most of the work myself, but I do let him feed them treats and assist in collecting the eggs.


When choosing the breeds for my first mixed flock, I spent hours searching for the best breeds to raise with kids around. I wanted gentle, friendly breeds that produced plenty of eggs in a variety of colors. 

There aren’t enough guides to buying kid-friendly chickens out there that are actually written by a fellow mom. I only came across one or two while on my search!

I ultimately relied on Facebook group posts and comments on forums to make my decision. 

Now that I have some experience under my belt, I thought it would be great to put a list together with my top 10 picks for chicken breeds that get along with children.

These chickens are generally very gentle, friendly, and curious. They don’t mind being handled, and they’re not known for being uppity. I have more than half of the breeds on this list, and I plan on adding the other half to my flock this Spring!

It’s important to remember that every chicken will come with their own unique personality and disposition. Breeds that aren’t on this list can be exceptionally loving and gentle with kids, and breeds found on this list can turn out to be quite mean. 

This article is simply meant to be used as a helpful guide when choosing which chicken breeds to include in your flock.

10 Best Chicken Breeds For Kids – From A Fellow Chicken-Loving Mama

Buff Orpington

Buff Orpington Chicken

Buff Orpington Chicken

Buff Orpington chickens are generally very docile and friendly. Even better, they’re good egg layers, producing about 160 eggs every year! My beautiful Hennifer lays about five eggs a week.

They were actually the first chicken breed I knew I wanted in my flock.

I ordered two Buff Orpington hens knowing they would provide my family with a ton of eggs, and would most likely get along with my son. I read a ton of “reviews” and advice from chicken owners, claiming that this breed was one of their favorites for kids.

Orpingtons, no matter the color are considered to be very friendly and loving. They’ve been called the “Golden Retrievers” of chickens.

People claim that their Buff Orpingtons are so sweet, their children can go up and hug them. I was pumped!

It’s been true so far – for my hen at least! One of my chickens ended up being a rooster, and he is anything but friendly. It just goes to show that each chicken has an individual personality!

Not every rooster is mean by the way – some of the great comments I read about Buff Orpingtons were referring to roosters!

Polish

Polish Chicken

Polish chickens come in a variety of feather colors and head “poofs”. I don’t personally own any yet, but they’re listed all over the internet as a gentle breed.

Similar to silkie chickens, the feathers on their head can make it difficult for them to see at times. This means kids can usually approach them and pick them up with ease.

Polish chickens generally have a wonderful, docile temperament, and have been known to love hanging out with their humans. The Happy Chicken Coop says that “children seem to be unable to resist holding and cuddling them – all of which the Polish hen will tolerate very well.”

Wyandotte

Wyandotte Chicken

Wyandotte chickens are on my list of breeds to add to our flock this year. They’re beautiful, intelligent, and great with kids according to many of my chicken-loving friends!

Wyandottes produce around 200 light to dark brown eggs a year! Beyond that, they’re extremely docile and friendly. Their beautiful feather patterns and funny personalities make them a must-have on most homesteads.

Easter Egger

Easter Egger Chicken

Easter Egger Chicken

Easter Eggers are a mixed breed that can produce a variety of egg colors. Well, they’re technically not a breed, but rather a type of chicken. Because they’re mixed, their temperament and colors can vary, but I’ve loved our Easter Eggers!

They get along with the other chickens, and they love my son. 

One of my Easter Eggers, Tilly, is the friendliest one of the bunch.

She flies up on your shoulder every chance she gets and breaks into the house the moment she sees the door open. I can say with certainty that I will always have at least one Easter Egger in our flock.

Plus, their feathers are so beautiful, no matter the color!

Australorp

Australorp Chicken

Australorps are friendly and generally pretty loving. They take the cake when it comes to choosing a “calm” chicken breed.

They’re dual purpose, so they’re suitable to be raised for both meat and eggs. Typically they’re raised for eggs, though.

Given their calm and friendly nature, Australorps are perfect to have around kids. If you want a sweet, loving breed that produces a good number of eggs, consider getting one of these sweethearts!

Sussex

Sussex Chicken

Sussex chickens are gentle and loving. Many people even say that their Sussex roosters are sweet! They lay different brown and cream-colored eggs, and can produce around 200-250 eggs a year!

They do love to eat, though! If your kids are young, just make sure you’re watching when they feed the chickens, because Sussex’s don’t play around when it comes to their food.

They’re a great choice for families with children because they’re friendly, funny, and generally pretty gentle.

Golden Comet

Golden Comet Chicken

Golden Comet Chicken

Golden Comets aren’t usually included in lists of friendly breeds, and I’m not sure why! They’re extremely friendly, even from a young age! In fact, our sweet Mabel absolutely adores my son.

They’re extremely friendly, and bubbling with personality. Their curious nature makes them especially fun for kids.

She follows him around all over the yard and even plays with him! They practically play tag! It’s a blast to watch.

Golden Comets are gorgeous, and they lay a ton of eggs. I collect an egg a day from our Mabel!

Silkie

Silkie Chicken

Silkie Chicken

Silkies are the dogs of chickens. They’re friendly and are often regarded more as pets than livestock. Beyond their funny demeanor and appearance, Silkie chickens often go broody, so they’re not exactly reliable when it comes to egg production. They want to hatch as many babies as they can!

Kids love silkies because their feathers are smooth and fluffy compared to your average chicken. Mine are a tad skittish, but once you manage to catch one, they’re very docile and sweet!

New Hampshire Red

New Hampshire Red Chicken

New Hampshire Red chickens love being held from what I can tell! They’re great dual purpose chickens and are perfectly happy in smaller backyard spaces.

Your kids will love snuggling with this gentle breed, and you usually don’t have to worry about much. New Hampshire Reds aren’t known to get crabby. Like the other breeds on this list, as long as your kids are gentle and respectful with them, they should bond quite well!

Barred Plymouth Rock

Barred Plymouth Rock Chicken

And finally, our personal favorite breed – the Barred Plymouth Rock chicken.

I don’t know exactly what draws my son to our beautiful Hilda, but he’s been obsessed with her since the day we brought her home! They’re two peas in a pod.

He’s known from a very young age that he shouldn’t grab her or be too forceful. In fact, for the most part, he just follows her around giggling – and Hilda seems to enjoy it!

Our Barred Plymouth Rock chicken is by far the most docile hen we have. She runs over to greet anyone who steps foot in our backyard, and she’s always happy to be held. She’s never afraid of my son, and she truly enjoys their time together.

They’re great egg layers too, typically producing about 200 brown eggs a year! Hilda was the first hen to begin laying this year, about a month and a half earlier than expected!


Planning on getting some baby chicks soon? Check out my Guide For Raising Baby Chicks!

My Personal Recommendation – Based on our experience, I highly recommend Barred Plymouth Rocks, Easter Eggers, and Golden Comets for those who want their children to be involved in taking care of the flock.

Chickens are such a blast to have around, and you can’t beat having fresh eggs every day. They teach our kids about the importance of treating animals with care and respect, as well as where our food comes from.

What are your favorite chicken breeds for kids? I’d love to hear about your experience! Leave a comment below!

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4 Comments

  1. I will consider Rhode Island Red than Barred Plymouthrock as one of the best chicken breeds that’s friendly on Kids. Plymouthrock keep running away when they see kids or people trying to approach them.

  2. What is the coop you have in the background of the pic with the Barred Plymouth Rock? It looks awesome. I’m trying to investigate plastic coops for ease in the Alabama humidity! Thanks for the suggestions on “kid-friendly” breeds!

  3. Hi!! First time chicken family in our first year and we’re loving it but have a bit of a dilemma. We have 12 chickens, bought very young and hoping for hens. Turns out we have 3 roosters. We’re not raising for meat, just eggs and the enjoyment of having the cluckers around.

    We have one top of the pecking order rooster, and two more who are aspiring to be top. Our run is 10’ x 12’ so decent size but with all in the run during the day, they seem to get bored and the roosters get rough with each other and the hens. We do let them range in our fenced yard most days and that keeps the disputes down, but we cannot have them out every day. We worry this is causing stress on the flock. Maybe it’s just natural and we need to stop being concerned. We’re new so we just are looking for advice. We’re thinking about how to deal with it…separate the roosters, get another coop and run?? Any thoughts are appreciated.

  4. I recommend Dark Brahmas. The are so friendly and loveable and they lay eggs usually more in the colder months.

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