The ISA Brown is a gentle chicken that socializes well with people, is good with kids and other domestic animals. Although they do not have as long as lifespan as most other hens they will be a constant garden companion, give you endless love, entertainment and a whole lot of healthy eggs for breakfast. As they love to forage through the garden they will ensure your flower beds and or vegetable patches remain pest and weed free with the added bonus of natural organic fertilizer.
If you are looking to adopt a chicken or two the ISA Browns are the ladies to look for and there a lot of them up for adoption!
Country of Origin: | France |
American Poultry Association: | Not recognized as a breed in America but rather a brand name. |
Chicken Category: | Standard sized birds only |
Chicken Class: | Hybrid |
Bantam Variety Available? | No |
Related | TOP 10 BANTAM CHICKEN BREEDS FOR BEGINNERS |
Good Starter Chicken? | They are a low maintenance bird and will suit both the first-time chicken owner and the more accomplished. |
Related | 10 BEST STARTER CHICKENS FOR THE FIRST TIME POULTRY KEEPER |
IDENTIFICATION⇒ |
Appearance/Body:They are stocky, medium-sized birds
ISA Whites are also available but are mostly used for commercial egg laying purposes.
Color(s) Hens are a reddish brown
Roosters are white
Comb: They have a single comb
Ave. Weight: Hen 3.5 lbs. Cockerel 4 lbs. |
PURPOSE⇒ |
Eggs: They are excellent layers.
They lay large brown eggs up to 300 per year They start to lay eggs from around 20 – 22 weeks old.
Meat: ISA Browns do not tend to be too meaty so do not make a good table chicken.
Breeding: They will not breed true. The hens can be bred with any rooster to produce chickens, but they will not be ISA Browns.
The hens are NOT very broody at all, so they do not tend to their eggs. Although they have been known to make good mothers. If you are looking to breed them you may need to incubate them with the correct lamps and equipment. But they are not recommended for breeding. It is best to get either rescue chickens or if you are looking to raise chicks buy them from a reputed dealer.
Foraging: They love to scratch and forage about. You will have to watch their digging as most people who own ISA Brown’s report that they do dig holes all over the garden
Show Bird: ISA Browns are not showing birds
Pets: They make wonderful pets
Other: They are great for the garden
as they get rid of insects, bugs, etc.. They love scratching about so tend to get rid of those pesky weeds. They produce great organic fertilizer for your garden. |
CHARACTERISTICS |
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Life Expectancy: | 2 years but in a nurturing environment can live up to 5 years. |
Health: | As they have been engineered to be prolific layers this can cause tumours, cancers and reproductive tract issues (vent prolapse). They are also prone to kidney disease. |
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Temperament: | They are calm, mellow, gentle birds who love attention. They do no spook very easily and will pop along to find out what you are up to if you are in the garden. They may even wander into the house to say hello. |
Flyers? | They are not very flighty birds but can fly so it is best to take precautions. |
Noisy Birds? | Not a very noisy bird |
Interaction with other chickens: | Although ISA Browns are good with humans and other domestic animals they are not the best with other chickens. They can be quite territorial and even brutal towards other chickens in the hen house. In order to limit disruption in your coop, you will need to slowly socialize the group to any newcomers and get them used each other. |
Good with kids? | They are good around kids as they tend to be calm and usually do not mind being picked up or having humans close to them. In fact, they have been known to form quite a bond with the little ones. |
Related | 10 ROOSTER BREEDS THAT DO NOT MIND CHILDREN |
Socialize Behavior? | They socialize well with other domestic animals. They can be rather lovable towards their humans. |
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Known predators: | Most domestic animals leave them alone but it is always best to keep an eye on dogs and cats. If hawks and or foxes are in your area it is always best to take precautions. Check with local animal shelters, vets, animal control and or pet stores about common predators in your area. |
Conservation Status: | They are not on the endangered list and are quite a common popular bird. But they do tend to end up in animal shelters as rescued birds from large production farms where the birds no longer produce enough eggs. |
IDEAL ENVIRONMENT |
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Garden Size: | If you have a small garden ISA Browns are ideal. They love the security of their warm coop and enclosed run. This is not to say that they do not like to roam in the garden because they do. What you will find is that they will stay as close as possible to their coop. If their humans are outside they will hang around close by their sides. |
Ideal Climate: | They are weather hardy birds that can take the cold. Although there will be a reduction in egg laying in during the colder months. They do prefer the warmer months so, ensure that they are not left outside their coop for too long during the colder ones. |
Ideal Coop: | The rule of thumb for any coop is 50 cm x 50 cm per hen/rooster in the coop. Ensure there is a good space for the nesting boxes and nightly roosting rails at least 1.5 inches wide. Good ventilation for air but not too drafty especially in winter. It is always a good idea to raise the coop off the ground to give the birds a dry place to roost and lay especially in wet weather. |
Ideal Coop Run: | As they can fly it is best to have a fully covered wired run. |
Ideal Flock Size: | ISA Browns can be aggressive towards other birds, but they do tend to like the company, so it is better to have a minimum of 2 – 3 birds in your flock. |
Special Instructions: | As ISA Browns are known to have some kidney problems it is best to ensure there is a heating lamp for them in the winter or on very cold days. |
Accessories: | The following accessories are ideal for your coop: Nesting boxes Straw for the boxes and roosting area Roosting rails Perches Water troughs/bowls Food bowls/feeders Heating lamp(s) Animal carrier for transport purposes |
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WHERE TO BUY THEM |
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Live Poultry Outlets: | ISA Browns are quite a common chicken and can be found at most poultry dealers that will sell chicks, hens and roosters. |
Internet Poultry Websites: | There are a few reputed live poultry dealers that sell ISA Brown chickens on the internet. |
Organizations: | As ISA Browns are a very common commercial breed you may want to look into getting a rescue bird. Due to them being such prolific layers their general commercial useful lifespan lasts only 2 years. They are not good table birds, so they are put out to be destroyed. Most times they are rescued by various foundations. They may not lay as many eggs as one that has not been used commercially but they will lay a few and be the most outstanding pet. |
Other: | Check with your local animal welfare and or shelter for more information on how you can adopt a rescue, ISA Brown. They will also be able to help with any special requirements, attention or care they may need. |
HISTORY
The ISA Brown is not a recognized breed but rather a hybrid cross of chickens such as the Rhode Island whites and Rhode Island Reds. These are only two of the closely guarded secret of this bird’s genetic pool.
ISA Brown is the brand name for these birds and stands for “Institut de Sélection Animale”.
This is the institute that first bred these birds in 1978. They were initially bred as a battery hen to produce large quantities of eggs per year. ISA Brown are excellent layers and have been known to produce around 300 large brown eggs a year per hen.
Merck & Co. merged with the ISA Group in 1997 to form Hubbard ISA and is why ISA Browns are sometimes referred to as Hubbard ISA Brown.
The company was merged with Hendrix Poultry Breeders in 2005 ISA became part of Hendrix Genetics.
Video
USEFUL LINKS
- Caring for your Chicken
- Feeding
- Health
- Socializing your Chicken
- Breeding Chicken
- Raising Chickens A-Z
- Hatching Eggs
- What is Molting
- Animal Shelter (ASPCA)
- American Veterinary Medical Association
- American Poultry Association
- American Animal Welfare Society
- American Animal Control
- American Animal Husbandry Society
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org
- https://livestockconservancy.org
- https://www.roysfarm.com
- https://www.mypetchicken.com
- https://www.backyardchickens.com
- https://www.feathersite.com/