Chickens!!!

Author
Discussion

adsvx220

Original Poster:

705 posts

182 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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I am looking for some info on chickens. The new house I am finally moving too at the end of this week is in a rural location with a good size garden. I am hoping to get a few chickens to supply me and my family eggs and fun for my little boy.

What is a good starter chicken which lay decent size eggs. I'm looking for a chicken which are easy to look after which won't wake me and the few neighbours at first light. My father in law keeps bantam chickens which seems a good breed to start with. The problem is there eggs are small.

So any suggestions on breeds and general hints and tips on keeping chickens.

Thanks

fossilfuelled

293 posts

106 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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don't have too many tips as it's really my mother in laws domain... but start saving your egg boxes now if hers are anything to go by! Also, you'll never throw food waste in the bin again. Chickens eat pretty nearly everything, including egg shells! Have fun and post some pics when you get some!

LordHaveMurci

12,034 posts

168 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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Aren't you meant to rescue them from the Hens Trust or some such thing?

My OH keeps asking me, most people we know who've had them have given them away as they couldn't be bothered with them which puts me off.

Whatever you do, make their home fox proof so you don't have to come back whining that the fox did what foxes do!!

meehaja

607 posts

107 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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My wife insisted on tarty chickens so we get 6 different colourd eggs each morning. I like rhode island reds, they lay good eggs, are good layers and are hardy birds.

S6PNJ

5,156 posts

280 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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When I was a little 'un my parents kept chickens (about 16) and they were Rhode Island Red cross White Sussex, so similar to above. Having just been to the Malvern Autumn Show, where there were chickens (and ducks) being exhibited, I asked one of the judges what would be a good egg laying hen and was advised the following breeds:
Black Rock
Sussex Star
Speckaldy
Blue Ranger
Pied Ranger
These (when of egg laying age and not too old) should all give an egg a day or so (or 300-330 eggs per year) on average.

Turn7

23,498 posts

220 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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S6PNJ said:
Black Rock
Sussex Star
Speckaldy
Blue Ranger
Pied Ranger
.
Sounds like a 70's rock album track list...... wink

fishermanpaul

132 posts

106 months

Sunday 23rd October 2016
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I have heard people being told their hens will stop laying without a cockerel but this is total BS.
You do NOT need a cockerel which means you won't get (much) noise.





foxsasha

1,416 posts

134 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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We have plenty of space down the bottom of our garden to house chickens but the areas shaded. It's not dark but it doesnt get a lot of direct sunlight. Would this be an issue for chickens?

BigMon

4,155 posts

128 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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We had them for almost three years. Two separate lots of ex-battery hens.

I loved having them, and you can get surprisingly attached to them (they are very personable) but don't underestimate the bad points too.

  • They will wreck whatever piece of ground you put them on (and you will have to move them periodically due to the amount of crap they produce).
  • Unless you have an automatic door opener you need to let them out very early, and be there at dusk to put them away. Otherwise the local fox will be licking it's lips.
  • You need to clear crap out of the nestbox daily, and clean it out totally every week or two
  • They can suffer from various mites which you need to keep an eye on. Red mite was the worst we suffered. It was horrible and I had to fumigate the entire coop (they can kill the chicken eventually)
  • Three of ours died from being egg bound (unable to lay the egg). Not nice watching your pets suffer and have to be put down.

I'm not sure if I'd have them again unless I was retired TBH.

In answer to the point above they love the sun (they spread their wings and sunbathe). Not fair to keep them in a dark spot, though they do need a bit of shade to retire to if it's too hot.

Edited by BigMon on Monday 24th October 12:00

adsvx220

Original Poster:

705 posts

182 months

Monday 24th October 2016
quotequote all
Thanks for the info so far guys. My garden has got a good mix of shades and sunny areas. Just need to build a nice coupe for them.

randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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adsvx220 said:
Thanks for the info so far guys. My garden has got a good mix of shades and sunny areas. Just need to build a nice coupe for them.

Design Idea biggrin

scotlandtim

319 posts

127 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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adsvx220 said:
Thanks for the info so far guys. My garden has got a good mix of shades and sunny areas. Just need to build a nice coupe for them.
I hear they are rather partial to german metal, but if on a budget the hyundai of the same name should work ....

foxsasha

1,416 posts

134 months

Monday 24th October 2016
quotequote all
BigMon said:
We had them for almost three years. Two separate lots of ex-battery hens.

I loved having them, and you can get surprisingly attached to them (they are very personable) but don't underestimate the bad points too.

  • They will wreck whatever piece of ground you put them on (and you will have to move them periodically due to the amount of crap they produce).
  • Unless you have an automatic door opener you need to let them out very early, and be there at dusk to put them away. Otherwise the local fox will be licking it's lips.
  • You need to clear crap out of the nestbox daily, and clean it out totally every week or two
  • They can suffer from various mites which you need to keep an eye on. Red mite was the worst we suffered. It was horrible and I had to fumigate the entire coop (they can kill the chicken eventually)
  • Three of ours died from being egg bound (unable to lay the egg). Not nice watching your pets suffer and have to be put down.

I'm not sure if I'd have them again unless I was retired TBH.

In answer to the point above they love the sun (they spread their wings and sunbathe). Not fair to keep them in a dark spot, though they do need a bit of shade to retire to if it's too hot.

Edited by BigMon on Monday 24th October 12:00
Thanks for the info, not quite the easy bed of roses I was hoping for. We are away a lot and was hoping it would be a case of neighbours/friends feeding and watering them and collecting lovely eggs as payment but it's a bit much to ask them to daily muck out etc.

monoloco

289 posts

191 months

Monday 24th October 2016
quotequote all
foxsasha said:
BigMon said:
We had them for almost three years. Two separate lots of ex-battery hens.

I loved having them, and you can get surprisingly attached to them (they are very personable) but don't underestimate the bad points too.

  • They will wreck whatever piece of ground you put them on (and you will have to move them periodically due to the amount of crap they produce).
  • Unless you have an automatic door opener you need to let them out very early, and be there at dusk to put them away. Otherwise the local fox will be licking it's lips.
  • You need to clear crap out of the nestbox daily, and clean it out totally every week or two
  • They can suffer from various mites which you need to keep an eye on. Red mite was the worst we suffered. It was horrible and I had to fumigate the entire coop (they can kill the chicken eventually)
  • Three of ours died from being egg bound (unable to lay the egg). Not nice watching your pets suffer and have to be put down.

I'm not sure if I'd have them again unless I was retired TBH.

In answer to the point above they love the sun (they spread their wings and sunbathe). Not fair to keep them in a dark spot, though they do need a bit of shade to retire to if it's too hot.

Edited by BigMon on Monday 24th October 12:00
Thanks for the info, not quite the easy bed of roses I was hoping for. We are away a lot and was hoping it would be a case of neighbours/friends feeding and watering them and collecting lovely eggs as payment but it's a bit much to ask them to daily muck out etc.
Go for it! We've kept chickens for a dozen years in a shady part of the garden and never had a problem -very happy bunch of chooks! We also only clean the nest box out once per week and if we are away never have any shortage of friends/neighbours happy to come and feed/water/let them out etc in return for the eggs they collect. I know everyone else has said it but do make sure the coop/run is fox-proofed though -a fox will climb a 6 foot fence -or dig under it so fold the netting back out for 18inches or so just under the soil/grass -remarkably effective at stopping the little sods. As for breed/variety, just get whatever looks pretty -the eggs taste the same and are far far tastier than shop-bought.

FredericRobinson

3,667 posts

231 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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I only muck mine out weekly, daily jobs don't amount to more than 10 minutes or so, with half an hour or so once a week.
The number of eggs varies substantially from breed to breed, the list above are hybrids & will be good layers year round, black rocks have been the best I've had, some pure breeds will be just about as good, leghorns for example, others much less so.
If you're not going to be able to let them roam totally free make sure you give them as large a run as possible, they'll be much happier than in one of the houses with tiny attached runs that are available.

Gretchen

18,997 posts

215 months

Wednesday 26th October 2016
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I've been keeping Chickens, Ducks and now Sebastopol Geese for around eight years.

If you want your lad to have friendly birds go for the reds/brown egg layers. Light/white birds are often flighty - avoid these. Also keep in mind that they do go off lay. When moulting or in the darker, colder months. Force laying involved lighting and shortens the bird's life (as in cage and barn kept birds).

Rescuing from The British Hen Welfare can be rewarding. It's exciting on collection day - they take a number of birds to a set location, you take a box at an allocated time and it's almost like a drive-thru. Then the fun of watching them get their colour and feathers back, their happiness and confidence gain and then the egg laying begin. One of my rescues laid an egg on the way home! And one is the friendliest bird I've ever had.

It's the most rewarding pet ownership I've ever had.

foxsasha

1,416 posts

134 months

Wednesday 26th October 2016
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Very encouraging, thankyou. Any pointers on where to get the birds and pen? We have space for a decent sized run, would it be better to build it ourselves?

BigMon

4,155 posts

128 months

Wednesday 26th October 2016
quotequote all
Gretchen said:
I've been keeping Chickens, Ducks and now Sebastopol Geese for around eight years.

If you want your lad to have friendly birds go for the reds/brown egg layers. Light/white birds are often flighty - avoid these. Also keep in mind that they do go off lay. When moulting or in the darker, colder months. Force laying involved lighting and shortens the bird's life (as in cage and barn kept birds).

Rescuing from The British Hen Welfare can be rewarding. It's exciting on collection day - they take a number of birds to a set location, you take a box at an allocated time and it's almost like a drive-thru. Then the fun of watching them get their colour and feathers back, their happiness and confidence gain and then the egg laying begin. One of my rescues laid an egg on the way home! And one is the friendliest bird I've ever had.

It's the most rewarding pet ownership I've ever had.
We got our hens from the Welfare trust HQ in North Devon too.

Firstly we had Warrens (which are a dark brown) then Amber Lees (which are pale).

I didn't know about reds/browns being friendlier but that's very interesting. The Warrens were much friendlier and personable than the Amber Lees.

Gretchen

18,997 posts

215 months

Wednesday 26th October 2016
quotequote all
BigMon said:
We got our hens from the Welfare trust HQ in North Devon too.

Firstly we had Warrens (which are a dark brown) then Amber Lees (which are pale).

I didn't know about reds/browns being friendlier but that's very interesting. The Warrens were much friendlier and personable than the Amber Lees.
The bigger the bird the more docile, these tend to be the brown egg layers and ginger/red/brown birds. I've also got some Speckledy's who are really friendly. The white birds I've had are really flighty and light weight.

I've always wanted Buff Orpington's but not got round to it. Yet.

Mine have their own little paddock. A large section. Of garden fenced off with now eight foot fencing. Some still manage to 'fly' over in to the bigger garden. Despite wing clipping. I made an old shed for mine out of pallets and some nesting boxes, perches, cladding, metal roofing and a gate I was given. Didn't cost me anything except my own time. It's more than solid and secure too.

There are so many coops and runs on the market it's hard to suggest. But keep in mind it's addictive. Go big or you will regret it in twelve months.

Prohibiting

1,734 posts

117 months

Thursday 27th October 2016
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If you're local/near to Gloucester I can sell you some point-of-lay Black tails (hybrid cross between the Rhode Isle Red and Light Sussex) in Janurary ...or anyone for that matter. My next flock will be ready in Janurary. Best layers in the World- you'll get 300 eggs per year minimum if you treat them right.

I'm a free range chicken farmer. Got 25,000 of them smile.



Edited by Prohibiting on Thursday 27th October 13:40