Hens

[Rose.mary]

I don't know where to post this question really but if it is in the wrong place I am sure somebody will correct me.
As I have just stated in another posting I have been clearing an old unused plot today. The reason being we have been told we can keep hens on it (no c*ckrels) I have never kept hens and would welcome any advice anybody can give on this subject.
What sort?
How many? (We have been given 3 sq meters each.)
We are going to put a fence up, over, and under to try to keep out Mr Fox
I don't even know what to feed them on. All help gratefully accepted.

Thankyou
Rosemary

[northener]

Hello Rosemary i take it you want the Hens for eggs? you want point of lay birds which are 18 week old and like it says they are just about to start laying. We got our hens from a local battery hen farm £3.50 each they are hybrids of the rhode island red ever so friendly, my lad who is 9 loves them. I would recomend getting some pictures from magazines and asking your local shed maker to knock you a coop together, a lot cheaper then these magazine prices. you feed them on layers pellets £4.50 for a 25 kg bag this feeds our 8 for 2 weeks.

[Marley Farley]

Hi Rosemary,  Bantams are great to keep Lots of different breeds, some very attractive. Silkies are very pretty & bantams are good layers. Rhode islands are too. I also fed corn so that the yolks were a lovely yellow colour A very good book is "BACK YARD CHICKEN KEEPER"  Good Luck

[Rose.mary]

Thank you both of you. I think I had better go to the library and then decide what to do. I knew you wouldn't let me down
Thanks
Rosemary

[Marley Farley]

Good Luck!! check out some of the older breeds. My son in law has some lovely speckled hens at the moment & they lay well. not sure of the breed but can find out

[Justy]

I would love to keep hens too.  How much looking after do they need.  Obviously feeding each day (once, twice or more?)  is there anything else.  The reason I ask is that my lottie is about 10 min walk away - do I need to be more accessible to them?!  Also do you need to do anything special with them in the winter?  How much space do they need?  They will have to be in a pen of some sort due to foxes in the area.

[selwyn-smith]

Hi there,
I'm just about to embark on hen ownership with my youngest son, we would like eggs but would like a hen that is really friendly, we were considering buff orpingtons, what do you think? Another thing we were wondering about was how many, two would suit us fine, but is there an ideal number, in all the pictures there always seems to be three, is this anything to do with pecking order?
 Any advice would be very welcome.   
Katy

[Lazybones]

I have just got 2 hens from omlet.com.  The one they call Ginger Nut Russet was really friendly from the start and the other one is just warming to me after 5 weeks so now we have a laugh as they both run to me as soon as I go outside the back door.

I have large feeders and water containers and consequently only have to top up thei food every 2-3 days and then give them the leftover veggies in the evenign (but this is not essential).

It's well worth it every day when I go and collect the lovely fresh eggs.

I do let them out in the evening as my run is only 6ft long and I feel a bit sorry for them but they don't need much room.

Hope you all decide to get some and hope this helps 

[Marley Farley]

Hi selwyn, Buff Orpingtons should be good, good layers, I would get three min, all chickens do have "a pecking order" & can be very cruel to each other if one is a bit weak or ill they will pick on it constantly  I would say start with three & see how you get on. You could make your house & run movable so that you can move them around if you are keeping them on your lottie or if garden is big enough. They like to peck around all day & it is important they can have a dust bath too, so we moved our small runs around then the ground is so good for planting afterwards. Good luck 

[northener]

Hello, a good site for chookyhens is www.rivercottage.net