Author Topic: Photo gallery of our chickens (Read 13540 times)

Jesse · « **on:** January 06, 2006, 09:37:29 »

Posting a photo of our chickens, we have 6 now, the original three are called Sophie (a white leghorn), Roma (a maran) and Ketchup (a barnevelder), the other 3 we hatched this year using Ketchup as our broody. They don't have names as yet (shocking I know!) but they are a barnevelder and two silver dorkings.

Feel free to add photos and names of your chickens :)

Svea · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2006, 09:56:31 »

grrr, must avoid this area of the board or risk getting chicken envy....

lovely girls you have there, jesse
(btw, will PM you about the chocolate for your daughter)

lorna · « **Reply #2 on:** January 06, 2006, 11:39:27 »

Great pics Jesseveve., When we had land and buildings we kept chickens (what didn't we keep!!) We shared a hundred with the farmer opposite. We kept ours in a very large lorry covered trailer., complete with electric light. He kept his in a drafty old barn. Guess who got the most eggs!!?

dibberxxx · « **Reply #3 on:** January 06, 2006, 13:10:09 »

lovely pics those baby chickens are so sweet , ;) ;) ;) wish i had room to keep some

Hot_Potato · « **Reply #4 on:** January 06, 2006, 15:09:54 »

Oh Jesseveve - fab photos of your chooks :).....when my brother & I were born way back in the 1940's, our family kept chickens (as did many people) and in later life, after retiring thru ill health from his headship post, my brother became a poultry farmer keeping over 600 free range birds plus some rare breeds, ducks & geese....it was wonderful to visit!!...sadly thru more ill health he finally 'sold up'....H.P.

Jesse · « **Reply #5 on:** January 06, 2006, 16:40:24 »

Thanks for all the kind words, sorry to hear about your brother having to give up HP, I'd love to have ducks as well but it's just not possible where we live. :)

northener · « **Reply #6 on:** January 06, 2006, 19:45:24 »

Yeah lovely pictures what type of chook is the 1st one? I can't post pictures at the moment, computer probs.

Jesse · « **Reply #7 on:** January 06, 2006, 19:48:28 »

She's a barnevelder (Ketchup is her name), lovely natured but this one tends to go broody, she hatched two batches this year, but we love her anyway as she has such a pleasant nature. :)

sandersj89 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 08, 2006, 09:22:29 »

These are my girls:

They stay in the run in the morning and are then let out into the garden and field beside us for the afternoon. I have all my beds fenced off so they cant reek too much havoc.

We have room for a good couple of dozen hens but 3 suits us just fine.

The black one, a Daisy Belle, is Dora the Explorer and the boss of the flock, very quiet nature though and loves the kids playing with her, also a tendancy to go broody.

The pure white, a White Star, is Snowdrop and the most flighty of the three but she lays the most wonderful pure white eggs and has hardly missed a day since she started to lay.

The white/black, a Sussex Star, is Pearl. A nice compact hen that again lays very well, very vocal though!

They have decimated the slug population in the garden and I love having them around, in the evening they have worked out they can trigger the security light at the back door and spend their last 15 mins before bed time there trying to get through the cat flap.

Jerry

Jesse · « **Reply #9 on:** January 08, 2006, 09:28:07 »

lol our hens also try to get through the cat flap, scared the daylights out of our new cat who came face to face with a chicken whilst trying to rush outside ;D

Lovely hens Jerry, they look very healthy :)

lorna · « **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2006, 10:19:11 »

Great pictures Jerry and what a well designed house/run. Is it very heavy to move around?

sandersj89 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 08, 2006, 10:39:42 »

Not too bad, since the picture was taken I have made a couple of changes including adding a set of wheels at the house end, this then means it takes me seconds to move the house on my own.

Jerry

lorna · « **Reply #12 on:** January 08, 2006, 10:56:44 »

As I said brilliant design in my opinion. Thanks.

Hot_Potato · « **Reply #13 on:** January 08, 2006, 14:23:58 »

Jerry - what beautiful chooks & lovely names :)...great photos and well done with your building of their homes. H.P.

sandersj89 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 08, 2006, 15:23:46 »

Quote from: Hot_Potato on January 08, 2006, 14:23:58

Jerry - what beautiful chooks & lovely names :)...great photos and well done with your building of their homes. H.P.

Thanks but I cant take credit for the house other than my own modifications. I bought the basic house, it is called a Grosvenor Junior, as it seemed such a good desigh and is made from good quality material.

Jerry

Lady Cosmos · « **Reply #15 on:** January 12, 2006, 20:18:33 »

Ketchup is beautiful, Jesse. I see you have a wooden run, and Sanders too.
Question: Do you think here is any advantage with wooden one ( the Grsovenor Junior) an an eglu? Cost is nearly the same, I guess......Size i more or less the same, I guess......
Need another runand thinking about the eglu.........

Jesse · « **Reply #16 on:** January 12, 2006, 21:14:44 »

Lady Cosmos, our run is an area of the garden that is surrounded by a picket fence, the hen house sits within the run, it's not a ready bought integral one like Jerry's. We went this route so that the hens would have more space as I felt the integral house/runs that are available to buy were too confined especially if I wanted more hens as time goes on. I'm not sure if either of the runs (grosvenor vs eglu) has advantages over the other, I guess a lot of it is to do with what you like the look of. I believe from others that the eglu is very easy to clean. For a short while we had the chicks with mother hen kept away from the others in a small moveable run, with having to change it's position each day I can say it's worth looking for something that is easy to move or like Jerry has done add some wheels to make moving it easy. :)

Lady Cosmos · « **Reply #17 on:** January 12, 2006, 21:22:33 »

Thanks Jesse,

sandersj89 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 13, 2006, 09:50:14 »

The eggloo vs traditional debate is one that rages on poultry forums, you are either for one or the other it seems.

I looked the eggloo when we wanted to start with hens but opted for the grosvenor in the end, for a number of reasons.

Our house is larger and I was able to add chicken wire to the base of the run to stop mice/rats getting into the run and also stops the hens ripping up the lawn. Also in winter the run is moved onto hard standing and I cover the base of the run in 3 inches of wood chip, not bark, so they can scratch around in that.

My house also has the roosting area and nest boxes raised up so the hens have acess to a dry area underneath at all times. This is where I also have there feeder so this stays bone dry even in the worst of weather. This would not be so easy to do in the eggloo.

My house also has a removable/slide out floor to the house to make cleaning very very easy. The eggloo is also meant to be easy to clean but never tried to so cant really comment.

We currently only have 3 hens but this house is big enough for 6, especially as they free range for at least half the day with access to the garden and a small field.

The external nest boxes give more room in the house

Being made of wood in the main it is easy to add enhancements, the eggloo is plastic so not so easy to work with.

And I simply prefer the look of the more traditional house.

I am sure there are many advantages to the eggloo, being plastic cleaning should be a doddle and red mite wont find too many places to hide , but we just did not feel it was right for us.

HTH

Jerry

Lady Cosmos · « **Reply #19 on:** January 13, 2006, 20:25:28 »

Thanks Jerry, for your reply. The "dead"plastic is what turns me off, so I have to think it over again, because I am not so handy with wood and wire.... give me plants and veggies ;D ;D, they obey me!!!

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Author Topic: Photo gallery of our chickens (Read 13540 times)