Think I have finally convinced the family to get chickens! wahoo

[Sparkly]

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

These would be kept in the garden, rather than on the plot.

Will be a while because we need to re-do the koi pond to allow room for a decent run.

I would be a total chicken novice.

I am looking for chickens that would provide us with nice eggs with good yolks. Productivity isn't that important because I was thinking about 4 or 5 birds and there is only 3 of us.

Ideally we would like chickens that are friendly as we are really looking for a pet as well as keeping them for the eggs.

Any recommendations? Silkies look really cute!

[Sparkly]

[macmac]

Oooh Sparkly how did you manage it ?I've been trying to persuade the OH for ages.Like you we'd keep them at home we've got a huge garden and we wouldn't have to change our koi pond.He could build all the house/run etc as his best mate on the lottie has done just that.So come on Sparkly how did you persuade them as I need some tips ! :) ;)

[Sparkly]

A comprimise on re-doing the koi pond hehe

;D ;D ;D

[Norfolk n Proud]

That's great news.... we've had chickens up the plot for coming up to a year now, and they provide lovely fresh eggs and hours of amusement just watching them. I would thoroughly recommend getting rescue ex-batts, we got ours from Little Hen Rescue nr Norwich, and when you see the progress from being a bedraggled little hen missing half of it's feathers due to extreme stress, that's spent their entire life until then, in a windowless hell hole, to a happy and fully feathered hen, that runs to meet you, and feeds out of your hand, you'll not regret it. All the best for whatever you decide!!   :D :D :D

[gixerstu]

we got some buff orpingtons last year and it's been great apart from the fact that they'll eat anything in their paths and if they don't like it they just scratch it up.

They produce generally one egg a day each and this year where they've matured the eggs are much bigger and better quality.

They have their own fan club as we have their run at the bottom of the garden where our fence adjoins a rec and we sell excess eggs at the bottom of the drive and never have any problem getting rid of them, so much so that the girls have paid for themselves many times over.

I suppose the only thing I would caution you against is checking round your garden and making sure Mr fox can't get in and if you are keeping the chooks in a static run then invest in an electric fence.

[Vortex]

We're getting chickens, 4 or 6, Dorking Hybrids, as soon as I get time to build an ark. Hopefully before the end of May. This is my wife's project, and likewise they will be kept in the garden.

[growmore]

I would suggest that you get some point of lay hybrid birds.
Lowmans, Warrens or birds of that type.
They are bred for laying, 300 or more a year. They are also docile and easily managed.
While I agree with the sentiments of getting ex battery birds  I wouldn't
recommend them as your first venture into keeping hens.

[Digeroo]

I should really like to keep hens in the garden but how much noise do they make?  We have neighbours on all sides.  My OH is not keen.  He is too worried about getting bird flu.

[irnhed]

Generally, hybrids are better layers than pure breds - their 'ancestors' have obviously been picked for specific reasons.

That said, of the 5 birds that we have, 3 are hybrid (Lehmann, I believe but that may be wrong.  Little brown ones).  We have one beautiful Black Rock, and a lovely Light Sussex (she's white).

They all lay happily (we're getting about 3 eggs a day at the moment), and have their own personailities.  We've got an alpha female 'discussion' going on the at moment, as one of my 'new' point-of-lay is now bigger than the current alpha.

You should definately get point-of-lay if you can, as they should be cheaper than older birds, and should live longer with you.  You'll find yourself checking the coop 3 times a day until they start laying, which will always take longer than you think  :)

Of course, ex-battery hens are a good moral choice.  These are hybrids themselves, who have gone 'slightly' off lay, and are discarded by the farmer.  You can do a websearch for Battery Hen Adoption to find an association close to you.  One thing to be aware of is, places usually only home BHs in groups of 3 or more. 

They won't give one or two birds to join an existing flock, as the flock may bully them mercilessly.  The sad fact of life is that chickens will pick on the weak, or those that appear to be ill, to drive them away.  It's for the greater good of the flock to drive weak or ill birds out.  Also, the existing birds will take the opportunity to re-enforce the pecking order, ensuring that the newcomers are firmly put at the bottom.

BH appear very scraggily when you get them, and take a few weeks to build themselves up again, and to re-grow their feathers.  I've never been able to re-home any BH (yet) but I'm sure it's a wonderful experience - for obvious reasons.

On the bird flu point, it depends on what people are worried about.  The risk of contracting bird flu in this country comes from wild, migratory birds flying in and passing it on.  The chooks won't suddenly develop it themselves.

The recommended risk mitigation for this, it to have a "Bio-Secure" run and coop.  If you look into this, it just means a roof.  The logic being that bird carriers then can't get into the run, or poo on it from above. 

There is more information & guidance available from Defra here:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/ai/keptbirds/index.htm

and a useful leaflet here:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/ai/documents/protectleaflet.pdf

As you need a roof to be properly bio-secure, this means no 'free ranging' around the garden.

If that all sounds a bit scary, my view is that the risk of BF is very, very, very small.  When was the last time we saw anything on BF in the press / on the news?

You've got more chance catching it from stepping in poo whilst walking in the woods / fields, than in your garden - as it comes from wild birds.

In my case, there is more risk from the racing pigeons that my neighbour keeps, than from my girls.

I generally let my chooks out of their run everyday so that they can 'play' in the garden - even though the run is plenty big enough for them to be in full time.

Chickens are great.  Everyone should have them in their garden.

[JJane01]

Hi,

I am much more of a browser than a poster (sorry!) but I am waiting for a chicken house and four hens to arrive later in April, for our garden.  Their house will be static, have cleared the site where they will go, next job is to raise the boundary fence height (with posts and chicken mesh).  As the days pass I am excited, but also quite nervous - all will be fine when they arrive and settle in and we get used to each other! 

Good luck with your venture!

[grannyjanny]

We got 4 buff Plymouth rocks bantams 2 weeks ago. They have an 8' x 12' run. They are friendly, not noisy but do like to let everyone know when they have laid. I am going to put our garden bench opposite them so when I am gardening I go & watch them. We get between 2 & 4 wonderful eggs a day. We have mother & her 3 babies who are approx 23 weeks. The breeder didn't want to separate them & we were happy to have them all. They seem a happy family. I love going down the garden to let them out as soon as I get up, 6ish & as soon as they hear the back door open I hear then clucking away & I LOVE it. They take themselves to bed but I always close the pop hole at night. OH buried the wire 12" underground, we have never seen foxes but you never know.

[Norfolk n Proud]

While I agree with the sentiments of getting ex battery birds  I wouldn't
recommend them as your first venture into keeping hens.

I hear what you're saying, but i have 8 Ex-Batts and they were my first hens, and are a doddle to look after! POL's don't guarantee an easy time. ;D

[Geoff H]

If you get hybrids you are buying an egg producing machine. They are designed to produce lots of eggs in a short time but it leaves them a bit knackered. They generally dont live as long as pure breeds that probably lay their eggs over a longer period of time. I have 6 Speckledy hybids that don't produce as many as say Warrens but they produce a very nice egg but are very skittish. I have two rhode island reds and they are laying good eggs. In fact i don't know how one of them managed to get the huge egg out yesterday and she has laid again today. My faves are the 3 Light Sussex. I get mobbed as soon as I enter the run and the Light Sussex lead the throng. If I walk past the run the 3 Light Sussex follow me along the fence and If I walk inside the run they run along at my feet, such that i have to be careful where I step. If i work in the run then the Light Sussex are always there. When i shovel out the bedding they will stand on the shovel and when i put in the automatic door opener it was like they were commenting and giving advice. They do have a reputation for being friendly and i wish i had bought more of them - oh and they are a beautiful bird to look at....and funny. I remember when i tossed a snail in the run and my smallest Light Sussex grabbed it and ran off into the bushes. But the Speckledys were chilling out in there and there was an almighty sqwarking and a Speckedy shot out with the snail with an enraged Light Sussex in hot pursuit. She managed to latch on to the snail but because the speckedy was bigger she was then dragged on her front across the pen.