shall I get chickens?

[petal]

We are considering getting 2 chickens and wanted to know what breed would be recommended.

[vicky]

YES!!!!
Put yourself on the waiting list for Ex Batts (google Battery Hen Welfare Trust for website) they are great and very friendly (and only 50p each!). They like to rehome in 3's tho in case one should die.
I am searching for hybrid skylines/cream legbars at the mo as I fancy some blue eggs too.

[MadamJoJo]

Any breed of chicken is a joy....but for starters I would go for hybrids such as black rocks as they have great characters, as have warrens, they both lay well and are not as tempermental (laying wise) as pure breeds. There is always the option of ex battery hens...there are lots of links....and the rewards far outweigh the cost. Have fun !! MJJ

[Eyren]

I would also recommend 3 - chickens do sometimes die from the stress of relocation, and a lone chicken is an unhappy chicken

Re breeds, I would pick hybrids bred for egg-laying, and choose ones that lay different coloured eggs, so that you can tell which of your girls is laying. There are so many different breeds nowadays (and so many commercial breeders use their own "brand names" for particular crosses) - plus chickens are individuals, and temperament can vary - that it's hard to know what to recommend.

You don't say what part of Beds you are in, but as a starting point I would recommend a trip to Thorne's Garden Nursery in Letchworth. They sell various large fowl and bantams, all ready vaccinated, and do free talks on various chicken-keeping topics. I bought a couple of pekin bantams from there a fortnight ago, and they are lovely healthy girls

Another recommended place (though it might be a bit far unless you are in SE Beds) is Happy Hens in North Essex. Kirsty does "beginners' sessions" (children welcome) and stocks lots of hybrids.

[petal]

Thanks, we will nip to letchworth and take a peek. I had some battery hens many years ago, when we lived in cumbria and out of 5, 4 died from shock - the remaining one lived for years before mr.fox got her and laid one white egg daily. Knowing my luck, if i get battery hens for my kids they will all die immediately and there will be lots of tears!!! Something for me to think about.

[Eyren]

I'm not sure what Thorne's will have in stock this time of year - they mostly had bantams left over from last year's hatchings when we visited (though that was OK since I went specifically to get some pekin pullets). Mind you, I didn't pay much attention to the large fowl since that wasn't what we were there for. I think maybe they act as agents for the commercial hybrid breeders as well as producing their own pure breeds, so they will probably start getting new stock in as spring progresses.

[kirsty b]

YES!!!!
Put yourself on the waiting list for Ex Batts (google Battery Hen Welfare Trust for website) they are great and very friendly (and only 50p each!). They like to rehome in 3's tho in case one should die.
I am searching for hybrid skylines/cream legbars at the mo as I fancy some blue eggs too.

Araucanas lay blue eggs too.

[yoanbob]

yes yes yes.
'nuf said

[lettucegrow!]

you lucky thing,they are on my wish list for one day.Thornes is definitely worth a visit if you are not going down the battery hen route,they have quite a choice and are very helpful.It's also a lovely little nursery to walk round,plants are always good.

[TPeers]

Just be warned - if you go and look at some nice pullets at Thornes or where ever either have the housing for the birds ready or leave all forms of money at home!

A flock of pretty hens is very hard to resist especially if you have the kids with you!

[Birdie Wife]

You know you want to!! If you want to get hens that are chicld friendly, then Silkies (big or small sizes) or Pekins (small size only) are lovely, but have fluffy/feathery legs so need to be kept out of wet places. Both these breeds have a strong tendency to go broody and sit on eggs, which can be hard to break them out of and when they are broody, they don't lay eggs!

Normal brown hybrid hens can be friendly too, lay lots of eggs, and will hardly ever go broody. Depends what you want really - big hen? small hen? Hybrid/rare breed? Lots of eggs?

[p54jes]

Go on get some.

Just before Christmas we went "just to have a look" at a few chooks for an afternoon out and came away with 2 lovely lavender araucana's . Just after crimbo we went back to get some feed for them and came away with another girl from the same brood , we have just got our first egg yesterday . I noticed that you come from Beds and if you are interested go to 3 gate farm in Sharnbrook called the cock and pullet , they couldn,t have been more helpful and they have a wide variety of breeds to choose from ,they even do B&B for them while you go on your hols.


P54jes.

[petal]

Thanks for advice - the brown hybrid type that lays a few eggs here and there and doesn't savage the kids sounds perfect. I will be making the housing. Do I need to dig down deep around enclosure to put wire mesh - in case the dratted fox knows how to dig?

[Paulottie]

Foxes can dig quite deep. The best way is not so much deep but L shaped They will try near the fence and if they hit going down that flummoxes them....Usual point of entry is by gate(no they don't open it!.) Put concrete slabs there and no gap under.

They also climb particularly at the corners. Country foxes come round in the evening at dusk to chech the henhouse door is shut...first night your down the pub...chicken dinner! It is unfortunate that some idiots thik it is a good idea to release town foxes into the 'wild' as town foxes are more likely to come in the day when you are at work etc.

[jeannine]

Getting back to ex-battery hens, I speak to Jane Howorth who set up the BHWT quite often as she writes for the magazines, and she's said it's pretty rare for ex-battery hens to die young - the Battery Hen Welfare Trust never knowingly re-home a sick bird and all the birds have a complete set of vaccinations from the farmers, so chances are you'd have a lot more luck if you got ex bats from them.

I'd really recommend them if you have children as they are so friendly because they are hybrids that are specially bred to be docile. We got 2 new ones recently and they went from being petrified and running away to eating out of my hand within a few days. The girls we've had since Christmas come and sit with me on our garden bench when I have a cup of tea and they like nothing better than to 'supervise' any jobs I do in the garden!

Whatever chooks you choose, I hope you enjoy every minute! My only regret about keeping chickens is that I didn't start years ago...