'Pecking' your brains for advice!

[frias]

I have 6 ex batts. Never intended getting 6 but NHWT had rescued more than they had homes for the month I got mine. Egg production varies. I was getting 5 or 6 a day and they were huge. Now getting about 4 although 5 yesterday and they are slightly smaller. I have got a broody hen so not sure if she lays or not. Although there was an egg beside her in the nest box at 7am yesterday and today. Never expected this amount of eggs and never ate many in my life before. I do now!

[Bephlam]

Oh my goodness...I am pulling my hair out with the lack of available information on suppliers of poultry in Scotland!! You would think Scotland of all places would be big into chickens...you know with our vast country-side and farms galore! Hmm...but, apparently not!

Any suggestions? The ex bats are not out - I'm just on hold. So, thought I'd at least research other avenues. However, it appears my area is rubbish for anything associated with chickens!

[MaureenHall]

Are there any battery farms in your area? If so, it might be worthwhile approaching them and asking if you could have some of theirs. Might not work, but worth a try.

[frias]

Sorry can't help. I'm at the other end of the country. I did have to wait some time for my girls but they were worth the wait. There are several rescue organizations I believe just keep Googling. Good luck.

[terrier]

Looks like you may have to get your supplies via the mail but have a look on the chook forums, try this one for a start:

Practical Poultry Forum - Index

If you do a search for 'keeping chickens' or some such similar wording, you'll get lots of helpfull sites coming up. There must be a farm feed supplier near you in Scotland, it's just a case of knowing where to look and the internet's a good place to get info.

[Bephlam]

I have been doing nothing more than googling over the last couple of weeks. My head is spinning with the number of sites I've looked at, still...I can't say I haven't enjoyed myself in the process. I've loved every minute of it!

I just keep telling myself how over the moon I'll be when I finally get my girls!

[MaureenHall]

Just done a bit of Googling for "Battery Chicken Farms Scotland" and found this. Scottish Food and Drink: Glenrath Farms Ltd it's in Peebles. Is that very far away from you? It might be worth giving them a bell and ask if they have any "spent" chickens that you could have/buy as pets
Best of luck

[Eyren]

Hi Bephlam

You seem to have had loads of good advice already, so I'm not sure what to add!

I know a couple of chicken-owners in Scotland via the Omlet website - their forum is a good one to join if you are a garden chicken owner (you don't need to own an eglu to be a member!). Practical Poultry is good but more focused on breeding and showing, whereas the Omlet forum is almost 100% "a few pet chickens kept for eggs"-type folk.

Re the henhouse design, I would suggest keeping it simple on the inside, to make cleaning easier. Also, as I've said elsewhere, build a covered run and avoid chicken-wire, unless you are certain there are no foxes in the area, as I've heard many a sad story of runs broken into or fences climbed. Admittedly it's more of a problem in London and other urban centres - I'm on the edge of suburban Cambridge and I reckon all the country foxes are too full of bunnies (of which there seem to be thousands hereabouts) to venture across the railway line onto our estate, because I've never seen or heard one when at home

Re supplies, are you anywhere near either Linlithgow or Larbert? There's a country store called Russell's (found it by Googling 'west lothian country store'), which might sell feed, bedding and other chicken supplies. They're listed on the Hemcore website, so it sounds like they might be similar to the shop I use - horsey/doggie/pet supplies. Hemcore is a hemp-based bedding (impregnated with citronella - yum!) that's very absorbent and thus great for putting in your hen-house to soak up the poo!

Good luck finding some hens! If you can't find a battery rescue day locally, there's no shame in getting some "new". They will also be good to "practise" on so that if/when you get a chance to adopt battery hens, you'll have some experience under your belt

[Bephlam]

Finally...I'm getting three faverolle girls. I decided that egg production is most definitely secondary to good looks and cuddle-a-bility!!! I'm sure they'll give me enough eggs for nice breakfasts...so that's all that matters! I'll be sure to post pics when they arrive!!

[MaureenHall]

Eggsellent Really looking forward to seeing the pics