Talk to me about hens!

[Flyermc]

We've decided to get afew back garden hens.

Its something that we (as a family) have talked about for years as something we'd do in afew years, but over the weekend we just decided to go for it! We're familiar with hens, as they were at the farm i kept my pony on, but we've never owned them.

We've got an area of the garden marked for them and we are getting some posts and netting so they can wonder about when we are home and they'll have there house and smaller run at other times.

we've no idea on breed or anything else (advise welcome) the hens at the farm seemed to get abit or corn in the evenings and ran around the farm in the day. the coop holds 4 small breed hens, im not sure what is classed as a small breed?

any help/advise welcome

 

[GinnyWeasley]

Good decision! We have 14 hens of all different breeds (we went for mainly hybrids) so they are all a different colour and we can tell them apart ?. Ours have on occasion tried to re-enact chicken run and flown off to nearby fields- although maybe we just chose spirited chickens. The eggs are eggcellent, ours lay brown, white and blue eggs (not all at once) we just like the variety. ours Have access to food -the chicken pellets sold at mole valley and water All the time. Do you have any specific questions? Make sure you get the chicken themed names ours include Hen Solo, hennifer aniston (and Lawrence, Lopez, Saunders, garner), egg miliband, princess lay-a, and Attila the hen.

 

[cobgoblin]

I kept chickens for over 25yrs but haven't got any at the moment because we were eventually invaded by rats last year, so when the last one died we thought we'd have a break.
I loved having them around. They were funny, inquisitive and quite affectionate in an odd sort of way... I even had one that liked to sit on my shoulder.
By small breed, I would imagine they mean regular hens rather than Jersey Giants or Brahmas. The hybrids bred for free range are good if you want lots of eggs. They come in a variety of colours and shapes but the leghorn crosses are a bit flighty. Or you could get pure breeds, they've got a bit pricey lately and you won't get so many eggs but they do tend to live longer.
For feed I always fed mixed corn and layers mash and you'll need plenty of crushed oyster shell for calcium.
.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Bantams are perfect for back gardens unless you have three like mine who insist on roosting up a pine tree every night. I liked my Sussex hens best followed closely by the bluebells. They have such characters and my last bluebell Aunty Doll would sit in my conservatory with the cat.

 

[Flyermc]

thanks guys

what would be a good breed for -
simple to look after
small breed
nice around kids
good amount of eggs - we eat alot of eggs as a family, but happy to buy eggs aswell as have our own.

 

[Flyermc]

Bantams are perfect for back gardens unless you have three like mine who insist on roosting up a pine tree every night. I liked my Sussex hens best followed closely by the bluebells. They have such characters and my last bluebell Aunty Doll would sit in my conservatory with the cat.

View attachment 53969

which breed is this one? wheres the best place to find a breeder?

 

[Flyermc]

oh and which coops do you have?

 

[GinnyWeasley]

Our best layer is the white leghorn, who lays huge white eggs most days I think around 280-320 a year. I agree that bantams are good. they live in an old stable building. im not sure if any breed is particularly childfriendly however all of ours are friendly and will bend down to be stroked or picked up. as long as you spend time handling and spending time with them they should become friendly.

 

[mini_b]

Ok so I find the medium/larger breeds are better with kids to be honest. More docile. I prefer warren (ours are common but well handled!) Sussex or Orpington.
all are good layers.
we have had bantams in the past and had a random bantam Cuckoo maran hatch this year and found them the most flighty and less tolerant to kids.

my relative breeds silkies which seem to be known for their friendly nature but I think most chickens except game types are friendly and tolerant if handled regularly. We haven’t bothered with silkies...yet.

we have a converted kids Wendy house and a large run made from game bird panels. I think the coops you can buy cheaply online are far too small. You can convert a playhouse or shed for a similar price.
if you have a large enclosed garden you can let them roam if wings are clipped.

There’s lots of backyard breeders palming off unsexed chicks or bunches of cockerels to those none the wiser (it’s hard to tell til its too late!) if you are new to chicken keeping its wise to buy them at point of lay from somewhere established.

 

[cobgoblin]

If you want friendly chickens go for the regular brown hybrids that they use on commercial free range farms, they're really sweet and like to be around people.
Don't get Rhode Island Red pure breds though, they can be quite nasty.

 

[limestonelil]

Silkies are just so lovely, made me really smile to think of ours, just the way they move is pure entertainment, and so nice natured. As mentioned, buying older birds makes sense. Clip wings, vermin proof housing, keep a lookout for mites.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

which breed is this one? wheres the best place to find a breeder?

She was a Bluebell, they are very common and most breeders have them. I would second getting older hens which need rehoming as well, they have plenty of egg laying life left just not enough for a commercial producer.

 

[ponyparty]

If you have foxes in your area (likely, as they're everywhere) I'd advise investing in electric poultry netting. It's the only thing that stopped them taking our hens. Otherwise you're into the realms of building 6 foot fencing with the top section jutting outwards, and digging it down into the ground a few feet. They really are a menace once they realise there'a handy food source in your back garden.

There's a Haynes manual of chicken keeping which I found useful when I was first starting out (it's by a guy called Laurence Beeken - Beak - geddit? I found that hilarious!).

Rats (and slugs, bizarrely) love chicken food so always bring it in overnight once your girls have gone to bed.

I had hybrids, they laid an egg a day pretty much - if they are all the same colour, just get coloured leg rings and put a different colour on each hen so you can tell them apart.

the old fashioned/purebreds tend to lay less (or stop laying, I think?) in winter, so if you want eggs all year round, get a hybrid.

 

[Widgeon]

We have two White Stars and two Bluebells. The White Stars are more flighty (but they are settling now) and the two Bluebells are quite different to each other; one is very friendly and curious, while the other (we call her Big Bertha) is large and prone to irrational panicking. In terms of laying, the White Stars are more reliable - at the moment they are both laying one large white egg each day. The Bluebells lay smaller eggs, and they both lay most days, but not all.

Ours are kept in a big run made out of timber frame with weldmesh nailed on. It has a roof. Agree that slugs love chicken food - although when I found one in their feeder yesterday I tipped it out onto the floor and left it to take its chances! It was gone when I got back....yuck. I think we're going to have to start taking the food in as I think it's encouraging the rats.

 

[ponyparty]

Our feeder used to get covered - I mean COVERED - in giant, slimy turd-lookalike slugs if we forgot and left it out after dusk. Sooo grim!

The dogs were scared to go in the garden for a couple of days after their first shock from the fence, but got over it (just left the fence well alone). The foxes must have stopped coming in altogether as we never found any fox poo on the lawn again, which had been a regular occurrence before.

 

[Flyermc]

We are looking to get one of these with a 3m run. Hoping that the girls will be OK in this during the times that we arent home. They can go in a bigger enclosure when we can keep an eye on them. fingers crossed they will be safe!

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_go_chicken_coop/

 

[Flyermc]

I think ex batt, will be the way to go. Atleast we know they will be girls! Would ex batts be classed as small are large hens?

Just need to find some

 

[ihatework]

We are looking to get one of these with a 3m run. Hoping that the girls will be OK in this during the times that we arent home. They can go in a bigger enclosure when we can keep an eye on them. fingers crossed they will be safe!

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_go_chicken_coop/

I have to say I think that’s too small for anything other than overnight.

 

[adamntitch]

Please don't clip wings you really take away there only protection from predators agree with blue bells or maybe black rocks

 

[Griffin]

I have an Eglu Cube and that is a bit bigger and they can go underneath it. I am not a fan of Omlet's housing for small animals (I have strong feelings about it) but the plastic coops do help to stop the dreaded red mite. Although I would still clean thoroughly and use a bit of mite powder!

I second the Haynes chicken manual!

 

[Flyermc]

Update - we went to a breeder had a look at her hens, discussed our requirements and was recommended some orpingtons as they have nice placid nature. She didnt have any older hens, so we got 2 x 4 week old girls. We have borrowed an indoor cage, hot plate etc so they are currently on our dinning room table.

We got them on Monday and they are such nice girls and are happy to be handled, eat from your hands and sit on your knee. My kids love them! it wasnt what we was expecting, but seems to have worked out well.

We got the coop, which currently has a 3m run, but we are looking for more omelet run, at least another 2m (if anyone know of any for sale, please let me know!) we have around 3 weeks before they'll be out in it. They'll be in a sightly bigger area when we are around and possibly the garden grass.

 

[Lacuna]

I started with an Omlet - however I found that the food attracted rats that just tunnels up under the run at night and made a wreck of the lawn. My girls are currently in a large coop which is standing on a flagstone base and completely proofed against rats/foxes etc.

They have a larger fenced area in the garden that they can run round in during the day.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Where are the pics of your new girls?

 

[Flyermc]

how do you post pictures?

 

[Snow Falcon]

Click on the attach files button, find your pic, click on full image for bigger pic, not thumnail. It will often tell you file is too large. I don't have FB so I use photo and picture resizer to reduce size, I normally halve it. Hope that helps

 

[vmac66]

How about some ex battery hens. They are super freindly and so nosey. I have adopted several hens and got the last ones last Sunday. They are all quite bare at the moment but soon grow their feathers back.

 

[fiwen30]

Orpington’s are a good shout, we had buffs which were very placid. They are table birds though, and they grow big! They’ll need more space when they start reaching their mature size.

 

[Flyermc]

How about some ex battery hens. They are super freindly and so nosey. I have adopted several hens and got the last ones last Sunday. They are all quite bare at the moment but soon grow their feathers back. View attachment 54506

We had a really good look at ex batts and im on a fb page of theres, but got worried about the amount of members that posted with health issues. We've never kept hens before and decided that we'd be better getting some hens that would be (hopefully) more straight forward to start off

 

[Flyermc]

Orpington’s are a good shout, we had buffs which were very placid. They are table birds though, and they grow big! They’ll need more space when they start reaching their mature size.

We wanted something laid back and fairly easy and they are 100% that so far. They are still in the house under the warm plate, but we get them out several times a day and are more than happy to be fed by hand and sit on us to watch telly.

We did see there dad and his hens, but funny enough it never accrued to me if they would fit in the coop! Omlet say you can fit 2 in the coop, but forum peeps are saying no. The set-up at the moment has a 3m run, but im trying to get more run and they'll have a larger section of garden when we are home.

I do keep wondering if we made the right choice (size wise) - id hate for them to be unhappy

 

[ihatework]

You might get away with the coop for 2 Orpington’s but the run is going to be too small. I’m not sure I’d waste money on the 3m run but look to section off an area of the garden and fox proof it as much as possible