[cwmddu]

Hello, I am new to this forum, I live in Gwent, South wales,  please forgive me if I am posting in wrong place.
  After doing lots of research I've decided to have 6 chickens, Barred Plymouth Rock x 2  - Bluebells x 2 possibly BlackRock's x 2, all hybrids. I am moving on 1st July whereby I will be able to have my girls then. I have trawled around looking for a decent priced garden shed to convert for my girls, any ideas on where I can get a good shed at a reasonable price would be really appreciated.  I'm also looking for a dried herb supplier so that I can mix a blend of herbs to put in nest box.   I have loads of other questions and hope that I can post these on here.  Can't wait to get them, I have found a good (I think) breeder who on visiting was very very helpful and showed me two of the chicks that will be ready for me in July.

Cwmddu

[Mr R Design]

Ebay for the shed it is all down to how many are after it on the day.

Gumtree will have prices you can negotiate on, same with freeads.co.uk/wales.

Don't bother with herbs, wood shavings from a pet shop are fine.

[Helenaj]

Hello, I am new to this forum, I live in Gwent, South wales,  please forgive me if I am posting in wrong place.
  After doing lots of research I've decided to have 6 chickens, Barred Plymouth Rock x 2  - Bluebells x 2 possibly BlackRock's x 2, all hybrids. I am moving on 1st July whereby I will be able to have my girls then. I have trawled around looking for a decent priced garden shed to convert for my girls, any ideas on where I can get a good shed at a reasonable price would be really appreciated.  I'm also looking for a dried herb supplier so that I can mix a blend of herbs to put in nest box.   I have loads of other questions and hope that I can post these on here.  Can't wait to get them, I have found a good (I think) breeder who on visiting was very very helpful and showed me two of the chicks that will be ready for me in July.

Cwmddu

Hi, welcome to the forum!

As Mr R Design says, the auction site is best to pick up an used shed - try and go for one with planking rather than the shiplap type as they are far more sturdy. If it has had chickens in it previously, spray it completely inside with poultry shield in case of redmite (every chicken keepers nightmare!) and paint is with a diatomaceous earth slurry - look it up on the search for the recipe. Easy to do and well worth it. You'll also have to consider fox proofing. You may be lucky and never have to deal with this pest, but once they know you have hens they will go for them if they can and it can be heartbreaking. Have a look at the stickies for some shed/enclosure ideas.

I assume that you want to put herbs in the nest box as a fly deterrent? That is a very expensive way and not all herbs are suitable for chickens. Wood shavings are perfectly fine - you can even buy them with citronella added. I can't recall the name but I'm sure someone will be along with the name shortly. The easiest way to keep flies down is regular housekeeping. Keep on top of your cleaning and they shouldn't be too much of a problem, but chicken poo will attract flies whether you want it to or not 

I see that you intend to keep 6 hybrid hens. Hybrid hens are egg machines and are bred to give you an egg per day. Have you thought about how you will dispose of 42 eggs per week? It's an awful lot of eggs unless you have a willing market for them.

Now there is a very serious chicken keeper disease that I have to warn you about - it's very contagious and nearly all of us on this forum have fallen victim to it. It is called chickenitis and it means that you become obsessed with all things chicken related and start buying chicken related ornaments for the kitchen and boring your friends with inane chicken facts. It also manifests itself in an inability to stop at the number of chickens you originally bought. Most of us on here started with a small number of chickens and increased our flocks quite rapidly. Lets hope you fall victim to it - it's fabulous! 

[cwmddu]

Thank you both very much for this, I will have a look on eBay an Gumtree. I didn't think I could be looking at that amount of eggs, I any advice on what I should go for, I would like Barred Plymouth Rock but have not seen many about, there seems to be a lot of hybrids available, I may go back to researching again !! 
I'm worried about foxes, and we plan to try and make everything fox free. we are looking at making a run for them while I am in work and let them in the garden when we are with them. The herbs as something I read about and quite liked the idea, but I'll see how it goes as it seems that I initially I will be laying (sorry about the pun) out quite a bit of money.  I'm sure that I will catch this awful disease ha ha, I am already getting obsessed about them, however, space will stop me adding any more, think I've started driving my family crazy just doing the research !!
I really would appreciate any advice, particularly about what birds to get.
By the way how do you get the smiles on ?

[Helenaj]

Hybrids are commercial layers and are bred to lay just about every day. As a consequence, their lifespan can be much shorter than a pure breed hen who lays about 3-4 eggs per week. Hybrids such as Warrens (also known as ISA Browns) have a lifespan of about 2-3 years, pure breeds can live up to 10 years+ in some instances. Pure breeds are much more expensive but come in a variety of weird and wonderful colours and temperaments, not to mention egg colours! Have a look at this site : www.omlet.co.uk and this will give you a background on each of the breeds, plus reviews from domestic keepers. If you are likely to not be able to get rid of so many eggs then I would suggest either less hens (you need a minimum of 3) or go for a pure breed.

At the top of this page there is a section titled "chicken & poultry" and this will give you links to all breeders in your area and beyond. Barred Plymouth Rocks are a pure breed and is a very reliable bird, but there are so many out there that you need to research your breeds. Start with the Omlet site and go from there. I use a breeder in Abergavenny and they have just about every breed under the sun. I don't think I can put the name on here but if you need it, send me a message

Good luck with your searching and I'm not sorry that you have caught chickenitis - it gets us all in the end 

(To add a smiley face just click on the row of faces just above the text box. It will show as a series of characters and letters until you press post and then will convert to the smiley of your choice).

[cwmddu]

Thank you for this, I would love to know the breeder in Abergavenny, not sure how to send you a message.  Roughly how many eggs would I get from pure breeds ?  I would like to have 4 to 6 hens, I need to start rethinking about this.  I'm assuming that they will stop laying in the winter or when they go into moult.
As I said I really like the Barred Black Rocks, and I did see a beautiful Cochin on the weekend, do yo know of anyone in my area that has these ?

[Helenaj]

Thank you for this, I would love to know the breeder in Abergavenny, not sure how to send you a message.  Roughly how many eggs would I get from pure breeds ?  I would like to have 4 to 6 hens, I need to start rethinking about this.  I'm assuming that they will stop laying in the winter or when they go into moult.
As I said I really like the Barred Black Rocks, and I did see a beautiful Cochin on the weekend, do yo know of anyone in my area that has these ?

You say a Barred Black Rock? A Blackrock is a hybrid hen and although not as prolific a layer as a Warren, will still give you about 5-6 eggs a week. Hybrids are bred to lay through the winter and will only stop laying when they moult. All first year layers, hybrid or pure breed will also lay throughout the winter. Pure breeds after their first year will then stop laying altogether during winter months and usually start again the following February-March as the days get longer. You may find that a mix of hybrid/pure breed suits you better.

The poultry dealer I use is Penrhiwgarn Poultry - very good and birds of all breeds. I've never had any issues with disease from any birds that I have bought from there.

Whatever breeder you use always have a good look around - if they are not willing for you to do so, then avoid. If you spot any sickly looking birds, again avoid - you do not want to be introducing any disease into your flock because some diseases lay dormant in the ground or in the bird to re-emerge when you least expect it.

[cwmddu]

Thanks again, you have certainly given some very good information, I will contact the breeders that you mentioned and go and have a look, I have been to see two others. Again many thanks. I'm sure that I will be back on here very soon 

[Tenhens]

Hello from North Derbyshire and welcome to the forum.

We have kept hens for about 6 years, mainly ex battery - Warrens - I think, Mrs Tenhens interest and I just clean them out!!  From our experience we switched from shavings to a product called Raviera , a rape straw bedding product in 20kg bags. One of the reasons we changed is that Raviera composts down really well, especially with the addition of hen 'doings'.  Disposing of shavings was an issue and I tried composting it and gave it up as a bad job. I even tried burning it!!   We get the raviere from a equestrian supplier.

Regarding your search for a 'hen house' , if you manage to get a shed , get rid of the felt as the red mites love that environment. 

[danfinn1]

Hello
I started just over two years ago, went for an eglu as I did not want red mite issues. I had 3 Hybrids, all 18 - 20 weeks old POL, that gave us 3 eggs a day for about 12 months then one had troubles, soft shell, then no shell then she stopped. The other two layed almost every day. The sickly one Sandy then got health problems and died at almost 2 years 20 weeks. As the weather has warmed up I have only one laying now and the other Beryl is starting to behave like Sandy did before she died, lethargic, dozing a lot. One thing I have noticed since only having two is the lack of mess to clean up . If Beryl does depart then I shall get another blacktail to keep my star hen, Henrietta company, or I shall be moving into the hen house

Don't know what we would do with 6 eggs a day   Then there is the mess and garden damage , but we do love them to bits