Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: kev1986 on January 20, 2011, 18:44
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well like it says really lol we are looking at getting a few more hens to go with my white leg horn and ex batt , but want something that a good layer
many thanks
kev and shalona
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Hybrids are little egg machines and will lay their little hearts out.
I advise Amber Stars as I love them. They are pretty, are all different, lay beautiful brown eggs and are delightfully dippy. My girls have basically laid almost every day since they started in the summer.They are soppy great sweeties and their little personalities shine out really quickly. They are also very friendly, but will sell their feathery souls for mealworms. Nothing new, there then.
However, there is a great range of hybrids so have a good look, have fun and fall in love.
Good luck!
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thankyou the white leg horn i have started laying 3 weeks ago and has laid every day but she is quite flighty , but the white eggs are a nice change i was goin to get soem ex free range but they only going to be good for a year or so
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I have six girls all different and mix very well , they also lay different eggs so that way i can see who is and who isnt and check on who isnt to see if they are ok.
so blue eggs to dark brown looks great in the kitchen egg basket. :tongue2:
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I have Ross Lohmanns. These are hybrids and were originaly bred for batterys. Mine are very friendly and chirpy and they have laid all through the winter. ps I got them at point of lay and they all started to lay by the time they were 20 weeks.
I hope this helps
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Get any hybrid if it's eggs your want and as you don't seem to have been too fussy with selecting breeds to date I wouldn't have thought you would want to be too choosy.
Ideally I wouldn't want to introduce just a single bird as it will be badly picked on so two is a minimum and then you need to do it gradually. Ensure you have the room for them in the run and house. Also I'd normally say quarentine for 3 weeks but as you have just two birds I wouldn't bother too much.
HF
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Hillfooter
'Get any hybrid if it's eggs your want and as you don't seem to have been too fussy with selecting breeds to date I wouldn't have thought you would want to be too choosy. '
Ouch i think thats a bit harsh!
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Hillfooter
'Get any hybrid if it's eggs your want and as you don't seem to have been too fussy with selecting breeds to date I wouldn't have thought you would want to be too choosy. '
Ouch i think thats a bit harsh!
Not at all as I would have thought from a laying perspective, which is all kev has specified as being of interest, any hybrid would meet the bill really. So what's the point of suggesting this or that hybrid on the basis of their temperament or looks just because they happen to be the ones you own?
Clearly there's no theme running through the birds kev owns to date so what I said was perfectly sensible not harsh. Why bother going out in search of specific types like Bovan Goldlines or Amber Stars or Sussex Stars when any hybrid layer, will do what kev wants ie lay lots of eggs for a reasonable period.
HF
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Because that is what he is after and opinion on their temperment etc. Just because people want a bird that lays a higher number of eggs they still want to know 'who' they maybe getting. And of course people like to have birds they like the look of. (although i have a araucana that we nick name ugly bird lol).
Anyway
I have an araucana, sussex x RIR and a Bluebell. So far the Bluebell and the most personallity she moaned at me today that i didnt give them any mealworms lol, she lays most days and will eat out of my hand and we've only had them about 2 weeks.
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both my bluebelle and my blackrocks laid 5 eggs each a week for the first 2 years and now lay about 3. The best layers for their first couple of years were my amberlinks 7 eggs every week for a couple of years.
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Sorry Hillfooter but what is wrong with my ross's. I did not know they were broilers and what is a broiler.
Most of the free range farms round here use ross's. I just wondered?
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Sorry Hillfooter but what is wrong with my ross's. I did not know they were broilers and what is a broiler.
Most of the free range farms round here use ross's. I just wondered?
Oooops sorry Rachel my mistake, I misread your post and thought you were advising meat birds. A Broiler is a meat bird not an egg layer. Ross Lohman's are prolific layers.
Must have been having a senior moment! :D
HF
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I believe Ross cobbs are generally meat birds. Broiling means to cook.
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Ok panic over I thought I might have to put them in the pot and start again lol
Never they are soooooooo cute and friendly and as a beginer bird fancier they were cheap about £4
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Ok panic over I thought I might have to put them in the pot and start again lol
Never they are soooooooo cute and friendly and as a beginer bird fancier they were cheap about £4
Hope I didn't rob you of your chicken supper then. When I see Ross I always associate them with Cobbs which are common meat birds.
£4 to you so just think what a poultry farmer must pay. As commercial birds are produced in huge numbers they are very cheap to buy but I'm surprised you can buy them in small numbers unless you got them from a friendly grower or poultry farmer.
HF
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There is a farm who does free range these birds in vast numbers and they also have a little farm shop. They sell all the well know posh brands but at the time I could not afford them so got my little pack.
They do not sell to battery farms
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I am a big fan of the Blackrocks, good layers as required by yourself but also have a very good immune system and are very hardy and they look good.
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we have a local supplier near Boston who sells them for £4+ and you can have as many or few as you want, they are all bred for the commercial market and come with their beak clipped :(. I don't understand how they can sell them that cheap when you consider they have been fed for those 16/17 weeks.