How many more?

The hen house we've built is just under 3 foot square and 2.5feet high with external nest boxes. We already have our 3 delightful buff perkins but would like to have a few more birds. They have the use of a run 10 x 4.5 foot (about half under cover) and when we are in the garden they will be able to access that too.

So how many more birds could we have? and i haven't seen the egg size yet so would i be better getting some chickens rather than bantams. I buy med eggs from tesco so how will bantam eggs compare in size.

also i was thinking we could get some hatching eggs so the children could see the whole proceess but do people see this as a waste of time and effort preffering to buy pol birds or is this a really good idea.

Sorry if this is covering old ground but i didn't realise how happy we  would be with our birds.


Marianne

also i was thinking we could get some hatching eggs so the children could see the whole proceess but do people see this as a waste of time and effort preffering to buy pol birds or is this a really good idea.

Hi Marianne, you'll find lots of people round here luuurve hatching their own eggs (any minute now they'll be flooding into this thread   ) - I'm quite tempted by the idea but you do have to think about what you'll do with the hatchlings. You won't know for a while whether you've got girls (good for eggs) or boys (good for lots of noise and making more eggs, but not great for back garden keeping   ).  Great experience for kids, though, as long you all know what's going to happen to them in the end ...

The advice I was given on space was a minimum of 1 square foot indoors per bird and 3 square foot per bird in the run, with a bit more better; I currently have five large-ish hens in a house about the same size as yours and they have plenty of room, but I wouldn't want more than that wandering round in my back garden - my neighbours are very tolerant, given that we also have four dogs, and I don't want to push my luck  :?

The other thing to remember is that if you are introducing some new birds you may need to have a way of keeping them separate - but within sight & sound of each other - until they settle down.  I introduced two new girls a couple of weeks ago, and they were OK at night in the same house but I had to keep one of the 'older girls' in a separate run next to the main one for the best part of two weeks during the day, till she stopped bullying the newbies.  

Hope that helps!  

Quote from: "compostqueen"

Bantam eggs are very small.  I get medium eggs from my brown hybrids but had two whoppers since 3rd May when she began to lay, double yolkers.  I got brown hybrids as they're good layers which is what I was looking for  

Oh good you give me some more info, the breed i keep coming back to are Wyandottes but still not sure if to get the bantams ones. They are smaller so great for a garden but worry about the egg production.

Wyandottes are absolutely beautiful ... I had one as one of my first three birds, but I was quite surprised by how small her eggs were (she was a full size bird).  Then again, she died of a stroke ten days after we got her  :cry:  so she may not have been a good example.

My most reliable layer is a Warren (hybrid) - if I could break her egg eating habit  :evil: I'd have a nice large speckly egg almost every day.  My Welsummer (pure breed) lays lovely brown eggs, the brown can be rubbed off after they've laid so they tend to come out with patterns on from the nest box material     My Black Rock hybrid lays large white eggs, but is less reliable than the Welsummer, which surprises me; and I'm waiting for my newbies, a Bluebelle and an Amber (both hybrid) to lay for the first time  :?

Between the two non-egg-eating-and-currently-laying hens I've had around 15 eggs in ten days - though they've dropped off a little this last week  

How big is your garden?  Given the size of your run I wouldn't have thought you'd have any problem with normal size hens - the banties seem tiny to me  

As it is my birds stay mainly in the middle of the run where thay can look down the steps to the kitchen window.

That's so they can will you into bringing them all the nice treats they want ...

Some large fowl lay small eggs too particulary orpingtons. I thought welsummer and bantam dottes laid reasonable sized eggs. Bantam faverolles lay a good sized egg well mine do!
Also pullets lay quite small ones in their first year getting bigger their second laying season.

thanks foxy and i have been looking at faverolles but can't seem to find many pic's of them and not much info can you suggest in websites that have some decent info on them

thanks

Foxy I know i've prob said it before but they are mighty fine looking birds you have there