[peggyprice]

sorry getting off my soap box now

Think we can probably all fit on the same soap box here     Trouble is, we're preaching to the converted ... :?

[Aunt Sally]

I have wanted to keep chickens for many years, my father kept them when I was young (yes I know, over 300 years ago   ).  But having a very small garden I considered it out of the question.  

But when I discovered the eglu the world of chickens was opened to me. But I made sure that I knew what I was doing.  I bought a few good chicken keeping books, did quite a bit of Internet research and got to know many like minded chickeny people, and made sure I knew where the vets who would treat chickens were.

Omlet have approached it in a very responsible way in my opinion.  It's a business, of cause, but they do have the welfare of the chickens high on the priority list.  All the birds they supply have been fully vaccinated for about 12 conditions and from a good breeder, they are taken to Omlet HQ and are kept there before dispatch, where health checks are carried out including dung worm counts.  They will not sell birds to anyone who is over a 2 hour drive from them.  

They have a very active support and social forum and you can always get to speak to people on the phone who can offer advice, their employees all tend to be chicken nuts too  :roll:

If they are supplying birds with the eglu the will set the eglu up and give you a quick lesson on handling, feeding and wing clipping.  They run a system for prospective purchasers of "Visit an Eglu" where existing eglu owners will show their eglu and chooks to anyone and give them a demo of how it all works, and have a natter all about chooks, good bits, bad bit, tea and cake too     I've done several of these visits and I enjoy them immensely.

Omlet also run chicken keeping courses (for a modest fee) with the aid of experienced eglu owners in their own gardens.

This may sound a bit like an advert for Omlet, but I have no link with the company other than being a very satisfied eglu owner.  How much more responsible could any company be  :?:

I know we would not expect all chicken suppliers or coop manufactureres to give such a complete service, but attention to health care before sale should be essential  :!:

[peggyprice]

I agree entirely with everything you say, Aunty - although I didn't buy an Eglu in the end (mainly 'cause I couldn't justify the expense, though if I ever have a 'proper' garden I probably will treat it as part of the landscaping cost   ) I used the Omlet site a lot when I started thinking about keeping chickens and still do fairly regularly for bits of info.

And as a PR consultant I have huge respect for their marketing skills - not least their ability to transform customers into passionate advocates of their services (good on you, Aunty   )

But - in a good way - Omlet have almost single handedly transformed the view of chicken keeping from being something one does in the country on a farm to being something one does in one's back garden (good   ) and on the back of that lots of people who have never had any experience of animals have gone into keeping a couple of chooks (also good   ), and a proportion of those people will have done it without really thinking it through, doing the research, learning about the creatures they are taking on, and done it entirely on a 'ooh, those would look pretty in my garden' basis (not good     ).

This is a market that is currently growing (also good , probably   ) but as with any growing market there are downsides:
- stock will be sourced and sold by people wanting to make a quick buck - including those who will come by their stock dishonestly
- more people will buy into the market on impulse
- many of those people will quickly decide they're not really that bothered and discard what they've bought in favour of the next fad

All of which happens all the time with (for example) electrical goods (think Playstation, mobile phones etc etc) but also, sadly, happens with live creatures (think whichever pedigree puppy happens to be in fashion this month).

There's one question that doesn't get asked when you're buying your first chickens - and I don't think even the Omlet website has the courage to say it - which is:  what are you going to do when your hens stop laying eggs?  Are you going to keep them on as pets and go back to buying your eggs from a supermarket, or are you going to kill them so you can replace them?

Perhaps if every responsible breeder asked that of their 'garden chicken' customers it would focus people's minds a bit more.  And no, I don't know the answer to the question myself yet - and I know it's something I will have to resolve in my own mind 'cause I've got the girls now and there ain't no way out  

[VM]

Interesting to read this as I have been musing about what we will do as hens (which we don't yet have) get older and stop laying.

Partner puts on a good show of being practical and tough about this as if he was like people I've met who buy new pullets each year and kill off the previous year's lot - but I don't think in practice he is going to be very good at killing chickens - and we have a good(or bad) track record of keeping dogs limping on for years. Dogs are obviously a different order of pet, but still...

On the other hand, these hens will be living in a run on our allotment plot, so we can't keep an ever-expanding flock as the older ones stop laying. They'll be in competition with the potatoes and brassicas for usefulness!

Partly for this reason that I'd like a mix of hybrids and pure breeds as my impression is that the latter lay for a bit longer although produce fewer eggs at first.

Anyway, don't have to worry about it just yet - I'll watch this space to see what others do.

[peggyprice]

Partner puts on a good show of being practical and tough about this as if he was like people I've met who buy new pullets each year and kill off the previous year's lot - but I don't think in practice he is going to be very good at killing chickens

OH was determined we would only have chickens if we were going to kill them for meat later on.

He now feels guilty just eating an egg sandwich out in the garden ...