[brookieme]

Hi everyone.
I have just found this site and registered today.
Looks pretty good for all your chicken chatter.
I am just finishing painting our first coop and hubby is going to put it all together. We live in Southern France and wondered if there was any others in our area on here who can advise on types of  good laying chickens around here.
Thank you

[Fairy Plotmother]

Can't help you with chooks I'm afraid, but I can give you a big welcome to the site.  I'm sure someone who knows about chickens will be along soon. 

[brookieme]

Someone says Marons are good but where do I get them from?

[Casey76]

Hi Brookieme, I'm in Alsace, so a little away from you, but I might be able to throw some ideas around

For POL layers (production reds and blacks - these are the same types of hens which commercial farmers use) I get these from a local farmers market, they were about 15€ each (the supplier also had ducks, geese and pintades too)

Also, I've been able to order specific production layers and meat birds from my agri centre (for me this is Trefle Vert, but I think Point Vert also do a similar thing, if you have one near by).  I've been able to order chicks and also POL hens, both production reds, blacks, greys and occasionally leghorns.

If you want specific breeds - and Marans hens are both good layers and good meat birds, it is often difficult to find "pet quality" pure breeds outside of breed shows, and for pure breeds most people I think raise them from chicks.

If you really want pure breeds, www.fermedubeaumont.fr will deliver live birds across France, but I've never used this service, so I don't know what their stock is like.

What ever you do, don't get sucked into buying stock from a garden centre (my nearest Truffaut has several breeds, but they range in proce from 40-70€ for ONE bird  )

Of course you could always go to a Foire d'Avicole, in which they often have both eggs, chicks and breeding age birds for sale - again you ahve to be careful with stock selection, and if they are prize winners, they will be much more expensive than "farmyard stock"

So in summary, first try your local market, for production hens, and before you know it you may be hooked and want to start with purebreeds and hatching your own

[brookieme]

Hi Casey 76,
Thank you so much for all your info. I shall certainly look into all you have said.
The coop is all finished now but we do need to strengthen the run before we can think about chickens.
looking forward to the new venture though and will put posts on to let you know how I am getting on.
Thanks again
 

[tosca100]

If you are on facebook look for some ex-pat poultry groups, you might find something useful. But we went on to various Bulgarian ebay type sites, with google translate, to find pure eggs and there are pullets available. But as Casey says, a lot are throw outs from show breeders and expensive (though not as expensive as France!)

We have had ex-commercial hens from the market and they are very cheap here, a couple of quid, but can be hit and miss as to whether they lay well, but at least they have a good life for the time we have them. The good thing about them is that they have had vaccinations and been wormed. Mainly we hatch pure breds for interest, but it's a looong time before you get eggs and you have the problem of cockerels, which so far we have sold easily.

Our first hens came from someone on an ex-pat forum, but they were 'back yard' chickens, an odd mix. We had advertised for point of lay and were given some which took ages to lay and three of the five have died in the last nine months.