[Alfie]

Hi,

I normaly live over the otherside of the fence on the 'Grow your own' bit, but i've decided to dig a tunnel and have a look over here ... the grass looked a bit greener 

I want some advice on chickens soooo here goes......

I want to keep 3 chickens in my back garden, got the house sorted, but I need some sound advice on the type of chickens.  These will be purely for eggs, not meat & must have a good temperament. I've looked at ex-bats, a friend of mine has 8 and a couple of Bantams, but sad as it sounds, I don't want all the possible baggage that could arrive with ex-bats. I know it's luck of the draw with ex-bats.

I've read loads on the web and I'm more confused than ever  :blink:


So .... what do the chicken guru's recommend 

[poppies]

Hi I have no exprience of ex batts so cant comment but if you want chickens just for eggs I would suggest hybrids , thats what we have they are really good layers, so friendly and seem very hardy,  we paid £8 each for ours and they are in their second year we are still getting 18-20 eggs a day from 20 hens - they had  a bit of a holiday over Dec.

[vichope74]

I got my first four chickens four weeks ago and they are amazing.  They are warrens (hybrids) they have ALL laid an egg every day since they arrived and they will eat out of my hand ergo  no probs getting them back into the run when I need to go away.  Also great with the kids - I would recommend them no end!!!!

[karlooben]

hi alfie   well done on deciding to get some chickens it wont be long before your totally addicted  . i have had my girls over a year an i got ex batts with out knowing a single thing about them and i had never even held a bird before .
yes u can have probs with them but to me its no more different to having any other breed if your going to get probs then you'll get them wether they are ex batts or not , i do have 4 white sussex girls and i have to admit they are very friendly love to be held an lay pretty much everyday . and being all white ppl adore them as they look so different .

[chooksbury]

I'm biased, I have 3 burford browns http://www.legbarsofbroadway.co.uk/  but would love a cuckoo maran, a bluebell and a barred plymouth rock.. Welcome to the madly addictive world of chicky keeping and don't worry bout asking questions.  Thats what the forum is about !

[batcatz]

Hiiiiiii,
I'm no chicken guru, but the hens I chose were a speckledy for the large speckled dark brown eggs, a silkie as they are soooo pretty and docile, she lays small white eggs, a columbian blacktail cos I wanted a brown hen.  She lays light brown eggs.  Finally, a lavender araucana for the colour and the blue eggs.  They are meant to be flighty, but mine isn't. 

All are very friendly.  The silkie is smallest and the lowest in the pecking order.

Next I would like an appelenzer.  :-) Chickens are very addictive.

[walker]

hi alfie
i too im from your neck of the woods im no guru or expert, having our chucks for less than a week in our back garden.we have two light sussex and two rhode island red although not all are laying at the moment the light sussex produce one egg a day. i think it is personnal choice of which breed you like.
if you want details of where we got our chucks from or want to see them pm me.

[hillfooter]

Hybrids for lots of eggs produced mostly in their first 2 years of laying (300+ in their first year for the better ones) falling off in later years and being fairly unproductive after 5years.  Think of them as equivalent to mongrel dogs.  They are generally less interesting than pure breeds but none the less they can be great characters and good pets.  Hybrids are bred to produce lots of eggs for minimum nutritional cost.  They are bred for commercial poultry farmers.  None the less there is still a great variety of colours available though they tend to be small to medium size.  Personally I'd steer clear of exbatts unless rehoming birds is your priority definitely don't go for them if cost is important, one trip to the vets can wipe out their initial low cost.

If you think your chicken keeping might progress into more of a hobby than just producing eggs then consider pure breeds which are more standarised than hybrids which are often breeder specific.  Think of pure breeds like pedigree breed dogs.  They come in many shapes and sizes and colours.  They are more bred for their attractive appearance or temperaments than egg production.  However there are many breeds which also lay plenty of eggs and a good strain can produce up to 250 a year in their first two years.  Some people claim pure breeds live longer and produce eggs over a longer period than hybrids.  Whether this is true to any extent I don't know but if you consider hybrids are bred to maximise production in their first two seasons it could well be.  Good pure breeds which produce lots of eggs as well as being well adapted to the British climate and free range keeping are Sussex both Light and Buff (tinted eggs), Rhode Island Reds(brown eggs), Marans (dark brown for a good strain), Leghorns (large white eggs).  Others I am familiar with which produce interesting coloured eggs but are in the second division on quantity are Barnevelders (dark brown eggs), Welsummers (very dark brown eggs), Cream Legbars (light blue eggs).  Everyone has their favourite and reasons for keeping them such as spectacular looks or novelty rareness.  As a beginner I'd stick to the more utility pure breeds and don't go for the more spectacular showing breeds.  My personal favourites from the above are Sussex who are well adapted to back garden free range and easy to keep but if you got any of the above you wouldn't go far wrong.
Happy keeping

[joyfull]

Hi,
I normaly live over the otherside of the fence on the 'Grow your own' bit, but i've decided to dig a tunnel and have a look over here ... the grass looked a bit greener 

That grass won't look greener for very long with chickens 
I started out with a blackrock and a bluebelle - both of which are very pretty girls and lay well (6 a week in their first 2 years and now down to 4 each). Then the bug got me and I now have 18 girls and 3 boys all of which I chose because they looked pretty on my lawn and for their egg colours - araucanas lay lovely blue eggs, marans dark brown, welsummer dark terracotta brown but matt, silkie crosses pointy and ivory coloured and the rest various shades of pale brown.
Hope this helps and good luck with your new venture 

[beulah59]

HF - that's useful info ... thanks 

[Rubellite]

HF - insomnia?   
Good post 

[Alfie]

Hi Everyone 

Thanks very much for your input.
We had a 'famliy chat' last night and the result is Warrens  ..... so far 

So .... looks like we will be on the great chicken hunt in the next few weeks .... quite exciting 

Oh, and thanks for the offer of a peek at your new girls walker, i've sent you a pm.

[compostqueen]

I got three Warrens for my B & B as I needed good egg layers. I chosed three different colours of brown, from blonde, ginger to reddy ginger so I could tell them apart  and they've been great.  All vaccinated when I got them.

Unfortunately one of those has been ill in the past few days but she is now two and has been no worry til now. Fortunately she seems over the worst

I've not regretted choosing the Warrens and they are lovely. Good sort to start with too as they're inexpensive to buy 

[fastmonkey85]

hi

i have had mine chickens for about 6 months. i have one light sussex and 3 hybrid browns. the browns lay a shed load of eggs for me although the light sussex only every once in a while at the mo.

have a look at the different breeds avaliable and make your choice depending on what you like the look of. It all comes down to personal prefrence.

hope it helps

alex

[Alfie]

Hi All,

I'm pleased to announce that we are now officially nuts and are the proud owners of 3 very vocal Black Rocks  

I finished the mods to the chicken house we bought, to give the girls a sensible bit of room when we are out and picked up the 'kids' yesterday  

They seem to be settling in ok and are feeding fine.