[Hotbunnycharlie]

Hiya all

I'm thinking about getting some hens to live in out back garden who will hopefully (eventually) lay eggs. I knew you can buy chickens at point of lay, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience of rearing them from hatchlings (or chicks)? I have a young child and I like the idea of him getting to understand how the process works, also I assume that if I got the chick from a very young age, they would be much more used to human contact? (though i honestly know very little about them) I know also that it's best to get 2-3 chicks, but at what point would they be able to live outside of the house on their own? And when they're adults can they deal with cold winters (such as the one we just had)?

Any advice wouold be greatly appreciated - even if you're just pointing me in the right direction or telling me i'm nuts. Just to be clear, I work from home and we have no other pets.

Charlie

[joyfull]

Hi and welcome, I would start out with point of lay - this way you will be sure of getting girls otherwise you could end up with cockerels. My birds have all survived this winter - they have their very own feather duvets all around them 

[Chuckiemum]

I no experience of chicks sorry !!! BUT thought I'd reply as we got POL for our backgarden last summer and they were tame very quickly.....my kids are 7 and 9 so maybe older than your child? but they love the girls and do everything for them
Also a POL is obviously bigger than a chick, and would actually be easier for your child to handle as you won't be worrying about the chick being held to tightly or cuddled to hard !!!
Good luck and hope you get some advice on chicks to help you make a decision !!!

[GrannieAnnie]

Chicks need to be kept under a heat lamp for 4-6 weeks depending on where they are kept and the time of year.  Too hot and they die, too cold and they die.  fluffy yellow chicks are lovely when you have children, but it is very upsetting if they do die on you, and like Joy says, you may get cockerels unless the chicks are of the auto sexing varieties.

I don't want to put you off, but best to get a bit of experience with keeping chickens first.  I've only been raising chicks for 2.5 years, but been a chicken keeper for nearly15 years now!

[Hotbunnycharlie]

Thanks for youor advice! I think starting with POL does seem to be the best way, maybe if im feeling brave in a few years i'll go onto chicks - i definitely don't want to start with a rooster, it could all go downhill very quickly!!

Thanks again!

[Fifitrix]

Hi

We got our first 3 POLs 2 years ago and fell in love with them complete.  We so enjoyed the experience that when a friend offered us the use of her incubator 4 months later we thought we'd go for it.  It's been an amazing experience.  Watching them hatch just took all our breath away.  I'd highly recommend it.

A year later we hatched more chicks from our own chickens.

HOWEVER, we have ended up with way more boys than girls and I have had to learn all about dispatching.  NOT an easy task.  So as mentioned before you need to have a strong heart and know what you will do with any boys.

Also 2nd time round the novelty did wear off slightly as keeping chicks involves plenty of clearing out as it is quite a long while before they can join the main coop.

But it's an amazing gift to give your child, the experience of watching a chick hatch, then holding that chick and apart from the fact that they like to poo on you, they do like having cuddles.