Which Hen ???? Help Please

Hi all,

Im looking to buy my first two hens this weekend.
They will be allowed to free range during the day.
My question is what type as theres many I like the look off.
A localish hen breeder as suggested I go for  French Marans.
Though their eggs by the looks of things are particulary dark, would this not make them a particulary rich egg?
Any road suggestions and comments welcome
thanks

Hello Houndsman  

I can't advise you on which hens to keep, as ours all walk upside down on this side of the world.

However I can say that the colour of an egg's shell does not affect the nutritional value of its contents.  Whether eggs are white, cream, light or dark brown or blue (!) the 'richness' of the contents is not influenced by shell colour.

The hen's diet does determine how nutritious an egg is, so well-kept backyard hens with plenty of greenery in their diet will produce lovely, healthy eggs for you and your family.

By the way it might help if you add your location into your profile.  That way people can advise you on local breeders etc

Welcome to the mad mad world of chicken keeping Houndsman!

Don't believe a word Lindeggs tells you it comes of being on her head all of the time and drinking apple cider vinegar.  I bought my first Lindt Easter egg today and the lady in Tescos definitely told me the dark chocolate ones were richer so why shouldn't that apply to Marans?

However French Marans are great if you can find a good strain but there's lots of poor ones around which lay a tinted egg which are nothing like a real French Marans egg.  Your choice is between a pure breed chicken such as a Marans or a Hybrid layer such as a Warren or Amberlink.  Below is a cut and paste of some previous post of mine which gives a bit more detail to base your decision on.

"If you are trying to choose it all depends on what you want from your chx.  The fact you are asking this question suggests you are asking about layer chickens and not Broilers so I will assume that.

If you want lots of eggs and some interesting pets and aren't interested in the social side of chicken keeping choose hybrids.  They lay lots of eggs particularly in their first 2 seasons and make good pets too.  However if you want to keep chx as more of a hobby or want spectacular looking birds, or bantams, or want to breed birds, or engage in the social side of breed clubs, or get into showing etc then choose Pure Breeds.
  
It's like the difference between mongrels and pedegree dogs really.  Most people start with hybrids because they want eggs and hybrids are readily available from garden centres and breeders.   Once they get to know a little more they want to get more into the hobby angle and want specific Pure Breeds.

Hybrids are created at each generation from breeder stock to have prolific laying qualities though these days looks and egg colour are also bred for.  However hybrids aren't standardised and don't breed to type and many small breeders have their own specific types which can't be replicated across breeders.  You ONLY get hen birds as cocks are useless being no use for breeding from and no use for the table either so are culled early as soon as sexed.   Pure breeds are standarised and breed true to type.  Both cocks and hens are bred as adult birds.  The type standards are set by the Poultry Club of GB.  Pure breeds can be layers, utility or purely showing breeds.  Utility are useful for laying or the table, layers for eggs like hybrids but not so prolific and usually lay for a few more seasons than hybrids.  Show breeds are purely for fanciers for looks, breeding and showing alone.  Most pure breeds have a bantam version which are useful if space is an issue.  They can be good layers but frequently they are show birds only.  Although I believe there are bantam hybrids I can't personally understand the rationale for these as they will only produce small eggs and are no use for showing or the table.

So there you are in a nutshell.  It's horses for courses and it's what you want them for. There's no best buy option!"

HF

PS If you include your location in the UK I'm sure Lindeggs will be able to advise you on where to find breeders though oddly she can't even find chicken supplies in NZ.  And another thing she keeps me awake by always posting at night.  It's a funny old world

HF I agree - you should be asleep when I post!  It's the only way I can get the jump on the rest of you and be the first to welcome new members like Houndsman.   

Not only can I not find poultry supplies here, but we don't even have the Marans breed in NZ.    Nor can we get beauties like your Vorwerks, we don't have Forsham coops (or Eglus for that matter) and I can't find anyone who sells Flubenvet.  I think the rest of you just talk about these wonderful things to taunt me. 

Excuse me, I'm off to cry myself to sleep in my upside-down bed. 

Hi Guys,

Thankyou for very much on your replies to my post.
Great to be welcomed first time by Lindeggs Im sure we will chat again soon, HF I probably still go for a French Moran (but how would I know how to avoid a poor strain) and maybe a Hybrid or even a RIR seeing as they lay lots of eggs as mentioned by Frizzlemad - so I guess it dosent matter if I had 2 of different sorts?
HF you mentioned about a link to your previous relevant posts - buy i dont spy it Im afraid or am my not looking properly  :blink: 
I have another typical newbie question - flight , how high and far can they fly? I assumed they couldnt make it over my 6 foot fence but am I to be corrected here and should I ask the breeder / seller to clip their wings?
Thats all for now
Cheers all

Lindeggs - can you get hold of Flubenol see here:-

http://www.drugs.com/international/flubenol.html

Thanks Joyfull   I've certainly heard that it's available here but haven't been able to find anyone who stocks it.  My vet recommended Moxidectin so I'm giving that a go today - I couldn't make the poor girls wait any longer to be wormed.