Backyard chickens anyone???

In my garden I have four runs (2 arks 2 converted avaiarys))

I keep 6 chickens which consist of 2poland hens, 1 brahma and 3 hybrids their great! I love them to bits it only takes me 20 minutes to sort them all out in the morning even less sometimes their care is pretty basic all you need to ensure is that their runs are fully secure (if their not Fantastic Mr fox gets them!), their coops are kept clean and dry and fresh food and water is all ways available. Poultry keeping can be addictive so be prepaired to get some more once you have had yours a while. Runs and arks can be really expensive but all ways go with quality over cheap! Qaulity which will be more expensive but will stand in all weathers for all time.


Chickens have super personalities and their smart too (some are smart) They are very interactive especially the little Poland hens they love people especially if it means a cuddle though larger hens tend to be more inedependent. If your after eggs go with hybrids any modern hybrid will be a good reliable layer of an egg a day and chickens have a life expentency of around 5 years but can live longer then that ^^

Its a hobby that i loved doing for almost 1o years my advice is keep your flocks in small numbers, dont get a cockeral and try not to introduce new hens as it can cause distress to established flocks. Their are as many purebreed chickens out their are their are breeds dogs and many modern hybrids bred for their ability to lay twice as many eggs as purebreeds!!

I started off with 4 chickens a few years ago.... now got 30+ birds (including ducks!)

We've got a mix of hybrids and purebreeds, plus several cockerels...

We hatched our first babies last year (Barnevelders if you're interested) and this year hope to get a small flock of Vorwerks as well

30+?? Wow!!


Barnvelders are lovely though never had any of those myself I saw some when I went to Barling Poultry and got my latest hybrids! ((Light Sussex and an Amberlink)) One is black with silver head feathers the other is pure white with black neck feathers my mum nicknames the ying and yang
-,-

My amberlink kind of picked us when went to the field where the roamed she came straight up to us and investigated us so we had to take her home with us!

I love my cockerel and certainly wouldn't want to be without him We have three marans, two cream legbar and two brown farmyard type hens (can't think of their names just now lol)

I am hoping to get some hatching eggs in the next few weeks too.

Here is a pic of (some) of my small brood ...









I agree with you, that hen keeping is lots of fun And the eggs are delicious too!

your chooks look fab!! I wish I could keep a cockeral but I live in an urban area thats heavily populated with houses closes by a cockeral would not be welcome!!

Though I know lots of people who keep cockerals in their back garden and use cockeral box's which im against I don't agree with confining a cockeral to a dark corner till an acceptable hour to let him out.


I guess if I could keep a cockeral I would have a Brahma which ive heard are great!! I keep 1 Brahma hen named Sonia she is the queen of the garden being the biggest and is garden friendly she doesn't like going in flowerbleds and getting her feet dirty ^__^

Once had a Maran cockeral by accident who had to go back I nicknamed him Mc'claren!

We've currently got 7 cockerels on site....

4 Welsummers, a Cream Legbar, a Barnevelder and a Heinz57!

We are moving on at least one of the Welsummers and the Cream Legbar this year, as I've got a Vorwerk boy coming this month....

I've got 5 hens-although the other white hen is off camera.


They make quirky pets,have individual personalitys and lay delicious eggs-what more could you want?

I'm another poultry fan and have 40+ Chickens, 4 x Ducks and 2 x turkey's, some are what we have hatched and some are what i have taken on from people around here who have got fed up with keeping them, { an elderly lady died up the road from me and we took on her lot too!!!}

I have purebreds and mixed i like the Poland's and have two of them who are always broody

This is my Bloomers my cockerel he is a Brahma



And Dolly with her last brood {2010}



Here my little black hen took on a orphaned duck last summer he has stayed



This is Kelly and Penny {Norfolk black turkey's}



and this is Jemima and Daffy , with little Tyson in the background he is a sliver laced sebright



and this Mallard brought up her family this year on our garden pond, she moves in every spring {i think it's the same one} lays her eggs and brings up the family in the safety of our garden {but she still loses some of them }



it's a great hobby

Your black hen looks just like my Esta ^__^

She's a greedy thing who struts around the garden like a cock bird and would take food out of my dogs mouth given ther chance.The small white hen named 'Nervous Nerys' is the boss of them all despite being tiny,but she has a Napoleonic complex.