Chicken newbie!

[chickenmad129]

For a while I have been considering chickens, especially bantams as I don't have loads and loads of space and they are so cute!

I live in England so it gets cold to about -7c in the winter and was needing some help deciding on which bantam to buy that was reasonably hardy. I love silkies and pekins but would I have to put them in my large shed overnight? Please could you reccommend some breeds to me, bantam or small chicken. Thanks!

 

[gander007]

For a while I have been considering chickens, especially bantams as I don't have loads and loads of space and they are so cute!

I live in England so it gets cold to about -7c in the winter and was needing some help deciding on which bantam to buy that was reasonably hardy. I love silkies and pekins but would I have to put them in my large shed overnight? Please could you reccommend some breeds to me, bantam or small chicken. Thanks!

I had to look up -7c and that is not all that cold for a chicken at all as their core temp is something like 105 F or 42 c and when sitting on an egg the temp under the feathers is 102 F or 38 c the biggest object is keeping them out of the wind, breeze, or draft and the next is keeping them dry of course feed & water and a safe and secure coop .... I know if gets cold in England as I did spend several months in Southern England back in 1994 the end of January all of February and the first two weeks of March and yes I know that isn't much time but I have an idea of the area and the nice scenery on the mornings I woke up in my hotel room I would look out my Hotel room window and there was the London Bridge ,,,,, If your next question is how did I pay for that well It took me about three years to pay off the loan I used for the trip but it was worth it .............

Go ahead and ask me another question

gander007

 

[JerseyHen]

I live in New Jersey and it has been in the teens (F) most of the past few weeks and my chickens do just fine in it. I think the biggest problem with silkies will be if they get wet. Their feathers are not quite as good at insulating. All birds will require a shelter overnight. They need to be kept out of a drafty wind and a place to shelter from wet weather and a way to protect them from night predators (although I am not sure what you have in your area, we seem to have all of them where I live: coons, fox, fishers, mink, weasel, skunk, possum, bear, coyote, hawks, owls, eagles, you name it). I have several feather footed breeds and they do reasonably well in the winter here, despite those leg and foot feathers getting wet/muddy/icy. I keep a close watch on them though in case they get caked with ice and snow. I brush them off at night if they look like they need it (or trim them if they are getting bad).

All of the breeds you listed are fun. They have very different characteristics though. Perhaps you should have a variety until you decide which ones you like the best? I have about 40 now (about 10 different breeds) and I love them all.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello Welcome To BYC and Happy Holidays! As long as they have a dry, draft free coop and are healthy and in good shape, they should be fine in that temperature, we get to 0*F fairly often here and my silkies don't have a problem. Pekins/Cochins don't seem to have a problem with the cold at all, they are a little bit of a problem in the mud with their really feathered feet. Some other bantams I really like are d'Anvers or d'Uccles, Old English Game hens are adorable little things, Japanese and Sebrights are also nice, and for colored eggs Easter Egger or Ameraucana/Araucana (not sure what you have over there in bantam) are fun. Here are two fun websites, the Henderson chicken breed chart compares a lot of common breeds, and Feathersite with a lot of pictures http://feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/bantam.html

 

[roostersandhens]

 

[chickenmad129]

Thank you for all your relpys! I have a area of about 7m by 3m for the chickens, how many bantams could i fit in there? and do you recommend any coops for them? Out of the bantams i said which would be the best layer, best pet and best all rounder? (add your own suggestions please) Thanks

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC, and good luck in starting your flock.

 

[gander007]

Thank you for all your relpys! I have a area of about 7m by 3m for the chickens, how many bantams could i fit in there? and do you recommend any coops for them? Out of the bantams i said which would be the best layer, best pet and best all rounder? (add your own suggestions please) Thanks

My suggestion would be 5 hens max and 1 rooster if this is all the room you have

The Silkies are a nice breed as they will brood easily and good egg producers but I am
the kind of person who leans toward the EE's because of there easy going attitude and
good egg laying abilities and the different colors and I have kid's in the yard .......
but the EE's are not well known for going broody all that often but they will .........
You can always mix your flock for different reasons to give you what you want ,,,
like 3 EE's and two silky hens ............

Your needs or wants is where the real difference

I whizzed right past you poll box at the top of the page

gander007

 

[TwoCrows]

Hi Chickenmad,

and welcome to BYC!