CuddleNest
Songster
Welcome!Hi all! I just joined and thought I'd come say hi
I'm from the Netherlands!
Were putting the final touches on our coop and run this week and are getting our first chickens soon! Starting with some bantams, if we get rescues, but eventually want to get some larger breed. We live out in the woods and despite our run being pretty well-sealed off, I worry a marten might get in and kill those tiny little bantams! Plus there's not a ton of meat on most of them, and we do intend to eat some of them in the future.
I had bantams to start and I thought they really were a bit too tiny to eat. But maybe if you butchered a few at a time (see @abpatchy posts from the last few weeks on butchering small/young birds). We got bantams thinking that if this whole chicken thing didnt work out, we could eat them. We asked for breeds that wouldn't be big flyers but had huge personalities and got a wyandotte and welsumer. Eventually they turned out to be lap chickens, almost even therapy chickens, ultimately making us just absolutely fall in love with chickens and need more and more! Couldn't eat them then... But, we then went for larger breeds at the next "round" of chicken buying. hehehe...The smaller bantam eggs are very tasty and sometimes we just add 2 if 1 is called for in a baking recipe. The kids think the soft boiled bantam eggs are perfect for them at breakfast. People love how cute the bantam eggs are, I can't really explain it. Anyway, this year, we hatched with the remaining bantam (we started with 2, one died of coccidiosis related anemia) and a normal sized rooster. Those chicks/assumed-pullets are currently now bigger than their mom! So, if you're considering a rooster and hatching, a normal sized rooster is possible.
About predators, I'm not sure where exactly you are in the Netherlands but we are around the Rhein and Sieg rivers. We have a few pesky Martens around who are currently wreaking havoc on our cars and flocks. But most people have their chickens in concrete barn enclosures and are safe. I have mine in Eglu coops at night that are in a larger enclosure. What kind of coop are you putting together? I got the great advice not to use staples when putting the fencing in but rather screws, as it is almost impossible for a critter to detach the fence from the wooden frame if it's screwed in. Please look into if you have any fox there. Just yesterday, I was talking to a local biologist who is doing EU species reintroduction programs in our area, bringing lots of formerly native birds back. If anyone would know about if my ducks can sleep outside at night, it would be him. But, before I could even ask him if he thought my beta-fence, netted in enclosure would be good enough for Martens, he said FOX. He says that his neighbor just lost 10 chickens in a single night from a fox. I dont know how they were housed but he said that especially due to the reduced hunting from corona times (though he claims they were still shooting fox a bit), there are several fox lurking around look for chicken feasts at night. We only saw one a year ago, and the dog swiftly scared it off. A German byc member from cologne but who currently lives in the US, told me that there was a fledgling raccoon population to the west of the Rhein between Bonn and Cologne. So please do check for fox and raccoons! I think that they might be craftier than Martens, though either way, once a predator is around, they are dangerous/deadly all the same!
they get raw chicken wings/necks/carcasses on the reg... They deserve it after a hard day's work of herding sheep! But no plans to eat them until we have "replacements" anyway, and that won't be until next spring at least. 
The boyfriend has his heart set on getting a silkie, as he always had 1 or 2 growing up, for hatching chicks. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a bunch of different breeds. There's simply too many beautiful chickens!
