Sheffield, UK

[4 ever Orpington]

Hi everyone,
This is a great resource. I'm in Sheffield, northern England and I have 3 silkies, all still about 5 weeks now. Unfortunately one of them (Alex) recently came down with wry neck but is making a good recovery (I'll probably share more on that soon).
I had chickens when I was a kid, I grew up in the countryside then in Cornwall and it was a great part of my childhood. I had a cockerel called Cocky Locky Tutu Bird of Birds and a lot of hens without names - they were all crossbreed bantams of various sorts.
Now I've got a stepson who is a city kid and I realised had no real concept of the reality of the meat which he loves to eat, I decided to educate him by getting some chickens. My other reason is I'm vegetarian and try to minimise the amount of animal products I eat so getting my own eggs from happy chickens would mean I can enjoy eating eggs. I don't feel great about eating shop bought, so called 'free-range' eggs, knowing what I know about farming and chickens.
I'm currently building a coop for them as an extension to our unused outside toilet block and once its done and the chickens are all settled in I plan to get more chickens - this time probably crossbreed birds. I'd really like to take on a couple of ex-battery birds if space allows. At the moment the two healthy chickens are living in the house with us and the dogs most of the time which is a bit mad. The dogs tolerate them but I don't leave them alone together. They like to roost on the back of the sofa in the evenings and wander about downstairs in the day (lucky we have hard floors). The other one is in a box in the bedroom cuddled up to a teddy.
Anyway, this is 'hello', I'd love to hear from anyone near Sheffield or in the north of England particularly. Thanks for reading my post. xx

 

[rjohns39]

Some of my ancestors originated in Sheffield. Still haven't figured out how they got to the states.

 

[adrikeen]

Welcome to BYC Helen_Jayne! Always great to have another fellow Silkie lover join! Can't wait to read more about your flock!

 

[Helen_Jayne]

Some of my ancestors originated in Sheffield. Still haven't figured out how they got to the states.

Possibly because of mining? I have lots of relatives in the states apparently because of my Cornish tin mining background. People went all over the world for mining - America, Australia, Chile, New Zealand. It could be the same as Sheffield is a big ex-mining area. The area I live in is called Pitsmoor, which says it all about how it was until the 1980s.

 

[Helen_Jayne]

Welcome to BYC!
We are glad you joined our flock!

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

Coop Ideas:
Chicken Coops
There are a couple of links in my signature that are worth the short read.
BYC has an APP

Thanks so much.

 

[Helen_Jayne]

Hi Helen,
I live in the suburbs, near Wythenshawe hospital, my rear garden has a 6 foot fence all round.
I did have a small coop at first but it was too small for my liking so I bought a shed, it was easy to convert, I just added a roost plus some nest boxes.
I changed the nest boxes to cardboard boxes from the supermarket, easy to replace if damaged lol.
The roost I got a 4x2 piece of wood, that seems to be the best size for a roost, but others do use different sizes.
My hens go in by themselves when it starts to go dark, then I close the door on them till morning.

Col.

Thanks.

 

[sourland]

Hello, and welcome to BYC. If you want egg production, you may want to add some other breeds to your flock. Silkies are great for 'pretty', but spend most of their time going broody and wanting to become mothers.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you could join us!