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[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi there @FelixFelicis Do you like Harry Potter by any chance with the username? I was just going to ask where are from but you answered here LOL
I'm down in East Yorkshire near Goole. Depends what you want the chickens for as to what breed you get. Good egg layers or a fancy breed? I started off my chicken journey with warrens. Great egg layers and excellent gardeners because they were so good at weeding the borders. No plants left on the down side though. My top tip would be make your coop predator proof and that you lock them in every night. Foxes are my worst Predator down here losing them to one is an awful experience.

 

[FelixFelicis]

Hi Yorkshirecoop, yeah it's a bit of an obsession if I'm honest

, I'm guessing you do too by the quotes? Good taste!

I'm after chickens which are docile, kid-friendly, decent enough egg layers (we don't actually buy eggs very often, so even a couple a week would be a bonus) and pretty. I like the look of Orpingtons, Brahmas and Wyandottes at the moment, although I tend to change my mind quite often! The biggest bird I have ever cared for was a budgie though and being 5' tall and 100lbs the idea of having birds as big as Brahmas does make me nervous, but I'm sure I'll manage I live in a tiny village bordering a woods and a lot of farm land and yet I've never seen a fox! I'm sure they'll be about though in an area like this so I won't be taking any chances.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Yes I love Harry Potter!! Books and films. Who would have thought Snape was a good guy really! I would reccomend the orpingtons out of your choices. Have had one before but he turned out to be a cockerel and the dog did just not like him. Friendly with us though. Found him a home down the road with a lovely couple we know for their hens. He has turned out to be a great bird very gentle docile and friendly. We live in a village too with a wood near us and that's where the fox came from and took my birds. I learnt my lesson big time with that. I can hear them on a night calling, there are a lot round us. Good luck with your new chickens. When you have made up your mind LOL

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Yorkshirecoop

Apologies for not replying to your previous post before now. Don't know how I missed it! All good here. I put my two Marek's girls out in the stack yard this afternoon to get some sun and fresh air and munch on some sticky jack shoots. Both of them managed to make their way back across the yard and into the hen house whilst my sister and my sister and I were out riding and were waiting the rest of the flock when I got back for their evening mixed corn treat. The more paralysed of the two was nest bound a couple of weeks ago but in the past few days she has been standing more each day and getting out of the nest and moving about in the sick bay/brooder. She is still pretty clumsy compared to the other one who is a very agile hopper, but she is putting her foot to the ground and walking with the help of a wing every now and then so I'm absolutely delighted with that progress.

I processed the first of my cockerels last week and tried to roast it slowly, but it was tough so it went in the slow cooker and came out beautiful. I was anxious that I wouldn't like the flavour as I had been told that it was different, but it really wasn't significantly stronger than store bought chicken.... I was worried it might be gamey. Anyway, I was very proud of myself for carrying out the whole process on my own without any help. The killing part was definitely the hardest... by a long chalk. Just 11 more to go!!!!

My older girls are coming back into lay again now and most of the younger ones are laying so I'm getting 12-15 eggs a day..... I just have to hunt to find them all. I think they have developed another secret nest somewhere today as I didn't get any Marans eggs. The Welsummer left me one though so at least I had one dark brown egg to go with my pink, white, blue and green ones.

How are your breeding pens working out. Is your silver laced boy happy now? Have you had any more hatches since your last post. I'm still waiting for a broody to get the itch and my RIR to come back into lay although sods law she will have been mated by the welliie/leghorn roo instead of Harry the legbar, when I want that particular cross. I like the fact that they are free range and don't want to mess with the dynamics of the flock by setting up breeding pens but I guess I could pen the other roo up for a few weeks once Henrietta starts laying..... thinking about it I don't think I have seen either of them mate Henrietta.... she is possibly top hen now I think.... in a large mixed flock it's difficult to keep track of the pecking order! Her daughter is certainly a high climber in that respect.


Hi FelixFelicis and welcome

I would recommend to include a couple of black sex links in your small set up. I had a couple of black rocks which I loved (but were sadly taken by a fox) and my neighbour has a black star, Molly, who is now 8yrs old and still laying an egg or two a week. She is his favourite. I don't have any experience of Orpingtons or Wyandottes but the laced ones are pretty birds and I believe they lay well..... or what about getting some polish like Yorkshirecoop breeds.

As regards predators I have lost more chickens to domestic dogs this time around but last time it was a fox and it was coming through the day to get them. (I had them locked away at night). The chickens were so used to free ranging when I got them that they could not cope with being penned up, but in the end the fox picked them all off one by one. So far this time I don't think I have had a fox attack, but there is a shooting syndicate near by and they go out at night with rifles and night sights to shoot the foxes to protect their game birds, so I guess I am benefitting from that at the moment.

Anyway, good luck with your run and coop and finding birds you like, but beware chicken keeping is very addictive and inevitably you want more once you get your first few!

 

[katiepoole]

Hi
Just checking in. I'm based down in Gloucestershire. I'm without chickens at the moment, but am hoping to hatch my first batch of chicks in the near future. I have previously owned a rather mixed bag of Plymouth Rock/Orp cross, bantam Partridge Wyandotte, 2 bantam Orps, and a lavender Pekin. I miss them all at the moment so am really looking forward to getting the incubation under way!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Katiepoole and welcome.

Good luck with your hatch when you get started. What breeds are you planning on?

I bid on a trio of Lavender Pekins at a charity auction when I was getting started last year but sadly they went too high for my limited funds. They were absolutely gorgeous though!

This is my second time around with poultry (My previous flock was slowly picked off by a fox) You don't realise how much you missed having them and how enjoyable and addictive it is until you get started again. It was about 14 years ago for me, so hopefully the fox responsible is long gone!

Anyway, just wanted to say hello and wish you well with your new venture.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi Barbara!
It's me who is late this time How are things going? Good I hope. All go here at the moment got the brooder shed up and it's being well used. Got the incubator on again for the third time with 20 eggs in all developing well. Have got 18 polish in and i am trying a couple of my Amber links eggs in too. She is in with the silver lace roo as I had to rehome my other Amber as she was a pain in the you know what. She is at the farm where I keep the horse with their mixed flock. Much happier there too and I still get to see her everyday which is a plus.
Still got some chcks for sale. Hoping as the weather picks up they start selling a bit better.
Hope your marek girls are ok? Any better? And how you do your own cockerels I don't know. I just don't think I could bring myself to do it. Even my other half can't and he is a shooting man. But sees them as part of the family weird isn't it! Thankfully I have a friend who will do it for me. I know that's chickening out (excuse the pun) but I cant. Well done to you for getting through it. Any one broody yet? Bet you can't wait for some chicks. With having polish I don't get broodies but it would be nice if one did decide to raise her own. You never know though they might. Would be lovely to see some out with Mum in the flock.

Speak to you soon

 

[rebrascora]

Hi YC

Good to hear that your brooder coop is finished and occupied. Good luck with your hatch. When did you set them? Polishxamber link should be interesting... I love barnyard mutts! At last I have a broody sitting but unfortunately before my RIR came back into lay. I hung on 10 days or so but didn't think it was fair to let her go any longer so I ended up giving her some Marans eggs that with luck will make olive eggers with the CCL cockerel (can't be certain though as I have another cockerel running with the flock whose origins are dubious.... was supposed to be a welsummer but looks more like a brown leghorn, but then it's his gorgeous looks that are saving him from the pot. His plumage makes the wellsummer lads look quite dull! Anyway, she has been sitting on them for 6 days now. She has 3 Marans, 3 blue eggs from a hen that (like the cockerel) was supposed to a welsummer and looks like one apart from her floppy comb and white ear lobes (some kind of legbar cross I'm guessing) and an olive egg from my favourite pullet who is a CCLxRIR which I'm hoping has been crossed back to her father (again it will be either him or the hansome rogue) So basically all farmyard mutts but from birds that I particularly like and produce well and lay pretty eggs. What I nearly forgot to say is that the day before yesterday Henrietta (my RIR) decided she would at last come back into lay.... just 4 days too late for my broody clutch..... typical!!!

One of my Marek's girls has relapsed a bit in the past couple of days and egg laying in the sick bay has stopped. On a happier note, the other one that hops is gaining confidence and on a couple of occasions recently when I have let her out, she has gone up onto the roost instead of hiding in a nest box. She jumped out of sick bay twice tonight whilst I was replacing food and water in there and she seemed very keen to go and roost with the others but I'm concerned that she will get picked on in the morning before I let them out so I'm keeping her in the safety of sick bay for now. Also, she has injured her poorly leg that she keeps up, so I don't want that getting dirty free ranging with the others until it is healed.

I think that is all my news for the moment as regards poultry. I've been spreading manure on my field today.... by hand. Fork into barrow, wheel across field, tip into piles and then use a shavings fork to fling it as evenly as possible onto land..... I am not looking forward to getting out of bed tomorrow morning but the job is only a 1/3 done and I have a local gardener harassing me by text for a delivery of manure tomorrow, so it will be a kill or cure day tomorrow for my aching muscles and joints!

Must go now as I have evening stables still to do..Not found the time or psyched myself up to process any more cockerels yet but I really must make some progress with that soon.

Look forward to hearing progress of your incubation and perhaps comparing with mine. I have a sneaky feeling some of my eggs will not be fertile this time but we will see.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Dorothy Bertha]

Helloooo

Me and my flock herd and family are from the east coast Yorkshire

Rather Windy here

 

[UK noob]

*waves from Bristol*

I'm new to all things chicken, having only had my girls for about a week and a half. I can't have them at home, so next best thing is to keep them on my allotment I have 5 ladies.

Good to see I'm not the only Brit here