What breed of chicken

[steve1967]

Hi all,

Melbourne asked me on another post what breed of chicken I intended to keep. I had given it some thought and was leaning towards a hybrid as they are good layers I believe.

So I thought I would ask your opinion on which breed to get. I am looking for a good layer and not a breed that could be more difficult to keep as this is a new challenge for me.

Thanks

Steve

[steve1967]

[RenishawPhil]

I would recommend

Plymouth blackrock, speckaldy. Light Sussex. Warrens

We have kept all of those and the blackrock is our first and fav girl

Sussex crosses are very friendly

[Melbourne12]

My daughter keeps Light Sussex, and they're very nice.  We keep Ixworths, but they're for meat as well as eggs.  If it's maximum eggs per bag of feed that you're after, then the hybrids are the obvious choice, but remember that egg production falls in year 3 onwards. It's a good idea to plan what you're going to do with the older ladies.  It seems a bit ungrateful simply to cull them!

[steve1967]

Thanks guys. I am looking for a reasonable amount of eggs for a family of 4. I wouldnt want to have to cull hens just because they have slowed on there laying. Do the breeds you have mentioned lay for longer? Do you eat the ones that you have for meat once they get a bit older ie less egg laying.

[Melbourne12]

So-called "rare breeds" don't lay as many, but tend to go on laying for longer.

If you keep "utility" birds (both eggs and meat), then the sensible thing to do is to cull the excess cockerels as they mature and start to fight, and any females that are surplus to egg-laying requirements.  It's a lot of messing about to pluck them and draw them, and ideally you should go on a training course to teach you how to kill them humanely.  Young birds are tender enough to be roasted, and have a fantastic taste.  If you cull an older bird, then it will be more appropriate for coq au vin, but it'll still taste wonderful compared with supermarket unhappy chicken.

If you don't breed from your own flock (which requires a noisy cockerel) then you need to plan how you're going to retire your hens.  One of our friends, who has a large number of assorted chooks, buys or breeds a few each year.  He rarely kills any, and hens which have reached retirement age are allowed to live out their days in peace.

Another nice idea is to re-home surplus battery hens via the British Hen Welfare Trust http://www.bhwt.org.uk/.  They'll give you all the eggs you need, and are reputed to be very friendly and nice birds to handle.

[kt.]

I previously had Blackrock and White leghorns.  The BR did not lay as many as the WLH.  The WLH laid huge eggs daily for almost 4 years less a couple of weeks moulting. 

I now have ISA Browns but they have not laid as well as the WLH.  I also have 3 Light Sussex who don't lay as many as the ISA Browns.  The WLH can be flighty and have been known to end up in trees so you would need to clip the wings every few months to keep them grounded.

At the end of the year they will be culled and I am looking to get Coral Nicks as they are supposed to lay up to 355 eggs per year.  No other breed that I am aware of are expected to lay up to this many.  Even the ISA Browns lay up to 330,  not that I had anywhere near that many last year.

[RenishawPhil]

I find the speckldy is a very friendly bird.  Ours isn't flightly as such but she jums/ climbs onto all many of trees/bushes!

[Jeannine]

Buff Orpingtons  for me, good layers, good meat, very docile friendly birds, big breed,and they stand the cold weather well, I just luv 'em.

XX Jeannine

[OllieC]

I have the bottom 4 "stars" (Gold, Speckled, Sussex and White) from here - http://www.meadowsweetpoultry.co.uk/poultry.htm .

They have agents all over the country and we were very happy with the condition and price (£15 for POL). We also have 4 Scots Dumpy bantams that I bought at auction for £17 the lot although one turned out to be a very noisy boy hen. They're obviously not hybrids but have proved to be very good layers too, and with a lovely gentle temperament and something different.

7 girls are providing far more eggs than we need, much to the delight of friends and neighbours.

[Plot69]

I've got 4 Wellsummers that lay lovely big brown eggs and 4 Cream Legbars that lay large blue eggs. I was quite suprised at the size of the blue eggs to be honest. We're averaging 5 eggs a day.

[winecap]

I bought 3 Bovan Goldline Hybrid hens that I'm pleased with. Somewhere I read that hybrids were easier for the beginner, and tend to be immunised already. No problems as yet.
I do find the choice of hens a bit overwhelming. I settled on these on the recommendation of my sister. I'm allowed 6 birds at the allotment, so my plan is to get three more when these get older, but I'd be overloaded with eggs if I didn't pass them on. Really nice eggs, but I wonder whether that varies more with the feed or the breed?

[steve1967]

Thanks all for your advice.

I went to see a local supplier earlier this week. Glad I did as planned site for the coop and run turned out to be unsuitable as my two dogs would have been able to worry the hens. Something I hadnt considered.

After a lengthy disscussion with the breeder about what type of chicken to have she said brown hens would be best. This being due to the size of the run. I had wanted to get Plymouth Blackrocks but was told they needed a much larger run as they like there space. I am now in the process of constructing the run in another area of the garden which is fenced of and my dogs cant get in there.

The size of the run is 2.5m square. I intend to let them use the whole of the fenced of area where there run is when we are at home so as to give them as much freedom as possible.

I would be interested in your thoughts on the run size and the advice I have been given by the supplier.