The FastDay Forum

I'm getting all broody and needy just reading all this, STOP IT, PLEASE

Ballerina x

Wow, what an unexpected and lovely topic to find on the forum!

I have just recently started keeping hens myself, I have three hens, and one rooster, all Jubilee Orpingtons (look them up, they are just LOVELY-looking!). I had been thinking about it for years and years, since I have become increasingly disgusted with the idea of the way that chickens are raised for meat: 30 days and 4 pounds of feed, and that is it. And the breeds used are too fast-growing and heavy-set to be able to walk properly, they just sit by the feed tray all day long. And apparently, though I am not 100% sure of the facts here, organic chickens are not much better.

So, since I moved to rural Sweden (used to live in Manchester), and got myself a house with a massive garden, I thought "why not".

So far, they are lovely, easy to look after, and just the sight of them pecking away in the garden makes me happy. Since I live in the countryside, with lots of wildlife about, I have had to make sure that the house and pen are predator-safe, which can easily be done by making sure that you use strong netting and either dig it down a good 50cm, or just fold it out at least 50cm. That way, predators cannot dig into the pen. But like I say, I am new to keeping chickens, so we will see if my measures are adequate. I do love them already, so I would be heart-broken if I lost them. I plan to keep the present bunch for a long natural life, and also raise chickens for the table. The eggs so far are amazing! And the pancakes made from them turn out golden! Wonderful!

[Tracieknits]

Welcome to the forums, Krissie!

I'm another who keeps hens and have done for about 20 years. I can still remember getting my first ones and how exciting it was. Ours are free range around the holding which makes for really good eggs but sometimes I get annoyed if they scratch up my plants or start laying on the top of the hay stack. Every year I threaten to enclose them!
We have a cockerel who is from the last brood we hatched. The others went the way of excess boys.
Mostly they are Marans and crosses with cream Legbar and a few hybrids and some brown rescues. We are probably ready for some new blood to be honest. I love the dark brown eggs the Marans lay, almost chocolate coloured.
We usually do pretty well at the smallholders egg show in spring.These pretty green eggs are from cream Legbars.

I am completely fascinated by chooks now. As a child Grandpa has white chooks, he used to get shells from the beach and had a grinder to use to put in their food. I walk my dogs down a track by the stream and there is an A frame chook house around which are many hens of different colours and sizes..I stop and stare and talk to them fascinating.

I had 4 Isa Brown girls, up until 2 days ago, I let them out for scratching in the paddock and thought they were always safe from my whippet hound, who is in his own penned up yard. We are rural and farmers shoot first ask second. So being penned up is for his safety, but we let him out every day, to run 3 acres of his own, proper fence wiring etc.
One of my girls went snooping into the dog yard and I heard her screaming, it was traumatic for her and me, I was smacking my whippet with a stick, but he kept going at trying to eat my girl. I got a chance to get her from his mouth, and threw her over the fence. I thought we were good, but realised in the haze I left the door open so of course the whippet is on her like a flash.It was hopeless. So now i have 3 Isa Browns that cannot go scratching anymore, they have a yard but its baron for green, but maybe there are still bugs for them. I'm still getting over it, and can't look at the whippet just yet, he is really only doing what is natural for his breed, but I'm not happy with him, My husband is feeding and exercising him.I've had these girls for 4 years and they still lay eggs.

[carieoates]

Oh @zamaleSo sorry to hear this. We have a couple of cats of our own who look at the chooks and then just go about their usual business. The neighbours cats on the other hand do "have a go" now and then but the girls do see them off in their big flappy noisy way.

:0O

Sorry to hear that Zamale

Oh, Zamale, you poor thing, That's the thing about loving people, pets unconditionally, you still love them no matter how badly they have behaved although I must say I am more forgiving of bad animal behaviour than I am with human bad behaviour, mmmm

Ballerina x

That's why I couldn't keep hens. OH would love to, but I've seen friends devastated when they've lost theirs to foxes or other animals. Horrible, but animals do what they do, we can't blame them. I would just rather avoid the potential heartache. I know I would get too attached anyway.

Izzy, I am just the same. I was rather upset when we realised that there were rats in our garden and when the babies arrived I almost fell in love with them but we knew we had to so something. The source was traced to a neighbour who kept her dogs food supplies outside so, rather than call in the council we took the natural way out and encouraged the local foxes to sort the problem for us. Very efficient rat catchers and we have not seen any rats since. Still feel bad about the babies though

Ballerina x

Do quail count. We have 16 hens and two males.
they are the prettiest things, at the moment giving us about 9 eggs a day (equivalent to say 3 chook eggs) .. 6 are fairly young at 6 weeks so not laying yet by which time will get about 15 eggs a day! and the eggs are so pretty

they pretty much free-range in a large enclosed space in small suburban backyard occasionally we get escappees.. a few months ago, all 11 disappeared. found out when the neighbour discovered two in their backyard. gate left open. oops. and on same day a bird from who knows where strolled into front yard, so i adopted it.

my piccies.. and yes you know when you have gone "bird crazy" is when you get on your hands and knees to photograph them laying! and like 5 frames in one minute.
with the first pic below, doesnt the hen look so satisfied (or relieved) with what looks to be a smile on laying. !

They are lovely, ah!

Ballerina x

[carieoates]

Love the pics juliana-rivers. Ours look a bit odd as malting! I was out in the garden this morning raking leaves. Oh. My....didn't my two love re-spreading the leaves, they could stop themselves it was hilarious. I had to wheel the recycling bin down the garden in the end.

I don't know what to do, we've had a couple of chooks pass suddenly (one young one, one older one) so I'm back down to one hen as of today. You can't keep one hen but my poor OH who mainly looks after the chooks is getting a bit upset about losing his pets.

We normally keep two or three and it's just unfortunate that the pair of older ones have died but so has one of the two replacements, leaving Wendy on her own.

Hmmm...I'm not sure whether to get another pair, which would be fine or rehome the one...