Keeping Chickens For Beginners

My dad has become known locally as ‘The Chicken Man’ and true to his name, he’s come up with a few helpful bits of information about keeping chickens as a beginner.

The Coop –

When we first started keeping chickens at our family home, we started with the Omlet Eglu Classic Chicken Coop which was very easy to clean, easy to use and because it’s plastic, there’s no redmite! However, these runs can be a bit pricey, so a simple wooden house (ensuring It’s good quality wood) with an outdoor area for the chickens to graze is perfect.

The Run –

For healthy, happy birds they need access to the outside. You can let your chickens free roam an area or build a static run using bark chippings as a base. The larger the area, the better. Having more space to scratch and graze is always a bonus, this will keep your hens happy and lay eggs regularly. The run needs to be secure to keep out the local fox and other predators. If possible, bury the wire fencing 20cm into the ground to stop predators from digging underneath, and cover the roof of the run, for 2 reasons; this stops the birds from escaping and for their own safety from predators. At the farm, we have open runs that have an electric fence and the main house in the centre, when the birds go in at night, we use an electric door on a timer to shut and keep the birds safely inside and away from the fox, which we would highly recommend. Having the door on a timer also allows you to control your crowing cockerel, if you’ve got one.

Feeding Chickens –

Chickens need a balanced diet, not only the scraps from the kitchen. We use Hi-Peak ‘Layers Pellets’ we find that the feed allows the hens to lay really flavoursome eggs.

If you’ve got chicks, you’ll need to purchase a chick crumb until the chicks are about 6-8 weeks old and then follow with growers pellets until the birds are full size and about 4 weeks off laying. Then move onto the layers pellets. Please read the food carefully, the packaging will tell you when to move onto the various types of feed, this may vary for different brands.

Remember to add multiple feeders for your flock, with the pecking order in place, the birds at the lower end may find it hard to get to the feed if the other birds can stop them.

Water –

Water containers (also called drinkers) need to keep water clean and free of droppings. They shouldn’t tip over easily and should be easy for you to clean out daily or at least every-other day. Drinkers should store enough water to last all day with some spare capacity for hot days. The most important factor though is that they should always have fresh water available and there should again be enough drinkers available for the birds at the bottom of the pecking order which may mean providing two water containers in different places.

Choosing your birds –

Picking the birds is definitely the hardest part. Hybrid hens are usually better for beginners, they are usually vaccinated, lay better than pure breeds, are friendly and aren’t too flighty. If you’re wanting pure breeds, then keep in mind that you may have to travel and if you’re looking at rare breeds then please get in contact at kirk@higheroakfarm.co.uk Where Kirk will help you as much as he can on choosing the right bird for you.

Think about what you want your chickens for. You don’t need a cockerel for a hen to lay eggs, cockerels can make a lot of noise which might not put you in good stead with your neighbours! Think about the size of the birds and the amount of space you have for your birds. It’s advised that you buy all your birds from one breeder where the hens have been living together to avoid pecking and fighting to begin with. However, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t buy them from one place, as long as you’re prepared for a few scraps while they figure out the pecking order, but after a few days, there should be no problems!

Finally, have fun and enjoy your hens, they are incredibly rewarding and each have their own individual characters.

Getting Started With Rare Breed Chickens

Why keep a rare breed?

It’s quite simple really, rare breeds will not survive without people who are prepared to keep them. Some breeds have only survived because just one or two people have kept them. The variety of rare breeds means that there’s likely to be one that is suitable for your environment. There are birds that are great for free ranging in a field and roosting in trees at night or there are those breeds which are simply a conversation starter because of their unique characteristics.

Why is it important to breed rare breeds?

Many breeds were designed because of a specific trait or are simply not desired for because the hybrids are deemed more popular for our food and egg production. With evolving diseases and the constant need to adapt to the changing environment, the genetic diversity represented by these breeds could be vital in the future. By breeding them you are keeping a living heritage alive.

Where to start

There are a couple of different ways to being, but it’s best to contact the Poultry Club of Great Britain or the Rare Poultry Society (RPS). Either of these websites will put you in touch with the relevant breed club (if there is one) or the RPS breed registrar. If they don’t have a breed registrar then they will put you in touch with breeders.

If you want to start with live birds then you must be prepared to travel or arrange collection with specialised couriers. For some specific breeds there may be waiting lists for stock. If you don’t want to start with live birds, then you can purchase hatching eggs. Although you need to be aware that while there are some reputable breeders selling eggs online, there are issues with eggs being sold that were not as they were advertised. Ideally you should obtain eggs from a source that you can go back to if you need any further information. Take a look at the hatching eggs that we’ve got for sale. We have had really good feedback on the success rate of our eggs and we successfully hatch around 500 chicks a year using our hatching eggs.

How to start breeding

The best general advice will come from the relevant breed club as each breed can be different and they will normally be happy to encourage people to get started and to help you understand what you need to look for when choosing breeding stock.

The general advice is that you should breed a few generations in order to understand the genetic make up of the birds you are starting with. Then if you only have space for one breeding pen, you can swap out the cockerels to bring in new blood. Ideally you could have three pens. One for the stock you are breeding, one for the stock that you’re going to introduce and one for test matings between the two stock before you commit to introducing your new line into existing stock. Birds are more resilient to inbreeding depression than mammals, so you are able to breed a couple of generations before introducing new blood.

You need to ensure that you have the space and can deal with the excess cockerels responsibly. This is how the rare breeds survive.