Few Chicken Questions

[Lloyd90 509]

Possibly interested in getting a few birds for eggs / maybe considering some duel purpose birds.

 

Have a large back yard for em but was going to fence off an enclosure. Enclosure will be around 8ft x 20ft. Would put a coop inside and just have mesh wiring for the enclosure.

 

Was thinking upto 6ft high with stock fence around and then chicken wire on top , this sound about right ?

 

How many chickens could I keep in that sort of area ?

 

I have heard they will turf up all the grass and dont mind this in the enclosure, if I let them out in the day will they be alright in a large yard ? About 150ft x 100ft roughly.

 

Also deciding on which breed, I have heard good layers will stop being so reliable after a year or 2 but traditional breeds will go on for more years ?

 

And how often / how many bags of feed would they go through in say a week ?

 

 

[Bootsha 1,306]

lIght sussex are a pretty dual purpose breed, but black rocks are the best LONG TERM layers, for a fare few seasons. I have 10 of them now, and they are starting to moult as well, but i still get 10 eggs a day from them,and have almost that many all through the winter to be honest.

 

Thats about the amount you'd want for your area i would say, a bag of layers pellets last about 10 days give or take, if its cold wearther, a bit less. Lots of hybrid layers out there, and prettyer hens, but a good laying, hardy, free ranging hen, you wont beat the black rock in my opinion, and i have had warrens, light sussex, cream legbars, cuckoo marans, etc etc. The shell quality will also keep good for a fair few seasons.

 

Just my experience. Do your research before you make your decision.

 

B

[FENN 24]

Hi first thing is to make the pen fox proof .i would say 10 birds would be ok in that size pen but others might disagree .the type of bird depends on how many eggs you want leghorns are very prolific layers as are warrens egg a day most days .But come the winter they go off lay just like any other bird .the pure breed birds or lets say rare breeds dont lay as well as the hybrid chickens .The yard you speak of as long as it is fox and and domestic animal proof there should not be a problem in most cases .chickens eat on average 4 oz of feed so you will be able to calculate this by the amount of birds you were thinking of getting .

[gnipper 5,966]

How many eggs do you eat in a week roughly? My mate had 2 hens and always had surplus eggs going to waste. No point getting and feeding a dozen hens if you only need a dozen eggs a week.

[The Duncan 802]

How many eggs do you eat in a week roughly? My mate had 2 hens and always had surplus eggs going to waste. No point getting and feeding a dozen hens if you only need a dozen eggs a week.

Fair point!

[gouldy257 79]

same as that, av 2 bantys there to clock out pheasant eggs when they start laying,, but as for eggs have over a dozen in fridge looks there going to my dogs lol an i've been eating eggs non-stop lol

[pest 5]

if your looking at the 300 - ambers or rangers would be the ones .

[RubyTex 1,957]

How many eggs do you eat in a week roughly? My mate had 2 hens and always had surplus eggs going to waste. No point getting and feeding a dozen hens if you only need a dozen eggs a week.

 

Very good point. I only keep four banties now, but when they're laying four eggs a day 7 days a week even us as a family of four have to give some away to neighbours...

[Bootsha 1,306]

i sell any excess eggs to the lads in work, always more asking for them, the money made from egg sales pays for the food for all the hens , so we have our eggs for nothing, but you still have to buy them at the start though lol.

[mule1943 291]

we only have a trio old english bantams ,laid all winter more eggs then we can manage ,but cant beat the taste of a bantie egg .

[air gun ant 1,666]

I've got 3 silkies and tbh they don't lay in summer but that's coz I use them as broodys ( just hatched a fecking goose on Friday lol) but been getting bout 15 eggs a week all winter until I put that Goose egg under last month.

[goldfinch2007 2,331]

we only have a trio old english bantams ,laid all winter more eggs then we can manage ,but cant beat the taste of a bantie egg .

mine was hansem mule home cured bacon and banty eggs

[forest of dean redneck 11,190]

love banty eggs,had quail an too much of a ball ache,

[mule1943 291]

 

we only have a trio old english bantams ,laid all winter more eggs then we can manage ,but cant beat the taste of a bantie egg .

mine was hansem mule home cured bacon and banty eggs

lovely eggs & bacon

[fergy 6]

pekins are quite good i get 4 small eggs each off mine per week and because they have feathered feet the dont really scratch at the grass leaving the garden fairly tidy.