On Jan 3, 8:49*pm, wrote:
wrote:
Have decided to bite the bullet and get some chickens in the
spring after I do some garden preparation first, we had six
chickens some years ago (but not here) so know what to expect and
what is involved etc, just not sure what type to go for.

We have 6. *We have a nera, a speckledy, a bluebell and a white leghorn..
Plus 2 light sussex bantams.

The nera and bluebell have carried on laying all through the winter, the
speckledy has gone off, the white leghorn has gone off, but she's a bit
older than the others and has laid almost 1 a day consistantly for nearly 2
years now, which is quite impressive. *The bantams are rubbish, they go off
lay at the drop of a hat. *:-/

I am bit concerned about the fact we are surrounded by neighbours
and hens can sometimes be quite vocal especially when laying an
egg.

Ours are sometimes a bit ranty when they lay, more often one of the bantams
gets narky at whoever is sitting on the nest. *They are nowhere near as
noisy as either neighbour's dogs, especially the yappy one, but they're
harder to quieten down, too. *:-)

Please, for the sake of your neighbours
Don't have bantams, esp cockerels,
Where I used to work som years ago people behind our office had
Bantams, and the blasted cockerel would only shut up for a couple of
hours a day,
It took a lot of complaining and almost 6 months to get rid of it.