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Moonraker · 04-01-2012, 11:24 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 04/01/2012 09:43, wrote:
In
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. :-)

I was surprised when I looked up hens/chickens to see how many
varieties there are, even the bantams seem to have a few variants.
I was sort of hoping to find a couple of varieties to pick from
but there's too much choice really.

I have two options, one is too seek breeds further afield and the
other is to visit our local farmer (who the wife knows) to see
what they have as they do supply chickens.
I think it will depend on what is available tome locally as I
don't want to travel too far so this might limit the availability
and I may have to accept what's available locally.

I'll wait for the wife to report back after she sees our local
farmer to see what they have then I'll ask again here.

Thanks,

Stephen.

A bit OT as regards hens but on topic for noise. If you think
hens/cockerels are noisy try a donkey next door to you.

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire