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.
Last time we had bantams, I am thinking of getting about four to
start with and maybe add another couple later on.

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


Stephen.



--
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk
From the Wirral Peninsula.
Coach painting tips and techniques + Land Rover colour codes
"Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble". Henry Royce

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. :-)

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.

Dave Hill wrote:
Please, for the sake of your neighbours
Don't have bantams, esp cockerels,

I wouldn't expect anyone with neighbours to have a cockerel.

In message
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.


--
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk
From the Wirral Peninsula.
Coach painting tips and techniques + Land Rover colour codes
"Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble". Henry Royce

In message
Dave Hill wrote:

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.

I have no intention of having a cockerel as I don't intend to breed
them and they are far too noisy anyway.

A neighbour at our other house years ago had a cockerel and it
used to run up and down the rear garden walls, people complained
about the noise to no avail, then one day it just disappeared.

Stephen.


--
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk
From the Wirral Peninsula.
Coach painting tips and techniques + Land Rover colour codes
"Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble". Henry Royce

In message
wrote:

Dave Hill wrote:
Please, for the sake of your neighbours
Don't have bantams, esp cockerels,

I wouldn't expect anyone with neighbours to have a cockerel.

Yep, they are far too vocal especially at five in the morning.

Stephen.

--
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk
From the Wirral Peninsula.
Coach painting tips and techniques + Land Rover colour codes
"Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble". Henry Royce

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

"Moonraker" wrote in message
...
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


Been thee. Done that. NO THANK YOU.

My Stepmother bough my children a Donkey when we were at our last house. Big
garden. Donkey could have gone miles away, but no, we didn't know. Made a
paddock near the house. Baaaaad mistake.

Mike


--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................

wrote:
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.

We get ours from he
http://www.cambridgepoultry.co.uk/chickens.html
(except not the bantams, they were given to us as teeny things by a friend
of Nick's - we were lucky they both turned out to be girls, cos they were a
bit young to sex a tht time!)

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.

Probably best. :-)

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'd strongly recommend the white leghorn, though. Huge white eggs (bigger
than they look like she ought to be able to lay!) and very reliable

"Moonraker" wrote in message
...
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

Especially when they're laying :-)

Bill

On Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:34:17 +0000, stephen.hull 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. Last time we had bantams, I am thinking of
getting about four to start with and maybe add another couple later on.


Speckeldy or Meadowsweet Ranger. Get all six at once or the new ones will
be bullied half to death when introduced.



--
gardening on the beach in Jersey

In article ,
says...

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.

Don't accept give-aways.. they will always be the other persons least-
desirable hens (old, poor layers, egg peckers etc)

If you primarily want hens for the eggs I suggest you ask the farm if
they can supply point of lay (this is an age reference) hybrids bred for
commercial egg production. They will have been expertly raised and in good
health; and are easy to keep either penned or freerange. Feed them
commercial layers pellets , wheat as a snack, and all the green grazing
they can get.

From a gardening POV I found free range commerical hybrids do a lot less
garden damage than old pure breeds (which are bigger heavier birds for
dual egg/meat and eat more).

Janet.

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:08:28 +0000, Janet wrote:

Don't accept give-aways.. they will always be the other persons least-
desirable hens (old, poor layers, egg peckers etc)

If you primarily want hens for the eggs I suggest you ask the farm if
they can supply point of lay (this is an age reference) hybrids bred
for commercial egg production. They will have been expertly raised and
in good health; and are easy to keep either penned or freerange. Feed
them commercial layers pellets , wheat as a snack, and all the green
grazing they can get.

+1



--
gardening on the beach in Jersey

In message
Moonraker wrote:

On 04/01/2012 09:43, wrote:
In
wrote:

[snip]

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.

A friend had a donkey years ago, my god is was noisy.

Stephen.

--
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk
From the Wirral Peninsula.
Coach painting tips and techniques + Land Rover colour codes
"Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble". Henry Royce