Choosing the right chickens.
Keeping chickens is a worthwhile and satisfying occupation. They are easy to look after, provide meat and eggs, and even their poo is good for the garden too!
As long as you follow a few rules, you can't go wrong!
And the first thing to remember is that a chicken has a very small brain and once it has learnt a routine it is well nigh impossible to change it. So take advantage of this fact and start the way you mean to continue.
The first thing you need to do is decide what type of chicken you want to keep.
Do you want eggs, meat or both?
Remember that if you want meat, you must be prepared to kill your beloved pet!!
Again,do you want large fowl or bantams?
At the French Chicken Shed, we primarily breed large fowl, but we have now started to breed one of the true bantams, the little Pekin. They make very good mothers and help with the incubating, brooding and raising of young when our incubators are full.
However, most bantams are a small variety of their large fowl cousins. They produce small eggs and small carcases. If you intend to free-range your birds, bantams will cause less damage to plants because their feet are smaller. The problem with most bantams is that they will become broody for a pastime. This is a mechanism which tells a chicken that it should be hatching eggs. Some large fowl will become broody too, but it is easier to persuade them that this is not a good thing, while a bantam will fight to the end to protect her nest!
Chickens have been interbred throughout history to create a bird that provides exactly what the market asks for. Hybrid egg layers are the ultimate egg laying machines, producing most of its eggs over the first two years of its life. From then on its egg laying capacity is seriously depleted. The same is true of the hybrid meat bird. It will grow very fast and be ready to slaughter between 7 and 9 weeks old, but leave them much longer than that and they will be so heavy that they are unable to move properly.
We try to breed layers that will give you a good many eggs per year, but not to the detriment of the hen, and a meat bird that will give you a good weight, but still allow the chicken to enjoy its life in the way a chicken should.
Many of our breeds can be used for meat as well as eggs, but unlike the purpose bred broiler, it will take longer to grow into a useful sized bird.
Of these breeds the hens will lay between 170 - 250 eggs per year over the first 3-4 years of life, but this will lessen the older she gets. These chickens will weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 kg at about 26 weeks of age. So you can see that a dual-purpose breed will give you ample meat and eggs for a family of four.
We also breed the Ross that is purely a meat bird. These will free-range without compromising the quality of the meat and be ready to slaughter at about 10 weeks.
Once you have chosen what type of chickens you want, the second thing to decide is at what age you want to buy them. Small chicks require heat in order to survive, so if you do not possess a heat lamp it is best to buy your birds older than 4 weeks of age, at which time they should be weaned off the heat and have sufficient feathers to keep themselves warm.
If you have an incubator you could buy fertile eggs and hatch them yourself. It is still a wonder to us when the hatchlings break through the shell and get their first glimpse of the outside world.
If you are wanting hens for eggs, however, the best age is at 20 weeks, when the sex can be determined. The chicken is fully feathered and if you are buying from a responsible breeder they will have been wormed, and fully fit to travel to their new home.
Most hens will start to lay around 20 - 21 weeks of age, however, there is always a slight pause if they have been moved to a new environment. Provided you feed them on a good quality and varied diet they should begin to lay soon after they have settled down.
If you are wanting chickens for meat, then the best time to buy is at 4 weeks. The chick is still very young, but it should not need heat as its first feathers will be present. Buy a few together and, as long as you put them into a small temporary house while they are still babies, they will keep each other warm.
The next and most important thing is to be prepared for your new arrivals. It is crucial to make sure that everything is in place before you buy your chickens, as it is difficult to rectify mistakes with them in situ.
We are always happy to give help and advise to those of you who are taking your first steps
towards being a poultry keeper.
They are such fun and once you have your own chickens you won't know how you lived without them!
See tab: Caring for your chickens.
Do you want eggs, meat or both?
Remember that if you want meat, you must be prepared to kill your beloved pet!!
Again,do you want large fowl or bantams?
At the French Chicken Shed, we primarily breed large fowl, but we have now started to breed one of the true bantams, the little Pekin. They make very good mothers and help with the incubating, brooding and raising of young when our incubators are full.
However, most bantams are a small variety of their large fowl cousins. They produce small eggs and small carcases. If you intend to free-range your birds, bantams will cause less damage to plants because their feet are smaller. The problem with most bantams is that they will become broody for a pastime. This is a mechanism which tells a chicken that it should be hatching eggs. Some large fowl will become broody too, but it is easier to persuade them that this is not a good thing, while a bantam will fight to the end to protect her nest!
Chickens have been interbred throughout history to create a bird that provides exactly what the market asks for. Hybrid egg layers are the ultimate egg laying machines, producing most of its eggs over the first two years of its life. From then on its egg laying capacity is seriously depleted. The same is true of the hybrid meat bird. It will grow very fast and be ready to slaughter between 7 and 9 weeks old, but leave them much longer than that and they will be so heavy that they are unable to move properly.
We try to breed layers that will give you a good many eggs per year, but not to the detriment of the hen, and a meat bird that will give you a good weight, but still allow the chicken to enjoy its life in the way a chicken should.
Many of our breeds can be used for meat as well as eggs, but unlike the purpose bred broiler, it will take longer to grow into a useful sized bird.
Of these breeds the hens will lay between 170 - 250 eggs per year over the first 3-4 years of life, but this will lessen the older she gets. These chickens will weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 kg at about 26 weeks of age. So you can see that a dual-purpose breed will give you ample meat and eggs for a family of four.
We also breed the Ross that is purely a meat bird. These will free-range without compromising the quality of the meat and be ready to slaughter at about 10 weeks.
Once you have chosen what type of chickens you want, the second thing to decide is at what age you want to buy them. Small chicks require heat in order to survive, so if you do not possess a heat lamp it is best to buy your birds older than 4 weeks of age, at which time they should be weaned off the heat and have sufficient feathers to keep themselves warm.
If you have an incubator you could buy fertile eggs and hatch them yourself. It is still a wonder to us when the hatchlings break through the shell and get their first glimpse of the outside world.
If you are wanting hens for eggs, however, the best age is at 20 weeks, when the sex can be determined. The chicken is fully feathered and if you are buying from a responsible breeder they will have been wormed, and fully fit to travel to their new home.
Most hens will start to lay around 20 - 21 weeks of age, however, there is always a slight pause if they have been moved to a new environment. Provided you feed them on a good quality and varied diet they should begin to lay soon after they have settled down.
If you are wanting chickens for meat, then the best time to buy is at 4 weeks. The chick is still very young, but it should not need heat as its first feathers will be present. Buy a few together and, as long as you put them into a small temporary house while they are still babies, they will keep each other warm.
The next and most important thing is to be prepared for your new arrivals. It is crucial to make sure that everything is in place before you buy your chickens, as it is difficult to rectify mistakes with them in situ.
We are always happy to give help and advise to those of you who are taking your first steps
towards being a poultry keeper.
They are such fun and once you have your own chickens you won't know how you lived without them!
See tab: Caring for your chickens.