Mark1978
Veteran
- Location
- Shouldham, West Norfolk
Up until last year I bred chickens for meat and for showing, as well as for eggs of course. At one point i had upwards of 300 birds, mostly gold sebrights, but in total have housed dozens of different breeds.
My personal favourites for good sized eggs and nice personalities were Salmon Faverolles. They also tend to lay more through winter than a lot of other breeds They can be quite hard to find, but they are beautiful friendly birds.
Apart from the cockerels. They are nasty gits - i used to have to walk in with a broom handle with one of them as he was more vicious than a rabid dog.
Everything talked about above is pretty much true. I will add the following
1. There is always room for n+1 chickens
2. Never name them - you'll get attached to them(see 3)
3. They are very adept at killing themselves, or getting killed by outside influences (foxes, rats, weasels, cats, disease). They are basically pretty stupid but adorable.
4. Dont go with rescue hens as your first birds, get some experience first - spotting problems with health is more easily done when you have experience and rescues are more likely to be a bit more fragile.
5. Don't buy incubators - you'll end up with hundreds of bloody birds and dozens of cockerels that you cant get rid of and have to dispatch - maybe that's just my experience.
EDIT: Holy thread resurrection.... tips are still valid though
My personal favourites for good sized eggs and nice personalities were Salmon Faverolles. They also tend to lay more through winter than a lot of other breeds They can be quite hard to find, but they are beautiful friendly birds.
Apart from the cockerels. They are nasty gits - i used to have to walk in with a broom handle with one of them as he was more vicious than a rabid dog.
Everything talked about above is pretty much true. I will add the following
1. There is always room for n+1 chickens
2. Never name them - you'll get attached to them(see 3)
3. They are very adept at killing themselves, or getting killed by outside influences (foxes, rats, weasels, cats, disease). They are basically pretty stupid but adorable.
4. Dont go with rescue hens as your first birds, get some experience first - spotting problems with health is more easily done when you have experience and rescues are more likely to be a bit more fragile.
5. Don't buy incubators - you'll end up with hundreds of bloody birds and dozens of cockerels that you cant get rid of and have to dispatch - maybe that's just my experience.
EDIT: Holy thread resurrection.... tips are still valid though
Last edited:
), but was it either waffleycat?? or Helen? Someone in East Anglia??
