Complete novice- I know nothing, please enlighten me!

[ihavenewsockson]

Ok, so i am thinking about getting chickens.
Being eco friendly, getting our own eggs etc.

Would like to spend the winter researching and getting everything set up and then pick up some chucks at the agricultural show in the spring.

so,
Which breeds are best for complete novices ie. easy to keep, good layers?

Do they need a run and a coop? or just a coop if the garden is enclosed?

Is there a rick of rats/ mice and how could i minimise this?

Can they be kept near the house or away from the house?

How old do they have to be to start laying?

And....can you eat them when they get old?

thanks in advance guys.

i'm hoping to persuade DH with my 'chicken plan' this eve!

[madlentileater]

hybrids, like Black Rocks, are best layers.
They will probably need a run. Very hard to securely enclose your garden IME, plus they will wreck it unless it is huge.
Rats and mice are a risk. Keep food in secure storage, plus don't leave food on the ground for long. Our feeder is raised (i hope) out of reach of rats.
Doesn't matter if near or far from house, as it suits you.
Age of laying varies, 'point of lay' is variously given as about 16-18 weeks, but again IME can be at least a month more!
Yes, you can eat them, but we are vegetarians, so can't advise...I'm guessing you might have to cook them long and slow!
Hope you can convince your DH.
More persuasive facts-
they will eat your waste food that can't be composted- those sandwiches smeared with yoghurt that come home from school, the last few spoonfuls of cornflakes etc
err...can't think of more right now!

[ihavenewsockson]

Thank you lentil eater!
I have shown him my wonderful chicken plan and he is thinking about it so maybe i will be a reg on this board soon!

[ihavenewsockson]

thanks butterfly!
i've been looking at the omelet site and my DH likes the cube but it's just so expensive.

thanks for the advice about the shows. i will have a look round and see if there are any breeders near me. i'm in surrey so i think the duchess of nork is near here but i haven't seen her on mn recently.

thanks again!

[reindeersnake]

Poultry auctins are great fun. Go along and watch first, to get n idea of prices, etc. Yuo can get good (reletively) cheap coops, feeders, drinkers, etc as well as chickens. Buying from shows is about as expensive as you can get.

[alibubbles]

Hi,

I have an Omlet cube and love it. I have it on the outside of a flight protection pen. Around that I have picket fencing so they can free range, but are restricted.

I let them free range completely, albeit, fencing off the borders when am around as I have three very good pheasant, magpie, pigeon catchers in the shape of Burmese cats, who cannot be trusted to have a pop! ^ months later they still stalk the chooks!

The cube is easy to keep clean, too many friends have had red mite in their wooden ones and it has ended in disaster for the hens, I didn't want to risk it so opted for the cube.

I went to a hen party and got hooked. have 7 chickens, 4 came from Omlet, - 2 Mrs Pepperpots -Bovan neras and two Gingernut rangers -Bovan goldline - one got lost, I added a speckeldy and an amberstar, and then rescued two white sussex.

I am still getting 4-5 eggs a day at the moment, some 25 a week which is just about enough to not have to buy eggs!

It takes about 10 minutes a day for general cleaning, feeding, heath checks etc and then every 6 weeks I clean out the pen completely. I used Aubioise -horse bedding on the floor of the pen and the poo disappears like magic! I then offer it on freecycle and have people queuing up for it for their allotments.

My minded children love collecting the eggs, feeding them treats etc and it is a great way to really instill hygiene and handwashing.

I'd love to get some more, but 10 would be the max in a cube, they do have lots of space and seem to rattle around in it!

Mine are 100ft down the garden, just because that is where there is lots of free space.

Go for it, I wanted them 3 years ago and we had the big Avian flu scare, but then wished I hadn't left it so long to get some.