To buy just one hen to lay one egg per day?

[CityCommuter]

Posting for a friend... she wants to buy just one hen as they only use 4 eggs per week usually in some form of baking so shes hoping that one good hen will provide 7 eggs per week which would be more than enough... she intends to feed her organically so she'll lay organic eggs.

I think having just one hen on her own all day is a bit lonely and I think it would be better to have 2 hens or chickens together for company... she says she couldn't cope with 14 eggs per week and doesn't want to give them away or sell them either. She's also worried about the extra cleaning out of the coop...

Thoughts?

she can have an erratic routine so how would hens fit into her life?

That would be a huge barrier - they need to be let out every morning and shut in promptly at dusk every evening to prevent foxes.

I was given 1 hen. It laid nice eggs about 3 times a week. Little bantam. I got her a friend. The friend hadn't laid ANY eggs in the year I've had her.

Hens are clearly not for her if you even need to ask this question.

Get eggs from the supermarket or find someone locally selling them.

I'd suggest she buys 'keeping chickens for dummies' from ebay, for about £6! Lots of information about keeping chickens and their care.

2-3 is the minimum she should keep! Surely excess eggs that she cannot she use in baking herself, can be giving away, or have an honesty box at the front of the house and sell them?

The eggs will end up costing many £s per egg

Two isn't enough, she needs 3 minimum.

Point her to this site, they are brilliant. And yes hens are costly and extremely time consuming, and incredibly lovely wonderful little mindful friendly birds.
www.bhwt.org.uk/

Thank you for the replies, I will forward this link to her... she's obviously not looked into it much if she didn't realise she can't just buy one hen! I don't know anything about hens but I'd imagine you'd need to be quite organised for a start. Would the coop need cleaning out everyday? She had a busy full time job and says herself that she can have an erratic routine so how would hens fit into her life?
No.they’re pretty easy to be honest, but need letting out every morning and putting away every dusk so it is a tie

@LadyWhistledownsQuill* "pet chickens are a money pit not a money saver*"

In what way are they a money pit? That might change her mind!

One of the joys of owning chickens for me us watching their complex social life - for instance that the old ladies who need nana naps in the day are never left on their own to sleep, someone else is always with them keeping an eye out. Or the way they excitedly call the others if something tasty has turned up. And especially the way they have an order going to bed, with the most senior hen checking everyone has gone in before she does.
They aren't a food dispenser, they deserve a good life - and for my girls that is free ranging in the garden, a flock of friends (some frenemies too), and a digestive biscuit between them with a cuddle everyday

Thank you for the replies, I will forward this link to her.

Is this woman not your friend? Why would you do that?

I absolutely love the thought of someone being overwhelmed by 14 eggs! Funny.
Anyway. No, one hen ny itself would probably be too sad to lay any eggs, let alone a reliable 1 per day. They are living creatures, not mini food dispensers.

Idiotic to keep one - cruel would be more appropriate.
Agree two or three minimum.
If she is not keen on coop cleaning - she'll still have to do it, but she should look at the Omlet eglu system - you put newspaper in to line the coop, the poo falls through a grid/tray and you simply wrap the poo up in the newspaper. Needs a good wash and clean from time to time, but very efficient.

Hens are social creatures and so it is not fair to the hen to be alone. They need each other for warmth in the winter too.
So unless your friends hen is living indoors with her, and laying eggs on her sofa i'd be saying a loud NO!

We've 4 chickens and a cock.... 2 were still quite young on arrival. Now all are laying some days we can get 6 eggs other days 3. We know when a particular one has laid as her eggs are blue 😁

When you just have a few hens for your own personal use the up side is you can control what they are eating, and the kind of space they live in and so you know your eggs are organic and free range.

However good organic feed is not cheap, there's a certain amount of daily work in looking after them and making sure they are not eaten by foxes.

If you go away you'll need to pay someone to come and take care of them at least twice a day.

It's a lot cheaper in the long run to find a good organic egg supplier locally - especially for someone who only wants 4 eggs a week!

• tell her to get three wee bantys instead of one big hen or;

• tell her that it has just been made illegal to put photos of hens on Instagram, and she'll give up the notion.

I looked into keeping hens, and they need a fair bit of space because they will scratch up where their run is. also a coop, and a minimum of about four hens at a time. You cannot feed them household scraps (it's illegal) unless you are a strictly vegan household, which people wanting hens for eggs tend not to be.

Perhaps there is a local farm/range that would supply eggs to her.

They are a money pit because you need- a coop, plenty of space for roaming (enclosed & safe), set up equipment like food & water bowls etc, feed, supplements (mine need calcium to help with their shell creation) , wormer, medicines when they get poorly (one of mine gets poorly alot). So not a good deal in comparison of egg prices.
But, yes they are incredible pets, amazing socially, amazing to watch them sunbathe and to snuffle down in a mud bath, amazing how friendly they are and beautifully peaceful to watch them pecking around.
But yes they are also time consuming, you need to clean the coop every day or every other day, they need letting out in the morning and in at night,and everywhere they are allowed to go will be covered in poo very quickly, so you need to scoop their whole area, and she should also know they destroy lawn etc, they are basically incredibly peaceful, beautiful and socialable pooing, eating machines. Who most likely lay an egg most days, but not always. I have 3 but are buying eggs from a neighbour as mine arent laying now.

She could get one breed that's good
for laying and then a fancy one or two that will only lay now and then.

I'd question whether she should have any pets at all though if she cannot be bothered to look up or has ignored the basic welfare advice.

I’ve had one hen for long periods after coop raids (thanks, fox) and all of them were fine on their own. Quite bonded to the dc and the cats, though.

They don’t lay every day all year round though, it is seasonal.

[quote CityCommuter]**@LadyWhistledownsQuill "pet chickens are a money pit not a money saver"

In what way are they a money pit? That might change her mind![/quote]
Once you've factored in the capital cost of a coop, feeder, waterer, hens themselves and so on, plus the ongoing costs of food, bedding, wormer, vets bills and so on, it's much cheaper to buy them at the supermarket.

If she's thinking of feeding on kitchen scraps, she can't - it's illegal to feed livestock on scraps and has been since Foot & Mouth.

Plus, hens only lay prolifically (up to 300/year depending on breed and factors like supplementary light) in the first couple of years, which is why commercial farms kill them at little more than a year old. Hens can live 5-8 years plus, so unless she wants to be killing them herself (no chance of rehoming old hens) then she'll be feeding hens that rarely lay into their dotage.

This sort of person makes me 🤦‍♀️

My analysis :

• she earns 45-60k
• her husband earns similar
• they own either a massively overpriced new build, or a cottage with ‘character’
• they buy ‘alternative’ designer labels
• they read the observer or Times at weekends, and nod sagely
• they are considering a buy to let ‘portfolio’
• they put no more than 12% of their income into their pensions
• they are concerned about their kids use of tech, but don’t know jack on how to technically solve it
• they employ tradesmen for minor jobs

That poor hen 😢

How accurate was I?

I'm told that you can a box of six eggs in one of those shops things! So that means one egg a day and a bacon sandwich on Sunday.
Anyway who wants eggs from a grubby old hen when you can buy proper ones from Harrods?