Where is best to buy our chichens from, recommendations?

[sylvev]

Hi
We have finished converting the wendy house into a chicken house and having a large run fitted this week. We attended "chicken school" today and can't wait to get started! We want to start with 4 chickens at point of lay. Would you recommend any breeders/ suppliers at all? What breeds would you go for? We want friendly, largish, good layers. Think Marans look good. Any thoughts welcomed.

Er...that should be chickens!

Where are you, people have recommended Storrs poultry to me, near Sheffield.

Look in the back of Practical Poultry for your local breeders - new edition out now .

DH says he can chart our life together through the magazines I have bought.........

Brides
Doing up houses
Pregnancy ones
Parenting ones
Interior decor
now we are onto Practical Poultry and Country Smallholding

With other bizarre ones interspersed

chicken, chichen, I read it as children!

Thanks, we are in Worcestershire.

You're near to the Domestic Fowl Trust which is meant to be good but I suspect expensive.

Domestic Fowl Trust is ok - but on Practical Poultry forum they have a bit of a bad rep. In some ways I agree - we bought 3 birds and 1 died within 3 days, but that could be just bad luck. Do a search for them on PP anyway.

You could go to the Wernlas Collection - they have a very good reputation!

Sorry to be a pest but what is the situation re avian flu and movement of poultry? Is it still possible to buy poultry or are there certain areas that have restricted movement?

You can't move poultry within the exclusion zone, but that is only 10km around Banbury, you'd be fine elsewhere. Cotswold Chickens which is near Banbury, and where I got 2 of mine from, say they are trading as normal, but can't sell to you if you live in the exclusion zone.

i always look in the adtrader, i am not sure if thats a good thing though as i have had some poorly chooks from breeders from there. my problem is i buy them if they are kept in bad conditions as i feel sorry for them. but then they cost me in vets bills/medication and then sometimes die and then i am heartbroken.
i did however manage to find a really great breeder that loves her chooks she even replaces them if they turn out to be cockerels and all the chooks i have had from her have been fantastic. i pay about £10 per bird from her POL pure breeds inc rare ones but some breeders can charge £35-£40. the local smallholders association usually have a list of breeders. she is on the list and i wish i had used that in the first place.

marans are great, mine lay huge chocolate coloured eggs, so are welsummers (but they are noisier), norfolk greys are really friendly and purrrrr/sing. cream legbars are quiet and friendly and lay nice blue eggs (but they do take a while to go into lay).

Thanks everyone. I've just looked up the Wernlas website, it looks great and definitely worth a visit. We went to the wildfowl trust but weren't very impressed, but good to look at a huge variety of breeds.

Mel, where is your breeder?

Slowly drawing up a short-list, probably Maran, RIR, maybe cream legbar and ....?

Sooooo excited!

There is only one possibility with that list....

I'll give you a clue -

Maran - Chocolate coloured eggs
RIR - brown/tinted eggs
Cream Legbar - blue/green eggs

so you would be wanting a Leghorn for white eggs! Or possibly a Gold Campine which also gives white eggs!