I'm thinking of getting chickens

[Needanewname]

Hello everyone

Dh and I are seriously thinking about getting some chickens. We live in London but have a pretty decent sized garden (55 x 27) there are foxes and we do have a cat.

We've seen the Eglu cubes - are they worth the money?

What would you advise to a newbie? What breed should we go for? Our DDs are quite excited but we know it would be us doing all the work.

Many thanks for any tips and advice. Will be back on here later or tomorrow, have to go and finish some gardening now, the veg patch went wild over the weekend!!!

It depends on why you want hens. If you want lots of eggs, go for hybrids. If you are looking for pets that lay eggs as a side benefit, there are many types to choose from. I keep pekin bantams, which are a friendly, hardy small breed. Mine are very tolerant of the children (think being taken for rides on skateboards), have loads of personality and haven't destroyed my garden. On the downside, they only lay approx. 4 eggs a week, and stop laying over the winter. Hybrids lay year round, but have a shorter life span, and can decimate a lawn in a matter of weeks. I have a wooden house, but have heard good things about the Cube. My wooden house was the same sort of price as the Cube, but I prefer it in the garden.

Basically the girls wanted something like a rabbit or guinea pig, but we all know who will be lookig after them! I read something the other day about chickens and its something I always loved the idea of, when I suggested it to DH he seemed quite keen and the girls love the idea. So yes they would be pets but part of the attraction is the eggs.

I knwo the wooden ones look much prettier but what is the benefit of a cube? We are4 looking for something that could be moved around the garden rather than a fixed henhouse.

I live in SW London and have a small garden and we have had 3 chooks, 2 small children and a cat. We have foxes but have been lucky that they have left them alone. We do close them up in the afternoon though. Ours lay one a day each. They are not bothered at all about the cat and are very tolerant of the kids although have not been on a skateboard.
My DH built them a wooden hen house. They do eat our vege patch and wreaked the lawn over winter but we love them and are very sad as we have to give them away soon as we are immigrating. A lovely Mners is taking them though.

I think the cube is just easier to maintain. Being plastic, you can clean it out with a quick pressure wash and it dries quickly. They are great if you have the room to move them about. I prefer my wooden house because it is sited permanently, on slabs. Nothing can dig in and I use a deep litter in the run which can be totally cleaned out and replaced. Here is my house. The deep kick boards keep the bedding in

Wow that does look great, however our garden is not big enough for somethin like that!

I think I'm definitely coming down on the side of the Eglu, someone told me today that in order for the hens to be happy and therefore lay eggs, you're nest to have 3 - is that right? She also mentioned that some have a timer on the doors so that you don;t have to get up early to let them out, its not that I'm lazy, just thinking of when we go away for a weekend someone coming to check on them for me.

Also which Eglu - the Classic looks slightly bigger and more room, but is it big enough for them to be in when I'm out at work and not able to let them have the run of the garden?

Thanks for all your replies so far

The eglu is fine, especially if you get the metre extension. It's best to get three hens, because when the inevitable happens you won't be left with one bird (introductions can be very stressful). I warn you though, it's addictive