Backyard Hens

I don't know when I first wanted hens. I'm sure it was long before the Hugh Fernley effect took such a hold on the town dweller psyche. One day I was perfectly normal and then almost without warning I just knew. I wanted chickens.

The problem with being ahead of the trend is that you end up doing all the research yourself. I had no idea what was needed to fulfil this new desire. Luckily my husband was agreeable to the venture so we began the search for birds and the paraphernalia necessary for back yard poultry keeping. At that time we lived in Bedfordshire and finding chickens was a piece of cake. Convincing the neighbours that we weren't trashing the neighbourhood was a little trickier!

Why would anyone want to keep chickens? I have to admit that I didn't ask myself why until long after the fact. I just wanted them. I am a bit odd like that, but you might want to ask yourself why. The most obvious reason is, of course, eggs. The average hybrid chicken will lay 300+ eggs in a year, pure breeds rather fewer and since they need to be kept in a flock of at least 3 that's a lot of eggs! More important than the sheer number of eggs is the quality. No supermarket egg can come close to a truly fresh egg from your own birds. A supermarket egg will be at least a week old by the time you get it home. A fresh egg sits up in the pan when you crack it. Only a fresh egg will poach properly and if you bake cakes you will be delighted with the difference! Also, it may say free-range on the box but you can be pretty sure that unless it was produced in a very small scale enterprise that the bird that laid it will have spent most of its life indoors. This is not necessarily bad for the bird, they will stay in out of the rain just as we would, but it does mean that their diet will lack the variety that makes deep, almost orange yokes. Eat a proper egg and you will never want to eat a store bought one ever again.

Chickens make entertaining pets. Every hen has her own character and since they are social birds their interactions are endlessly fascinating. The term pecking order comes from poultry and every flock will have its own. You will soon come to know the gregarious one, the shy one and the bully! Some will become tame with just a few handful of grain and others will remain wild no matter how you try to spoil them. Add their delightful good looks and they are a winner.

So, you have decided you want them, where do you get them? Smallholder magazines have pages of small ads advertising all breeds of fowl, poultry housing and equipment. Googling will yield pages more. A local supplier can be a source not only of birds but invaluable advice and support to the new poultry keeper. Chat them up. If they aren't keen, if they don't want to “talk chickens” go somewhere else.

All a chicken really wants is a few friends, a place to sleep and somewhere to scratch about. You don't need a big garden but since the birds will scratch up the ground you will need to be able to move their house and run regularly to let it recover. If you have plants you love they will need to be protected. Chickens will eat almost anything green! The house does not need to be fancy but you can get totally carried away with the housing available. For 4 or 5 birds you can expect to pay anything from £100 to “the sky's the limit” for a good hen-house. Clever people can of course make their own! You will probably need to consider a fox-proof run.

Now the fun bit! What kind of chicken? For the beginner hybrids are easy, attractive and productive. These come in several colours bred from different strains and will lay well. You may want to take on some ex-battery birds. These are usually Ida Browns (hybrids bred mainly for battery use) that are about 18 months to 2 years old and past their best laying. They would usually be destined cheap chicken products but they have a good few years of life in them. They are pretty sorry looking but a few weeks of TLC works wonders and can be very satisfying.

Pure breeds give you huge choice of colours and characteristics and are pretty irresistible but they can be pricey. A good hybrid will cost £8 - £10, pure breed £25+.
Care for the birds is pretty minimal. The house will need cleaning once or twice a week. You will need to collect eggs daily, lock them up at night and let them out in the morning.

You can feed daily or “ad hoc” i.e. just keeping the feeder full. Water needs to be changed daily. There are good books available for the beginner. My favourite is “Starting With Hens“ by Katy Thear. It was my bible for years.
One last word, sex. You do not need a cockerel to get eggs. When you see them, the boys can be very tempting. The thought of a proud colourful chap around the place and the hope of darling little chicks might tip the decision. Don't! That proud chap will greet the dawn with hearty crowing that will wake the dead! And 60% of those darling chicks will be male! So unless you want to kill and eat your own birds you would soon be over run with useless males!
I've kept chickens now for 7 years and don't think I know the half of it. I have had ups and downs and even thought I'd get rid of the lot of but I couldn't be with out them. I would advise any one to give it a go.

Go on.

You know you want to.