Chicken question

Trewsers

Trewsers

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2004
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OH and I want some hens this year, we've been on about it for ages, so I am wanting to ask a really daft question. I may well have asked this before, so please bear with me. I know many of you on here have them.
Right, how far can they fly and why do they not try and escape and fly off properly?:redface::redface::redface: Also, if I get a cockerill will he impregnate the girls and make the eggs have baby chicks in them?:redface: Or does it not matter and can you get the eggs anyways? Sorry for the silly questions.
I have looked after the farmers birds several times, but never seem to get around to mentioning my concerns / questions. Guess I just feel silly. Though I have sussed out where we can put them, am thinking its going to be the end stable which we never use. Farmers son said they would love it in there, if I put some perches up and they would be happy as larry scratching about on the sand base we put down near the muck heap. I am worried they will fly off into nasty pants the neighbours garden -he is so dam mean he would do nasty things to them given the chance.
 
We have a 5ft fence around the property and the chickies have never left so far (about 5 years). Now mind you there are different kinds of breeds. Ours are Marans, Barred Rock and Easter Eggers. If you went with a more sporty breed they may be more inclined to fly.
Ours stop so the kids can pick them up and pet them so we don't have the wildest chickens out there.
You can eat fertilized eggs just fine. Just collect them frequently and eat them fresh. You know don't let the hen sit on them for days and then decide you want some scrambled eggs...
 
they cant really fly as such but can do some impressive power jumps. I just trimmed the feathers on the wing on one side, but they didnt move far from the food source.
 
They don't fly much but can sort of fly/jump up quite high. The heavier the breed the less they tend to jump or fly. You can clip the wings which is simple and painless.

I think bantams are the worst for long range wandering and flying.

I have Sussex x Rhode Island reds and they can jump up onto things around
4' high. I don't know how far they would wander as I keep mine in my garden which has a solid 6' fence round it.

If you have a cockerel, chicks are enevitable. As far as I know the eggs are just the same as the unfertilised onces provided you collect them on the day of laying.
 
Trewsers said:
Ah right, we were going to get some ex battery ones. I am guessing they will take a while to adjust to freedom etc.
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We have ex barn hens. When they came they where very thin and scrawney and not very strong or lively.

Ours are very tame and easy to handle. We introduced them to things slowely and gradually introduced new feeds and treats. Now they are all fat and strong and fiesty. We love our hens, they are unbelievably sweet and very funny to watch. The eggs are lovely. Mine all come to call which is very helpful if you are in a rush to go somewhere and need to put them away quickly. Being ex barn hens they don't really understand rain and will stay out and get soaked if I don't call them in.
 
Chickens aren't very aerodynamic, but I clip the primary feathers on one wing of any who are really 'houdini' inclined.

We have some ex-battery, and some I raised from week old chicks. The ex-batt girls are friendlier than the ones I reared!

And we keep a cockeral with them, he's brilliant at keeping them all together and in check, but I think he's firing blanks, because we've never had a hen go broody and hatch a clutch! ;)
 
Thank you all so much for your replies. I am very excited about getting some now and I know OH is too. Do you bed them on anything in particular? At the farm they seem to have little shelves for some of the birds with shredded paper in.
 
our maran x cockerel can leap up to the top of a standard size stable door and get out!

bantams like hamburgs are very very flyie but the heavier breeds don't tend to get off the ground. bramhas are huge and very very friendly but don't lay many eggs - if you get any rare breed you will get about 60 a year compared to 250 plus for a commercial breed but they will live longer.

my only thing about x battery ones (and we have had 2 batches) is that they die very quickly, usually within 12-18 months as they are so knackered when you get them and bred to lay for one year then stop.

black rocks lay well.

you don't need a cockerel to get eggs, and if you want a cockerel there are plenty for free. but they are the ones that make the most noise, so if you don't want to upset numpty neighbour then just get hens.

We have had cockerels and have had only one chick so far hatched out by one of the ex battery girls, though it was another hen's egg!
 
My daughter is an urban hen keeper. London regulations means they are not allowed to keep a cockerel (cocks crowing wakes urban neighbours) and have chosen four or five special breeds. The eggs are lovely.

The hens have to be shut up when no one is at home or at night to protect the hens from urban foxes. A fox injured one last year. But she survived.

The hens live in an eglu and there is masses of info on keeping chickens at their website : http://www.omlet.co.uk/

However, I have my doubts about the pics on the site showing hens wandering on emerald green lawns. Chickens seem to scratch up a garden and I remember my Mum kept chickens in an old fashioned chicken run in which no grass grew. Daughter wires off two runs and alternates use.
 
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The cockerell will tread the hens and the eggs will be fertile, but it won't make any difference to your eating them.

A hen will only go broody when she has a full nest of eggs. They lay them and they lie dormant until she goes broody and starts to sit on them, then they all start to develope together and hatch within 24 hours of each other. If you collect the eggs every day they won't go broody and sit.

I never clip wings as mine are truly free range and might need to flap out the way of an otter or polecat. They tend to use their wings to get up and down off things. A flapp from the top of a gate might get them 20 yards!.
 
diplomaticandtactful said:
my only thing about x battery ones (and we have had 2 batches) is that they die very quickly, usually within 12-18 months as they are so knackered when you get them and bred to lay for one year then stop.

!
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Really?? I have had loads of fugitives from battery farms and they have gone on for years, after about 5 years you only get one egg every 3 days or so but it's MASSIVE!
 
I keep urban hens, my lawn is a mess at the moment, but come summer it's a fabulous green colour, I guess its all the chicken poo!:unsure: lol

I have 3 hens and they all lay different coloured eggs! Can't remember the breeds but they are fab, come to call, sit on my knee and they live in an egglu!
 
that's intersting Wally, all of our x battery ones popped their clogs within 2 years, whereas our rare breeds used to regularly reach 10 years old. we have had a dozen so far, in two batches, and while they had fun and it was great seeing them enjoy themselves, they didn't live very long.
 
Trewsers said:
I didn't realise how relatively easy they sound. Didn't know they would come to call either!
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COME TO CALL, try getting them to leave you alone! You don't have to call them, they see you coming 200 yards away and you have chicken stampede with 3 turkeys thrown in for comic effect. Always reminds me of the Jurassic park scene where they end up running with the flock of dinosaurs.

Leave the kitchen window open!........
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Try and evict pain in the backside hens.......
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we have no foxes so they truly are free range, go where and when they want, no point shutting them up at night as a polecat can get through tiny holes in dry stone walls. So long as they have high roosts the pole cats can't get them at night.....make sure the roosta are not climbable by polecats.....
 
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