Selfsufficientish.com

I finally got my way and we are now the proud owners of 5 hens

A Light Sussex, a silver sussex and speckled Marron (cross) an Isa brown and a Rhode Island red cross. My 4 yr old sone picked them on the basis of colour!!! and they have...unusual names!!

3 of them are 18 weeks and coming into lay soon fingers crossed and the other two, the Silver sussex - Ruby is laying a weeny egg a day and Lulu the speckled one should be laying any day now.

I have to say that there is nothing more satisfying than watching my son collect and egg from the nest box then seeing him eat it. Especially as he has always refused to eat eggs of any sort. I managed to stretch this weeny egg between my 2 boys and silence reigned as they tucked in!!!!!

Just a quick question as I haven;t kept chooks for ages (Ducks were my thing) is there anything they shouldn't eat or are they pretty self gouverning. And Tobe's keeps picking them up. He is very gentle and does it the right way but if he hurt them I would know wouldn;t I. They just seem a little less robust than duckS

if you saw how commercial battery flocks are handled, I wouldn't worry too much about your little one doing them a damage - but do watch their beaks - if he picks them up, they are pretty daft, and will peck at things - including eyes!
Congratulations - that sounds like a great bunch of chooks, at this time of year a feather duster will lay, so if they're close to lay, probably won't be long now!

Great - I'm so jealous... One of these days, I'll be able to announce the arrival of my chooks, too!

Congratulations Witchypoo, I am organising myself just now to make my henhouse and then fence in a corner of the garden for a run (they'll also be out in the rest of the garden under supervision occassionally. I can't wait to get my hens, a friend of mine has hatched some for me, can't recall all the breeds/cross breeds just now, I know the cockeral is a buff orpington. Any tips as you get into your hen keeping would be most appreciated. Kind regards, Pam

Congratulations! I am sure you'll have loads of fun with them!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

I too have 3 chooks in my back concrete totally urban yard and 36 eggs lift in the incubator - no idea if they will hatch as i havent seen any movement for a few days now... Due between tomorrow and friday! so major fingers crossed.

I bet you will be hatching eggs before you know it hehehe

Well done!

Nev

hooorahhhhhhhhhhhh - what are their unusual names???


we've got light sussex... including 2 newly hatched (I think one of each - have tried to sex looking at the primary/secondary feathers coming through) and our broody is sitting on 10 eggs at the mo. We've got buff sussex too, and one.... YES only one from 6 eggs... silver dorking.. but hugh fearlessly eatsitall reckons that the light sussex/dorking cross is a very good meat bird.

No names for ours.. apart from a roo and hen that we bought as a breeding pair... we named them posh and pecks...