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[Abbey Road Girl]

I have offered to provide an Eglu and hens for some relatives. it's an expensive gift but I think it will be worth it, if they decide to accept. The Eglu seems price competitive with commercially made wooden coops/runs and most of the cost can be recovered through resale should that be necessary.

 

The rellies weren't very interested, but then I mentioned how daft and entertaining hens were...

[Snoxy]

I went to a friends house and when I clapped eyes on her pink Eglu and friendly girls I just thought WOW I fell in love instantly...went home e-mailed hubby the Omlet link...when I didn't hear from him within 1/2 an hour I rang him at work...he said yes order one straightaway..doubt then set in when I thought about how much poo they might produce After thinking about it for a couple of weeks to make sure I wasn't just acting on impulse I ordered one

 

My husband always wanted chickens apparently but thought we'd need to be living in the countryside and have a big rambling garden

 

One of my fondest childhood memories is that of my Grandad's chickens and collecting their eggs

 

Our girls arrived on Tuesday morning and we are eggstatic they are finally here Can't wait to let them out on Saturday eve as I don't like to see them in the run...although they appear happy

Edited April 10, 2008 by Guest

[Lydia]

I got the late flight back from Belfast and needed something to read. The inflight magazine had an article on Omlet which made keeping chickens seem very possible.

 

2 weeks later I ordered the eglu and 2 chooks and presented them to my husband as a surprise birthday present. He was very surprised!!

 

3 years later and we've got 5 chickens, 2 eglus are about to upsize with a walk in run and add a few more ex-batts.

 

Oh and I don't like eggs all that much so friends and neighbours benefit hugely

Edited April 14, 2008 by Guest

[SharonX]

This was an idea my husband had a couple of years ago after reminising with his brother over the ex Batts they brought home from the farm they worked on with their parents. I thought he was completely bonkers and told him in no uncertain terms there was no way we were having any chickens!

 

He found the omlet website anyway and I liked the idea, but I was too scared of birds and their flapping wings and beady eyes so the discussion eventually stopped.

 

My son started senior school and has a working farm attatched which he now belongs as Young Farmer and came home telling me of the chicken antics with lots of enthusiasm and humour. Then came the chicken out Jamie and Hugh thing and it all started up again. I reluctantly agreed, and warned Hubby and Son that they were their responsibility and I was taking a back seat as I was too scared. Delivery was set for Feb 23rd which was a Saturday, thought great everyone will be home to sort it all out. This was then cancelled and arranged for the Monday when I would be home alone

 

When they finally were allowed out I sat with my feet up on the chair petrified, but also quite happy watching them. The table & chairs then moved next to the egul so I could watch them, and now I can't get enough of them. I even pick them up, which I thought was a necessity incase a trip to the vet was ever needed & I was on my own.

 

Hubby & Son have no need to do anything for them, because I've already done it and love every minute of it . .....

[Trixabell]

I'm a Jamie and Hugh convert i'm afraid Hadn't even ever considered keeping chickens til I saw Jamies Fowl dinners following on from Hughs Chicken Run, the next day we were out having dinner and the thought of those poor hens cooped up in the battery farm was eating away at me, so i just mentioned to my OH about the possibility of keeping them.....he was really up for it so I rang my grandad who has 2 and he said they were easy to look after....I remembered the BHWT from Jamies programme and e-mailed them.....the rest as they say is history!!!

[Flo]

I had wanted chickens for years (despite having a huge fear of birds) and had an Omlet leaflet from when I first heard about them a few years ago.

 

It was a bit of a pipe dream or so I thought. I was watching the Borat movie with my OH, Borat has a chicken that he takes around with him and OH said that he would like a chicken. I whipped out the Omlet leaflet and he was hooked! We got our two girls almost a year ago and love them. OH wants to get a silkie this year too!

[Tessa the Duchess]

For years I've wanted to sell up in London and buy something with a bit of land, keep chickens and maybe pigs but real life kept on getting in the way, elderly parents, children settled in schools, worries about how we would earn money, and now I could do it I just don't think I have the physical strength any more to cope with all the hard physical work. So keeping a few chickens in my back garden makes me feel I am doing it, in a really small way Finding the Eglu finally decided me, so easy to keep clean

 

Tessa

[FruitandNutCake]

I've always been involved in animal welfare and healthy living. Most of my previous rabbits were either rescued or rehomed rabbits, and I've always wanted to keep chickens (especially the little fluffy ones!)

 

I'm also trying to educate my children about where food comes from,animal welfare issues and recycling etc. and I grow my own organic veg. So I think it will be great for us all to have ex batt chickens, followed by a couple of fluffy ones!

 

I have never watched Jamie Oliver's programme -but whenever I mention the fact that I'll be getting ex batt chickens, people assume it is because of his programme!!!

[Willow]

For me it was tasting the eggs my brother's chickens laid. I am keen on ensuring the food we eat is good and his eggs were so good. I liked the self sufficiency aspect as well. I liked the look of the eglu and asked for it for my birthday last year. Having got my chickens I can't imagine being without chickens in the garden they are so endearing and now currently have quail eggs in an incubator.

[Olly]

Isn't that funny - two other people (Flo and SharonX) as well as me, who were scared of birds before they got their chickens.

 

I actually went on a course before I got the chickens, to help me overcome my phobia as I was worried I would not be able to pick them up. I don't handle mine an awful lot, but I do pick up at least one chicken on most days. I do worry about what I will do if one keels over, because my phobia was always much worse in relation to dead birds, but I guess I will handle that one if it happens!

[Flo]

I had my fear right up to the moment the nice man from Omlet handed me Luci! It took me a couple of weeks of handling them everyday to get used to them, and Mabel scared me for a while, she can be evil looking!

 

My fear of other birds has decreased too, so I don't flinch quite so much when a pigeon flies at me!

[chelsea]

I live in the country and am a country bumpkin at heart. Always wanted livestock (have pigs and goats and ducks on my list!! ) hubby is a chicken catcher for a living and brought home 3 runts one morning as a surprise! ("wakey wakey - surprise!!")

[Valkyrie]

Like Strepsy, I have always wanted chickens. My grandfather had them - Light Sussex x RIR's. My mum's favourite was a hen that she named Jack, after Jack Shepherd the Highwayman because like him, the hen kept escaping! The cockerel she wasn't sure about, but she remembers he was very colourful and very docile - he never crowed. He eventually developed rheumatism and my grandad loved him so much that he used to rub embrocation on the cocks legs to ease the discomfort! Dad also had tales of his own because his youngest brother swapped some rags with the rag and bone man for 6 chicks. He remembers being woken up at 3 in the morning because his brother thought the chicks might be cold. So he went and fixed a low wattage bulb with a cover over it - much to my nan's fury at the expense when she found out the following morning. Needless to say they all turned out cockerels and found their way to the dinner table!

When the children were younger we spent so much time at different farm parks, and it renewed my need for hens. It was a great suprise when OH suggested that we could get some for my 50th birthday. This will be the best birthday pressie ever. (Er, from my brother I have an early pressie - not quite the same - its a Dukes of Hazzard remote control car with yelling and air horn noise!! )

[meezers]

I grew up in New Zealand where everyone seemed to keep chooks ( always 'chooks', never chickens ! ) I was fascinated by them even then. 20 odd yrs ago I went vegetarian - mainly because I disagreed with how the animals were farmed and slaughtered, Then several yrs ago I went to work at a poultry processing plant ( just cleaning it - not doing anything nasty to the poor chooks ! )it's always irked me when I come to buy eggs - I can't always afford free range and Barn is not always an acceptable alternative, but it was even worse after working there.

Round about the same time a neighbour of ours got a funky new dog kennel - unlike anything I'd seen before , I went on the net to find out what it was , and inadvertently discovered the eglu - I WANTED one! but no way could afford one ( still couldn't ) but it sowed the seed of plans to keep chooks , thought I might save up , well that didn't happen, but earlier this year I was tidying the garden and was getting fed up with the bit at the side that is always overgrown and thought, 'well, if I put a chicken run on it I wouldn't have to weed it again ! the rest is history.

[kiwichick]

*waving*

Hi Meezers from a fellow Kiwi

[Sarah B]

I had always fancied the idea of a couple of chooks and very fresh free range eggs but I didnt want the hassle of building a coop.

 

For some reason at work one day the question came up of can hens lay eggs without a cockerel? I said they did and to prove it I did a search online and Omlet popped up!

 

I had a good read of the website, had a chat with hubby and that was that it was ordered with hens in 4 days!

[Ziggy]

I never ever thought I'd keep chickens... I thought that's what folks in the country do, not town people like me...

Then I read about Omlet in a book (something about reducing waste and living a greener life... No waste like Home or something like that)... Immediately knew I'd love to have chickens, and talked about it to OH and DDs... OH went .... DD1 went ... DD2 was beside herself with excitement at the thought... DD3 and DD4 didn't seem to care (well DD4 was still a baby)... so the next Xmas we secretely ordered an eglu and 2 chooks for DD2... she loved it, it's been a wonderful gift for her, she and I both love animals of all kinds, and now we are getting 3 ex batts too.

[HasSumAmi]

The Good Life!

I was a dot when I used to watch it the 1970s. We didn't have a garden, but I was totally smitten by the idea of leading The Good Life. Took me 30 years to get there, but eventually I did! (well the chickens at least!)

[TrishY]

My parents kept hens when I was a child and living in Gosforth, Newcastle and I had good memories. I found the eglu when researching for a project on animal housing for college and decided then that I wanted one and hens but when I first got the chooks I kept them on my allotment before ordering the eglu. They are now in the back yard

[Stevie]

Really intresting replies to my question and varied,but the one thing which i can see in everyones posts is a real passion for chooks.

[meezers]

*waving*

Hi Meezers from a fellow Kiwi

 

Hiya! though I'm not a real kiwi - was born in England, grew up in Halswell, Christchurch. Where abouts are you from ( your'e a long way from home ! )

[twix]

my dad got me into them when i was a young girl growing up in london. Had to go without when I first left home but couldn't live without for any longer and hatched myself a new start last summer..

They just make so much sense.

[Abbey Road Girl]

Bless you, Stevie, for beginning this thread!

 

It allows us to express a lovely passion...

[kiwichick]

Sorry Stevie, don't want to hijack the thread but....

Hiya! though I'm not a real kiwi

 

Well, I guess that makes you a hybrid I'm originally from Napier then Wellington which will always be home.

 

... and now back to the original topic...

My mum grew up on farm and when I told her I was getting chickens her first response was "Ew, they're dirty, smelly things". Now, it's "I'd like a couple of chooks"