Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[emmamakeup]

I'm trying to find a breeder near to Huddersfield. Do any of you know where I can find one?

 

Also, I'm looking to buy a couple of hens which are suitable for young children and that lay plenty of eggs. Please can you advise?

[Eggquisite]

Hi,

 

Can't directly help with the Huddersfield area.. but would suggest taking a look at the

Poultry Pages on the internet & or possibly grabbing a copy of The Complete Encyclopedia of

Chickens by Esther Verhoef or if that sounds like too much reading..simple guide to Keeping Chickens has plenty of suggestions.

 

Good luck with finding your girls...

[Hen Watch]

Can't help with chicken suppliers in your area. There is some supplier info on this forum, or you could also email Omlet as they have lists of local suppliers.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=4658&view=unread#unread

 

Regards choosing chickens. It is a minefield. I have hybrids from Omlet and a Meadowsweet agent and all are docile and good with children. I guess if you find a breeder, ask what the characteristics are of each breed they sell as they are all different. They should be able to tell you. With young children you might not want particularily flighty birds. If you find some breeds locally you like, come back to the forum and ask what others think of them as a breed as someone on here is bound to have one.

 

You could also look at some very general chicken choosing info on these links.

 

http://www.omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php?view=Chickens&about=faq

 

Prices are out of date but this is good.

http://www.omlet.co.uk/files/public/omlet_guide_buying_chickens.pdf

 

Also if you click on "Breeds" on the Omlet website there is tons of info on purebreeds.

[ted]

Hello,Welcome...

 

These guys are North of Sheffield on the way to huddersfield (ish)

 

http://www.storrspoultry.co.uk/

 

Raw green cottages in barnsley are meant to be good as well

[emmamakeup]

Thank you all for your help and advice. Will let you know how I go on

[finger lickin good]

We live in Huddersfield and got ours from Storrs Poultry. There is also Hinchcliffes farm shop in Huddersfield, which when I have visited has chickens for sale. We haven't got any from here but they do look well looked after.

[quickcluck]

Have you had a look at the wernlas collection, hey send them (safely) by post!

[4Clucks-minusOne]

Our three beautiful girls came from Storrs. We live the Denby Dale side of Huddersfield so they were very close. We have a Bluebelle, a Daisybelle and a Blackrock. They were all in the same coop so no problems with intros.

 

We have had 300+ eggs since the middle of December. Daisy is the most timid but still eats out of your hand and will be picked up.

 

I rang them before we went to find out which POL breeds on my list were available. They have a small shop too that sells food and extras so we could get everything we needed from there.

 

Jody from Raw Green sent an email in March saying she had POL Blackrock and Lohamms for sale.

 

Good luck. OH was all for getting a peacock from Storrs!

[emmamakeup]

Didn't konw about the Wernlas Collection. Can't find anything on their site regarding delivery. Will definitely check out Storrs.

 

You're all so very helpful. Thank you

[quickcluck]

If you call the lovely lady she will tell you all about it and send you a list. But they do purebreeds only....

[Baaaad Kitty]

Country Smallholding (magazine) have a breeders guide which is also helpfully on their website. I've sourced my hybrid bantams from a breeder named there.

 

I felt like such a poser though - I've got a small suburban London garden and I was browsing Country Smallholding magazine!

[Omletina Kyckling]

You lot are making me homesick, I'm a Slaithwaite girl (near Huddersfield) and living in Northamptonshire but all your talk of Huddersfield is making me want to head north!!

 

Good luck with finding chickens, I'd have recommended Storrs or Raw Green, or if you fancy a day further north, Glencroft Poultry have a very good selection of hybrids.

 

I think most hybrids are good with children, if you handle them as early as you can, although I may avoid any leghorn hybrids (some of the white hybrids are such) as they are more flighty so may be more difficult to catch!! Most of my hybrids love to be handled..

[emmamakeup]

Now here's how much of a novice I am - what is the definition of a hybrid? My mum and dad kept chickens as a child but I didn't learn the ins and outs of chucks.

[Hen Watch]

Now here's how much of a novice I am - what is the definition of a hybrid? My mum and dad kept chickens as a child but I didn't learn the ins and outs of chucks.

 

If you click on the third link in my post earlier, it is the Omlet Guide to Buying Chickens and it explains, pure breeds vs hybrids, bantams vs chickens etc.

 

A hybrid is a cross breed of two or more pure breeds. My Omlet hybrids are created to produce lots of eggs, more than a pure breed, but they probably won't lay for as many years as the pure breeds.

[Aggienator]

We got our girls from Storrs and can recommend them.

 

We went for Hybrids (Daisybelles) in the end (having gone intending to get ambers ). They have been really lovley, but I think Warrens would probably have been just as good for less money. Depends if pretty is important to you, and then it's a matter of taste what you think pretty is!

 

Whatever you go for you won't regret it