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Hayleybug

which chickens are the least destructive??

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Hello everyone! this is my first post on the boards, i am going to a Hen Party course on saturday and am really keen to get my first chickens asap. i rent but am obviously going to check with the landlord etc before getting started, my first question though is whether there is a breed of chicken which is less likely to cause loads of garden damage? or is that a completely ridiculous question?! :D i will put all of the garden back to its original state but would be interested in choosing some chickens which may be less destructive. any ideas or alternatively advise on how to reduce lawn/plant damage would be great! thanks

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Hi and welcome :D

 

Pekins dont do much damage to lawns, urban legend has it that feather footed breeds are less destructive, this isnt the case for all as Faverolles and Marans will have a good scratch but Pekins do seem to be one of the least destructive, Sultans also dont scratch a lot but they are rare and are higher maintenance

 

Any chook will eat your flowers, veg and plants though so if you can net part of the garden off for them then that may be a good idea!

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Really sorry, but dont think the two go together, but saying that, I think you fall in love with the little beasties and you then dont really mind too much :lol::lol:

2 years ago I had Silver Gilt for my garden,

Last year Silver, This year dont think I will bother :lol::lol:

We are re turfing next week as fancy having something green in the garden this year.

I think Prevention is the best way to go, net off the plants and only allow on grass when it grows, never let them near it in the winter, well thats what I will try next year.

(pink eglu) + WIR

GNR Lavender

GNR Mable

(white chicken) Marjorie

GNR Violet

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I have loads of different breeds and I have never seen my Pekins or Brahmas digging, it seems to be true about feathered footed breeds doing less damage with the exception of Silkies who seem to enjoy digging. Hybrids on the other hand are wreckless, noisy hooligans who will trash everything in sight :lol:

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thanks for all of your replies, very helpful advice! i was ideally thinking of full-sized chickens rather than a bantam breed due to wanting decent sized eggs, and as often as possible whereas i have read the breeds guide on this website and it says that bantams are not really the best for this. ideally really need a guide in the breeds section which tells you which chicken is the friendliest, prolific-laying, un-destructive breed, but i think maybe i am wishing for too much in one fluffy package :) i guess as omlet provide a choice of 2 breeds then these would be the best options for a beginner? or is that not necessarily the case?

thanks again!

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Most chickens are pretty destructive but there are ways you can protect your garden! You can cover areas needing protection in chicken wire or you can buy glass covers from most DIY type stores. Or you can put chicken netting up to keep your chickens in, so that they can't get to the flower beds, etc. Chicken netting is very cheap and you can buy it almost everywhere. However, try and get good-quality netting and attach it securely - also, make sure the chickens can't get under it! As a rule, big birds are more destructive than little birds, so i'm afraid if you go for biggies you need to look at protecting your garden, not less destructive chickens!

 

GNR Hazel, Ranger, Audi, Porsche, RIP Chestnut, +1 not named

(Bluebelle) Noodle

 

(purple eglu) x1

(cube pink) x1

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we have an ex batt, faverolle & an araucana. They have completely trashed the garden :( & I'm really rather sad about it. This is despite the fact that for the most part they are either in their WIR or their hen garden. We also have 2 pekins who thankfully don't seem so destructive but the cumulative effect is dreadful. Last year didn't seem quite so bad but the fav & araucana were just babies then & not nearly so strong.

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Frozen ones :dance: hee hee. Seriously thery are all pretty messy and love digging and scratching but as long as you stay on top of it you'll be fine. We rent and we didn't check with our landlady :whistle: Anything can son be put back and a few bits of turf will sort any messy bits out. We love gardening and just make sure that we tidy up every night before they go to bed, just a bit of sweeping and its all back straight. Why dont you section just a small bit of the garden off to limit mess to one area and see how you go? Some netting and a few canes will do the job. We have an ISA brown, a black rock and have just got a bluebelle and a speckildy. Be warned, they are SO addictive. I only got the blueblee and speckildy 2 weeks ago and I want somre more :oops: Good luck!

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I found the brown hybrid "that includes ex batt" is the most destructive and the worst bullies, I had 14 of them, I got red of them all, given the choice "not easy to find" I would go for white leghorn, they are good layers and least destructive, I have 3 white leghorn hens and a white leghorn rooster, recently I got 6 Barred Plymouth Rock hens and so far so good

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Our silkie is the worst offender - she digs to Australia - I always say "well 5 toes are obviously better than 4". Next comes the maran and the sussex - they kick it much further. The orpies do a good job of s"Ooops, word censored!"ing the lawn and trampling down the soil in the borders while the pekins shuffle - even they are capable of placing soil on the grass in big volumes (or at least wherever the soil hasn't been compacted by the fat girls).

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Ooooooo this is difficult as I wouldn't want to put you off getting some chooks as they are really great fun and the eggs are delicious :drool:

 

I do wish I had not been so unprepared as to the damage that they do. I have only got two hybrids but they have between them totally ruined what lawn we had. Unless you have a really large lawn, don't believe the pictures that omlet show on their website. Chooks eat and dig up the grass quicker than it can grow (actually it doesn't grow once they have dug it up!!) :lol::lol::lol: so unless you have a large area of lawn to keep moving the eglu and run around then you just have to have a permanent site for them, with a section of garden partitioned off for them. This is what I'm doing this year. Even after all I've said above I would not be without them as they are such characters!!! :D:D:D:D

 

You have to think why you are getting the chooks. For me it was to have eggs without cruelty so the balance has to be how much of your garden do you want to sacrifice? I thought they would be able to wander around the garden at will, but quickly I discovered that that is not practical. So now they will have a smaller area of garden but at least they are far better off than the poor creatures with barely an A4 size area for their short life spans!!!!

 

My husband was dead set against them at first, but now I have caught him several times talking lovingly to them! :D:D:D

 

I haven't bought any eggs for over a year and feel quite proud of my girls - just need to pursuade OH to get some more girlies!!

 

Hope I've not put you off, but I think the more prepared you are the better.

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If You are looking for large fowl i would say -

Brahmas

Or Orpingtons :D

have to dissagree as my orps love hole digging.. :lol: :lol: not a problem for me at all but they certainly do dig :lol:

all my chickens like to scratch around, but probably the one that does the least is my bluebelle, however this is just how it is here, others will have bluebelles that dig and scratch :lol:

 

good luck! :)

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thanks everyone, this has all been very helpful and dont worry; you certainly cant put me off! however i will hide this forum from the OH :wink:

i'm perfectly happy to replace the lawn (its not big about 5m by 2m and is in bad condition anyway due to the end of the garden being fairly damp), and i think there is an area i can demarkate (is this a word?!) for the chickens fairly easily with some netting/fencing as recommended. i wouldnt be able to let them completely FR in the garden as theres only hedges between us and both neighbours which pheasants use as doorways regularly so i can imagine they'd be off without a fence! i guess as most people have said since they all have their own personalities etc that i wont know until i give it a go! a learning experience as they say. you have got me thinking though, because i love bantams but i want more eggs, rather than putting me off you've got me wanting a bigger garden so i can have 2 eglus!!! :o

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Don't be put off bantams because they're not supposed lay as prolifically as others...

 

I have three crazy Pekins who started laying in December and haven't stopped since! :lol: They're laying 3-4 eggs every two days, and the warmer weather has meant a few 3-egg days already... including today! In fact, we've been giving away 2 boxes a week because I just can't get through them fast enough.

 

They love a good scratch about in the borders, but the lawn is intact - except for me having stomped up and down it to the chook house during winter.

 

I am now, however, obsessing about some Orps this year, which (of course) means... more space!! :lol:

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ah now you see you've confused me again as i really like bantams, the size is better i can imagine for a medium sized garden, i've also just had a bit of a google and quite like the look of amber star. i think really i need to get a shortlist together then go along to a breeder and have a look at the ladies 'in the flesh' so to speak and decide that way...

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Sorry... didn't mean to make it worse!! :oops:

 

I picked Pekins because my garden isn't huge and because they're generally described as being less destructive, which I do think they are. I'm totally besotted with them now, so am completely biased!! :roll: Also, they come in a gorgeous range of colours!! 8)

 

I also happen to think (in my total bias) that they have sweeter-sounding voices, just because they're smaller I guess. A few of my neighbours have things like warrens and RIRs so there's a lot of shouting during the day - and I can always tell my girls from the others!

 

You're right to go and have a look at a breeders (although I just wanted one of everything!)

In all honesty, you're going to love love LOVE whatever you get... it's just that there are so many to choose from! Good luck! :P

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thanks very much everyone! am very tempted by the pekins now i have had a good look at the breed info on omlet and its down to either those, or speckledys or amber stars i think. i guess since pekins are bantams i would be able to get 3 or 4 in the eglu? i was thinking if i went for speckledys or amber stars it would have to be just 2 especially as i wouldnt have a WIR yet. just got to get hold of the landlord now- i'm desperate to get my order placed!!!

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