Cat tails Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Oh my bad! You're looking for full sized birds! Pekins are very similar to the bantam version of cochins. But he sells those seperate from the cochins. Not sure who here has full sized cochins, but no doubt someone will turn up to tell you all about them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Hi Sweetpea - welcome to the forum As far as I am aware, Cochins are massive! So I'd recommend getting 2m worth of extension if the girls are going to be shut in the run for extended periods. Looking forward to following your chicken adventures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisgb Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Hello, Newbie looking for advice. I want to rehome some battery hens- that's the only reason I'm looking to keep chickens. Min decided between the eglu classic and the cube- I don't really want 10( certainly not to start with!) and someone suggested that too few in the cube would have trouble keeping warm. However, I'm not sure that the classic will be quite. Large enough. I'm probably going to get four hens to start with, and wonder if the classic will be too small for them? The run is not a problem, I can offer them free-ranging much of the time. Appreciate any advice. Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 If you can afford it, go for the Cube. 4 full sized chooks is full house in a Classic, and I know there are people on here who have 4 or fewer in a Cube and have never had problems with them getting cold. Oh, and welcome to the forum Let us know what you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Welcome to the forum Angela. I have had four in a classic with a larger run. At the moment I have 3 ex batts in a classic in a WIR and also 2 hybrids in a cube. Both groups seem quite happy. If you think you might like more than four in the future I would go for a cube. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachel84 Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Hi, I used to have chickens and an Eglu many years ago (i did lurk on the forum occasionally as well but haven't a clue what my login details were!) I now have 4 lovely new girls (Gloria, Gladys, Doris and Edna) in an Eglu Cube - they are quite young still and not laying but hopefully in the next few weeks we'll get some eggs! All very exciting and am loving having chooks again Rachel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Welcome back I love names you've chosen, hope you get soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachel84 Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thank you very much! On another note - we got the eglu feeder and drinker with the cube but aren't going to use them - where is the best place to post this to offer them? I don't want anything for them, would just be nice to know they were going to be used! Thanks, Rachel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 There is a 'free to a good home' section if you look at the board index! I don't know how busy that section is but it might be worth a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keymaster Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Hi My name is Roy and I live in Norfolk, I have always wanted Hens but was always too busy with work and bringing up three children as a single father was enough to keep me busy. I have a large garden and more spare time since "kids" are now all adult. My daughter is buying me three pol chickens for my birthday and one of my sons put in some money for me to order a eglu cube, I am very excited by it all, cube/run are due for delivery later in the week. One local breeder recomended i start with sussex lights and or cuckoo marens another recommended hybrid Rhode Rock's, I am also paranoid about the girls being vaccinated and not bringing red mite with them. Thanks for letting me join your forum and if anybody in Norfolk has any wise words I am more than happy to listen. Best wishes R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Welcom Roy! Have fun around here and hesitate to ask anything! My fellow Omleteers are very helpful and knowledgeble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Welcom Roy! Have fun around here and hesitate to ask anything! My fellow Omleteers are very helpful and knowledgeble. Hi Roy Welcome to the forum. I am sure Cat Tails means don't hesitate to ask. Someone always knows the answer. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Welcom Roy! Have fun around here and hesitate to ask anything! My fellow Omleteers are very helpful and knowledgeble. Hi Roy Welcome to the forum. I am sure Cat Tails means don't hesitate to ask. Someone always knows the answer. Chrissie Of course that's what I meant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebubbles Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Hello! I am very new to chickens and have had my three girls for just under a week! Prior to this my experience was the months of research about how to best look after the hens. We have a small set up at the moment, 3 pullets (Claret - Ranger Hybrid, Bluebell - Blue Hybrid and Bubbles - Light Sussex) all in a decent size coop with a run! The plan is to let them free range when we are at home but we have kept them in the coop and run for the 1st week, although I cant wait to let them out into the garden. As I said I am very new to all this and I am sure I will have lots of questions as time goes on so thanks for your patience in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Hello Bluebubbles, welcome to the forum I remember the excitement of waiting to let my chooks out for their first free range! Hope you're having lots of fun chicken watching Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kopperdrake Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Hi, my name's Duncan and I'm a chicken addict. I also speak on behalf of my wife, but I'm not sure the kids would label themselves as 'enthusiasts', especially on cleaning out day We started around eight years ago with four ex-batts from BHWT - we went for three and picked up Oggy (also known as Skelator due to her total lack of feathers). They lived in a part of the garden that was soon to turn to dirt, despite all best intentions. Two years on we were lucky enough to take some land on behind the house which enabled us to start growing our own veggies on a bigger scale, and planted half an acre of orchard. The chickens moved to a much larger piece of grassy land, and like all chicken people, more space brought more chicken opportunity! The flock expanded, we took on two hybrids, a Black Rock and Bluebelle, and then a lady stopped at the front gate in 2012 and said "Oh you keep chickens - would you mind keeping mine for a few weeks as we're trying to sell our house and it's putting people off seeing the animals?". You can guess what happened - yep, she never returned. So we had nine more chickens, two of whom had to be put down within the week with acute egg peritonitus - their bellies were green and bare All had scaly leg mite, and there was so much mud build up on their feet from their old run, it was clumped around the end of their claws in balls of hardened mud. I had to use the pliers to crack them off Anyway, the seven who survived went on to be lovely birds, one in particular - Spotty - was the last to pass away last year, a little banty, who looked a bit like a buff columbian - so noisy and was always at your feet for food, chattering away. Over time it was time to start looking for more chooks, and we decided it was too painful to have hybrids that are built to lay as fast as they can, and then suffer the ills of an over-worked body - prolapses, peritonitus, generally shattered. Our answer was to start our own flock, and to take on first hand the business of hatching our own birds, with all of the problems that can entail. We decided on Light Sussex as they had a reputation for being docile, galumping things and this has proved to be true - we now have a small flock of Light Sussex large fowl, and the cockerel you can pick up and handle if he's close enough - they're lovely! We also have a small flock of bantam Light Sussex, and a flock of what we call the "motley crew" as they're all rescue or rehomed chickens, and they all live in the orchard which is proper trees now! Oh, yes, we have a couple of angry geese 'lawnmowers', three rescued male call ducks (Larry, Curly and Mo) and two Khaki Campbell rehomed ladies left over from a divorce. I'm sure we can arrange a partridge in one of the pear trees too, if the pigeons would only stop breaking branches off! As far as housing has gone, we've pretty much done it all - we started out with a small cheap wooden coop off ebay, for our four original ladies (Maggy, Oggy, Aggy and Granny - all named after Terry Pratchett witches It lasted well, with a few repairs on the way, then we moved to two homebuilt wooden arcs, which were just too heavy to move around if I'm honest. We suffered from red mite two years running, the last one was really bad and took so much getting rid of we had to dismantle the coops to clean it out. Having heard that plastic was better we tried a doodlehouse - in fact we had two, and a bad gust of wind in the winter blew them over and they snapped! Luckily it was during the day so no injuries! We then moved to Green Frog Designs houses for the geese and they were/are brilliant - they look as good as they did the day we bought them, and are so easy to clean out. But, when it came to a replacement for the doodlehouses for the chooks, we wanted something we could move around easily (they move from area to area during the year to give the ground a rest) and we found that Omlet were the only people to make a moveable coop with a fox-proof run. The cost had put us off before, if I'm honest, but we plumped for one and found it was brilliant! Standing up to clean, movable, extendable run, no high perches for lazy chunky Light Sussex to scramble on to (they can't be bothered!). A year later the flock grew, so we got another, and then we had 13 rescue chickens land on us so we got one second hand, knowing how well they last by now! But then the electric fencing happened, so a run wasn't so essential, and the poor bantams were popped into a Green Frog coop, but again, it's a decent bit of kit. Ah, and we've just bought into the Eglu Go as well, as a tiny foray into chicken boarding. So all in all, we are Omlet lovers, and have experienced a fair bit of the other offerings to know you do get what you pay for! And that's us as far as chooks is, in a rather long and windy nutshell. Hi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewart814 Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Hi I am a new member. Have four chickens - Daisy, Ramona, Anna and Elsa. Have built them a covered run and recently extended it so I can reclaim most of my garden back. I did this by adding a hatch to an uncovered run which uses Omlet fencing, which is excellent. The chickens can now roam all day at the bottom of my garden. However, I have had the chickens for a year now and urgently need to find a chicken sitter so I can book up and take a 10 day holiday. Does anyone know someone local to me who could help? I live in Milton Keynes. Please private message me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDB Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Hello - I'm new and we have four chickens via the BHWT (Hen Broon, Hen Solo, Princess Layer and Yolko Ono) which we got last Sunday, so they're still in the tragic badly phase but already their feathers are looking fluffier. We've had a decent number of eggs so far and no problems with foxes or neighbours or anything. We live in Winchester and don't know of any other chicken keepers around here, so feel free to let me know if you're local. Cheers, JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Hello JB - Yolko Ono - that's a good one that I haven't heard before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosiechick Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Hi, I'm new and new to chicken owning, I adopted 4 from our local school in July Phoebe, Ginger, Chelsea and Daisy. Sadly Phoebe and Ginger passed away 6 weeks later, they are about 4 years old. Anyway on Monday we brought two more, so back to 4 chickens again, the new ones are called Pumpkin and Poppy. There was a bit of scuffling Monday night but they have seemed to all settled in ok, still a bit of pecking going on but not as bad as I thought. My daughter loves them and goes out every morning to give them "Chicken cuddles and love!" We love their little characters they are so different. Hope to meet loads of chicken friends on here and learn from experienced people. Rosiechick xxxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Hi Rosiechick, Welcome to the forum This is a really friendly forum with lots of advice to hand should you need it. Looking forward to hearing more about your flock. Love the names! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binxyboo Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 Hello. I'm binxyboo - but you can call me binxy!! I have been desperate for chickens for many, many years now! When we moved to a bigger house with a bigger garden, hubby finally said we could get chickens. I managed to get myself a second hand Eglu classic with run on eBay about 4 months ago, and today, we finally got ourselves 3 girls!! They are Bovan Browns (apparently!!), and are 21 weeks old.We have called them Mona, Molly, and Martha. I loook forward to bombarding you all with questions!! Hopefully, the links below will take you to some pics of my girls. Martha is the dark one. Molly is the speckly one, and Mona is the pale one. https://goo.gl/photos/Ckyp53JaWWNjvrwi7 https://goo.gl/photos/GbNG8tKjW6g8zH7G8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 Hello.I'm binxyboo - but you can call me binxy!! I have been desperate for chickens for many, many years now! When we moved to a bigger house with a bigger garden, hubby finally said we could get chickens. I managed to get myself a second hand Eglu classic with run on eBay about 4 months ago, and today, we finally got ourselves 3 girls!! They are Bovan Browns (apparently!!), and are 21 weeks old.We have called them Mona, Molly, and Martha. I loook forward to bombarding you all with questions!! Hopefully, the links below will take you to some pics of my girls. Martha is the dark one. Molly is the speckly one, and Mona is the pale one. https://goo.gl/photos/Ckyp53JaWWNjvrwi7 https://goo.gl/photos/GbNG8tKjW6g8zH7G8 Welcome to wonderful world of chicken keeping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bantam Banter Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Hi I am also new. I am new to chickens and am very much excited about the journey it will take me on. We've just received our first eggs and are over the moon with our cute and courageous pekin bantams. I have only just registered and am looking forward to all the helpful and constructive advice from this community to which I hope I may be a part of. Speak soon, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scruffy123 Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Hi there. Thanks for accepting me to the group. So I'm from Australia, but have been living in Berkshire for a couple of years. My hubby and I have a little one that is 10 months old and absolutely loves little creatures. When I grew up, I had silky bantams as pets and I adored them, I dressed them up and named them Charles and Diana. Does anyone have any advice about keeping Silky's here in the UK or am I better off to get some normal laying hens? Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
