Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[MissMac]

We've now got our eglu (thanks to the lovely Chicken Bark) and are looking at getting some point of lay hens if possible later this week. What I really wanted was your thoughts and recommendations on breeds and/or hybrids.

 

In part we're doing this because I've always fancied chicken keeping, but it's also partially because we've got a severely Autistic 10 year old, who loves animals and enjoys eggs for breakfast. We think (if he enjoys it) it could actually be the start of a lovely hobby for him. Even if he doesn't, we'll enjoy it and so will our other two kids

 

They will be in the run for a lot of the day (the chickens, not the kids) - free ranging in the early evening for a few hours. We do need hens who will develop into reasonably reliable layers simply because we'll need to establish routines with our son.

 

Any suggestions for kid friendly, placid chooks who lay lots of eggs?

[migsy]

For lots of eggs you should get hybrids. These tend to make good pets too. Have a look at breeds such as Amber Star, Black Rock, Speckledy, Bluebelle, Warrens. There are some nice pictures and descriptions on happychicks.co.uk where I got mine from. My most docile bird is the Amber Star. Good luck! They are interesting and useful pets - I love watching them and want more!

[Chucky Mama]

I have 2 Bluebelles and 2 Amber Stars. I would recommend either - the Amber Stars are very outgoing and lovely to handle.

[poppers77]

We have 3 light sussex & they are very docile, curious & fabulous to watch. We would hightly reccommend them as they are very pretty easy to look after too!

[honorandkit]

We've only just got ours and they are still very young, but already the Black Rock and the Bluebelle are incredibly friendly.

We have a 6 year old and 4 year old and they are thrilled that they can hand-feed, stroke etc.

 

I think chickens should be available on the NHS, instead of anti depressants - they are wonderfully relaxing and positive creatures.

[Tutti Frutti]

Any brown chicken! Warren, goldline, ISA Brown - different names for the same thing, the typical farmyard (or battery farm ) hen. Our ex-batts are the friendliest, scattiest chooks I know

 

As for rescuing ex-bats though? As much as I LOVE my girls, their egg-production is erratic (not regular like you need), their lifespan is a complete unknown (could be days, weeks, months or years - just no telling!), and their "oven-ready" look is shocking. Only you know whether your children could accept and understand all those things.

 

Good luck and welcome to the fun that is chicken keeping!

 

PS I'd recommend that you (or you WITH your son/children) let the chooks out in the morning as there have been a couple of unusual cases on here of chooks dying in their sleep and being found in the nest box next morning

[MissMac]

That's a really handy thing to know Tutti Frutti - thank you for mentioning that. (He wouldn't be able to do it unsupervised anyway, but it's good to be braced for these things!)

 

Thank you very much for the recommendations everyone. It really does help knowing what sort of hens will fit in with our family.

[Redwing]

hybrids are good but they will lay for less years than a pure bred, they will lay most days for about two years before production starts to drop

 

I would go for one of the more reliable pure breeds in the bantam size (child friendly size!) Rhode Island reds, Sussex, Australorps and Marans are all good.

 

Polands are good layers for pure breeds, lovely to look at too but have a few more special management requirements.

 

Pekins are wonderful fun and great characters but have a tendancy towards broodiness - when they are laying they lay well

[Aimee]

We've had our Hybrids about a month now and they are fab. It took a few weeks for them to become confident around us - even now two are quite skittish but three are constantly under our feet when we let them out (particularly when there are mealworms on offer ). I'd recommend finding a breeder with a selection so your son can choose. My 12 year old son loved being able to do this.

 

I stressed for a while before buying over which types to go for but someone on here reassured me that all hybrids are fairly docile, so we went for the very scientific approach of picking ones we liked the look of, each in a different colour so it would be easy for my son (and OH...) to tell who was who.

 

Good look - we'll be waiting to see what you go for.

[chicken bark]

Hello again MissMac

 

I think choosing hens is almost the most exciting bit. The most exciting being actually getting them and then getting that first egg!

 

Of my hens the Amber Star is probably the friendliest although all of them are friendly and have put up with my children trying to catch them.

 

There are so many breeds out there and then there are true bantams and bantam versions of most larger breeds.

You might want to consider bantams. They take up less space so that means you can have more!

 

One of the things I enjoyed about the eglu is that when the hens go to bed at night you can open the egg port and take one out for a cuddle. No chasing involved.

[jennydavies]

Our two Bluebelles are very friendly and love being stroked and petted. Our Light Sussex is very nosey and follows me round the run looking at what I'm doing and trying to join in Good luck with whatever breed you choose, you will have loads of fun

[Tutti Frutti]

You might want to consider bantams. They take up less space so that means you can have more!

 

And small poos so less cleaning up involved!!! (which doesn't take long but does need to become part of your routine). Hmm but I think they lay small eggs too... But I believe some of the bantams of large breeds lay slightly bigger eggs... (no experience myself but sure someone will offer good advice if you are interested!)

[Pipichick]

I have only got experience from our 3 girlies... Ginger & Doodle, Ginger Rangers (our Omlet hybrid girls) are fab very tame and nosey, quite happy to be stroked and picked up, I think they lulled us into a false sense of being good hen parents. So we went out a bought a Sussex girlie called Blanche, she is much more aloof, ignores us completely unless we get too close in which case she will jump up in the air and run off, we have yet to manage to pick her up in a calm manner I reckon these hens are very much individuals and you just need to keep your fingers crossed that you get some lovely friendly hens. We selected Blanche because of what I had read about the Sussex being a very placid and docile bird, Blanche is obviously an imposter Bless her x

[MissMac]

Just to let you know we've got a lovely Bluebelle and a Lohman (sp?) safely pecking away inside their run at the moment!

 

The Bluebelle has started laying already (she's 22 weeks), so hopefully we'll get eggs fairly regularly once she's settled in. They're gorgeous. So much so that we've ordered a couple of Cream Legbars to join them in the early autumn

 

Thanks very much for all the advice

[chicken bark]

Just to let you know we've got a lovely Bluebelle and a Lohman (sp?) safely pecking away inside their run at the moment!

 

The Bluebelle has started laying already (she's 22 weeks), so hopefully we'll get eggs fairly regularly once she's settled in. They're gorgeous. So much so that we've ordered a couple of Cream Legbars to join them in the early autumn

 

Thanks very much for all the advice

 

It is instantly addictive isn't it. I think Bluebelles are lovely - have thought about getting one (or 10) I'm also waiting for cream legbars. I'm pleased you are enjoying it. I hope your children are getting involved.

[marmite+toast]

Pretty inexperienced myself, I have a gingernut ranger & a miss pepperpot. My gingernut is much more easily handled, and has given us an egg every day since the day after she arrived (could set your watch by her really, 10.30 every morning) She's also the more docile of the two, letting my three children make a fuss of her. Miss P is lovely too, just a little flighty, and she only 'works' five days a week