Chortle Chook Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 People have been telling me recently that keeping a few chickens in backyard gardens is all the latest vogue and that we (me included) will soon get fed up with it. I'm really hoping that won't be the case and that I'll still be keeping chooks in my garden in 10+ years time. Are most Omleteers rather new to this or are there some people out there who are into their 2nd or even 3rd generation of chooks? If so have you changed the breeds and equipment you have much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Had our girls for just over 2 years now. Was my OH who wanted them originally and i wasnt too bothered but soon after them arriving i was smitten and couldn't imagine life without them. i'd do anything for them, they are my babies! haven't changed much in the way we keep them, but am hoping for a larger WIR and am getting 2 more girls next week as we are now down to 2 after Holly died last november. We have hybrids now and the 2 new ones will also be hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Just under two and a half years I jumped on to the Good Life bandwaggon and got a few hybrids for eggs I cant imagine life without chooks, I am positive they will always be part of my life now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 About 5 years,I think edit: 6 this August,as I registered here in 2005 on the day I got my first ever Eglu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Started with 3 hybrids a year ago. They arrived 15/03 after a few false starts. Getting some more hens at the weekend and also have ducks. This year I want to let a broody sit on some eggs and see what that is like. If I can get through a winter like the one we have just had I don't think this is going to be a 5 minute fad. I expect to be doing this for a good few years. There are so many breeds out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Since June 2007, when I got my first Cube, 2 ginger nuts and 2 miss pepper pots. I had wanted hens for years and was finally able to get some when we moved to our present house, and can't imagine life without them now. My flock of 17 now live in 2 Cubes and 2 Eglus, all kept in a stable and 2 huge WIRs. Am hoping to get some more girls - hopefully some pekins or frizzles or both - this weekend. I am completely obsessed, and hope to have hens for the rest of my life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gongladosh Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 we're coming up to 2 years, with largely second-generation hens. We're truly hooked and cannot see that changing. The only time we've not had hens since was last year when we went on holiday - we left the hens with a friend. On returning, there was a 2 day gap without them and our garden has never felt so unwelcoming and dead! (We could even walk to the kitchen sink without being spotted). I cannot imagine ever not having hens now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkisland Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I started with 4 pure breeds for my birthday two and a half years ago. Then, about 5 months later I developed Morehens Disease and rehomed 3 ex batts. I've since lost 2 of those ex batts, so replaced them with this weekend with 3 rehomed hybrids from the free range farm which is closing down. I've also committed to rehoming 3 more ex batts in April, from the next rescue. I wanted chickens for ages before we actually got them. The worry about finding someone to look after them when we go away is what stopped me getting them sooner. Happily, this turned out to be no problem, as my neighbous are more than happy to do it, and I also made a lovely new friend via this forum who would help me out if necessary. I cannot imagine a future without chooks. Even if we had to downsize, I would always want to keep a few. They are good for the soul as much as anything else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roobaloo Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Less than a year...! After working on my OH for two years (He's scared of birds so to be honest I thought it'd never happen!!) I finally got my first girls in April - actual date is in my signature and joined the forum two days later!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckbok Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hi ya, We have been keeping hens for 3yrs now and have no regrets, been through some horrible winters but it's worth it. Now about to add to our pure breed silkie with another 2 shortly. Also about to get another hen house, a wooden one. We have an eglu and run in an enclosed area at the bottom of the garden. We have recently moved, so have a bigger garden so can now have 6 chooks instead of 3 love the chooks they so funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 9 months, but wanted hens for years. Sage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Nearly 18 months here, and like the rest of you, I can't imagine a life without chooks now.... or indeed home grown eggs, 100x better than anything you can buy from a shop! They may have trodden my garden into a squelching bog, but they're always doing something entertaining and amusing and that more than makes up for it in my opinion Lucky I have a hubby who loves nothing more than shovelling wood chips onto the garden of a weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debsygooch Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Just coming up for a year, Myrtle & Maisie arrived with the Eglu - 30th April 2010, then Dotty and Daisy rescued 20/02/11. Wouldn't change a thing - regardless of boggy mud bath (lawn) and descimated borders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy049 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 18 months ago tomorrow I got my first 3 ex-free range hens! It seems like i've had them forever, and i still love and still get as eggcited as when i first got them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I got my girls, 2 gingernut rangers and a Miss Pepperpot ( sadly died) for my birthday 2 years ago and they are very hentertaining. I would really love to have more but hubby and the size of my garden probably wouldn't allow it. But the eggs are like nothing else - even if I haven't had any for ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henhathnofury Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 SInce 2007. We didn't know it was trendy then! Bought an eglu and two darling chickens that came with it - they sadly died last year. Because of the egg situation with hybrids (my Pepperpot died after a prolapse and it was awful) we turned to pure breeds. Now we are even more confident and have two different types of sussex and are just about to buy croads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Almost 3 yrs. Started with 2 ex batts, still got one of them. Added 2 pure breeds and last year our sablepoots. Love them all They very quickly became as much part of my life as the rest of our managerie All being well I reckon we'll always have them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Just over 18 months and I couldn't imagine being without them. I wouldn't get up at 6.30 in the morning on a weekend for anyone else. I started off with three in an ark that we extended in about two weeks. Then I got two ex batts, morehens struck again early summer and another two were snuck in. I lost one of my girls last October so of course I had to replace her with another three, then my preloved hens arrived about two weeks ago. We now have a large WIR with 12 girls in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 It'll be 3 years in October! Where has that time gone! We only have two now - started with 3, but will be getting 2 more this spring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 A year this month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckmum6 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 (edited) I had hens since I was five, off and on, for 35 years. My current flock are the first to live in Omlet housing (definately the best housing) they are coming up to 2yrs old. I am rather more obsessive this time round, and keep feeling the need for more hens in different colour, maybe this forum encourages this, as there wasn't a world wide web of chicken henatics before!!!!! Edited March 2, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollyripkim Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Only started with my girls last July and can't imagine them not being around, they are such cheerful little characters and add so much the garden, let alone then stress relief factor from working from home. Like many I'd wanted them for years and only started when last child left home - empty nest syndrome maybe But wish I'd done it years earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnie&Moose Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Our first two hens arrived with their eglu nearly 3 years ago (March 18 2008). Sadly Minnie is no longer but Moose is still with us as top hen, and we now have 6 (3hybrids 3 pure breeds). We've had a few deaths along the way sadly but I now can't imagine life without them, or their Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clur Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 It must be nearly 4 years ago we got our hens. We have one original girl left and 2 hens we got a couple of years ago to keep her company. Can't believe how quickly it's gone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 18th of September 2010 The day 4 girls and eglu classic arrived from Cotswold chickens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
