kissinuk Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) As mentioned in another thread I decided to try Heidi's Happy Hen's to get our latest girls. They are located only a few minutes from the M6 & Catthorpe interchange (A14/M1/M6 roundabout), so just a short trip down the A14 for us (if going that way you don't even need to go on the M6, just go through Catthorpe and head for A5). They have a good setup with chickens free ranging on one side and others in the barns on the right. We got taken into all the barns and shown all 10 of their breeds, the entire place was well kept and clean, with lots of healthy chooks. Their big dog scared my 5 yr old (who is scared of any dog), but they were really nice about it and locked him away (poor dog!!). We bought a coucou, light sussex and amber in the end, got to choose the exact ones we wanted and they clipped their wings for us, all for only £14 each. They also had columbines in stock but they were £25, I was very tempted but as they are a little flighty it put me off. They also stock a lot of chicken accessories, wish I'd picked up some poultry shield while I was there. Overall if you live in the area I'd definitely recommend them, a great little family run setup (judging by Heidi's bump I expect the family will be even bigger very soon!). They were in the local press recently about loosing 100 chickens to thieves, hope this hasn't affected business too much. http://www.heidishappyhens.co.uk/ Edited July 31, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 That's not too far from us, according to the website bump is due today May visit there when we need some new girls. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I got my last lot from there. Very impressed Shame about the thefts - it's getting hard to find pure breed suppliers and of course it tends to be all the pure breeds that are taken along with the hybrids. As hybrids come from external suppliers they can be restocked very quickly. When I went last year she had some lovely pure breeds she was breeding to sell. No mention of them any more so they must have been taken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 May have a look at these, we want another 2 girls this year as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandwhite Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I got my two from there last April. First time of having chickens so needed a lot of advice which I got. Heidi's a very nice lady. We sat in the barns for ages deciding. Great place, sorry to hear about the thefts, hope they recover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Unfortunately some thefts happen because people post up pics on the net or describe breeders set ups so please be aware of the details and pics that you post on the forums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Good point Redwing, but very sad that people just think that they can take something that others have worked hard to gain. Karen from Merrydale lost a lot of her chooks too and she was not too far away from Heidi's Hens. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissinuk Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 Unfortunately some thefts happen because people post up pics on the net or describe breeders set ups so please be aware of the details and pics that you post on the forums Good point, but unfortunately it's a catch 22 situation. If they want to increase their customer base people like us need to promote them, more people who see the promotion the greater the chance of the wrong person seeing it. I imagine security is now high on their adgenda as is trying to catch the idiots who done it. One of the things mentioned in one of the news articles was for people to let them know if they are offered large amounts of chickens cheap (no pun intended), although it's likely too late now. This is the short news article from the Harborough Mail:- THIEVES stole more than 100 hens from a chicken shed. They were taken from Heidi’s Happy Hens, in Gibbet Lane, Shawell, some time overnight between Wednesday and Thursday last week. Stolen were 18 brown hens, worth £225, 77 coloured hens, worth 1,078 and seven blue egg layers, worth £175. Anyone with information is urged to contact Lutterworth police on 0116 2222222. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westie mum Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Visited Heidi's yesterday and picked up 3 new girls. An Amber,Snowflake and a Columbine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
