2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[serenlas]

OK, so as Plan Lavender Pekin Bantam is a bit of a no go, my thoughts then went on to potentially adding chickens #4 and #5 to my existing 3, but full sized ones. I've done some reading of the forum and it seems that most people try to keep the newbies separate for a while and do the introductions slowly. But what do you keep the newbies in initially?!

 

Also, if anyone has any recommendations of chickens that lay white, blue or green eggs, are friendly enough to co-exist with cats and young children, and of course two and a , please shout!

[daxigirl]

I've got a Leghorn, adorable, nice big snow white egg - a Cream Legbar, fairly friendly, fab blue egg but not prolific. People acquire another house & run for intros so everyone can live side by side for a bit and free range together. Then you've got a spare house for isolation illness broodies etc.

[Monty14]

Re: egg colours. The White Star is a very prolific layer of white eggs. Mine is very productive. Blue layers - I had an Ameraucana that was a good layer but was sadly got by next door's dog before I completely re-fenced my garden. I have recently got a Jasmine (a hybrid that seems quite new, as I'd never heard of it) and she lays around 5 pastel blue eggs per week. I also have a Lavender Araucana who is now 13 months old and has never laid, so I would suggest you may want to avoid them.

[dance in the dark]

You really should keep them separate when you first get them, unless you are constantly there to break up fighting. Normally if they can just see each other for a few days, they will then be quite relaxed when you introduce them. Though there will always be a little bit of fighting, it should be ok. If you do it less gradually you run the risk of all out warfare!. You can always buy a very cheap coop from ebay or somewhere just to keep them in initially, you could get one for maybe about £60. Failing that, you could buy a small animal pen or just a run for even less money, and just keep the new chickens in a cat box in the kitchen for a few nights.

 

Once again I get a chance to express my love for araucanas!

 

My experience of araucanas is that they do start laying quite late (if you are expecting POL to mean you get an egg any time soon, fat chance! But once they start, they lay really very well, especially for purebreeds. I have one who is 11 months old, started laying about a month ago, and does about 5 eggs a week, and I have an older girl, who is in her third season, but still lays about 4 eggs a week, and they both lay a vivid blue egg. Although, that will obviously depend on how they have been bred. The breeder I got mine frequently entered egg competitions so the blueness was important.

 

I keep my araucanas in a mixed flock of hybrids, orpingtons and cream legbars and they all get along fine. And they are all pefectly friendly, and my cats aren't bothered by them at all.

 

Cream legbars also lay blue or green eggs (again depending on how they have been bred) but they are a bit flighty and really quite noisy compared to my other breeds. You will not get a cuddle from a cream legbar! I raised mine from chicks, but once they were outside, I wouldn't be able to catch them until they started crouching.

 

As for white eggs layers there are lots of options, leghorn is the classic, and I think appenzeller, polish and campines all lay white eggs, as well as hybrids like white star, but I have never kept any so I cannot comment on what their rate of lay is, or what they are like to keep.

 

Now I am going for a lay down.

 

Tim

[serenlas]

Maybe I should keep an eye on Ebay to see if anyone's selling a bargain Eglu Go with run. But then if I was going to get a second set up, even temporarily, maybe I should go back to plan A and get bantams! Argh, how many chickens is too many?!

I am planning to buy some Omlet-style netting to keep the chooks a bit more contained whilst free ranging in the Summer months, so I COULD use that for any newbies along with a cheap coop when the current flock are allowed access to my veggie patch again in the Autumn..

Lots of options! I would really like white, green and blue eggs at some point, so I'll research all of the suggested breeds Thank you!