4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[counturchickens]

I'm really fancying having a couple of blue egg laying girls. We've only ever had ex batts, so have no experience of buying hens. Can anyone recommend a breed that would be suitable for a garden setting? A local-ish supplier has columbines, but in the description says the are suitable for any 'free range' situation. My girls free range evenings and weekends, would this be enough or is there a more suitable 'garden' breed? Thanks for any advice!

Edited September 18, 2012 by Guest

[chuckmum6]

Really it will depend on your run size as to the number you get, but you will have no problem with keeping Columbines as you describe. You may find you don't get blue eggs, as a minority will lay ordinary coloured eggs, because they are hybrid birds. If you want more of a chance then Arucana or Cream Creasted Legbars are both good choices, I have had both and they live in a very similar setting. If you are worried about garden distruction then Pekins are good, because of their feathered feet, but are very broody! My Legbar is a terror at scattering any plants.

[quickcluck]

you have a 50% chance with any hybrid Columbine/skyline/Jasmine..... I have a columbine that lays a green egg and one jasmine lays a blue egg the other a cream....

[Olly]

Skylines are perfectly happy in a garden/Eglu set-up, as said above, there is no guarantee of the colour egg they will lay but they can range from green to blue to beige.

[counturchickens]

Is a skyline the same as a columbine, just a different name?

[angeluk69]

My supplier told me there was an 80% chance my columbine would lay blue eggs, and I must say I'm very impressed, I get some really bright ones. My daughter was adamant she wanted blue eggs, so it was a bit nerve wracking. But I was also told that leg bars are reliable blue layers.

[Redwing]

Columbines/skylines/Jasmine (all the same bird) have an 80% chance of laying a blue or green egg

 

The 'new' Araucana hybrids will lay blue or green For sure but aren't easy to find

 

Cream Legbars lay blue or green eggs and are a pure breed

 

Araucanas lay blue eggs and are a pure breed though green eggs are a possibility they are most likely to be blue

[TAJ]

My pure breed Cream Legbar lays lovely blue eggs and to be honest when looking at blue egg layers the hybrids only give up to an 80% chance of laying the coloured egg and whilst they lay more eggs this is not significantly different (as is the case with brown laying hybrids). Mine is 3 years old and I still get 4-6 blue eggs a week, she stops for about a month over the winter and has never been broody.

 

The are active birds, but relatively small, so less garden damage.

 

Tracy

[counturchickens]

Thanks all, I hadn't thought about pure breeds as I was nervous about them going broody so perhaps that is the answer taj. That said I wouldn't be sending them back if they laid another colour egg I will do some more research, and perhaps look at the local columbine supplier.

[chuckmum6]

Legbars do not go broody much, mine has never gone broody ever!

[JS1]

Another recommending cream legbars here. I have two, have had them since Feb 2011, and they are very reliable layers (beautiful china blue eggs). They haven't gone broody so far, and stopped laying in November, but started again mid-Feb. They're not the friendliest of my girls (my hybrids are the ones who want a cuddle ) but they're not unfriendly either.

[WitchHazel]

Legbars do not go broody much, mine has never gone broody ever!

 

Mine has been broody for some weeks now. Just goes to show that they are all individuals.

[counturchickens]

The other reason I thought hybrids is so we can have eggs all year round. I only have room for 4 really, as I have a cube with the extension, so 3m by 1.2. Currently we have 4 ex batts (although have had 6 in there), but one has retired from laying, and I expect 2 of the newer ones will be moulting in the autumn. I was only planning on expanding when one or two of them leave us Or I might dig up some more of the garden and get another extension

[Purplemaniacs]

The other reason I thought hybrids is so we can have eggs all year round.

 

The eight hybrids I have had, have only laid during their first winter, subsequent winters laying was very limited and I had to buy eggs. My hybrids lay a mixture of egg colours, blue, bluey green, white and brown

 

Chrissie

[lillybettybabs]

I have a Skyline and a few Araucana hens, Fran the skyline is a largish bird, has had a few crop problems

but does lay nice big blue eggs regularly and stands pecking at the back door for treats. The Araucanas are

comical friendly little things that do tend not to lay everyday but are a nice compact size but will rummage

amongst your flower beds digging for bugs and eat all your salad leaves.....grrr!

[counturchickens]

It's getting harder to decide. Although I am thinking an extension is on the cards If we did get a pure breed cream legbar how long might they be off lay in the winter? I am not worried about lots and lots of eggs, just a continuous supply. One of our ex batts cj is still laying, and she has been 'out' for a year and lays one most days. The other 2 rescued this year are laying too, but I am expecting they will moult in the autumn. After reading other advice on the forum thought we could get a couple of pol this summer.

My other question is why aren't pure breeds generally vaccinated, and does this cause problems mixing with vaccinated hens?

Thanks all!

[Redwing]

They do tend to have laying blips when they are young, soft shelled and multiple eggs are reasonably common especially in hybrids

 

Some vets and experienced chook owners say you shouldnt mix vaccinated and non vaccinated stock. I dont think I would be in a hurry to do it but have ended up with vaccinated hens here over the months and have had no problems. Someone recently told me that vaccinations wear off after a year anyway but I couldnt tell you if that was true or not!

 

Pure breeds arent usually vaccinated for two main reasons - a) the vaccinations arent cost effective unless you have a lot of birds, they are dispensed in 100's or even 1000's dose amounts. b) most serious pure breed breeders believe that a naturally resistant flock is better than a vaccinated one

 

Any pure breed will stop laying over the winter for some time, some weeks and others months, after the first year though you can expect no eggs in at least Dec, Jan and Feb realistically

 

Hybrids are designed to lay a lot of eggs but they do burn themselves out by age 2-3 usually and then can go on to live for another year or two after that where a pure breed takes a break but will stay productive for more years

[eve]

i brought mine from sunnyside poultry burton. i have a columbine lays a pale blue egg. very wide bird as cross with legbar which are flighty. was £18 i also have a ranger which is very tame £13. i have had a amberstar and a bluebelle from there. the amberstar laid double yolkers 4 times a week!! but the fox got them..he is a very good farmer whos hobby it is. hope that helps

[counturchickens]

Thanks eve, that's where I was thinking of. I might go on Saturday to have a look round

[lillybettybabs]

Good luck, you may become duck egg blue obsessed though!

[dance in the dark]

I have three cream legbars and two of them came into lay by mid-january this year and they are pretty good layers. Mostly I think that columbines/skylines are very like legbars in looks and character. A little bit flightly, not unfriendly, but not as sweet as some other birds, and they are quite noisy. One lays very pale blue eggs, one bluey-green and one definitely green

 

I have araucanas too, and they tend to be much quieter and tolerate being kept in their run much more (my girls f/r most days everyday, but when I do keep them locked up the arauacanas get on with it, the legbars pace up and down wanted to be let out. Araucana's seem to tolerate a more enclosed lifestyle. They also both lay very clearly blue eggs, as blue at this they mostly lay about four a week each between about April and October.

 

I would suggest if you want blue all year round, buy a couple of counbines and then you increase your chances of getting or

[KarenW]

What about the new Chalkhill Blue hybrid? Apparently they all lay blue eggs. They're a bit tricky to get hold of this year, I heard that this is the first year they've managed to breed them so that they all lay blue eggs, not just 80% or so, going to be more readily available next year. I managed to get one in May through Merrydale in Leicester, though sadly she died after only 3 weeks (egg bound we think ), I'm assuming I was just unlucky. I might try and get a couple next year. Should be getting an araucana from a friend today (and 3 others ), she reckons hers lay really well and are a lovely temperament so we shall see. The one negative about the chalkhill blue was that she was ever so timid and I think this contributed to her dying, as I decided to stop trying to pick her up for a few weeks and gain her trust just by hand feeding etc so I didn't notice any deterioration in her at all.

 

Addictive business, this chicken keeping

[Sue]

I keep pure Cream Legbars. I find them quite calm and friendly if you are prepared to spend a little time with them. Mine moulted in the autumn and came back into lay and laid throughout the winter months, though certainly not an egg a day each

 

Once the weather warmed up they started producing 3 eggs each day from my 4 hens and have continued with some days 4 from 4. Most of the eggs are large, and the colour which started as a rich sky blue has paler down to a pale sky blue, but still very pretty eggs, especially with my dark brown Marans eggs.

 

I am very pleased with them and they are lovely pretty hens to look at

[dance in the dark]

I

 

I am very pleased with them and they are lovely pretty hens to look at

 

my sister always says that my legbars have a look of the wild, like a partridge or a pheasant or something, and I agree, the are beautiful birds! Mine are so noisy though, and more than any other hens I have make a right song and dance of an egg, in and out of the nest several times before even considering sitting.

[Sue]

Here are mine....