Minty_76 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Hello everyone. I haven't been on here for quite a while due to having had a baby recently. We lost our beloved 12 year old bunny on Monday so have an empty eglu in the shed. We still have our 2 bantam girls neither if which are very friendly and at the moment the Wyandotte is broody and not leaving the nest! So my dilemma is as my 5 year old son was heart broken over our rabbit do I get him some chickens of his own and due to our small ish garden what would cause less damage if we let them free range? Sorry for all the questions- I saw the eglu go-up and really like the look of that too! Was going to sell the spare eglu but I'm not so sure now! Good job I bought the hen converter base when I bought the rabbit one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 There's no such thing as a chicken that doesn't wreck your garden I'm afraid. However, if I were you I would consider getting a couple of hybrids and giving them limited free ranging. Maybe an hour before bedtime not only do I have morehens disease, I'm actually promoting it . You could consider getting a run extension they would be very pleased with the extra space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Moar Henz! I haven't been struck by this malady but I have heard it's infectious. I have a pretty small bit of garden for da Henz to run about in; they have an extension on the cube and I let them have supervised Free Range time in a fenced off bit of garden. It has pebbles as a substrate and they're quite happy scratching round in that, there's still plenty of bugs and worms for them to find. It seems to best bet is to give them just their own wee bit of garden to run about in, and no more than that, as they will scratch out every bit of green foliage in their patch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minty_76 Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Thanks guys, some good ideas there. I have 3m runs for both eglus. How friendly are hybrids? I'm just thinking about my 5 year old and wether he would be able to handle them. We had an old English Game bantam originally and he loved her as she sat on his shoulder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I think hybrids are as friendly as you can try to make them. They need to be handled a lot when to get them, and they need their wings clipped. Get them on your side with lots of hand held treats. Good thing is they don't usually go broody, and there are plenty of different ones to choose from. Good luck. Keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 I think it depends on the type of hybrid. I have some that are very friendly others than you can not get near. The friendliest two that I have had was my orignal Omlet Gingernut Henny Penny, she was so friendly always wanted to be under your feet and happy to have a cuddle. Also Latte who was an Sweetie (from Merrydale Poultry) but the breed is sold in lots of places. Others like the Snowbelle, little white hybrid that lays big white eggs doesn't want to know humans. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egg_x Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I think it depends on the type of hybrid. I have some that are very friendly others than you can not get near. The friendliest two that I have had was my orignal Omlet Gingernut Henny Penny, she was so friendly always wanted to be under your feet and happy to have a cuddle. Also Latte who was an Sweetie (from Merrydale Poultry) but the breed is sold in lots of places. Others like the Snowbelle, little white hybrid that lays big white eggs doesn't want to know humans. Chrissie Hi Chrissie... I'm considering getting some Merrydale Sweeties, seem to be a popular choice! Do you know what their 'official' breed name is? Want to do a bit of reading up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minty_76 Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 Update- decided to go against getting anymore chickens for the time being and having nowhere to store my empty eglu I think I will have to sell it. Thanks for all your help though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
