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What Breed

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I know that this question has probably been asked time after time, but i need a breed to fall under certain criteria. I am looking for 2-3 hens.

 

1) The breed must get along well with others (2-3)

2)The breed must be quiet disease and cold resistant.

3) Must be tame and friendly, as we have a small dog and toddler in the house hold.

4) Must make a good pet

5) must lay good sized eggs throughout the year ( in large amounts )

6) Must have a good lifespan and an equally good egg laying life span

 

Please tell me what kind of living conditions the hens will need as i intend to build a coop. (dimensions and stuff is useful, along with ideas)

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I would go for the gingernut ranger/ miss pepperpot types. These are the chickens supplied by Omlet, with eglus, but you should be able to find a breeder locally that sells the same sorts. Our rangers got hand tame within days and are very friendly/ placid with the kids. Mind you our maran cuivree has started coming over for cuddles?! :)

Definitely go for 3 (with space for a couple more!) and try and spend as much time as possible out with them during the early days.

 

They are fantastic pets, welcome and good luck

:)

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Welcome to the forum! I was going to suggest Gingernut Rangers and Pepperpots as well, also known by various names - I think our Calder Ranger is the same as a Gingernut. Ours is so tame and bombproof we took her in to school for pet week and she just boc boccced around the classroom, fed from everyones hands, allowed herself to be stroked and wasn't in the slightest bothered. And that was 36 5 year olds! She lays nearly every day and is what I call a bog standard chook. A good one to start with I think.

As for building runs, I don't really know, it would depend on how many you wanted all together, wether they would be in it all the time etc etc. Sorry, can't help on that score.

 

Mrs Bertie

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Hello and welcome.

 

Meadowsweet Rangers are very similar to if not the same as Gingernuts. Black Rocks or Bovans Nera ditto for Pepperpots.

 

You need a nest box for the to lay their eggs......1 for every 3-4 hens.

 

They need roosting bars to perch on at night.

 

They need at least 1 sqm per hen to wander about in the outside run.

 

There are plenty of plans and suggestions to be found on the internet.

 

Good luck.

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For your egg requirements you would have to have a hybrid. I think most of them have good temperments, but columbinesa and White Stars are more known for being a bit flighty, (although mine are fine). Other peoples suggestions are good, also Bluebells are fab and very pretty. You will find with hybrids that a lot of them are known by lots of differnt names, so can be very confusing. The omlet gingernut range is also called a Calder Ranger, and Miss Pepperpot is also known as a Black Rock. And the Blue Egg laying Hybrid is known as a Columbine or a Jasmine.

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Hi

 

I have a warren, Ginger (rhode island red x light sussex) which I think is the same as a gingernut ranger who is definitely my favourite. She was hand tame immediately and makes a brilliant pet. She is utterly bombproof with three small children, an inquisitive dog, cat and goat AND she lays eggs nearly every day.

 

The others are much prettier but she ticks every box!

 

Good luck!

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Hi there,

 

Hybrids would fit your bill but it's hard to say which as it will depend what you can buy locally - the hybrids seem to have different names depending on which breeder created them, even if their parentage is the same. My Maran Cuivre looks very similar to the Pepperpot, Bovans Nera etc.

 

If you have a local poultry centre then go along and ask them for advice.

 

I was advised to get at least 3 hens so that the 'boss' hen has 2 minions to be mean to - that way one isn't getting all the punishment.

 

Jo

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Hiya - I'd definitely get a black rock! They are very soppy , but full of cheekiness! Red Star / ginger equivalent. Warrens are very lovely friendly birds too & will follow you round. I wouldn't reccomend leghorns - as yes they are very nervous & flighty. Light sussex are supposed to be friendly too. I would definitely go for Hybrids as a first timer & for friendliness. I don't think you can beat Omlet chooks - they are just that bit more 'special'. Or of course ex batts!

 

Emma.x

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1) The breed must get along well with others (2-3)

2)The breed must be quiet disease and cold resistant.

3) Must be tame and friendly, as we have a small dog and toddler in the house hold.

4) Must make a good pet

5) must lay good sized eggs throughout the year ( in large amounts )

6) Must have a good lifespan and an equally good egg laying life span

 

Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons

 

 

But they don't meet criterion 5)

 

welcome to the forum - you will get used to me after a while.

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For criteria 1-5 I'd go hybrid along with everyone else :D . Hybrids in the main are bred for egg productivity and they tend to be tamer and friendlier than the more highly strung pure breeds. I say in the main because hens like all other creatures have personalities and some our friendlier than others, regardless of what the breed description says :wink:

 

However they don't tend to have particularly long lives............all that egg laying takes it's toll and I believe that the average lifespan is around 4-5 years. Also egg production in most hybrids is eye wateringly reliable, churning out well in excess of 300 eggs in their first year, but production does seem to tail off a bit in their 2nd year and much more so in their 3rd year. A pure breed on the will usually live longer, lay a lot less eggs but keeps on laying for longer :D .

 

Someone suggested ex batts and I freely admit I'm prejudiced here, I love ex batts, mine were so friendly and cheeky, and I loved watching them recover, gain confidence along with their new feathers, and rediscovering their natural instincts towars "normal" hen behaviour. But they do need a little TLC in the early days, they've not had a great start to life and that seems to take it's toll as they don't seem to have a particularly long lifespan (in general that is, some of them just go on and on :wink: ), and the very fact that they are ex batts means that they are past their laying peak. The BHWT works with the farmers and "rescues" battery hens that the farmer was ready to dispense with anyway because their egg laying is declining below the needs of that particular industry. So they'll lay eggs for sure, big ones too...........but not as many as a young chicken and I wouldn't recommend them personally if egg production is one of your main priorities in chicken keeping.

 

It's not an easy decision, loads of pros and cons.........but lots of lovely hens out there for you to choose from :wink: . Good luck with it :D

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