Howard Jenings

Well we have finally got the chook house and we now need to decide what type of chook to buy. Does anyone keep a particular breed that they can recommend. We are looking to have about 4 of them, for egg laying not meat. They need to be suitable for children to deal with and not be flighty. Any ideas anyone.

njk435

The best breed may be dependant on where you are. In tropical areas, silkies are reccomended as they are a bit hardier. Australorps are an Aussie breed that seems to do well elsewhere.
I googled 'keeping chickens in darwin' and found an 'Agnote' written by the government vet for the NT which was a useful document.
www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/Anim_Man/570.pdf

Maybe the state government where you are has a similar document.

The Bloke

You'll find that most breeds are flighty. The best way to stop them is to cut the feathers on one wing. Be aware that the feathers will grow back, so you will have to periodically trim them.

For the different types http://www.ehow.com/facts_5471302_di...ying-hens.html

Years ago we just had the ordinary white hens, with a few Sussex hens and rooster. At one stage we even threw in a few Bantams as well.

irishbloo

My friend in Mandurah has chooks and they have been great with the kids and laying.I will try and find out what type she has. She talks to me more about the chickens than her kids.I know that they have feathers,beaks and legs.

pomtastic

You do know that you are going to be woken up early every morning by a big cock ..................... cock a doodle do.

Howard Jenings

I should be so lucky

mohogony

There are different breeds some for eating and some for eggs. l have kept chooks a number of times over the years. l have to say its not worth the trouble unless either you really like Chooks and like them as pets or you eat stacks of egges. it can be time consuming feeding them, giving them clean water all the time and cleaning out the chook pen. You need to buy special food pellets for them so they lay proper strong eggs, although the pellets don't cost much money, unless you eat alot of eggs you won't save any money compared to the cost of buying free range eggs. ALso don't let them loose in the garden they become a bit wild and start flying up trees and over neighbours fences, keep the m in the pen and they stay tamer. l tried trimming the wings but it never worked.

quoll

We've got Australorps at the moment - they do seem somewhat ditzier than the bantams we had before. However the bantams were inclined to be a bit more feisty. Handling them from very young is going to make them tamer than if you start when they are well grown. I think our bantams were hardier as well - more resistant to disease (expect one or more of your 4 to suddenly drop dead).

Personally I agree with mohogony - I think they are a waste of money but DH likes them and in his permaculture dream world they feature large. He has been known to eat 10 egg omelettes just to get through the egg glut (he also gives them away and invites the son to visit - he can knock off a dozen at breakfast time no worries) - I dont much like eggs at all. I think ours must be the dearest eggs in the Southern Hemisphere with all the love and attention he pays to them!

He ordered a dozen girls but the chicken sexers arent what they used to be and he scored 4 boys amongst them - he tells me they tasted good (one crow and they lost their heads!)

They are a tie - if you want to head off for more than a weekend then someone will have to look after them. Ours live in the Hilton of chook runs - totally enclosed around our fruit orchard - they even have a chook wire roof so they arent preyed on by big birds, cats etc. We did lose our first lot of bantams to a dog which burrowed into the run - no great loss, they were getting to the end of their laying time anyway but it was pretty traumatic for all concerned.

Dh says ours are happy girls and he loves them. They are still producing very well even though they are now about 3 years old and we are down to 6. We still have one of the previous lot - she is about 6 or 7 now and he had been planning to eat her several years ago when we were due to go on a month's holiday overseas but a neighbour pleaded for her and so we kept her - think she has stopped laying now though since about January.

Hope you guys like eggs! Lotsa eggs!!!

mr mover

I have 8 chooks, or i did last night hav,nt checked them this morning.
They consist of 3 sussex cross , 3silkie cross and 2 Arcoonas , the latter lay blue eggs which takes some getting used to , but they taste the same i find chickens very personable creatures , they tend to follow me around the property especialy if i have a spade in my hand , they love freshly turned soil, they can be a little costly to keep but free ranging them helps a bit, and gives them exercise. They put themselves to bed every night so no problems there , my grand kids love to come and collect the eggs , and always take some home with them... you wont go wrong with chooks............mm

Rudi

I have the most pathetic chooks in Australia!!! They don't lay eggs!

Not sure why......it could be the change in season.....
they could be old.....
or they could be too scared to because they are regularly stalked by a 1.2 metre long monitor lizard!!!

Love

Rudi
x

mohogony

l think theres some months the year they don't lay, also if they are too old or too young or under stress they won't lay. MAybe the lizard is stressing them out.

mr mover

Rudi the reason your not getting any eggs is the Goanna [Lizard] is probably getting them before you, they will not bother a full grown chook , but love eggs.............mm

Rudi

Yeah - it's a very fat lizard!!!! But the chooks are scared of it as well.....they all huddle together well away from it when it's in the tree! I always know when it's around because my dog goes MENTAL!!!

I don't think the chooks are actually laying though - I have straw in the nesting box and usually they flatten it down when they sit on it, but it's not being sat on!

Love

Rudi
x

Jackier

Have you considered rescuing some ex-battery hens? Not sure where you are but I found a thread on another forum which could be of interest http://www.vegsoc.org.au/forum_messa...046&Topic_ID=9 I rescued some of these girls when I was in the UK and it was so great to see their feathers growing back & watch them learning to run and peck around for themselves. They lay well too

Howard Jenings

Thanks for all the advice, we have 2 acres and the land is bush so they can be free to wander around for some of the day, I would not leave them out whilst we were not in the house though, too many predators about.