The Hatching Post started with the purchase of a few laying hens and a roo. Just a hobby. A few chickens more and then an incubator has led to breeding Araucanas and Sylkies, the Bantam Frizzles - and that’s led to new breeds as well.
Check out our new breed pages to see our latest Chicks and projects.
We’re working to develop this site to make it fun and useful. Come back again soon.
This story illustrates the problems that can arise in introducing new chickens and the importance of observing your chickens closely:
1 week ago I got 3 black Orpington bantam pullets (4 months old and put the newcomers in with my Porcelain D’Uccle hen. They all have become comfortable with each other except for 1 of the Orpington birds. We have been building a chicken coop, so they all went in together in the new swanky quarters.
I have not seen her being picked on but she does not eat while the Porcelains are eating, she constantly looks at the ground and now she spends time hiding in a little hut in their hen house. She seems to be quite healthy as they all do.
She may be feeling stressed. Moving from one environment to another is stressful. With a little time, most chickens adjust to a new environment. She could be homesick, so it should pass.
Another possibility could be that she’s just shy. Chickens have distinct personalities just like people and other animals. The way she holds her head down and stays away from the others leads me to believe she could also be naturally
shy. If that’s the case, she’ll probably stay that way - that’s fine as long as she is healthy.
I’ll report back on her progress.
Britons are buying record numbers of Free Range, Barn and Organic Eggs. Research shows shoppers bought 2.04billion of them last year, up from 1.64billion in 2002 (Article from the Daily Mail - 09/08/2006).
With increasing media attention on battery chickens since then, most of the large supermarkets have moved to barn and free range eggs. Waitrose only sell barn and free range. Of course, if you’re keeping chickens at home, either letting them free range or keeping them in a chicken ark that you move around, then you have free range eggs.
if you keep your hens in hen houses with a run, your hens are not ranging free but if you look at the definition below they would count as free range. They may be organic too, if you provide organic food. The important thing about home grown eggs is that you control the conditions you keep your chickens in.
The Benefits of Eating Eggs
Eggs are low in calories and could actually protect against heart disease, breast cancer and eye problems and even help you to lose weight. Eggs are actually good for you. They are rich in nutrients, one egg provides 13 essential nutrients, all in the yolk (egg whites contain albumen, an important source of protein, and no fat). You should keep eggs in the fridge in their box and eat them by the use-by date.
We now know the benefits of eating eggs but does the welfare of the chickens matter?
Eggs are produced in 3 types of production systems.
1) Laying Cage System. Laying cages are the most common method of commercial egg production in the UK - representing around 66% of eggs produced in 2004.
Typically a laying cage system consists of a series of at least three tiers of cages. The cages have sloping mesh floors so that the eggs roll forward out of the reach of the birds to await collection. Droppings pass through the mesh floors onto boards, belts, the floors of the house or into a pit to await removal.
2) Barn system. Around 7% of eggs sold in the UK are produced in the barn system. In the barn system the hen house has a series of perches and feeders at different levels. In the deep litter system the birds are kept in hen houses in which all the floor area should be solid with a litter of straw, wood shavings, sand or turf.
3) Free range system. The free range system accounts for around 27% of eggs produced in the UK. And the Welfare of Laying Hens Directive stipulate that for eggs to be termed free range, hens must have continuous daytime access to runs which are mainly covered with vegetation and with a maximum stocking density of 2,500 birds per hectare. The demand for free-range eggs is also growing by 10 per cent a year. Somerfield will be the first supermarket in the country to switch to selling French free-range eggs. Tesco is also understood to be lining up suppliers on the Continent if it is not able to guarantee supplies at home due to this rising demand.
From time to time, we’ll feature some good hen videos. There’s increasing interest in breeds of chickens, particularly as so many pure breeds are in dangeer, form all the cross breeding.
This video shows a fock in Scotland with an interesting flock of rare chickens.
Some of our mixed flock of Scots Greys and ISA Browns doing the chicken shuffle on our croft in Aberdeenshire, NE Scotland. The Scots Grey is an endangered breed with around 200 breeding hens left.
Duration : 0:1:30
Backyard chickens can be handled safely if you are gentle with them when they’re young. Let them out of their run to range free - but bring them back at dusk. Building a chicken coop can be as much fun as keeping the chickens - and is a good project for the chicldren to help with.
more backyard fun
Duration : 0:0:18
In the early weeks, Chicks will need warmth and light and are normally kept indoors.This is an ideal time to start building a chicken coop. You will need to plan the type of hen house you are going to build based on the number of chickes your are raising. This ittle brood would appreciate a mid- size hen house - and being let out of the run sometimes.
This is part 1 of a new series called, “From Chick To Chicken.” The chicks we have in the small brooder consist of the few I purchased at Tractor Supply, and some came from the local livestock sale, and they were hatched by a big breeder.
Duration : 0:2:37
Just a little clip of my hens and my rabbits on a sunny Thursday morning in Montana. Chickens are quite hardy - but when you first start, do make sure you choose breeds that thrive in the cold, if you have cold winters.
Damp is another problem which can lead to health issues so when you are building a chicken coop, do consider one with good protection for rain and snow and space for them to roost together to keep each other warm.
Duration : 0:0:53
Chicken arks and hen houses come in a range of shapes and sizes, suitable for different numbers and sizes of chicken.
When you’re starting out in keeping chickens you need to ask some key questions to identify what sort of hen house to choose.
Start by working out what size and type of chicken house you will need.
Ask yourself:
• Whether you want a permanent structure or one you can move around
• How much space you want to take up
• How many chickens you are going to keep
• What you want to spend
• Whether you want an enclosed run
• Whether you can build the chicken ark yourself
You need about 4.5 sq ft of space per chicken, somewhere for them to scratch and peck around, space for them to perch (each bird needs 9 inches of perch length) and of course somewhere for them to lay eggs.
Part of the chicken house should provide shelter from wind and rain, but chickens are surprisingly hardy and generally don’t need additional warmth – they will tend to huddle up together when its cold.
Many people let their chickens roam free, and choose a design without a run, shutting their chickens up in the house at night.
Others prefer to give their chickens their own space but in a confined run. This will depend on whether you want your chickens in your vegetable patch and scratching around your prize blooms, or not. It’s also important to think about predators – some, like foxes, can be active even during the day.
Chicken arks have an integral run as part of the design. They either have a roosting space and nest boxes at one end, and an attached run (these are very easy to make and move around your yard), or they have run at the base and space above in the apex for the chickens to roost.
A taller, rectangular hen house allows you to get inside the run and the house for cleaning, but will need a permanent site.
With a larger flock of hens you will need a more sophisticated chicken house. Even this type is not hard to build from a good set of chicken ark plans and instructions.
Made under Lunchbox Films this crazy little animation is about a roundabout inhabited by chickens! The roundabout does actually exist and has become home to a large amount of chickens and erills! Made by the children of class 3 in Bungay, Suffolk (06/2006) —– Lunchbox Films offers animation workshops in Schools and Communities. To learn more about Lunchbox Films log on to www.lunchboxfilms.co.uk — Keeping Kids Animated!
Duration : 0:3:38
