|
|
24-04-2009, 09:38 PM
|
||||
|
||||
chickens
Does anyone know of a reputable company I can buy some POL hens from in Berkshire preferably in the Newbury area.I have just spent two hours on the internet and can only find a few.Looking for Black Rocks/meadowsweet rangers or similar hybrids.Thanks for any help.
|
|
25-04-2009, 12:48 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Do they not get rid of the battery hens when they are past their prime,I was told that they dont lay very well after they get to a certain age.I had been given 3 hens but am now down to 1 and I am afraid she is not pulling her weight.Overall since having them for just over a year they all were very erratic at giving me eggs.My daughter had unfortunatly named the remaining chicken when we got her so it has become her pet rather than my egg layer!!!(a mistake that wont happen again)
|
|
27-04-2009, 09:50 AM
|
|||
|
|||
Battery hens are disposed of by the farmer when they become 'spent' from a commercial farming POV. This is not to say they are no longer prolific layers. In a year my two supposedly 'spent' ex-batts have provided well over 300 eggs. Over the summer I one of my hens laid every day for almost a month - then she had a day off and started again the very next day. Over the winter, one of the girls stopped laying for a month as she went into a full moult. The the kept on laying, just at a reduced rate. Now the wetaher is perking up - more hours of daylight, the eggs are being produced more frequently again.
BUT - with ex-batts - if you take them on, the rescue organisations will allow you to have a hen on the condition you give it a home for the remainder of its natural life - it's a no-no to kill it just because it stops laying and is otherwise healthy. They are basically pets with the added bonus of eggs being produced. That is the ethos of taking in an ex-batt and one I agree with. There's a lot of myths surrounding ex-battery hens, especially the one that they don't lay many eggs. Also the one that they are all weak & frail things. Yes, some are, but most are tough girls - they have to be to have survived the hell that is the life of a battery hen. Indeed some arrive for rehoming in a state referred to as 'oven ready' that is they have no feathers left at all...Yet even these ones can and most often do make a full and swift recovery with a bit of TLC from their new owners. My two - the day I got them they were pathetic-looking creatures, yet for an ex-batt they were in good condition. They had many bald patches and what feathers they had left were broken. Their combs were pale and swollen. They could hardly walk and I had to lift them into the hen house.. They stopped laying for a week, and then started to lay again. They swiftly grew new feathers and stared to develop normal chicken behaviours - which was lovely to see considering that until the day I got them they have never seen the light of day and were crammed into cages so tightly they could barely move... and certainly had never laid an egg in straw.. Now, they greet me every morning, have a whale of a time scratching about in their run and in the garden. Are brilliant at garden pest control... and they will kill anything that gets between them and their spaghetti.. I still advocate ex-batts - but don't get them if you want to kill them immediately they don't lay the number of eggs you are after.
|
|
28-04-2009, 03:56 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
I have never killed or am going to kill a healthy chicken,but I was looking for some chickens that were good layers.The three that I was given I saved from the dreaded stretched neck but didnt know exactly how old they were so the erratic egg laying was due to I think their old age.The two I lost died peacefully in their sleep so I was down to one,but now I am back up to five as over the weekend I collected four more from Cotswold Chickens they are POL at about 16wks old and have given my old girl a new lease of life,all four have already been put in their place!!
 .I did think of ex batts but in the end opted for chickens that I new would give me a good egg supply for the next three years.Thankyou for your information Wafflycat I now know a bit more than I did about the ex batts.Regards Keith.
|
|
07-05-2009, 01:46 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Can anyone tell me where in the area of Kent you might be able to get ex battery hens? We had some a few years ago which neighbours gave to us from the 18 they picked up. They were good regular layers - and I can remember how nice it was to watch the colour come back into their combs, their feathers become full again, and to see them walk around the lawn picking at bugs and digging worms for them. To know that this was their first time being 'normal' chickens was great to see. We are almost ready for some more, as we just have the one chicken right now, and she's thinking she's a duck......(was hatched in incubator with the ducks).
|
|
07-05-2009, 03:05 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|
07-08-2009, 05:44 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
There is also Little Hen Rescue
A question - does anyone know whether there are any laws about chickens in a garden? The idea of having a couple of hens is very appealing, we live in a normal residential street (our garden is maybe 16ft x 8ft) - I'm curious whether there are any regulations concerning for example noise? What does POL stand for please? Last edited by jdfi; 07-08-2009 at 05:45 PM. Reason: editing the hyperlink
|
|
07-08-2009, 07:18 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Hi Jdfi welcome to our forum, you will need to check the deeds for your house to see if there are any covenants restricting keeping chickens and also contact your local council to check if they have any restrictions for keeping chickens in the garden. Oh yes, don't get a cockerel as these make alot of noise which will annoy the neighbours. I would love to have chickens but my other half is against the idea. POL stands for point of lay which means the chickens are ready to lay eggs when you buy them.
__________________
Lesley Jay Vegetable Growing Guides Vegetable Container Gardening Guide Potato Days & Seed Swaps 2012
|
 |
| Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
| Display Modes | |
|
|
Linear Mode
