Nicola and Steve

Linda

Elaine Chapman

I started to keep chickens for fresh eggs and a way to start being more self sufficient and knowing where my food comes from. I grow veg too and some fruits and we sell enough eggs to pay for layers pellets so they pay for themselves. We have two hen houses and an enclosed run with 9 hens in our flock. We want to keep them safe from foxes and escaping when i'm out.

One of mine once protected one of cats who was being attacked by another cat. 3 ganged up on it and chased it out of the garden. Seeing was believing!

Pros:  Fresh eggs, always clucking when your around.

Cons: Bit smelly but their pooh makes good compost when mulched down.

Michelle Wilson, UK

I grew up on a farm with leghorns.  My job was to clean out the hen house once a week, collect the eggs and look for anything weird.  My birds did well.  We had 2 roosters that fought occasionally, so my dad killed one, even though I thought they got on well enough most of the time.  I think it was a rooster pecking order thing and limited.  I didn't enjoy eating him.  I was upset dad killed him as we had lots of hens.  I don't think dad watched them like I did and jumped to conclusions after watching them spar.  After that I moved out and decided I wanted to have Croad Langshans as my own chickens.  They are awesome and I have up to 9 roosters over 30 hens.  It works.  Now I have turkey's too, and I have to be very regimented with my worming program, but it works well.  I am 45 now, so I have had a good deal of exposure to chooks.

They were seen as an important staple of our diet (eggs).  More valued as they seem to be now.  Now farm people rely on trips to the supermarket more.  Not me though.

Patsy Booth

Elisabeth Jackson, UK

I've always loved the idea of a small flock of chickens pecking around the back garden, but it wasn't until last year at the age of 26 I got my wish. We moved to a farm last summer, with a huge enclosed back garden just sitting there, and the first thing I thought was every farm needs some chickens! However the neighbour had a cock and 2 hens, and they used to sunbathe with me in my garden, so I decided to wait as i didn't want to ruffle any feathers (literally!) Sadly one day at the end of summer I was told that a fox had killed the 2 hens, and the cock had ran down to defend them and also been killed. I missed them terribly, especially the cock who I nicknamed "the captain" he was a regal old thing, and his death left a chicken shaped whole in my heart. We decided that a small set of backyard chickens was the way to go, and then came the important choice "point of lay pullets or day old chicks" We went for day old chicks in the end, as it was now late autumn and we decided it would be nice to raise the babies inside our house, moving them out to the coop in spring. We came home with 3 little day old Wyandotte bantam chicks, and it was the start of chicken obsession!

I had always loved the idea of eating eggs from my own hens. I've been a follower of BHWT for years, and saddened by the plight of the battery hen. Ive also long been concerned about the drugs and chemicals added to commercial livestock feeds and their safety once consumed by people. Theres something very peaceful about growing your own food, and knowing exactly what goes in and comes out of them (even down to the grizzly details). Another major ethical issue for me was the way commercial birds are slaughtered, as I don't consider the process humane. I would much rather keep my own birds and slaughter them myself in a humane and dignified way.

My main flock live in a fairly standard wooden coop run set up. The coop is raised off the ground with a standard pull out tray, perches and nest boxes, the pop hole opens to a ramp with a 3m x 1m run. This door is always open into the garden the only time the chooks are locked into their run is if we have workmen here or perhaps a visiting dog. The floor of the run is lined with woodchip, and the idea is if there ever was a local biosecurity threat to chickens they would do very well inside this secure environment, but so far it hasnt been needed. The garden is about 10x20mtrs filled with lawn, rocks, and surrounded by mature conifers and shrubs, the girls love to scratch around under these. The whole thing is chicken proof, we invested in heavy duty mesh to attach to all the fences as early on we had some issues with escapees. I cannot live without products have to be megazorb for bedding, DE powder, biodry which sprinkles both inside and outside the coop, and garvo food. Theres no denying a good food really repays for itself in the worlds tastiest yummiest eggs and the healthiest birds.

Outside in the main coop I currently have 3 ladies. We have had a lot of changes to the flock due to an issue with Mareks despite buying vaccinated stock, there seems to be a contaminant in the soil on this property, and about 50% of growers I raise get it and have to be culled. We have also had some cockerels at various times but the last one had to be culled as he turned extremely aggressive towards me and was ruining my enjoyment of my chickens. The current girls are one of my original wyandotte bantam hens that i raised from day old.. she is a buff pencil coloured bird, shaped like a little ball and her name is Bambi. She is the queen of broodiness, and keeps us laughing for hours with her mental habits. In her first egg laying year she only produced us 40 eggs as she goes broody alllll the time. She would be a great mummy, perhaps something we might consider next summer depending on flock numbers. When she is not brooding (or chasing the dogs, or harassing mailmen) she likes to beg for food by walking up and making crooning noises at you. She also shouts the loudest when she lays an egg (not very surprising its such a rare event she must be shocked by its arrival?). The other 2 girls are hybrid pullets i bought this spring. I got these 2 as POL as I was getting sick of my then pure wyandotte flock producing next to nothing from all the broodiness. These 2 have really increased the egg numbers they lay almost every day, and are no trouble whatsoever a real beginner chicken. One is Esme, she is a copper black hybrid, she is beetle black with a red chest and head. She is the shy one in the group, when she first arrived she reminded me of a jungle fowl, that tall slim upright appearance. She is my best layer. She has always laid in the nest box from day one, never throws her eggs around, and they are always the same consistent good size. She's a little bit introverted so its hard to describe her but she seems very happy and healthy. The last chicken, my other hybrid, is Cece. She rivals bambi for flock favourite. Queen Cece.. leader of the flock. She is an amber star hybrid, chosen for the amount of buff lacing on her almost white feathers, and beautiful blue eyes. She is the boldest chicken I've owned, runs into the house and would stay there if you let her. She sits on my knee and talks to you, and she will do anything for a cheesy worm or a shrimp. She is also a good layer, although it took her a while to figure out the nest box, all summer she laid in a nest she made in a bush, but as the weather got bad she learned the nest box and now lays perfectly. She is famous in my family for her "cece wopper eggs" huge elongated double yolkers.

 Apart from this flock I currently have some 2 week old babies in the brooder in my living room. Time will tell whether they make it but so far there are 4 of them. One is a black bantam silkie called Cat (short for Cation). I have a gut feeling this might be a cock, but if he is nice he can stay. Then there is a female cream legbar called Skylar, she is the boldest of the bunch and I really hope to add her to the flock next year. Another female chick is called Oregon, she is a Welsummer and is a little wallflower, well a big wall flower she is going to be a large bird I think. The last is an unnamed Vorwerk. Too early to tell sex yet, I am reluctant to name until I know because if he is a boy he will turn into a roast, with the Vorwerk being a utility breed I plan to raise him on and then slaughter him myself. I already take care of all culling on the property but I want to try my hand at dressing a bird, in the hope of expanding into meat birds next year if it goes well.

Pros: Eggs :D Lovely pets, very easy to keep, no guilt as they can free range unlike say a rabbit stuck in a cage. Low maintenance and cheap to keep. Generally docile much less scary than my hamster or my horses.

 Cons: Chickens are currently in a weird position on the market, are they pets or are they livestock. This seems to make a big divide when it comes to treating illness and culling. Personally I home nurse where possible but I do cull when hope is lost or otherwise necessary. I don't take them to a vet, as the bills would end up sky high and to me, while i love them very much, they are a farm animal. Ive seen a lot of issues with this culling recently, cocks being dumped because people cannot bring themselves to cull etc. The world is a sad place for a cockerel, which is why any of mine which are un-needed get a dignified death, much nicer than an uncertain future thrown on allotments or used for cock fighting. I think this issue with killing chickens is the biggest con to pet keeping.

Get chickens :) They are the BEST pets

Anne Rolland, Todmorden

We used to take the girls for picnics and to see the chickens at Mythmroyd. One time they started feeding their sandwiches to the chickens in a nearby pen. I had to stop them as they were chicken paste sandwiches... didn't want to make cannibal chickens.

Susan Ratliff, 58, Newcastle

My grandfather who I never met used to keep hens, and my mother used to look after them. And she told me that when the hens wouldn't lay my grandfather used to tell her to give the hens a Beecham's pill in a teaspoon of jam! When I was a child, and particularly during the 70s, chicken became very popular. However, because my Mam had loved the chickens she could never bring herself to buy, cook or eat chicken. We always had pork for Christmas dinner. My grandfather lived in South Moor, Stanley, Co Durham. During the war, he would give chickens to families in hardship, but my Mam got upset because she saw them as pets and gave them names.

Dorothy, 82, Gateshead

A lot of people had them during the war - mainly for the eggs I think because they were hard times. But you could nearly always get chicken or eggs. You always had chicken.

 I used to stay at my aunty's in Embleton when I was a child. From about the age of 9 me Mam would put me on the bus at Haymarket and my aunty would get me off at Embleton, up the coast. I used to go up there for holidays in the summer - I loved the sea. Anyway, there were chickens all over the bloody place up there. They'd just wander in the middle of the road. They knew who you were and they'd follow you all over, I've even seen a chicken trying to get into the bloody sea man!

Noreen, Birtley

I used to like to take the eggs out - they were my dads. We used to like it when they laid the eggs because we had something to eat! My dad was very keen so we had lots. We used to like the eggs. We didn't play with them, but we liked them. We certainly liked the eggs.

 When I was a little girl I went with dad who kept bantems. We ate them because we had lots - we would replace the ones me Mam had killed for the Sunday dinner. We went to the allotment every day from the age of 2 until school and we played with them, they were very friendly.

 My Mam was very interested in the hens - she used to gather the crusts off the neighbours and she'd mix that with their food. Look after them was hard work. Getting them back into the garden after they escaped was especially hard work!

 They kept them in wooden cages called crees - cobbled together from whatever wood they could find. My dad put them into shows - they'd judge them on their feathers, if the nails were properly cut - allsorts. He used to win and that kept him going. We went all over. You didn't have a lot of money to spend in those days but we went as far as we could - we went on some hilarious hikes.

 On the morning they knew who you were - they definitely knew they were getting fed!

Jimmy, Gateshead

I kept hens yes. I had a hundred ducks and geese and chickens. I was a breeder and would sell the eggs. About 6 years ago - it was a hobby, I loved it. I'd sell the eggs to pay for my food and that, you know. I had Black Minorcas, White Leghornes, Rhode Island Reds. Id let them run around by themselves, and loved collecting the eggs. They were great - I loved them.

I also kept them as a young man. I had to sell the eggs to pay for the coal - to keep warm. We'd feed them cabbage leaves and vegetable peelings.

Elsie, Gateshead

My Dad kept hens, ducks and geese - he dug the pond they lived in himself. He had half a dozen at the beginning but they laid eggs and hatched so ended up with a couple of dozen - this was before the war. During the war, my mam looked after them while my dad was away in the navy. We used to give the folks around the area the eggs. People didn't sell things in them days. They just gave them away cos people needed things. We had more than we needed so we gave them away. We never went hungry like - we probably would have starved during the war if it weren't for the eggs.

My dad put them in the range to keep warm when they hatched during the winter.

Dorothy, Stockton

I lived in a farmhouse in the 30s so we had about half a dozen hens - I used to help out with them. There were no jobs so you had to go where the work was, and during the depression you went where the food was. We didn't sell them though because you had to register them if you wanted to sell the eggs. But I just went to feed them because that's just what you did. I didn't keep hens after I left home - I was sick of looking after them! They weren't like pets like they are today.

Jacki, Stockton

We used to hatch them, take them to the allotments, fatten them up and then neck them and sell them. I used to eat all of the animals... chickens, rabbits... all of them! *laughs maniacally and mimics necking chicken!*