Felicity Anne Hayes

My chicken story started with my husband designing a chicken coup. He works in the timber industry and has always had access to cheaper timber as a result. My son was a carpenter, and together they decided that, after clearing our back garden, which was a mammoth task, they would build the chicken coup. Well, they did that beautifully and even had help with one of my son's friends, who, being in the roofing industry, was able to put a proper corrugated iron roof on it and attached gutters and a down pipe. Then came our first three rescue chickens, Rhonda, Darkie and Honey. We had all three for just over two years and I became very attached to them, although I was nervous about the responsibility at first, and knew absolutely nothing about looking after chickens. Rhonda and Darkie unfortunately and sadly passed away last winter, but Honey has stayed with us and she is a very, very strong chicken, and lays lovely eggs about three times a week. I was going to just keep her on her own, but my son said you have to get more chickens to keep her company. I resisted at first but then, upon returning from a vacation to help my sister move, my husband and I bought two pullets, Bec and Jo, off a breeder. Honey was really bossy at first and caused some grief as she was always picking on the pullets. Bec had a cold but she started to lay eggs every day and has been very resilient. Jo got sick early this year and I took her to the vets and he treated her for chicken bronchitis. Thankfully, she has now recovered fully and she laid her first eggs this week. I am absolutely delighted. Even Bec has stopped her sneezing, so I think all the chickens are now happy and content. I have always liked animals and I really enjoy my new lifestyle with my friendly chickens.

Brenda Waterson

Always liked helping my Dad with his gals when I was a little girl, he had a 70ft shed he built and kept them in, still have the shed(pic follows)you'll all laugh at it now. When Dad finally got so he couldn't get up an down the field any more I started to look after the gals, found a peace I'd forgotten in life. He is gone now. Still have one of his left, she must be 15 now. True. Now all in a safe outdoor enclosure, mostly rescues, my best friends!

They live in the large shed, some in cages, Dad had a small veg an egg round. He delivered in his van, completely small time. I used to be allowed to help sometimes, guess I was only 8/9 which would have made about 1969/70. I adored his gals. Recall wanting them to be outside though......

When they didn't lay they would be for the pot, horrid memories of them hanging upside down plucked but head on and a little burner, kerosine i think to burn off stubble. Probably because they were old hens.

My gals enjoy retirement peacefully, some are ripe old ages.

Ali Horn

My cousin had a henhouse that he had built at school and advertised in the local paper to sell it. He sold it and we just thought that we wouldn't actually mind getting into hens. So we went to a local auction, started with wellsummers first and he bought some cream legbars and then after that we sort of got the bug and went to different sales and making henhouses and stuff like that. It was after we used to go clubbing... when we stopped we needed something to do!

So we looked at all the different breeds and what they should be like in Poultry Standard and 5 years later we have 28 different breeds, one for every letter in the alphabet. And bantems, geese, turkeys, allsorts. Then we did a little bit of showing and it was just a hobby that got carried away! The people you met through it were interesting because they're different to the sorts of people you'd meet before.

The shows are just a bit of fun. Everyone has got a chance. Whatever background you come from, everyone has got a chance at winning a rosette. If you do start winning and collecting prizes it just gets quite addictive. It's just about doing the best you can. It's just not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

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

Mandy Roberts, 50, Nothumberland

My family kept hens when I was a teenager - part of the self sufficiency 'craze' of the 70's I guess.

 We had a Rhode Island Red cockerel called Eric The Red who we were very scared of but needed to lock up at night. We had to use a bamboo stick to get him into the greenhouse - a bigger target than the chicken hut.

 We also had bantams who would roost in the bushes at dusk - we had to lift them down and pop them away as they roosted so low that a fox could have easily got them.

Councillor Marilyn Charter, Newcastle

My 20 month old son would get up at 5 o'clock in the morning. Running around the house we didn't want him to wake the old men in the house up. Me Mam says we'll lift him over the fence and put him in the field outside. He ran and didn't stop running. My mum got the binoculars. Saw him go into the farm yard. He went straight after the hens and went straight into the hen house. So me mam had to phone the farmer up and say 'can I get my grandson back, he's in your hen house?'.

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!

Allison Dean, Newcastle

My aunt used to rescue battery hens, her mother-in-law used to keep them as pets. They would live free-range with my Aunty. I used to remember them. They used to stay behind the garage.

Mark Matthews, 51, Darlington

Remember having to feed the hens at my Grandma's house in Berwick. I was small enough to fit into the hen house so was always "elected" to go in with a bail of corn. I was petrified of the hens pecking at my legs which were bare due to only being 4/5/6 years old and wearing shorts all the time!!

Also called hens "Coochi Ha Ha's" (at that age!)