Chickens to Buy

The back to the country dream is one that can be realised without sacrificing modern comforts.  You can even do it in a suburban garden, partly by making sure you are surrounded by trees and greenery, but even more if you try to become a bit more self-sufficient.  One of the most rewarding ways of doing this is by keeping a few hens.

Chickens are easy to care for.  They will give you eggs.  They eat up all your kitchen scraps.  They can be kept in an enclosed run, and thier gentle clucking is one of the most restful sounds there is.

The vexed question, however, is which chickens to buy.  If you are going for egg production and nothing else, then you will need to buy one of the modern breeds bred only for this, such as Warrens. These are easy to find and buy, but they have a very limited life.  They will lay an egg every day, but only for 11 months or a year and then they are exhausted and their useful life is over.

If you want to keep hens for pleasure as well as eggs, the question of which chickens to buy is a much more interesting and exciting one.  You buy a rarer breed which is also known to be a good layer.  Feed them well and they will have a laying life of up to five years.  They may only lay two to three eggs in a week, but if you have 6 fowl , that will not be a problem.

Some of the pure-bred chickens, however, are also relatively heavy layers.  In particular, the three breeds that were originally used in cross-breeding to produce the modern, high-production birds are all worth a look. The Rhode Island Red, the Light Sussex and the White Leghorn are all excellent birds in their own right.

The White Wyandottte is another excellent layer.  Heavier than the Light Sussex, it is a solid, chunky bird.  The Maran is a dark, speckled bird, very attractive, which lays dark brown eggs.  There is an extraordinary small dark bird with very short legs called the  Scots Dumpy which lays darkly speckled eggs - not an easy breed to find though!

There is a wide range of breeds who combine a very attractive appearance with a reasonable egg--laying capacity.  The North Holland Blue is a large bird with barred blue and white plumage; a very handsome bird.  Other large handsome breeds are the Brahma and the Cochin, both Asian birds in origin.  If you are looking for smaller, more compact chickens to buy, the Minorca and Ancona are excellent choices.

The heavier breeds do well in a colder climate.  The lighter breeds do better in a warmer climate.  And if your space is limited, consider Bantams, which are miniature birds.  They lay excellently and the eggs are small, light brown and excellent to eat!