Air Arms Owners Club

We've been too long without hens so this week I've built a new hutch, on wheels so I can move it easily and with enough netting and ground spikes so that I can pen them wherever I like in the garden or the rough area behind the barn. Tomorrow I'm picking up 4 Goldline hybrid pullets at only £6 each, never had these before but they're supposed to be very good layers and have a good temperament. Looking forward to having our own eggs again!

I may just have to pop by for an omelet. Hope you're well mate.

Big Dog wrote:I may just have to pop by for an omelet. Hope you're well mate.

You'll be welcome Paul, I'm glad to see you're on the new AAOC!

my cousin in chesterfield used help in an inner city farm, used to move the hens regularly, cos all that was left on the ground after a while, was fag butts & ring pulls (the old ones that came off) point is, the ground was like bare, holocaust bare when they were done, absolutley nowt left, they`d peck everything! good luck TT.

Hen keeping has always fascinated me. I've often toyed with the idea of keeping a few up here in darkest suburbia. The thing that I need to know is how many eggs four birds would yield in a week?

That's why we're only having 4!
The wild area behind the barn will be their main home once they've acclimatised to us and their hutch. In bad weather and during the winter they'll be on a gravel and concrete area which is sheltered and easy to clean.

Geordie wrote:Hen keeping has always fascinated me. I've often toyed with the idea of keeping a few up here in darkest suburbia. The thing that I need to know is how many eggs four birds would yield in a week?

These Goldlines are supposed to be capable of 300+ eggs in the first year so 4 birds would give you 2 dozen eggs every week on average. Egg production drops each year, probably by 10% per year or thereabouts going by the pure breeds we've had before. These are commercial hybrids so they will survive quite happily in a small space. Don't forget that where you have fowls you have rats so you might get extra opportunities for shooting as well!

Cheers Tim, thats far more than I thought!!

May have to get meself a couple or three

Great fun .... chooks. And whatever anyone says, they have characters. There is nowt better than home baking and cooking with home grown eggs + any little waste the dining table produces gets eaten.

Sounds great to have your own Hens Tim, my wife has been thinking about getting a few, but worries that there may be some local by-laws against keeping them in your garden.
Would it be prudent to check with our local authority, or just go for it?