Food insecurity, a shortage of eggs, hens being also in short supply and, the ones that you manage to get are only available at massive inflated prices. These are thing that have all happened since lockdown from Covid-19 in the UK and I admit, I am worried for the welfare of some hens. The amount…
When I first started keeping chickens, I felt like I had to learn a whole new language. Well, if not quite a language then definitely a glossary of terms. As with most past times, there are certain phrases reserved for the people who take part in whatever activity it is. There was a lot of…
The penultimate post in my chicken keeping series is raising chicks. There are two ways to do it. With a cockerel in your flock, if a hen goes broody and wants to sit on eggs, you can let her and let nature take its course. In three weeks, fertility dependant, you could have a clutch…
The first thing many people ask when they start to keep chickens is ‘do you need a cockerel.’ The short answer is no. Hens lay eggs with or without a cockerel so, if it s eggs you are after, the male is not necessarily needed. The other thing people often wonder is, if you do…
I hope you enjoyed the first post in my chicken keeping series last week. This one is the next (and last) preparation post before the fun bit-choosing which hens you want. Before that though, you have decided you want to keep a few hens and you have chosen the coop. What do they eat? What…
Years ago, everyone kept chickens in their back gardens as a source of meat and eggs. Then it went out of fashion but recently, hens have become a very popular animal to keep. Maybe because people are interested about where their food comes from or are concerned about the welfare of chickens, I don’t know but…