Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Over the hills and far away by the look of it. Who said we're in a global village ?
Would have liked to have seen your cockerel cos this forum really cheers me up but I'm not into these Facebook type things and I can't get past the login page :mad:

Great pics! Think I'd be a bit worried to see that face come at me for any reason other than breakfast, though :rotfl:

My little 'Silkie chick' is laying daily now, in a scraped out hole under the hedge) so that makes 10 hens all laying. There's no shortage of eggs here. The new chicken coop eventually got built today - first dry weather we've had then the rain came back with a vengeance - and I now have the little Pekins in it. Thankfully, it isn't as small as I first thought, but it is pretty lightweight. Unlike the description, it had no window in door, no sliding door to shut the coop off from the run and really tacky bolts, so we'd to add a couple more. The ramp is a bit steep with insufficient 'steps', so we'll need to add a few more to make it easier for the little Pekins to get up and down. The nest box was held on by 4 small screws, so I need a couple of bolts to make this more secure. Despite all my complaints and grumble, the overall coop looks quite smart. I'll get photos as soon as it's dry enough to risk taking the camera outside.

Edited in: Forgot to say, as the coop is a bit bigger than I first imagined, I have all 6 of my Pekin babies in it and they have plenty of space to move around when they aren't out and about. I'm thinking of getting another one for my Silkies.

That's brilliant, Katharine! I have 2 lavender splash, a blue and a lemon cuckoo Pekin plus 2 speckled Pekin X. They were all in the new coop last night.

Here's the new coop. It contains 2 x cross bred Pekins (15 weeks old), 1 x Wyandote cross golden duckwing Welsummer bantam (15 weeks old - to be rehomed soon) plus my 4 little Pekins, who are now 18 weeks old. The splash cockerel is being swapped with a birchen one bred by a friend, so none are related.

Option 3 without doubt for me.

If she was my chicken she would have been in me or the ferrets by tea time after the first killing. How old is she, still tender? Not cruel at all, you will by being kind to any future chickens you get by not letting her kill them, cant be a quick death I imagine. My bottom of the pecking order (apart from the chicks) psycho Maran, keeps attacking my poor little dog who doesnt have any agression towards chickens, even when they attack him! Seriously considering making her ferret food if she pushes it too far.

How are the ebay runs Nyk and everyone? I need a seprate one for the chicks once they hatch, and also as a future rearing, breeding coup. I thought OH was going to build me a broody coup yesterday, we agreed on a simple triangle (outdoor rabbit run type design). But came home to find he had built a tiny triangle nest box with no floor and no way of makeing it secure. With the idea it would go on the lawn within access of all the other chickens as that was all she needed for now! He would then apparently add a long triangle run. the size of this nest box would mean the run would be so small the mum hen would only be able to walk in a straight line and a feeder and drinker wouldnt fit in. He was not impressed that I was unappreciative of his efforts. Oops.:o

Caught up on the last few pages now, good to have the time to read all about your chicken dramas.