When people think of poultry the first thing that springs to mind is a few hens picking up morsels on a lawn surrounded by trees and a hen house near by that the eggs the hens produce can be collected from. But the subject is far more complicated than this idyllic picture portrays
For example if you are thinking of keeping chickens do you choose a hybrid variety E,G red rocket or a traditional type hen such as welsummers. Also space and accomadation have to be considered carefully for example the living space taken up by 6 large hens would accomadate 8 to 9 smaller hens.
In my own opinion and experience red rockets are the best choice for the novice poultry keeper as they are quite hardy and good layers laying on average 330 eggs per year. We have tried several methods of feeding this variety and for best results at a sensible budget we found that boiled vegetables mixed with layers mash to form a custard type pudding was best, and consumed quickly this concoction can also be served hot during cold weather.
A corn/maize mix can also be fed in a soil proof feeder and of course clean water is required for drinking this takes care of most of there dietary requirements, but treats such as bread/cakes etc can be also given.
Try to avoid giving them any strong tasting foods e.g such as fish or pepperoni as this taste will come out in the eggs produced. (although it is against the law to feed any animal any form of kitchen or catering waste)
WHAT BREED OF CHICKEN The first thing you have to consider before buying anything is what breed of bird you intend to get. I say this because different breeds are different sizes and dependin how much room you intend to give them denotes how many and what breed you can have.
Here is just a few of the many birds available and the average size of the bird.
Bantams; these are the smallest of the birds and there are many varieties.
Red Rockets; these are a hybrid bird bred for there high laying of medium sized egg.
Light sussex; these are medium sized bird with medium sized eggs these birds do not have such a high yield of eggs but are lovely placid birds.
wellsummers; these are medium to large birds with a lovely coloured egg and medium yeild.
Rhode island reds; these are a large to very large bird they are good layers but can be very nasty.
HOUSING
The type and size of the hut depends mainly on your space and the size of hens you wish to keep, if you are keeping large hens then you cant keep as many hens as if you were to have bantams. There are many styles and designs of hen huts for you to choose from so choose carefully.
FEEDING
This area can be quite complicated as there are many different types of food all with different oil protein fibre and ash content but for the begginner i would recomend a simple layers mash mixed with water and boiled vegetables mashed up to paste, this should be placed in a trough or container which is large enough for all your birds to gather around.
Corn/maize mixer can be scattered around for the birds to peck at but some must also be put into a tough or container this is fed at 2oz, per bird per feed, this has 2 main reasons; 1 you can look to see how much your birds are eating if they are eating it all you can increase the feed if they are not eating simply decrease it. 2 if you do give your birds too much feed or they do not eat it all if it is in a feeder or trough you can take the trough out and store it in a rat proof container (if you leave the food out at night you WILL get rats).
Bread is also a big favourite of birds this can be broken up and scattered around for the hens to pick up.
Clean water should be freely available large enough for many birds to get around but the container should not be too deep as birds CAN'T swim and will drown.
