First contact

[antonis]

Hi everyone 99

My name is Antonis and I'm from Greece.
Sorry but my English maby is not good enough for you.
I'm chicken farmer the latest 22 years. When I was small boy, my father had a chicken house with 300 hens. I keep going this activity.
All these years I learned several things about the chickens. So I decided to join this forum to know still more and you may find too few of me.

With my thanks, Antonis.

 

[chrismahon]

Hello Antonis and welcome to the forum. People here keep chickens mainly as pets, as a hobby, so do things very differently to farmers. You may learn a lot from us about chickens but the knowledge may not help your business. We have 33 which are 4 different breeds, each has their own characteristics. Some lay well, some eat well, some are a balance of the two and some are just fluffy and friendly.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Antonis, it's good to hear from you and we shall value your experience. Which part of Greece do you live in? Are you managing to keep your birds, during these difficult economic times in your country?

 

[antonis]

Hello Antonis and welcome to the forum. People here keep chickens mainly as pets, as a hobby, so do things very differently to farmers. You may learn a lot from us about chickens but the knowledge may not help your business. We have 33 which are 4 different breeds, each has their own characteristics. Some lay well, some eat well, some are a balance of the two and some are just fluffy and friendly.

Hi there! Given that my chickens are also free-range, I believe that the basic problems are the same despite the basic rules apply to every breed.

Hi Antonis, it's good to hear from you and we shall value your experience. Which part of Greece do you live in? Are you managing to keep your birds, during these difficult economic times in your country?

I live in Naousa, a small city in Macedonia department of Greece. You can search it in Google maps Things are a little difficult but if you can keep your flock healthy, there are many low-cost ways to keep production high. I have concluded to such ways due to my many years experience.

Cheers,

 

[Tim]

Hello Antonis,

Welcome to the forum, I hope you have fun and can share some of your experiences with us too

 

[dinosaw]

Hi Antonis and a warm welcome.

What breed do you farm and how well do they do in the heat out there in Greece?, do you do anything special to keep them healthy when the temperatures are very high?

 

[antonis]

Hi my friend

I am fanatic of entensive farming breeds. If you have good management these breeds are ideals efficient. At last 3 years I prefere Hi-Line. It's a strong and healthy breed. Minimum mortality and very high production. The only disadvantage is that the form of the eggs is a little elongate but the egg weight is very satisfactory. This breed doesn't love big quantity of food. So, if you have a good nutrition, the chicken doesn't storage fat in belly adapts to high temepratures.
Sorry for my english

 

[dinosaw]

No need to apologise for your english Antonis, it is very good. It is interesting that you say Hylines have elongated eggs I have currently got 7 Hylines amongst my other chickens, they were re homed from a farmer when they reached 72 weeks, in the past I have also had some Bovan Goldlines and it is true that my Hyline eggs are pointier than what I got from my Goldlines. Here in the UK a lot of hobby keepers start with breeds like ISA Brown, Hyline Brown, Lohmann Brown and then move to keeping pure breeds because they live longer and lay eggs over a longer period which is better if you are keeping them as pets.

 

[valeriebutterley]

Antonis welcome,
your English is wonderful.
I keep chickens as a hobby, for eggs for family and friends and as pets.
I keep pure breeds, Croad Langshans, and Anconas, both are rare breeds, also speckled Sussex, utility Leghorns and Cream Legbars (blue eggs).
I also have bantams, Pekins, just for the love of them. Pekins are wonderful layers, hardly ever stop, mine do not take notice of the season.
Nice of you to want to join us.