Whatever

I must admit I have been silent for a few weeks. I went on holiday for a week beginning of November; took the girls to a hen boarding place and they were well looked after.

Cindy has been through a full moult and now looks fabulous :-) She's even laid 2 eggs this week - that's as many as she laid in the last 2 months. The others are still laying almost every day. I am quite surprised,particularly as there is little daylight now/

Since I returned from holiday, I have kept the girls in a run, due to the awful weather and not wanting the grass destroyed further. Leave it til Spring to recover. The girls don't seem to mind now, probably because they get a few extra treats :-)

HEN GEN I adore your smokey grey hen. My bluebell hybrid is similar in colour, but her comb is tinged with blue, so doesn't look as attractive. I had no idea this colour was unacceptable. I think it looks so classy.
 
Two of my new girls I got in June are laying now. Not used to it, usually boxing day I get my first eggs.
 
Long silences? It's only been four years, in my case - so hardly any time at all.

In my own defence, I did move house and have to include the hens in the sale and, what with one thing and another, have had to endure a miserable state of henlessness for far too long. Something I intend to rectify very soon, with more than a little inspiration due this coming Saturday...
 
Good to hear from you, anyway, MadBadger - welcome, and good luck with the new hens. What are you going to get, and how many? You must be keen, to be getting them at this trying time of year!
 
I'm in the process of constructing an Eglu with a four metre run, so I guess that I can probably manage 2-4 hens over winter*. The plan is to see what pretty things are in the selling pens at the Nats and if they map to the ultra secret list (only four breeds: Legbars; Marans; Spotted Sussex; anything that grabs me) go for a couple of those.

Phase 2 is to complete the overhaul of the 4x6 metre area that used to be a nice bit of decking overlooking the Clwydian Range and build the flock up to seven or eight with some hybrid egg-machines. Of course, that will leave me with a spare Eglu set-up and a potential case of Morehens Disease...

*or one Croad Langshan/Tyrannosaurus - does anyone really keep these and not live in fear?
 
Hi MadBadger.
Please don't forget that your hens do need at least 2 square metres of run each as a minimum, so your 4 square metres will only really be big enough for a couple of hens. Once you've built them a fox proof extension, you'll be able to get some more. More space isn't s problem, but too little will result in behavioural problems such as feather pecking.

Hybrids are bred to be more tolerant, whereas pure breeds such as those in your wish list really will benefit from a bigger run.

The decking with a view sounds lovely. I'm sure your hens will love it!
 
I used to have an eglu, and agree with Icemaiden about the space. The Omlet marketing info at the time led me to get 3 hens, which did manage to squash in, but were very crowded. 4 metres of run becomes even less once you've added space for feeding and drinking, even if you use the Omlet feeder and drinker that hang on the mesh sides, and a very small run like that will become deep in poo very fast in winter. The smaller the run, the more essential is the 2 sq. metre rule, as they need more room than that to feed in peace, move around and escape bossy ones. Definitely only possible with two placid brown hybrids max. I found the eglus (and the bigger Cubes) to be poorly ventilated, with only a few small holes in the sides when closed, and had no proper perches so the hens sit on a plastic squared grid which becomes very dirty, rather than a proper perch. One of mine always had to roost in the nestbox, which meant dirty eggs next day.
If you're thinking of getting one of the bigger off-ground Cubes, there's not enough room in them for more than 5-6 hens at most - I used to look after a friend's hens when he was away so I've tried these as well. There are lots of threads in the Equipment section about various coops, and whilst the plastic ones have all the advantages in my opinion, there are now several brands that are cheaper than Omlet and better designed from the hens' point of view.
Could you hold off until you've made all your preparations, and get them all together at the same time next Spring? You'd avoid integration problems when the new ones arrive, they'd all have enough space, and you wouldn't have to manage any of the problems of winter care. Quite honestly, it's not nearly so much fun when it's dark, cold and muddy, and POL pullets who have probably been raised indoors won't enjoy it much either. Enjoy the Nationals, but if you're buying at a show, or an auction, your new birds will arrive traumatised by the travel, the noise, the people , possibly exposed to infection from other birds at close quarters, and so they'll be more likely to have compromised immune systems and go down with some illness, and you'll have no chance of contacting their breeder if things go wrong. Best to buy as locally as you can, see conditions where they've been raised, and bring them home quietly and without fuss to settle in.
 
Much to think about, so thank you all.

Just for clarification: I do have the Eglu cube, so the immediate constraint is the size of the extended run. I have the materials to bring that up to six metres with a bit of work but even so, I would agree that the capacity would top out at three.

(By the way, if you're wondering why I have forked out for an Eglu and run that won't be the coop or run for the finished project, let's just say that I like to make sure that I have a sick bay/quarantine available before I need it, and I'd also like to be able to control the future integration scenarios Marigold mentions. The run can also be configured to make a nice safe space for a chicken tractor on my veg beds, as well :D )

I'm not at all averse to returning empty-handed tomorrow, but I'm not sure I am completely in agreement with the 'wait for the good weather' argument: there are plenty of things to force me away from the desk and into the outside during the warmer seasons; not so many to get me outside in the wind and rain. Not that the coop will be more than twenty feet from the door, mind.
 
That sounds fine - when you said 'eglu' I thought you meant one of the little ground level starter coops. Good points made in your last paragraph - we shall be interested to hear how you get on.
 
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