Chickens in the Backyard Overview

This clip was made in my daughter's back garden in Yorkshire. It's not very big, roughly 60' by 20' so roughly 100 square metres given over to the dozen hens and couple of ducks that she keeps along with the two rabbits and seven cats (Yes! It's Jollity Farm)

Here we discuss the types of chickens you can get and where to get them from. You can get ex-battery or barn hybrid hens from commercial producers a pound or less or you can buy pure breed hens from a breeder (see our poultry breeders list and this article Pure or Hybrid Hens).

The ex-battery hens, amazingly considering their start in life, can become very tame but their best egg production days are over whereas the pure breeds tend to be a little tougher and give less eggs but over a longer lifespan.

You can also buy hatching eggs and incubate them yourself either with an incubator or by using the services of a broody hen. But do consider what will happen to the cockerels. See this article on hatching chicks before going down this route.

The video illustrates the problem with cockerels perfectly. Blackie was in good voice!

Backyard Poultry Tips with John Harrison