My secret passion.... ;)

EGAR

... are bantam chicken. And I have to show off my newest arrivals.

A pair of Lavender Pekins:





And a trio of Mille Fleur Pekins:



I love my chooks !

Anyone else with the chickenpox..?

mymo

I love the lavender pekins, gorgeous.
My nanny had bantams years ago, little balls of fluff (white with fluffy legs), I don't remember breed as I was quite small at the time, but I loved them.

Have thought about getting some but not with my cats, one would see dinner the other would be scared.
Dogs I'm not sure either, bigger fella is scared of pheasants (hasn't met a hen, fine with garden birds), little one would go after rats and birds so may not be good with hens. I'd hate to stress the birds, so for now i'll wait and see.

ISDW

Lovely photos, I'm sure they are very pretty - but I have a real aversion to birds I'm afraid:D I'd love to have some chickens, freshly laid, free range eggs would be great, but I couldn't handle having to look after the birds.

toadfly

How was the new babies settling in? Sooo cute!

SophieSakura

I think they're cute

I can't wait til I can get some hens, they're awesome.

EGAR

I have a few ex-batts and Light Sussex as well (large fowl) but my son is afraid of them which is why I got into Bantams. I like the Pekins as they are not very flighty and real pets. Like walking tea cosy's .

My cats leave them alone, the roosters make so much noise if a cat approaches it doesn't seem worth the trouble .

Ivan the big black tomcat once ran afoul of a Light Sussex hen - she gave him a right going over and I think that cured him forever, he now ignores them and shakes his hindleg whenever he must go past one .

The Dutch Bantam are in an aviary as they are too small and my cats might really let rip. The dogs show no interest which is amazing since I got quite a few gun/hunting dog breeds here at present.

aquarian_fire

Have you seen Silkie chickens? They're gorgeous too! More fluffy than feathery! Your chickens look beautiful!

EGAR

Yes, my son's pet rooster is a Black Silkie (I'll upload a pic later). I like their temperament and looks but they don't do well in rain and get soaked.

aquarian_fire

That's so cool! I was wondering... where would it be possible to buy silkies? One of my friends keeps chickens at home and I think she'd die and go to heaven if I got her one!

EGAR

Yep, no problem but I would buy older ones not chicks as they are very very hard to sex as chicks and you could end up with lots of roos

Have a look at this site, it has ads, breeders directories and details of poultry bring and buy sales all over Ireland: http://www.irishfowl.com/

aquarian_fire

That's brilliant, thanks!

Stench Blossoms

I got some chickens over the weekend.

SirenX

they are so pretty! I'd love to have hens! but alas, we don't have the room

Groom!

Just looking for some advice?!!

We have just got an allotment and there are facilites to keep chickens and hens if we want.

But, I would rather keep them at home. The only problem is that I have no grass.

I do, however, have great enclosures that were originally built as kennels, about 15 feet x 8 feet slabbed, galvanised steel fencing and doors and totally escape proof. My question is could I keep hens in this set up?

I could build up a nice base of gravel and shavings, and maybe even get some roll out grass on top of that?

Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree and should go with the allotment option but I would just love to have them at home!

Also are there any good books about keeping hens you would recommend or is everything on www.irishfowl.ie that I need to know?

Thanks in advance.