If you want to make a modest start in the business of keeping livestock, chickens are an obvious option. You may never graduate to ducks, geese or turkeys, let alone sheep, pigs or cattle, but once you have started to keep a few chickens - once you have seen the colour of home-laid yolks and tasted the best-ever breakfast egg - you may find it very hard to give up your chickens. And if you explore the further possibility of raising chickens for the table, you will find it equally hard to roast a bird that has not run free, fed on corn, and generally had the kind of life a chicken was born to have. You don't need much space to keep chickens. I know several townies who do it, including a bachelor friend of mine who only has two (keeping a single chicken is not kind). They only have about 3 metres of his tiny garden to run in but they are a cosseted pair who seem to enjoy life, and between them they give him a breakfast egg every single day of the year. And he gets enough two-egg days to keep him in scrambled eggs whenever he has company - as he often seems to on a Saturday morning. Whether or not the promise of fresh-laid eggs for breakfast is a factor in this, I couldn't say.
Where to keep them
If you're going to take the plunge and get yourself some chickens the first thing to decide is where you are going to keep them. The more space you can devote to them, the happier they will be. Personally I like to see my chickens break into a trot every now and then, so I would never give them a run less than five metres long, even if it was only a couple of metres wide. Obviously edges and corners of your garden will be easiest to fence off, and are likely to be your best options. But you need to be aware that chickens not only eat grass, they also scratch and peck the ground. Even a small number of birds will reduce a small patch of grass to bare earth in a month or two. This is not necessarily a problem, provided you keep your chickens supplied with scraps of green vegetables as a substitute for the fresh grass they would otherwise eat. But eventually the same patch of bare earth may start to harbour parasites and disease. A chicken run that is scratched to bare earth should be relieved, and re-seeded, annually.
Better still, you can avoid the bare-earth syndrome with a simple two-patch rotation: divide your allotted grass down the middle with a low fence and move the hens from one side to the other every two or three weeks. If you can organise your fencing so that the hen-house straddles both strips, so much the better. Alternatively, if you are keeping a small number of hens, the traditional portable ark may be a neat solution. This is a small, pitch-roofed hen-house with a wired-over run attached. Stout handles at either end mean that two people can easily move the structure from one patch of ground to the next. This is a simple way to give chickens constant fresh grass even within a very limited piece of ground. Of course, it places a strict limit on the extent to which the birds can roam, but the regular fresh grass will go a long way towards compensating for that, and provided you keep the numbers well within the figure recommended for the ark you will have happy, healthy hens.
Chickens don't have to be kept on grass, although it is what they like best. If you are going to put them on hard ground, such as concrete or paving, you should lay down a generously thick layer of wood or bark chips, or straw. This can be changed every few months and incorporated into your composting system. And again, fresh greens should be part of your feed programme, to compensate for the lack of grass. Chicken wire, as the name suggests, is the preferred form of fencing, although a fence that will keep chickens in is a very different matter from a fence that will keep foxes, and other predators, out. To be completely predator-proof, you would need fencing so high, dug in so deep, made of wire so strong, that you would inevitably be installing an expensive, time-consuming eyesore. Best to concentrate on making your hen-house predator-proof. If you are vigilant about shutting up your hens at night, and do not let them out too early in the morning, then foxes should not give you too much trouble. Further suggestions for deterring predators, including the ladder system, appear below.
If you have the space, you may not wish to confine your chickens at all. Provided they know their hen-house is home, and will come to it at night, they can run free during the day. Such farmyard birds are the happiest of all hens - they can go where they please. But be aware that one of the places they most like to go is a well-ordered flower garden or vegetable patch - and they will find plenty to eat in either. Even if you don't want to fence your chickens in, there are sure to be areas you will want to fence them out of.
Housing
Simplicity is the order of the day, and anyone half-competent with a hammer and nails should be able to knock up a small hen-house for up to half a dozen birds. Any weatherproof, windproof structure with space to perch and to nest will keep your chickens happy. A wooden box about a metre square, with a slightly sloping roof, is about as basic as it gets. It should be deep enough to run perches at least 20cm above the floor, with a decent bit of headroom for a tall chicken on the highest perch. Shallow nesting compartments can run along one end of the box, although these are often arranged as a bolt-on affair at the back of the hen-house. This has a twofold advantage. It makes them attractively dark and snug for the chickens on the inside (they like a bit of privacy). And it makes for easy egg-collecting access, via a simple hinged flap, for the people on the outside. Both nesting boxes and the floor of th ehen-house should be lined generously with straw or wood shavings. The hen-house should be raised a couple of bricks above the ground, to protect the wooden floor from damp and frost and discourage rats, who otherwise greatly favour such opportunities to make a new home.
The ladder system
The idea of the ladder system (which I found out about from a photograph sent to me by someone who had seen it used in France) is to give unconfined chickens a degree of independence and safety from predators, without the need to round them up and shut them in on a nightly basis. And, they can also come out when they choose in the mornings. In theory, this allows your chickens to be completely free range, running in a field alongside your other livestock. I will explain my cautious use of the phrase 'in theory' in a moment.
The basic system becomes instantly comprehensible from the picture below. The hen-house is raised on an old telegraph pole or similarly stout support to a height of about two metres. Access to the hen-house is via a ladder, made by knocking simple steps into a long stout pole. The design of the ladder is deliberately crude and rickety: a chicken will be able to use it but a fox or badger (the two most common chicken-killers) will not. The nesting box, and therefore the eggs, is accessed by means of a conventional, person-supporting, ladder, which is laid on the ground when not in use.
Chickens do not automatically grasp the ladder system. They have to be trained. The way to do this is to shut them in the hen-house every night to begin with. Open the door in the morning and they will soon learn that the only way down to the ground is by means of an awkward shuffle down the ladder, or a kamikaze leap from the top step. Over time they will come to prefer the shuffle. Teaching the upward climb requires a little more patience. Food, as ever, is the best incentive to learn. If the only grain available is placed on a temporary platform nailed to one of the lower steps, they will soon learn how to climb a step or two to get to it. Once they have mastered this trick, raise the feed platform a couple more steps. Eventually, usually within a week, they will be happy to make the climb all the way to the top - and happy to go into the high-rise hen-house to lay.
Note that the ladder system works best when it is the only housing system on offer. No matter how adept your chickens become at climbing the ladder, once you offer them any low-rise alternative they may soon come to prefer it, and you will be back to the days of nightly shut-ins. In terms of security from predators, I am convinced the system is effective - at least against badgers and foxes, during the hours of darkness. Of course, some foxes are cheeky enough to take a chicken in daylight hours, and unconfined birds are at the greatest risk. But in such cases you are likely to lose solitary birds. The idea of the ladder system is to avoid the wholesale slaughter that almost always happens when a fox gets into a conventional chicken run. I am not so sure that my high-rise hen-house is mink-proof. I haven't suffered a mink attack since I did the conversion, but I have a hunch they could climb my ladder if they wanted to. In terms of the ideal of running the chickens amongst all the other livestock, the practise isn't quite as satisfactory as the aforementioned theory! The problem is the uncontainable desire of sheep and cows to rub themselves against anything that promises to scratch their itches. As far as they are concerned, the hen-house ladder might have been designed for no other purpose. Such a deliberately delicate structure lasts about four rubs from a cow or five minutes of determined work by a sheep before it comes crashing to the ground. There is a solution, but it is an ugly one: a ring of electric fencing, under which the chickens can happily run, and through which even the itchiest cows and sheep are reluctant to venture.
The human hair deterrent
We may be straying into old wives' territory here, but the theory at least makes sense. Foxes and other predators are smart enough to realise that people are their biggest enemy. Consequently they tend to avoid them. Our scent is a dead give-away. We are an odorous species at the best of times, and our hair is a particularly rich source of the oils and secretions that give us our scent. So, balls of human hair, stuffed into stockings and tied on to the fence of your chicken run, should keep the bad guys away.
Choosing chickens
When choosing your chickens, before you can answer the vital questions of how many and what breed, there are a number of other things to think about:
How many eggs do I want?
The best layers, which are specially bred hybrids, really will lay an egg almost every day. It is worth thinking about how many eggs you use every week (are you a keen maker of cakes and custards, or just a 'scrambled eggs for Sunday supper' kind of person?). Fresh eggs from happy hens are lovely things to give away, or even barter with, so it's fine to produce a few more than you need. But don't go mad. Get as many chickens as you think you need for a generous personal supply of eggs, plus one more for luck.
Do I want to eat my chickens?
If the answer is no, my question is 'why not?' Okay, not everyone wants to wring a chicken's neck and put it in the pot, and a lot of people do keep chickens only for their eggs. But almost everyone likes eating chicken, and once you have your own hens you're only a few steps away from the tastiest roast chicken you'll ever have. If I'm convincing you here, then at least one of the hens you buy should be a 'dual-purpose' bird - a bulky breed that puts on a bit of meat and is therefore suitable for eating. It will, of course, lay eggs as well - that's how your roasters get started.
The main reason for not raising at least a few birds for the pot is if you think your circumstances do not realistically allow you to keep a cockerel. For example, if you're a light sleeper who doesn't like to wake up early in the morning. Or you have neighbours like that.
Do I want a cockerel?
If the answer to the above question is yes, then so is the answer to this one. Contrary to the beliefs of most ignorant townies - no offence, I used to be one of them - you don't need a cockerel for your chickens to lay eggs. Not even to get started, Hens will start laying spontaneously as soon as they are sexually mature (about four months).
A cockerel is recommended not just for providing fertile eggs but for keeping the hens in good order. Hens will fight, especially if space is restricted or if newcomers join the flock. Cockerels will tend to keep the peace. If, on balance, you would rather not have a cockerel, but you would like to get some eggs fertilised, either for replacement egg-laying stock or for table-birds, you can sometimes borrow a cockerel short-term, as you would a ram or a bull. Contact your local branch of The Poultry Club (www.poultryclub.org), or simply ask around among local fellow poultry-keepers. If you want a cockerel of a specific breed, most traditional breeds have their own enthusiasts' association and should be happy to help. A good cockerel will cover all your hens within a day or two, and their eggs will be fertile for up to a week after his visit.
Do I want bantams?
The bantam is a miniature chicken that comes in many different breeds, often following the same breed patterns as ordinary chickens. They lay smaller eggs and are slightly wilder and more independent by nature - happily roosting in trees or on the beams of outhouses. These charming creatures particularly suit those who which to let their poultry run free. (If you keep only bantams, and can offer them some suitable outbuilding to perch and lay in, then you don't need a hen-house at all.) Another reason they are popular is that they make excellent broody surrogates, sitting better and tighter and earlier in the year than most chicken varieties. Some breeds of bantam, such as the Light Sussex, make good eating but they will always be on the small side.
These are some of the considerations. Here are some of the breeds that can help you meet your needs:
Good layers:
Isa Brown Also known simply as a 'brown hen', this is the hybrid that has been bred to produce brown eggs in battery cage systems. Given a proper home, it will be a happy, healthy hen, and a fantastic layer. Some barely miss a day all year, though like any hen most will tend to slow down in the winter (officially they average 200 to 250 eggs per year). They are very light-bodied birds and therefore poor eating.
Welsomer
Best known for the beauty of its egg, which is the darkest brown of any hen, and often very large. They are charming, hardy birds that lay well throughout the summer, less well in winter. They average about 100 eggs per year. Pure-bred Welsomers are light birds, but if crossed with a meaty cockerel, such as a Light Sussex or Indian Game, they will eat well.
Dual purpose
Cuckoo Maran A large, hardy bird that matures slowly but is ultimately excellent eating. Reasonable layer (average 100 eggs per year).
Light Sussex A much-favoured dual purpose bird, hardy and strong. Good layer (average 100 to 150 eggs per year).
Dorking One of the oldest breeds around, possibly introduced by the Romans; tough, adaptable and excellent eating. Poor layer (40 to 50 eggs per year).
Wyandott A charming white powder puff of a bird, with a good weighty carcass under the fluffy feathers. Poor layer (40 to 50 eggs per year).
Dumpy A favourite Scottish breed, hardy and tolerant. Good eating. Poor layer (40 to 50 eggs per year).
Rhode Island Red The bird from which the brown-egg-laying hybrids originate. A good layer (100-plus eggs per year) and a reasonable eater.
Especially for eating Ross Cobb The Cobb (often known as a 'Ross Cobb', as the frozen food company of that name did much to develop the breed) has been bred to put on weight at an astonishing rate. Most of the factory-farmed broilers are variations on the Cobb theme. Intensively farmed, with the 'benefit' of drugs, hormones and dubious feeds, they can be table-ready within twelve weeks of hatching. They also have a tendency to 'go off their legs': putting on so much breast weight without being able to develop their leg musculature effectively cripples them, and they cannot even walk. But restored to a more natural environment, Cobbs do well and make good eaters. Crossing Cobb hens with cockerels of a hardier dual-purpose breed, such as the Light Sussex or Maran, makes for a slower-growing, more balanced eating bird.
Indian Game A 'fancy' breed related to the fighting cock, the Indian Game is a big, powerful bird. The pure-bred bird is indeed slightly gamy, and tougher than a normal eating chicken, but those who like the idea of a real farmyard bird to roast will love it. Indian Games cross well with other, softer eating hens, such as the Wyandott and Ross Cobb. The Indian Game cock was the chosen 'stud' in my attempt to breed fine table birds, After a couple of dud cockerels, I finally got hold of a 'perfomer' that crossed with my own mixed flock of dual-purpose birds. All the resulting birds were good eating. The Wyandott cross was the best, closely followed by the Dorking. I was later informed that I should have done this the other way round, using Indian Game hens to cross with cockerels of other dual-purpose breeds.
Hatching eggs under the hen
If you want to hatch some eggs, either to replace your egg-laying stock, or to raise some birds for the table (or to do a bit of both), and you have a cockerel, the simplest thing is to let nature take its course - almost. Some time during the spring and summer, one or more of your hens is sure to go broody. This is easy to spot, as she will sit tight on one of the nesting boxes and move only with great reluctance. If you try to lift her, she will give a rather irritable broody 'cluck'. And you may get a peck or two. She is ready to hatch some eggs, and if you want her to do so, it is best to transfer her to a broody coop - a private little nesting box with its own wire-enclosed run, like a miniature version of the ark described above. In here she will not be disturbed while she looks after her eggs.
Put ten to twelve fertile eggs under her (if you have a cockerel, and he has been seen to be doing his job, you can assume that almost all your eggs will be fertile). They need not be freshly laid. But if you are storing eggs with a view to incubating them, or waiting for a hen to go broody, they should be stored on their side and turned 180 degrees every day. Fertile eggs may remain viable, but dormant, for weeks - but it is best to use eggs that have been laid within the last 10 days for incubating. Once they go under the broody hen (or in the incubator - see below) they start to develop, so that eggs laid a week or more apart should still hatch out at the same time. Of course, the eggs you place under the broody hen need not necessarily be her own but those you would most like to hatch - i. e. your prime eating crosses, if you have gone in for a bit of that. Bantams, especially the Silky, are widely thought to make the best broodies and mothers, and many poultry enthusiasts keep a few just to do this job.
She should now sit tight until her eggs are hatched. She must have fresh water and some grain in her run, and once a day you should shoo her off the eggs to make sure she has a drink, a nibble and ideally a crap (most broodies are very clean, and rarely get their eggs messy). Make sure she is back on the eggs within half an hour (physically put her back on if you have to). In order not to waste time trying to hatch infertile or 'addled' (dead) eggs, after eight or nine days of incubation they can be 'candled' to check the developing embryo. In a dark place, or at least shaded from direct sunlight, hold each egg up to a bright light from a torch or candle. If the egg is fertile, you should see a distinct webbing of veins inside the shell. If not, it is a dud and can be discarded. Note, however, that some dark brown eggs are difficult to see through. If in doubt, leave the eggs under. If in the end they don't hatch you can simply throw them away.
In twenty-one days the eggs will hatch. The chicks will have the safe run of the coop, and their mother will keep them warm when they need it. They should be fed on commercial chick crumbs, or a little wheatmeal mixed with warm milk. After a few days, and provided the weather is good, you can let mother and chicks out to run with the rest of the flock. She will show the chicks how to feed. But they should all go back into the broody coop at night, for the first month at least. Thereafter they can take their chances with the rest of the flock. If you are rearing large numbers of birds you will, of course, have to expand your accommodation.
Hatching by incubator
If you wish to control the timing of your hatch, and you prefer to avoid the uncertainty of waiting for your hens to go broody, you can turn to the artificial alternative - an electrically heated incubator. These come in various shapes and sizes, and each will have its own set of instructions. Even the smallest ones will usually hatch about twenty eggs. Incubators can often be borrowed, or bought second-hand, so ask around and check the local papers if you want to pick one up cheaply. They are all different, so be sure to ask the previous owner exactly how it works.
A broody hen will turn her eggs from time to time, which is essential if the embryo is to develop properly. With artificially incubated eggs you will have to perform this important task yourself (although some incubators have an egg-turning or tilt mechanism on a timer that does it for you).
If all goes well, and your machine is a good one, the eggs should start to hatch after twenty-one days. You must resist any temptation to 'help along' the chicks as they struggle to chip away at their shell. Nor should you take off the lid to try and watch all the action. A constant temperature and humidity is very important and any interference may result in lost chicks. Okay, you're allowed the occasional peek, but don't overdo it.
Hatched chicks should be left in the incubator until they are completely dry and fluffy - several hours minimum. They should then be transferred to a suitable first home: a stout cardboard box lined with several layers of newspaper is ideal. They don't need to eat for twenty-four hours but should have fresh water from the start. From day two they should be kept well supplied with chick crumbs. The warm temperature they are used to must be maintained for several weeks after hatching, until the chicks are 'feathered up' (i.e. have real feathers instead of fluff), and the best way to do this is with the use of a heat lamp. They need to be weaned off the heat lamp gradually: start raising the lamp (i. e. lowering the temperature) after two weeks and after about four weeks switch off the lamp by day. By about six weeks they should be 'off heat' - ready to face the real world. This is just a rough guide. The chicks will tell you if they need more or less heat - panting and lying with their wings stretched out if they are too hot, huddling together and shivering if they are too cold.
Once you've weaned your chicks off the lamp, transfer them to a covered run outside (near the other chickens, if you like) for the day. But put them back in their box and bring them inside at night. After a couple of weeks of this routine, they should be strong and independent enough to fend for themselves and take their chances with the rest of the flock.
Feeding your chickens
The healthiest diet for all chickens, both layers and eaters, is a simple mixture of grain, grass and occasional fresh greens - particularly when the grass runs short (i. e. in a confined space or in winter). Trimmings and outer leaves from kale, cabbage, lettuces, spinach, beanstalks or pods, or any other greens that have gone over the top, plus any scraps and peelings from the kitchen, will all be avidly devoured. The birds whose eggs have the most beautiful yellow-orange yolks are the ones who get plenty of grass or greens.
For their main feed, the best mixture is a combination of flaked maize and wholewheat grains. Grain for birds running free does not need to be measured. It can be constantly available and they will not overeat. Self-feeding hoppers are therefore very useful. (Unfortunately jackdaws and other birds can also become quite adept at self-feeding, in which case an air-gun may come in handy). They will also enjoy any leftover bread mixed with any leftover milk, plus pasta scraps and any other cereal-based leftovers. One thing all chickens need is calcium, to help make their eggs. Free-running chickens with a varied diet and plenty of greens should get all the calcium and minerals they need, but just to be sure you can place a little ground oyster shell in a tray in their run. They will take it as they need it. Grit is also required for proper functioning of the gizzard. This is likely to be present in sufficient quantities in most soils, but poultry grit can be bought and added if in doubt.
Chickens fed in this way will stay healthy and lay well. However, if you want to maximise egg productivity, you can buy some layers' pellets to include in their diet. It certainly helps them to get kick-started with their laying in the spring. I would only ever use organic pellets, as other kinds have unnecessary chemical additives. Some are intended to be a complete food, but I would always mix them fifty-fifty with a pure grain feed as I feel that's what chickens should be eating.
If you are raising some birds for the table, there's no need to force the pace at which they're feeding and growing. Indeed, it's precisely because you're not forcing the pace that they're going to be so tasty. But you can, if you like, give them a little bit of special treatment. If you wish to, separate your eaters from your layers. Take all the cockerels, and any hens that you don't want as replacement layers. Fix them up a run on fresh grass and they will do really well. Give them a grain-based diet of corn and maize, ideally organic, supplemented with any vegetable trimmings from the garden and kitchen. A high maize diet will fatten them more quickly and give them that characteristic yellow fat. Spoil them mildly but not wildly.
Chicken health
Unlike intensively reared chickens, who have a different disease for every day of the week, naturally reared birds have few health problems, especially if their patch is kept fresh by one of the rotation systems described above. To avoid a build-up of parasites, their accommodation must also be kept clean. The floor of the hen-house should be lined with straw or wood-shavings, which will make it much easier to clean. Scrape out the hen-house every two to four weeks, depending on the number of birds using it, and spread fresh straw or shavings. The mucky stuff makes fantastic fertiliser. Sling it straight on the compost heap.
Killing a chicken
People like to say that certain breeds will be ready to kill after a certain number of weeks, usually fourteen, sixteen or eighteen. It's all relative. A chicken is not ready to kill for the table until you think it is. Pick it up, feel its weight, and feel its breast. If it feels tempting, then you should kill it if you want to. You may not be able to resist at ten weeks, when it is still only a poussin. Or you may want to wait until it is super-heavyweight at thirty weeks. Any older than this and most chickens would be in the 'old-boiler' rather than 'good-roaster' category.
When you decide to kill a chicken, catch it as quickly and efficiently as you can - a long-handled fisherman's landing net can be invaluable for this - and take it out of the vicinity of its fellows immediately. Then wring its neck. For a right-hander, this is most easily done by holding the bird's feet in your left hand so it hangs head down, breast towards you, back away. Grab the head with your right hand, so the neck is between your two middle fingers and the head is in the palm of the hand. Pull the head down while rotating your wrist upwards, so the neck is stretched tight and the head pulled back. You should hear a crunch as the neck vertebrae break. As you can probably guess, there's a knack to this. Always err on the side of firmness, to get the job done. It's not the end of the world if its head comes off (although in a sense I suppose it is).
Ideally a chicken should be bled: as soon as you've killed it, slit its neck vertically, i. e. from above the crop (the pouch where it stores undigested food) to the base of the beak. Let it hang above a bucket for half an hour, then pluck it (see below) while it is still warm - the feathers come out easily this way.
Plucking
Plucking a chicken is far easier while the bird is warm, i. e. within an hour or two of its being killed. My preference is to kill and pluck the chicken, then hang it for a couple of days before drawing it. To pluck the bird, use your thumb and forefinger to pull out a few feathers at a time; if you grab too many you may tear the skin. Work over the breast and back, the tail, then the legs and wings. Don’t worry about the wing tips. Once you’ve denuded the rest of the bird, these extremities should be cut off, along with the feet - a strong pair of kitchen scissors or poultry shears is best for this. You can pluck the head and neck and leave them attached, if you like (see below). Or remove the head and neck by cutting right through at the base of the crop, about a centimetre above the breast. It means that some of the contents of the crop may be spilled, or left sticking to the carcass, but they are easily wiped off. The reason I don’t cut closer to the breast is because a bird I am plucking is going to be cooked whole and I want the breast to be fully covered by its skin.
Drawing
In the UK the neck, head and feet of a chicken are usually removed before sale, but when you kill your own bird you don't have to do this. In many parts of France they are roasted along with the rest of the bird: the head is tucked under the wing, and the feet are singed on a gas flame to burn off the tough scales, then popped into the cavity of the bird with the claws, They are taken out for the last twenty minutes or so to get nice and crisp. Done like this, the head and feet are among the most fought-after bits of the roast.
If you don't want to try this, you should at least keep the head, neck and feet, along with the giblets, for making stock. The giblets are removed by drawing (i. e. gutting) the bird: make a small incision between the vent and the tail (just below the parson's nose), then cut carefully round the rectum to detach it from the rest of the body. With a bit of practice you can do this in such a way that when you lift it out, most of the guts will come away with it, followed by the gizzard, heart, liver and lungs. But initially you may have to delve in for a bit of a scrape. Once you've got everything out, give the inside of the bird a good wipe.
Identify the heart and liver and put these on one side: fried or grilled, they are delicious plucker's perks. Identify the gizzard - a large, gristly muscle below the crop - rinse it thoroughly, and put it with the neck and bits for stock. The rest of the guts should be thrown away. Then turn your attention to the neck end of the bird and carefully scrape out the crop. Once prepared in this way, a chicken can be cooked immediately but it may be a little on the tough side. It will be improved if hung by the feet in a cool place for at least twenty-four hours – and not more than four days.