A lot of people dismiss chickens as being quite boring but when you get to know them, you realise that they are anything but! All our chickens have names and their own distinct personalities. Irene, for example, complains bitterly if their daily treat consists of grapes, but Xander moans if there are no grapes on offer!
Chickens in the Cube - 3 February 2009
As of 6 August 2009, we have the following chickens:
The big girls:
- Willow and Buffy (Buff Orpingtons)
- Irene (Dorking x Light Sussex)
- Dawn and Speckle (Buff Orpington x Warren)
- Hetty (Warren)
The little ‘uns:
- Mama Silkie and Silly Silkie (Silkies)
- Molly Malone (Pekin bantam – partridge)
- Peggy Sue (Pekin x Silkie)
The boys:
- Captain Flint (Pekin bantam – lavender)
- Xander (Buff Orpington)
3 chicks (March and April 2009)
- Pekin Bantam and Pekin x Silkie (boys)
Although we let our broody hens sit on and hatch eggs, and raise their chicks in as natural a way as possible, our main reason for keeping chickens is nice and simple: eggs! If you have never tasted a freshly laid egg, you’ve never tasted what a real egg tastes like. Forget your over-priced organic free-range but still shop-bought ones. If you want real eggs, buy from a farm or small holding – or get your own chickens! You won’t regret it!
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, any boys we raise are for the pot. I cull, pluck and draw them myself. It’s not my favourite way to spend the day, but the results are always worth it!
The chickens - 25 November 2008
Despite the price, we decided to invest in the chicken houses made by Omlet: the Eglu (for the Bantams and Silkies) and the Cube for the bigger chickens. The Buffs manage to squeeze themselves into the Cube without any problems, which is a relief, and they all seem to enjoy their luxury lifestyles. I originally ordered the catalogue from Omlet for a laugh but the more I thought about it, the better an investment they seemed. Although bulky, they’re not hard to move, even with the runs still attached. They are dead easy to clean out and, being plastic, they can be quickly scrubbed and then dried in a very short space of time. In contrast, the wooden ark, which we use for emergencies, takes bloomin ages to dry after being cleaned and being wooden, harbours all sorts of nasty bugs who can hide undetected. It also leaks. So all in all, I’m happy with the Eglu and Cube!
The big chickens live in a separate enclosure to the Bantams and Silkies, and each enclosure is made up of 50m of electric netting: an excellent fox (and dog!) deterrent, so long as you remember to recharge the battery! Again, this was quite a heavy investment but it has already proved its worth.
Xander - 27 July 2009
Last updated: 6 August 2009
I couldn’t agree with you more Jo!
We have 13 hens and a Cockrell called Rhydian (after that ‘X factor’ guy), 3 of the hens and Rhydian are Silkies and the rest are just hybrid layers.
They do definately have their own personalities – Rhydian tries really hard to be the Boss and always gets funny when ever I’m around ‘his’ ladies!
Some of the hens like me, the Silky hens, although very easy to pick up off their nests, don’t like me much – they support Rhydian, while a few of the hybrids let me stroke them and follow me around all over the place!
It’s all good fun – I wouldn’t be without my ladies!
Flint adores me (coz he thinks I’m a hen) and Speckle is slowly becoming quite friendly but the rest really don’t want to know (though they come running fast enough when I turn up with their treat bucket!)
I love observing their relationships and hierarchy, especially seeing how much the cockerels cater for their favourite hens’ every whim. Dolly only has to ruffle her feathers and John’s all around her, making sure she’s ok!
What a coincidence, our first 2 buff orpington’s were called Buffy and Willow as well. Then the cockeral was named Spike. Fraid we’ve become a lot less sentimental now, latest ones are called Curry, Vindaloo and Tandori!!!
Hi Bev, thanks for your comment!
I was banned from giving out food names!
Buffy was thus named when she was broody. “Have you checked on the Buff” became “have you checked on Buff” which inevitable became “… Buffy”. And once we had Buffy, the other had to be Willow! e originally had two Buff cockerels, one tubby chap and one more slender. Fat Boy and Slim seemed natural… Slim, alas, met his end thanks to a fox raid
We have chickens called – Mrs Crossbeak, Norma, Mrs Blacktail, Mabel, Chicken Licken, Mrs Badger, Molly, Old Speckled Hen and The Other Old One!! They are such fun and make me laugh every day with their antics.
I dread to think how Mrs Crossbeak got her name. What wonderful names!
how many big chickens can you fit in the eglu cube coz im thinking they look like a very good investment, thanks.
We’ve currently got 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Buff crosses, 1 Dorking/Light Sussex and 1 Pekin bantam cockerel in the Cube.
At the most, we’ve had all the above, plus 1 Silkie, 2 more Pekin bantams, a Buff Orpington cockerel and another Buff cross. The Buff cockerel slept in the nesting box but other than that, they all fit in the house without any problems and seemed quite happy.
The bantams and Silkies were meant to sleep in the Eglu but decided to bunk up with the bigger chickens!!
The house isn’t the problem: it’s the size of the run. The standard run is 1m long and if your chickens get to free range all day, every day, that’s perfectly adequate. If they are going to spend most of their time in the Cube then at least one 1m extension would be necessary, preferably more than that.
Hope that helps!
Thank you! im planning on getting 3 ex-bats and 2 silkies (hoping one will go broody) so there should be plenty of room for them and their ‘children’
More than enough room! If you’re getting ex-bats, make sure they’re up for getting up and down the ladder as it takes them a while to get to grips with it.
Are you still pleased with the Eglu’s and cube? We’re still toying with the idea as I’m a bit obsessive about the hen houses being clean. We’ve got 45 ex batts and Pekins here though so I’d need a few but could start with one when we are better off financially. I’ve never seen one though “in the flesh” so to speak.
At Little Hen Rescue, the owner of Chicubes donates some hen houses to the rescue in exchange for advertising and per Chicube sold through LHR’s website but his really large ones look like portaloo buildings!, lol
Couldn’t comment on the quality though as never really looked.
Hi Lyn,
Yes, I’m still happy with them though there are some design features I’d change in a heartbeat. It’s the ease of cleaning that wins my vote, each and every time.
I’ve never heard of Chicubes before – I shall check them as we’re thinking of upping the number of hens but are at our limit, housing-wise. The other one I’ve been thinking of is the Solway Eco Hen House. I’ve not seen in “in the flesh” but it’s had some decent reviews.
hi just thought i’d say i’ve seen one of these solway eco hen house things, and i thought they looked riddiulously flimsy, and it also had a few sharp edges on it which i didnt think looked too good, although i didn’t really look at it in great detail…
Thanks, chick3000, that’s good to know. Where did you see it?
do you have orpington x silkies?
Hi Christopher, I’m not convinced that a cross between Buff Orpingtons and Silkies would work, given the massive size difference between the two breeds!
Do you have a photo of Irene – the Dorking /Light Sussex cross please ?
Next year I am hoping to breed our Light Sussex cockerel to our two Silver Dorkings. It would be interesting to know what to expect !
Hi Sandra, I’ve got two (not very good) photos of her: one here and the other here. Essentially, she’s got a Light Sussex’s colouring on Dorking body!
Thanks. She looks lovely. I was hoping it would be a good meat cross until I get some Indian Game.
Mmmmm, home bred meat birds … that actually have meat on them! Thus far, mine have only been good for broth! I’m going to buy some eggs in next spring as I know someone who breeds Light Sussex, except that his are the huge variety, not the smaller ones you often see. Yum yum!