There is info available if you google chicken breeds, but I would be tempted to hunt out your local farmers, who advertise eggs for sale on the side of the road, they are usually really helpful and informative and may be able to sell you young chicks cheep!!! sorry couldn't resist it..

Haha at least you didn't wish me good cluck :) cheers for the advice tho, really looking forward to getting the coop ready and then when my chickens are all happy and healthy I'll be planning on building my bee hives!

We kept chickens for a while, well until they stopped laying, which they do eventually, but I think it depends on the breed..Anyway good luck with them, they are fun as well as productive, and good luck with the bees, know nothing about them though..

It depends what you want most, pets or good layers. If you'd like lots of eggs, then the modern hybrid types are infinitely superior as they will lay just about one egg a day when they are in season, although like all hens they will moult and stop laying at certain times in the year. By the second year they will still lay well but will decline rapidly after that. The disadvantage is that they can be far more susceptible to disease than a good 'mongrel' breed.
If you can find a good mongrel 'bantam' type, which lays reasonably sized eggs, these are very hardy, will lay for years, will go broody more often enabling you to hatch your own chicks (assuming you also have a cockerel) and make super pets.
Avoid fancy breeds with lots of bright coloured feathers and names, as most of these are inbred and weakly specimens.
No hens kept in a small coop are happy or healthy though, so try to create some space for them to have a good run around without pecking too many of the vegetables. Hens kept in cramped crowded conditions can resort to cannibalism, get coccidosis more readily and will soon lose their original attraction.

Cheers folks, alot to take in but hopefully ill get the hang of it! :)

I have just taken in five ex-battery hens (from a nearby rescue centre) and although they have past their best laying days we still get a couple of eggs a day and the enjoyment of watching them is worth the few quid a week it costs to keep them!

Good luck with it.
Ian.

Ian's idea is great as it gives some chickens the chance of a decent life after the hell of being in a battery house. It's amazing how a battery hen will immediately start normal pecking and scratching behaviour after a year in a cage where it could do nothing natural at all.

You're so right Bertie, these birds are (I think) less than two years old. They are already exploring the garden, scratching and picking off the insects. We fed them some strawberries this morning and it turned into an all out war! Lol

Haha sounds like I'm in for as fun time with these chickens! Hopefully I'll be able to find a rescue centre near me here in N.I. I'd much prefer to rescue and help nurture the hens and giving them a far better life than buying in new ones. Cheers guys :)

I hope you get lucky and have a great time with your hens! xx