We now have chickens. We got them from the monthly Poultry Mart in Ballykeenan, Co Carlow, as "point of lay pullets". The first batch were murdered by a neighbour's hungry gundog, which tore the chicken wire of their pen to get at them.We persevered and now have 2 Rhode Island Reds and a white one (Leghorn). After the trauma of having the first batch killed, we have come to regard them as livestock rather than pets. That said, we are fond of them and watching their antics.
To learn how to keep them I got a wartime book off Amazon which is excellent and funny: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Poultry-Rabbits-Scraps-Handbooks/dp/0141038624/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259319254&sr=1-1
Two hens explore the jungle beneath the "Alder Carr", which is really about 60 alders, planted as part windbreak, part soil drainers. They also "fix" nitrogen in the soil. I keep them lopped to head height so as not to spoil the view (the alders, not the hens).
We got a brown hen (Rode Island red) and a black one (not sure but has green in plumage) which is older and laying to supplement our mighty flock of 3. No bullying this time as the black one is able to fight back. The brown one (Jenny) is sweet natured and lets you pick her up. They all do a great job under the trees, scratching away and removing weeds.
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