Keeping chickens

What is your definition of a posh breed bohemian?

I have always had bantams, smaller for handling with children pooh smaller and love the eggs as more yolk than white I have had ex battery girls as well its so lovely to see them snoozing with the suns on there back and to see them feather up and they have there own characters good luck what ever you choose ,my Ex Battery girls Rainbow,Bella BB and Nosy Norah laid all winter

I agree with Deedaa. I had 12 battery hens at one time. They're worth getting, to give them a good life -they cluck and argue and fidget the same as any other breed, and they lay eggs that taste the same as the posh breeds. They should be given a chance to live a free life

When the children were small we used to keep half a dozen ex battery hens. They adjusted to life in our garden in a couple of weeks and grew lovely plumage. The farms used to get rid of them when they were a year old, but for a household egg supply they still had several years of productive life ahead of them. We tried a few fancy breeds - Polish which didn't really lay at all, and a Maran which laid occasional very brown eggs but ended up getting drowned in a water butt!

I agree re breed if you are after the eggs mainly - RI/LS cross. Some of the crosses have their own name now, such as Goldline and Lohmans, which are pretty much the same. I have kept all of them over the years. they lay brilliantly but don't tend to live as long.

If it's long-lived but fewer eggs that you want, cream legbars are very good. Bantams are wonderfully funny, but tend to go broody frequently, when they can be quite ferocious for a puffball! So funny though. They also moult and so lose time laying then as well. As can many other breeds, although the cross breeds don't tend to spend as long in moult. I had araucanas that always moulted in cold weather. Keeping them warm and dry in freezing temperatures was a nightmare.

If you have a broody chicken, you may want to have a small hutch with loads of ventilation to keep them in, as they tend to disrupt the others and can put them off laying.

It's great though, I love having chickens. I go for cross breeds in one pen and pure breeds in another. The cross breeds tend to be more docile and let you pick them up quite soon after you have got to know them - I sit in with the newcomers for quite a while until they are settled, to show that I am their protector and the real boss, no matter what the other chickens may think.

Go for a Rhode Island Red/Light Sussex cross if you want prolific layers that won't go off lay for very long in the winter. Marans lay those lovely dark brown eggs and are a good hardy breed.

Buff Orpingtons are tame and make good pets if you want to involve DGCs in their care.

Cream Legbars lay white or blue eggs, Bantams are a good choice if you don't have much space.

What to do with the eggs?

EAT them!!

We had bantams, prolific layers and easy to care for.