Planning ahead for the Chicken Flock

[Tarrel]

If you pen them you must supply every morsel of food and if you let them free range you have predators that dip into the flock on a regular basis. You will have better eggs, but you will not save money on them, but you already know that.

If you have the space, there is a compromise. We have 100m of electric netting, which creates a 600 sq m enclosure for our 20 hens. We move it once a month, so they have fresh pasture (and all the grubs, grit, etc that goes with it). We still supplement with commercial feed and scraps however.

MaryN, I hadn't thought about broodiness being bred out of laying hens. Ours rarely go broody. We have hybrids (not ex-battery, specifically bred for sale. We bought them at point-of-lay). However, our new rooster is a pure-bred Welsumer so, hopefully, we might get some half-Welsumer chicks. Looks like I'll have to incubate them though.