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need four docile hens for our house (with 3 year old twin girls!)

Hi everyone,

we just finished our coop in Cedar Cottage, east Vancouver, and we need to find four hens that are reasonably docile so our twin girls can be around them. Someone suggested Buff Orpingtons. Any ideas? The ideal is birds that know each other (new coop and all) and are easy to pick up this weekend. We were thinking of going to the Cloverdale auction, but I don't know a lot about hens so not sure what to look for.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Cheers

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Laura Arp on May 20, 2011 at 3:40pm

Hi Joshua

Two of our four chickens are Buff Orpingtons, and they are the tamest of our coop. They do a cute crouch to let themselves be picked up. Great with kids. But do remember that any chicken can peck at a little finger or a jacket button that looks good to them... Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Joshua Hergesheimer on May 20, 2011 at 3:43pm

Hi Laura,

Thanks for the prompt reply. May I ask where you got your hens from? And what should I be looking for when buying them?

Permalink Reply by Laura Arp on May 20, 2011 at 3:46pm

We got ours from Julia as chicks. We were told you should always know who you get your chickens from.

Permalink Reply by Penny on May 20, 2011 at 3:54pm

I think the main thing is to have lots of contact with any of the birds so they get used to you. Our Rhode Island reds are very docile, as well as our Buff Orpington. But I do think a lot of it has to do with how you interact with them.

Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Kristi Tatebe on May 20, 2011 at 9:14pm

Hi Josh,

Yay, welcome to the chicken world! We just got ours a month ago and are loving it. Our red sex-link cross is very docile and tame, and our light sussex are a bit harder to catch but certainly not aggressive.

We had some difficulty finding older hens (not chicks), but Art Knapps in Surrey did have the red sex-links. Otherwise, we perused Craigslist and were very lucky to find a family selling 10 week old pullets. Julia is a great place to start though, if she has any extras.

Also, backyardchickens.com is a great forum to learn about chickens from people with a lot of experience, too.

Good luck and would love to see your coop sometime!

Permalink Reply by Joshua Hergesheimer on May 21, 2011 at 1:01am

Hi Kristi,

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like it worked out well for you. We didn't really want to start looking for hens until we had the coop ready, but now that it is ready our twin girls won't let up about getting some asap!

The coop is custom built into the side of our carport. It is more like a chicken condo and the run has a built-in skylight. You are more than welcome to come check it out sometime. Send me a message.

Cheers

Permalink Reply by Joshua Hergesheimer on May 21, 2011 at 1:03am

Thanks for the info Penny. Good point too about the interaction. Our twins are super shy so perhaps the girls will be more guarded in their interaction than the hens.

Cheers

Permalink Reply by Julia Smith on May 20, 2011 at 10:44pm

I would highly highly recommend Faverolles. They will be tougher to find than Orpingtons but they are the most docile, friendly chickens I have ever met. Ours actually follows me around like a dog... even when I don't have food!

Pretty much any hens are going to be find around your girls if you get them young enough to get them used to people. I have some Lavender Orpington chicks that are about 3 weeks old. Julia Hilton has some Polish chicks (ladyfiddlehead at gmail.com). Have a look on Craigslist too.

I have a broody hen sitting on eggs right now if you can wait a couple more weeks.

Permalink Reply by Joshua Hergesheimer on May 21, 2011 at 12:58am

Hi Julia,

Thanks for the reply. Duncan of the Vancooper custom built our coop, and he recommended we talk to you.

Our main priority is that we get birds that know each other and are friendly - and we are willing to wait for that.

The problem is that our twin girls already think we are getting chickens soon (they saw the coop being constructed so the secret was out) and they are not particularly good at waiting! They are already asking about them every day, and I don't know how much longer we can hold out for and still retain our sanity! So we would be looking to get some hens sooner rather than later.

So if you hear of any Faverolles or Orpingtons out there please do let me know.

Thanks

Permalink Reply by leanne gypsy on May 24, 2011 at 8:23am

Hi Josh,

We picked up the exact same hens as Kristi...it was a group chicken weekend...so we pretty well have the same family of hens as they do.

Listening to my baba''s stories, it would appear that all hens make lovely pets. They get along fine with our dog even. they all run around in the backyard together. The heritage breeds are harder to get a hold off, but fine once you've got them, whereas our red cross just stops in her tracks to be picked up. We've never had a peck from any of them. Eye level-eye contact has been a great way to have a nice friendly chat with the gals.

We had a our friend's 3 year old over who has never been around birds, and they've never met her, and they were all totally fine.

I can give you the contact for the family raising chicks in Langley if you like.
Leanne

Permalink Reply by Joshua Hergesheimer on May 25, 2011 at 3:18am

hey all,

just to let you all know that we now have four hens in our coop.Until Monday, they lived at Art Knapps in Surrey. Now they live in our Chicken Condo in Cedar Cottage.

thanks all for your help and suggestions! I am sure I will be on here soon with questions and soliciting more advice. So thanks again everyone.

P.S. We already got three eggs.

Permalink Reply by Kristi Tatebe on May 25, 2011 at 7:36am

Great! Leanne and I each got a red hen from them too and they are great layers so far with a nice temperament. Good luck and enjoy!