Peggy's Pekins
We have kept poultry for a few years now and have learnt a great deal thus far and still continue to learn on a daily basis. We started with half a dozen day old chicks of a variety of breeds, then whilst waiting for these to come into lay we invested in a couple of Black Orpington and a couple of Welsummer hens for a few fresh eggs. We then got a bit carried away!!! Chickens have become a big part of our everyday life and are wonderful to have around, we would recommend getting into keeping poultry, so long as you have the right environment for them to live happily, and you can spare the time in your everyday routine.
We have met lots of lovely people who share our love of chickens along the way, and a few Herbert's too!
The exact same thing can be said about the chickens we have kept too!
We have kept a variety of breeds over the years
Large Fowl:
Maran - French Wheaton, Copper Black (really dark egg laying) , Copper Blue
Dorking - Silver Duck wing
Welsummer
Light Sussex
Speckled Sussex
Orpington - Jubilee, White, Black and Buff
Buff Cochin
Buff Columbian Brahma
Cream Crested Legbar
Araucana - Black, Lavender and Silver duck wing
Silkie - Gold
Goldtops - This is a hybrid, probably the best broody hen ever. Silkie crossed with a light Sussex.
Bantam:
Cuckoo Maran
Silkie - Miniature Black
Speckled Sussex
Pekin:
Porcelain or lavender Mille fleur, Isabel partridge,
Lemon Cuckoo, Lavender Cuckoo, Lavender, Chocolate
Wyandotte: Silver Laced, Blue Laced, Buff Laced, Splash Laced, Gold Laced
and many more I have missed I am sure!
The laying birds that we got into initially resulted in an array of egg colours which were very popular with the locals as eating eggs, very fresh and lovely dark coloured yolks due to all the greens with the hens being free range. The first breed we got into properly was the Welsummer, a hardy breed which was both pretty and a prolific layer of lovely brown eggs. It was lovely to just have a few hens wandering around. Slowly but surely we ended up with broody hens and began rearing a few chicks here and there, selling surplus birds on and buying good quality stock we were interested in.
As can be seen by a brief look through our website, we now have pretty much a zoo! 8 or so different pure bred poultry breeds that are all very different, but all very lovely in their own ways. We have a few characters too!
We have met lots of lovely people who share our love of chickens along the way, and a few Herbert's too!
The exact same thing can be said about the chickens we have kept too!
We have kept a variety of breeds over the years
Large Fowl:
Maran - French Wheaton, Copper Black (really dark egg laying) , Copper Blue
Dorking - Silver Duck wing
Welsummer
Light Sussex
Speckled Sussex
Orpington - Jubilee, White, Black and Buff
Buff Cochin
Buff Columbian Brahma
Cream Crested Legbar
Araucana - Black, Lavender and Silver duck wing
Silkie - Gold
Goldtops - This is a hybrid, probably the best broody hen ever. Silkie crossed with a light Sussex.
Bantam:
Cuckoo Maran
Silkie - Miniature Black
Speckled Sussex
Pekin:
Porcelain or lavender Mille fleur, Isabel partridge,
Lemon Cuckoo, Lavender Cuckoo, Lavender, Chocolate
Wyandotte: Silver Laced, Blue Laced, Buff Laced, Splash Laced, Gold Laced
and many more I have missed I am sure!
The laying birds that we got into initially resulted in an array of egg colours which were very popular with the locals as eating eggs, very fresh and lovely dark coloured yolks due to all the greens with the hens being free range. The first breed we got into properly was the Welsummer, a hardy breed which was both pretty and a prolific layer of lovely brown eggs. It was lovely to just have a few hens wandering around. Slowly but surely we ended up with broody hens and began rearing a few chicks here and there, selling surplus birds on and buying good quality stock we were interested in.
As can be seen by a brief look through our website, we now have pretty much a zoo! 8 or so different pure bred poultry breeds that are all very different, but all very lovely in their own ways. We have a few characters too!