What spurred you on to have backyard hens?

When did you start getting hens, and why did you get them?

>> Soon after we moved here, about 15 years ago, and because we could, and

because we like eggs.

>> So, for your own egg production.

>> Yes. >> Do you like them as pets as well,

do you enjoy them?

>> Yes, Yeah.

Yeah, they're very therapeutic.

They're very therapeutic to watch and they're so obliging.

They give you all these eggs.

>> [LAUGH] [CROSSTALK] >> They're really nice natured.

>> That's a nice idea.

>> And they enjoy themselves.

>> Yeah, one aspect of keeping chickens in a sort of backyard or

small holder setting is how you keep them enclosed, and

you've got a really nice system going on here with this willow.

Can you tell us a bit about it?

Well originally we just had chicken wire and we're into planting low anyway, so

willow's free because you can just get stalks from other willows and

just plop them in the ground.

And this is quite good because it both provides them with cover and

it also means that they don't fly out, because they don't want to

fly through the willow and I think it's also good for predators.

So- >> Well,

[CROSSTALK] >> It's got a function,

it's not just- >> Not just pretty.

>> Yeah. We're actually in quite a windy spot so

this is quite good for them, I think.

>> Do you choose specific breeds of chickens when you're selecting your hens

or do you just take any old thing going?

>> In the past I went for some purebreds, but they were a bit more temperamental.

I found that the hybrids were easier to keep and seemed to be a bit more healthy

although they tend to lay more early on and then more quickly, don't they?

>> Come out lay and yeah.

>> Yeah.

So really, I now just go for hybrids.

But I always, just for fun, make sure I've got a mixture of different breeds.

It's really just for fun and also because the eggs are different, look different.

>> You and I were talking recently about how one of your girls had been molting

recently.

And for people who don't know what that's like, can you tell us when it starts and

what it looks like and how long it takes to happen?

>> Well just before winter, they molt.

The don't molt every year, but this year at least four of those five

hens have molted and one of them has just molted, and

they can actually do it when it starts getting quite cold and

then they can go quite bald and then their feathers grow back quite quickly.

But when it happens initially it's a bit shocking because you can quite literally

see their flesh, and you think they must be freezing.

But it's a fairly short bit of time, then when it grows back,

the plumage looks much more healthy.

>> Yeah, all the rough bits are all gone.

>> Yes, yeah, and with the white one, the white one was brown before.

She was really dirty.

And she's now completely white, she's beautiful.

>> So she was just dirty, she didn't have brown feathers.

>> She was dirty.

>> [LAUGH] >> She's dirty in a way that she never

seemed to clean herself up but now she's completely white again.

>> Yeah. >> Having molted at least a month ago.

>> What do you feed your chickens?

>> I feed them organic pellets, and I just have a bit

of mixed corn that I give them organic as well, and they get all our leftovers.

So all out leftover food comes down every morning.

>> Yeah? >> And they get that.

>> Now you also have a really nice housing system because you've automated

some parts of it recently.

Can you tell us a bit about that?

>> Well yeah, the one thing about having chickens,

which is a problem is they're really tying.

You can't go away unless you can get someone to come look after them

because they need to go away every night and even though you can get feeders that

would feed them for a few days, they need to be protected.

So, what we got recently is we got an automatic door which works on a timer,

which is better than working with the light.

And you just make sure that you time it so

that it shuts off till they've all gone in and they're very good at going in.

After the first few weeks they get used to that, so

they are really quite well behaved.

And then it lets them out in the morning and

that basically means you could leave them for several days at a time.

>> Well. >> Yeah.

>> Great. >> Which is great.

Interview with Sarah Brocklehurst

Chicken Behaviour and Welfare

Meet the Instructors