How to have a mixed breed flock when breeding chickens

If you would like to breed chickens but would like to keep other breeds for eggs AND keep them all in the same place, there is a way. Fiona and Hugh Osborne explain how.

- Hugh Osborne

HOW WE STARTED

When we enthusiastically started keeping chickens, we purchased seven hybrid egg layers. They were a mix of hybrids including Light Sussex, Bluebells, Gold Stars, and Speckledys. We absolutely loved keeping these hens and yes, they were big characters. Both of us were hooked and simply loved being around the hens. What's not to like? Hours of entertainment and eggs too.

Within eight weeks we talked about not only keeping hens as egg layers, but we wanted to breed chickens too. Buff Orpingtons were the perfect choice as they brood. Brooding really appealed to us as the hens would raise the next generation for us. We located seven young Orpington chickens that we could purchase and set about creating a second enclosure to keep our breeding group separate from our egg layers.

DO THEY NEED TO BE SEPARATE?

Our first summer of breeding Orpingtons was wonderful. We had a newly planted orchard and we decided to keep the chickens there. The ground under the trees couldn't be used for anything else as it might interfere with the tree roots. Having Orpington broody hens and their chicks living in that space, producing natural fertiliser for the trees and in turn making use of the natural shade was the perfect solution.

Anyway, we digress, back to the subject at hand.

During the summer, our routine was to have a morning coffee in the garden by the chickens. On one of these mornings as we chatted, Fiona was looking at the separate enclosures for the hybrid egg layers and the Orpingtons. The question was posed “Can we give the chickens more room?”. Initially the conversation was around expanding the enclosures, giving both sets of chickens larger but separate spaces. We rapidly came to the conclusion that if we did that, we would have to compromise on the space planned for the fruit cage or the vegetable beds. We don’t have unlimited space, so that was very quickly abandoned as an idea.