Warren hens were essential in our French self sufficiency strategy not only would they provide eggs but also manure for the vegetable garden, pest control and possibly meat.

Buying Chickens

So one of our early purchases has been four 20 week old Warren hens known collectively as Dolly and the Dinnerladies. The Dinnerladies is a sit com in the UK. These were bought at the bird market at St Junien in Limousin which is held on the third Saturday of the month. There you can buy Warrens or Marrens in fact most chickens or hens you can think of, ducks, geese, pigeons and rabbits. We strolled down the row where there were hens for eggs of various types and ages (Bluebells, Warrens, Marrans) and chickens for the table. We chose the Warren hens because they looked like archetypal chickens to Lawrence and also because they were recommended by a French lady who was also buying hens at the time. Our Warrens were 7 euros each with a quick stop at Gamme Vert for a bale of straw and some layers pellets we were in the egg business.

Chickens for Eggs

We were not prepared for the fact that we would find our chickens utterly charming. They are an absolute delight to own, Warrens potter happily about during the day pulling up tufts of grass and inspecting them for bugs to eat all the while muttering and gossiping to each other. When we approach the chicken run they all come to greet us saying bup bup bup and they watch everything we are doing intently. At  night when we shut up their hen house they make sleepy sad I don't want to go to bed noises. (OK I know we're soft). Needless to say the chickens for meat idea is pretty much out of the window at the moment. We may become more practical as time goes on but in any case the Warrens are not a dual purpose hen unlike say Marrans so we can tell our French neighbours, who have already enquired about the matter, that they are not worth eating and they can continue to potter about well into their dotage.

Building a Chicken Coop

There seem to be as many ideas about housing chickens as there are chicken owners. We looked at lots of sites on the web and discussed it endlessly but in the end the chicken house was to be made with what was available in the barn by way of wood our only purchase being chicken wire to make a run. The what's available strategy started with us finding an old bed base in the barn. This looked like a fairly modern divan base until we started dismembering it for the wooden frame. It was stuffed with straw (which went on the compost heap waste not want not) extra padding on the springs provided by a 1937 newspaper. They just don't make beds like that anymore.

Anyway with legs it was the base of the hen house. Then Martin and Lawrence searched out planks as light as possible to make the sides (even though Martin felt that plumbing should come before chickens in our list of priorities). The build with what you've got strategy does however mean that what was intended to be a chicken arc is now only moveable by a team of strong men. It is perhaps not the most elegant construction but it has a certain rustic charm we feel. Most importantly it is water tight and predator proof it has somewhere for the hens to perch and a nest box for them to lay eggs in. The underneath provides a dry shady spot where they can create dust baths and shelter from the sun or the rain. So they are adequately housed while we get on with the vegetable garden and a kitchen and a bathroom for our house.

A job that still needs doing is to come up with a predator proof run. At the moment they are vulnerable if we are not around after dark to close their house up.

Chicken Care Day by Day

It really is quite simple so far we just make sure that the hens have a constant supply of layers pellets and fresh water. Hens do drink a surprising amount of water and are quite likely to kick up bits of grass droppings etc into it so it is necessary to keep an eye on it. In the period of three weeks we have used probably 7kg of layers pellets which at a cost of 13 euros for 25kg is literally chicken feed.

The hens have straw in their house and nest box which we completely change once a week (brilliant for the compost heap) in addition to clearing droppings every couple of days. We have been helped out with tips from Hedgewizard and by reading through the River Cottage Forum which has a huge number of threads on poultry care.

In return for this minimal amount of care we are getting four eggs a day which is ample for our needs with some to give to friends and neighbours too.

Chickens and Woodland

After about six weeks the Warren hens had completely scratched up their original run area. We turned the run and hen-house through ninety degrees to give them a new area to graze. Leaving us with an area of cleared and fertilised ground to plant veg. It would of been simpler to do had the chicken run and house been built with this in mind. This shows the wisdom of chicken arcs or tractors which enable you to move the birds around easily giving them the benefit of fresh areas to graze and you some help with clearing land for cultivation. This is definitely on our to do list but in the mean time we lead the hens down to the woodland at the bottom of the garden and leave them there for a couple of hours each day to enjoy scratching about in the leaf litter. This should make the new chicken run area last a little longer.

Training Chickens

Much to the amusement of our French neighbours Lawrence has trained the Warren hens to come running when he rings a bell. He did this by ringing the bell each time he fed them the treats they love like pasta or sweet corn. The neighbours may think it's funny but it's really useful if the chickens have gone wandering off. No need to search for them and chase them he just rings the bell and they follow him wherever he goes. Actually this is what caused the amusement Lawrence walking along the road ringing his bell and a troupe of chickens running along behind