What Chickens for sale do we have?
Here at Hedgerow Henporium you will find that we have a varied selection of sweet-natured hens for sale, all at different ages. We generally have between 50 and 150 birds available. Our stock changes frequently throughout the year. It may turn out that we don’t have the age you are currently looking for, but we probably will in a few weeks time. Browse through our breeds pages as this lists what hens for sale we currently have. You can click on the pictures below, or the breeds are listed as a submenu of our chickens for sale menu. This will also give you more background on our lovely ladies. Hopefully this further information will assist you to make an informed decision.
If in doubt, give us a call on 01244 646 026
How to Choose your chickens
Julie or Keith will be on hand to help you make your choice. We will offer hens for sale based on what is suitable for your situation, skill level and which will also be the most compatible with your household. Choosing a chicken is a bit like choosing chocolates because not everyone likes the same colour etc. You may find that once you have been introduced to our girls, then you might even go home with something completely different from your original intention. I put this down to the chickens themselves because they are very capable of captivating their new owners very easily.
We are very keen to match you with your birds which is our top priority rather than to make a sale. If we think that you will have difficulty with your preferred choice then we will certainly advise against it and make alternative suggestions. Well matched flocks are more peaceful which in turn causes less stress to their keepers in the long run.
Our Ethos
Rearing and Pricing
We don’t mass produce chickens so you won’t find our birds crammed into a warehouse by the thousands. In our opinion, intensively reared and rarely handled warehouse style birds have no better conditions than battery hens.
We don’t “pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap” but we do charge a fair price for our chickens for sale. This accounts for the amount of work we have devoted to our lovely ladies. There are plenty of people who will sell birds cheaply by cutting corners but this is not our way.
We do not sell single birds on welfare grounds because chickens are flock creatures. A minimum of two birds will be considered a flock but three is a better number in case one dies for any reason.
Outsourced Birds
We always like to know the history of any of our hens for sale, so we will never visit auctions to buy birds to sell on. You cannot guarantee the health status of any auction birds that have been bought for buttons. Health is important to us and our birds and we won’t risk that for anything.
We do buy hatchery chicks in at day-old for some of our hybrids and our Muirfield stock but we raise them our way. The parent stock of hatchery chicks are disease free so there is no vertical transmission of disease from parent to chick via the egg. Raising them ourselves therefore means we know their health status and we know them individually.
Our Hen Guarantee
We will not cheat you by palming you off with a cockerel either. There are plenty of people who have day old chicks for sale that have not a rats chance in hell of being sexed correctly. We would recommend you avoid these people as they give no comeback. If we sell a hen to you we will happily exchange it in the very rare event it turns out to be a cockerel. Any chicks that are specifically sold as “unsexed” are not covered by our hen guarantee. Unsexed chicks could be either male or female as under these circumstances we simply cannot tell due to their age.
Cockerels for Sale
If you are looking for cockerels then check our cockerels page out. There are many cockerels looking for homes (here and elsewhere) so if you are able to provide a suitable and safe home for one then please ask.
Our older ladies looking for retirement
We also release some of our older hens in the Autumn time. These are called our retirement ladies. They have passed their peak egg production or they might not be in our breeding plans for the coming year. Most are still in lay, albeit in lower numbers however this is not guaranteed. We offer these older hens for sale at lower cost. These are not “rescue hens” but we do want them to have a nice, caring home to end their days. If they are not re-homed, then they will get to stay here regardless. Check out our retirement ladies page.
Do you Need to Vaccinate your chickens?
Well, the answer is, it depends on how they have been raised. Chicken vaccination is needed only if they have been raised in huge numbers such as in a warehouse or intensive barn. If one bird gets sick, then thousands will get sick. Not vaccinating is economic suicide for the mass-rearer. Vaccination is not for your benefit entirely – but it is for theirs. Small breeders like ourselves don’t need to vaccinate our hens for sale. This is because birds that have space and no stresses don’t face disease challenges. Immunity to disease is gained naturally in stress free surroundings. Stress brought on by overcrowding reduces a chickens’ immune system to virtually nothing.
Beware The Vaccination Claim Scam
You may find that some chickens for sale are described elsewhere as fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated hens go through a schedule of many different vaccinations which have to be given at very specific ages and boosters thereafter. The schedule for fully vaccinated birds will only be complete at 16 weeks old. If someone is selling a day old chick as fully vaccinated then there is obviously something amiss. Ask what vaccines have been used and at what ages. Lots of “fly-by-nights” claim full vaccination status when they have had nothing of the sort.
PLEASE NOTE: It is not advised to mix vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds as shedding of the virus puts non-vaccinated hens at risk. Not all vaccines “take” either. It depends on how well the procedure was done.
Chickens for Sale Current Availability
Our range of cockerels or hens for sale is listed under the Chickens for Sale menu. We have hens for sale all through the year, but choice is more limited during the winter. Our garden chickens are all sold on a first come, first served basis. If you really want a particular bird or breed, you should consider submitting a holding deposit to avoid disappointment. We don’t hold birds for any longer than a week as the ever present risk of damage due to fighting or a visit from Mr Fox means we may no longer have those birds available. If we do decide to reserve a chicken, then the price on reservation will likely increase in line with our normal increases with the age of the chook.
Please note that the price rises with age – usually on a Monday.
How do you get tame chickens
Chickens are a prey animal so they will take a good while to get used to their new environment. In the wild, any change in their vicinity is a potential threat situation. Therefore, if you want happy, unstressed and tame chickens, it is beneficial to allow them plenty of settling in time. Fussing about with them or grabbing them too soon will make them skittish and unable to trust you. They will come to you when they are ready.
Don’t discount the younger birds. They offer an ideal opportunity to become really tame and friendly with you before the rigours of laying commences. Younger chickens are easier to handle for nervous youngsters and inexperienced adults alike. They are also cheaper, however, it does mean that you will have to wait longer for those delicious eggs to arrive. POL (or point of lay) is subjective and differs in each breed. Some chicken breeds start to lay at between 20 and 22 weeks, others can be up to 35-40 weeks before the arrival of the first egg.
We are Unusual
If you decide to do a drive-by, you will be surprised at our residential exterior. Don’t be disheartened, because behind our unlikely frontage beats the heart of a thriving chicken breeding Henporium. Most of our customers say “wow” when they first see how well setup we are.
Book A Visit Today. To ensure we are around then please book ahead. we are not open for Unbooked visits except for egg Sales
We are open but we cannot do viewings in the “normal” sense of the word, as it would need a visit through our home. Avian Influenza restrictions are now in force which means that we are still unable to have viewings in the old way. The need to maintain a high biosecurity means that possibly contaminated footwear and clothing is too high a risk to our birds.
In response to this, we now have to bring chickens through the house to a temp viewing cage we have set up in the garage. This requires some advanced notice so we can get them ready for when you are expected to arrive. Rounding chickens up does not always go smoothly, hence the notice period. Thirty minutes is usually sufficient for us assuming the hens play ball.
Our birds are only kept in the garage cage for the viewing time slot as it is not suitable for long term.
If you think you are not going to make your appointment then please let us know so we can avoid subjecting our birds to the stress of unnecessary capture and confinement.
We never sell stock that we would be unhappy to purchase ourselves.
Our chicken chores do take us outside quite a bit. More realistically, we are actually just cuddling chickens. If this is the case, we cannot hear the door knocker so please make sure to ring the bell. Once we know when you are arriving, we can be strategically placed to hear the bell. You will need to give us time to leap through the garden, and perhaps remove wellies before answering the door.
Payment
We prefer card payments using our card machine which can also accept Applepay and Googlepay. However, if you would prefer to pay with cash then of course that is acceptable also.
Transporting your birds home
We don’t often have boxes available for transport. Please bring a suitable enclosed cardboard box or pet carrier with you to transport your new girls home. NB: a laundry basket with a towel draped over it is not suitable. We won’t release birds unless you can contain them safely in your vehicle. Loose birds cause accidents.
Aftercare
We send all our adoptees to their new homes with a complete care sheet, so you don’t flounder. All our hens for sale always come with lifetime support. We also happily offer telephone and email support at any time.
Our brief care sheet shows you how to care for chickens for the next few weeks, however, this can cover only a small fraction of what it means to be a confident and knowledgeable chicken parent. If you feel that you need more expert help to research about chicken care, then why not consider one of our invaluable chicken keeping courses. We now also have an online version. Details are on our courses page Click here for details
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If you have been to us before please consider leaving a review on Trustpilot or any of the methods on our review page – with our grateful thanks.
We are now collecting Reviews on Psydro as well as Trustpilot
Selection of our Available Chickens for sale
Hovering over the pictures below will tell you what breeds they show. Click the picture and it takes you to the page for that breed so you can find out more.
Silkie
Norfolk Grey
Marsh Daisy
Hedgerow Blacktail Bluetail
Ixworth
Swedish Flower Hen
Hatching Eggs
Cockerels For Sale
Salmon Faverolles
Cream Legbar
Hedgerow Homemade
Egg Laying Flock Retirement Ladies
Hedgerow Hy-line Brown
Hedgerow Light Sussex
Rhode Island Red
Brown Rock ®
Black Rock Chickens ®
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