[Clarebelle]

Hi everyone,

Now we have had our offer accepted on the house in Orkney I'm starting to think about planning up there. I want to plan carefully, taking into account the weather, mainly windy, that is up there!

One of the first things we will do is get chickens and ducks but it will be the first time we have kept them and i want to make sure I get a breed that will be suitable for our situation.

For the chickens we would like a breed who is good for meat and eggs. They will be free ranging so something that is a good forager would be nice. I would also like them to go broody every now and then, if we rear for meat it would be nice to use the hens as the incubators! But most importantly they need to be hardy to cope with the strong winds and the fact that living on an island means the vet isnt down the road.

For the ducks, much the same really, I want a breed that is good for meat mainly, I'm not too fussed about egg production as long as they lay enough to fill my incubator a couple of times each year to give us plenty of table birds. There is no pond at present so we need a breed that isnt dependant on pond access (they will have access to water from a big sandpit which can be emptyed and refilled) and again, who is able to cope well with the weather conditions and have a measure of good health.

I'd love to hear your opinions on which breeds would best suit this environment.  I think planning is half the fun! 

[oor wullie]

Have a look at Scots Dumpys.
Native Scottish breed so they are pretty hardy.  Legend has it that because they have such short legs and are closer to the ground they are less likely to blow away.  (although only half of them have the short legged gene)
They lay a fair amount of white eggs.
A couple of mine went broody last year, one in particular did an excellent job first hatching and raising a clutch of goslings then sat a second time on a clutch of hen eggs, she still keeps an eye on her youngsters.
We haven't eaten any yet, although I think they are supposed to be dual purpose.  We have 1 or 2 that will be ready for the pot in a month or so but they certainly won't be as big as the Marans we have.

As a rare breed you will be doing your bit for their survival by keeping them.

[Stereo]

Ixworths seem pretty well feathered but I've never had them. They look like proper livestock though. Of our breeds I would say the hardiest seem to be the Copper Marans but it's pretty mild down here in Devon so they are not often put to the test. The least hardy seem to be Legbars and Sussex. Rhode Reds are pretty tough too.

The key I think is to keep them dry. It's not cold that kills stock it's wet and cold so if you can make sure they have plenty of good shelters to crawl in under where they will be out of the wind and rain, it would help. We've got some that just stay out in the rain whatever and get soaked through. All you can do is make sure it's there if they want to use it.

[lord flynn]

Scots Greys are pretty hardy, Dumpies have the lethal creeper gene which makes breeding a little more difficult. Saying that, I can also recommend rumpless araucana (have a lethal gene when tufted but its easy to breed tuftless birds) which I've found to be extremely cold and wet hardy and good layers-haven't eaten any yet but they are pretty substantial birds for their size (some game in there). Neither breed are reliable sitters though-a few Scots Grey bantams would do the job for you.

I've built some wind breaks for mine and will be planting in the spring for them.

[Steph Hen]

Maybe you could peer over fences and see what others keep? 
I've not found much between mine, leghorns, Rhode Island reds, Sussex, all do fine here in angus. Laid right through the winter last year.

[chrismahon]

Have a thought about Wyandottes Clarebell. They are pretty hardy, well feathered, good foragers and have small combs so no frostbite issues. We've eaten quite a few and they are quite fibrous but tasty. Expect 200+ eggs a year. The original White from North America is the one I would be looking for as that was bred as a dual purpose utility. The modern colours have lost a lot of performance but look very pretty. They don't tend to go broody until their 2nd or 3rd year and then it is only the occasional one.

[Clarebelle]

Thanks guys, I like the sound of the scots dumpy and greys, it would be nice to support some scottish rare breeds while also getting what we want from the birds.

Anyone have any suggestions for ducks? I was thinking campbells and cayuga's but that just comes from what i've read online, not from practical experience.

I know there is a breed of shetland duck which undoubtably would be suitable for the climate but i have read that they are good layers rather than producng a good table bird. Anyone have any experience with these ducks?

[twizzel]

I've got white campbell ducks, granted I'm not up north but down here in Cornwall we have a lot of wet weather. They seem to be doing well so far this winter and don't have a pond either. The guy I got my drake from would have killed and dressed him had I not bought him so they are good meat ducks too, the eggs are good- one of my 2 girls when she was laying back at the end of the summer (I only got them in August) was laying every day and has just come back into lay again.

[clydesdaleclopper]

We keep Blue Swedish ducks which are good all rounders.


I would second the Scots Greys - ours are very hardy and we have always had some going broody every year.

[lord flynn]

I would second the Scots Greys - ours are very hardy and we have always had some going broody every year.

do you have the LF? mine go broody but then lose interest, sometimes after 2 weeks never had one go the full 21 days.

[bigchicken]

Yip Scots Grey's all the way some of my bantams just won't go in the shed at night and prefer to roost on the gate in all weather's I have been putting them in for a month now and they still won't go in at night. Dont know much about ducks but a friend has pekings and they seem to be a good all rounder

[clydesdaleclopper]

do you have the LF? mine go broody but then lose interest, sometimes after 2 weeks never had one go the full 21 days.

Yep LF.  They have been good mothers too.

[HesterF]

I reckon most domestic ducks would be fine with your set up - they tend to be hardier than chickens anyway - but Blue Swedish sounds like a good call since they can clearly cope with Sweden. I've hatched Cayugas this year and they're stunning to look at and they seem pretty hardy - but I'm in Kent and we've had all of two frosts so far! I've also got Silver Appleyards which are probably better meat birds and certainly better layers than Cayugas and they were quite happy poddling about in the snow through last winter. I don't have a pond that the ducks can use - they're quite happy with a big dog bath that they can paddle around in. I'm reckoning a cattle drinking trough would be even better (they have big round ones) but have yet to justify buying one!

For chickens I've got Orpingtons which can cope brilliantly with cold but don't like wet - they head into the goose shed as soon as it rains.

H

[Marches Farmer]

We're a way south of Orkney but on a hilltop exposed to north, west and east.  We've found that soft-feathered breeds like the Orpington can't cope with the wind - get very stressed when blown about.  Small combs definitely best for cold weather (we keep Laced Wyandottes).  If you can get Guinea Fowl through the first few weeks they're very hardy (although they lay anywhere, and I mean anywhere).  If you can provide winter housing under cover or with access to a barn or shed most of the old British utility breeds (not from showing stock) will cope - Sussex, etc. 

As to ducks - what about the Shetland?  Real tough little character and rare to boot.

[Clarebelle]

I love the idea of the shetland ducks but I've read that they arn't that good for meat? We arn't mega egg eaters so the ducks would be primarly used for meat production.