The Chook Shed

The Chook Shed The Chook Shed - Sarah Robotham. Essential Products for your Feathered Friends Veterinarian qualified from Massey University 1995 NZ.

Worked in Mixed practice in NZ for 2 years covering sheep, deer, beef, diary, horses, small animal practice, branding, neutering ferrets for pet industry in Japan!, OE in UK, Mixed practice, Equine, Racing pigeon practice, Greyhound racing, Quarantine facility for Europe. SPCA Auckland, Small animal practice across multiple clinics in Auckland including Exotics clinic. Started Poultry Hatchery in

Canterbury, now proud owner of The Chook Shed products and Equestrian Photographer - Sarah Robotham Photography.

Breed Highlight this week : The OrpingtonThe ‘Black Orpington’ was originally created through crossing the Minorca, Plym...
08/09/2025

Breed Highlight this week : The Orpington

The ‘Black Orpington’ was originally created through crossing the Minorca, Plymouth Rocks and Langshans breeds to create a hybrid chicken breed that was both an excellent layer and good meat quality.

The Orpington has been renowned as one of the most attractive chickens with its rich colours and soft contours they have become more and more popular in the show bird category. In NZ the most popular would be Black, White, Splash, Blue, Buff and Lavender. Other colours are being developed also but can be a work in progress.

HISTORY

Origin: Orpington, England
Size: 3.2 – 4.8kg
Bantam Size: 1.6 – 2kg
Rarity: Common
Purpose: Family Based Chickens – Dual purpose
Bantam colour varieties include: black, blue laced, white, buff, red, buff black laced, barred, buff Columbian, and birchen

EGG FACTS

Medium to large eggs – Light Brown
175 - 200 Eggs Average Annually – Capable of 340 Annually on a very good day :)

FEATURES

The Orpingtons have soft, profuse feathering, which almost hides the legs of the bird. They are a large curved bird with a small head and medium single cone. Their fluffy feathers make them look even larger than they are and have the windswept look down pat with a good northwest wind.

BACKYARD BEHAVIOUR

Hardy in Winter: Yes
Especially Docile: Yes, although certain lines can be sqwarky and noisy to have in a town boundary.
Personality: Orpingtons are overall lovely birds to keep. They are extremely personable and tend to connect with their owners much more readily than other breeds. They go broody very often if eggs are left unattended, and make great mothers. They are docile and excellent with children.

Bird number 3 - The SussexThe Sussex originates in Sussex, in south-east England. It is among the oldest of British chic...
27/08/2025

Bird number 3 - The Sussex

The Sussex originates in Sussex, in south-east England. It is among the oldest of British chicken breeds.
The breed standard for the Sussex was drawn up in 1902, with three colour varieties, the light, the red and the speckled - see below. Of these, the speckled was the oldest.

The development of the light variety was probably influenced by Oriental breeds such as the Brahma and Cochin, and also by the silver-grey Dorking.

In the early part of the twentieth century, until the advent of commercial hybrid strains at about the time of the Second World War, the Sussex and the Rhode Island Red were the two principal meat breeds in the United Kingdom.

The Sussex was traditionally reared as a table bird, for meat production and they are still very good for this purpose. In the early part of the twentieth century, it was one of the principal breeds kept for this purpose, until it was displaced by modern industrial hybrid lines. It may be kept as a dual-purpose bird. Hens lay some 180–200 tinted eggs per year; some layer strains may give up to 250.

They are generally a lovely bird to have in your flock and are curious and non flighty making them perfect for backyards. They cope well with young children and are a great addition to any backyard. The Light Sussex were one of the first birds we added after starting with brown shavers ( as most do ).

Early on a frosty morning
23/08/2025

Early on a frosty morning

The Plymouth Barred Rock, a firm favourite amongst the backyard poultry community and for good reason. Originally first ...
18/08/2025

The Plymouth Barred Rock, a firm favourite amongst the backyard poultry community and for good reason.

Originally first observed in Massachusetts in the United States in the nineteenth century. Gained popularity quickly across the USA and for much of the early twentieth century was the most widely kept chicken breed in the United States. It is a dual-purpose bird, raised both for its meat ( roosters ) and for its, initially, brown eggs.

A good reliable layer, it is a heavy breed chicken that is cold resistant, resilient, hardy and copes well with most situations in kiwi backyard coop situations.

Egg laying capability depends on many factors so I tend to shy away from estimating egg laying/year numbers, but I will say they are very good for heritage breeds in general.

Initially it looks like they laid a brown egg when bred, but the birds I have had all lay a tinted egg, nearly pinky brown in colour.

The bird should have crisp black and while barring across the feathers without other colour's creeping in ( usually indicates some crossing has occured recently in previous genetics ). Bright yellow legs with no feathering coupled with a bright red single comb.
* for those more interested in breeding correct birds, grab yourself a copy of The Poultry Breeding Standards which will give you the ideal to aim for if interested in showing.

The Plymouth barred rocks, sometimes shortened to 'barred rocks', are a great starter chicken as they generally tolerate children and animals well, generally get on well within the flock and are consistent layers. The barring is stunning against the red combs and it is still hard to beat a nice flock of this breed out grazing on the grass.

Now we have covered egg abnormalities and quirks of normality, faecal outcomes of certain conditions, nesting materials ...
14/08/2025

Now we have covered egg abnormalities and quirks of normality, faecal outcomes of certain conditions, nesting materials and coop designs, its time to look at poultry breeds. This is going to be a rather long one so buckle up!

If you have a favourite or would like me to cover a certain breed, please comment!

The first is the RHODE ISLAND RED

* Originating from Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the 1840s, the Rhode Island Red breed is an iconic chicken in America.
They’re a cross between a Malay and a Brown Leghorn. They have non-feathered feet and classed as a heavy breed of chicken.

They are classically a dark mahogany colour with bright yellow legs.

Rhode Island Reds are generally good egg layers. They lay a large light brown egg. These eggs are your classic brown eggs in color.
* They are a sensible bird to have in the back garden and are generally not overly flighty.
* Great beginners bird
* Hens can lay up to 5-6 eggs a week making them a great layer for a multipurpose bird (eggs and roosters are a good meat bird)
* Pullets will start laying eggs around 18-20 weeks with adequate diet, light and calcium. The RIR lifespan is 5-8 years if well taken care of.

A cross between a Rhode Island Red rooster and Light Sussex hens is known as a Red Sex-Link. These crosses were bred for commercial egg production prior to the commercial birds of today due to the sex-linked traits they exhibit, where the chicks can be identified as male or female based on their down color at hatch.

The pullets (female chicks) will have a reddish-brown down, while the cockerels (male chicks) will have a lighter, often yellowish, down colour.

A great cross to hatch when you are starting out with backyard hatching.

Both heavy breed birds are great backyard layers and sensible chook's around children etc. Their size means they have a good bit of presence and can handle cold weather well. The breed make great mothers and do like to brood when given the chance or see a pile of eggs lying around unattended!.

Check out our new bulk packs of products for Sale!A great 10% discount on the packs helps your pocket and your hens to b...
13/08/2025

Check out our new bulk packs of products for Sale!

A great 10% discount on the packs helps your pocket and your hens to be setup for the spring and summer ahead to keep your coop and hens in tip top condition.

Head to trade me or our website www.thechookshed.co.nz to secure your required packs today!

Named after some of our favourite chooks, these packs are sure to please :)

The Silkie, The Barnevelder, The Light Sussex, The Barred Rock and the Full Monty - The Faverolle!

Very White motion suggesting minimal faecal fraction due to under production (poor appetite) often coupled with overprod...
02/08/2025

Very White motion suggesting minimal faecal fraction due to under production (poor appetite) often coupled with overproduction of the urate fraction.

Suggestive of a few conditions...

* Renal or Systemic infections
* Pullorum Disease (Salmonella)
* Infectious Bronchitis
* Kidney Disease
* High Protein diet
* Dehydration

These conditions are the end sign of a problem we must remember. Often feed, environmental, breed, genetics, management systems can predispose to these events occurring. If more than one hen is displaying these symptoms you definitely need to look into the epidemiology (poss contributing factors including feed, management, environmental conditions) behind this end result as it suggests a wider problem than a one chook illness.

Keeping your hens healthy involves more than just popping feed in a feeder. The chooks need a broad range of nutrients, sunlight, fresh ground, grass, scratching area without mud (encourages worm egg buildups), clean water at all times ( if you wont drink it, don't expect the chooks to!).

Check out our Poultry M8 nutrients & Aviverm wormer. Start your hens off well for the laying season to begin with a clean parasite count and a raft of great nutrients on board!

Black Stool..Gastrointestinal Haemorrhage and ToxaemiaUlcers formed from parasitic damage or toxinsHeavy metal poisoning...
02/08/2025

Black Stool..

Gastrointestinal Haemorrhage and Toxaemia
Ulcers formed from parasitic damage or toxins
Heavy metal poisoning eg Zinc, Lead or Arsenic

Basically if you see this, you chook needs some immediate attention!

Red Blood - Bleeding after digestive areas in the gut system
Black colour - blood has been partially digested which can suggest bleeding further up the intestinal tract.

Address

327 Catherwoods Road, RD1, Rangiora, North Canterbury
Cust
7471

Telephone

+642102225976

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Chook Shed posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Chook Shed:

Shortcuts

Share

Category

The Chook Shed

We started rearing heritage poultry 8 years ago and have built up our business from then. We now run between 6-7 breeds in our breeding groups on site each year and hatch 3000+ eggs each year. We supply laying pullets of these heritage breeds and ship using the ‘Petbus’ service, all over NZ. We vaccinate all our birds as day old chicks for Marek’s Disease. They then reside in high rise quarantine facility for 2-3 weeks before heading out onto free range pastures on high quality feed. They head for sale at 10-12 weeks of age by which time they are fully feathered, perching and using step on feeders. They are also trained to come to the sound of the wheat can shaking which makes returning them to a run or into the safety of housing at night easier. We try our best to breed non related birds that are healthy and robust. You cant beat your own free range eggs. These pullets should lay well for 4-5 + years if well looked after. They make great pets and well as producing lovely eggs and looking stunning while doing it!.