Maternal instincts come naturally to chickens. If you’re feeling broody, too, then spring is the perfect time to begin keeping a clutch of your own.

● With more than 100 breeds to choose from, there’s a hen just right for you. Take your pick from fancy feathered to good layers.

● Space is not a problem. Hens come in two versions: large fowl and bantams, which are a quarter size. Even the smallest garden can keep two hens happy.

● Don’t worry about annoying the neighbours – hens don’t need a cockerel to lay eggs.

●  No eggs will ever taste better than those from your own hens. Not only are they fresher, the yolks are yellower – and the food miles non-existent. 
●  It takes less than 10 minutes
a day to look after your hens, but watching their antics brings hours of pleasure.

Here are a dozen of our favourite hens...

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How to keep hens in your garden

Welsummer: This beauty is like a ray of sunshine – from her bronze feathers down to her yellow stockings. And you’ve got to love her flowerpot-coloured eggs.

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How to keep hens in your garden

Buff Orpington: A clucky, caring parent who doesn’t get in a flap about anything, this matronly bird has everything under control.

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How to keep hens in your garden

Silver-spangled Hamburgh: The epitome of chicken-chic, this monochrome madam will strut her stuff around the run. Her pièce de résistance is her china-white eggs.

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How to keep hens in your garden

Rhode Island Red: Whether you like them ‘over easy' or ‘sunny-side up', the eggs of this American import will be plentiful as she's an egg-ceptional layer.

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How to keep hens in your garden

Silver-laced Wyandotte: Curvaceous and big-breasted, this voluptuous lady could easily rule the roost. But underneath the designer feathers is a nice-natured mum-to-be.

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How to keep hens in your garden

Blue Frizzle: A bird-brain if ever there was but who could resist this pretty princess? Like all well-groomed ladies, she doesn't like rain - it ruins her hairdo.

Photo: www.omlet.co.uk

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How to keep hens in your garden

Cuckoo Maran: Ooh là là! Our delightful French diva is an elegant belle femme who lays coveted dark-brown oeufs. You’ll see little fowl play from this bird.

Photo: www.omlet.co.uk 

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How to keep hens in your garden

Light Sussex: Often found going cheep, this bird is a popular buy and one of the best layers. She has no trouble tucking away the corn – a size zero she ain’t.

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How to keep hens in your garden

Brahma: With her statuesque vital statistics and her finely feathered shoes, this aristocratic dame is at the top of our pecking order.

Photo: www.omlet.co.uk 

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How to keep hens in your garden

White Silkie: She can certainly shake a tail-feather with her fan dancer's plumes and pom-pom hat, but this diminutive good-time girl likes her home comforts.

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How to keep hens in your garden

Lavender Araucana: You might not choose her for her looks but she’s got a great personality! And her unique true-blue eggs are a kitchen-table talking point.

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How to keep hens in your garden