Chickens

[bullet1747]

Now I've moved me and the ball and chain fancy some chickens ,any peeps on here keep them if so wot advice would you give me please , yep some chick to start

[Wildfowler12]

I've got a few, I'd say just get a couple of warrens (hens) if your starting out. They're very easy to keep, and you get about 300 eggs/yr off each of them once they've started laying

[rimfire4969]

I have had chickens for many years, very easy to keep, give them plenty of room. I like some of the old breeds silver grey dorking, orpingtons and so on. The eggs will be the best you have ever tasted.

[Sprackles]

Depends what you are after....eggs primarily or a bit of a fancy flock.

I have a few and keep Light Sussex, an old breed, large bird,large eggs and nice to look at. I have cream Legbar which lay blue eggs, not as many as I would like though, Barnevelder, a beautiful large bird which lays delicious deep brown eggs.

If you just want eggs then go for modern hybrids, Warrens, Rangers etc.

[camokid]

i keep bantams black and white leghorns they pump the eggs out but there a smaller egg than a hen but the birds suite gardens better i think. iv had both hens and bantams. quail are also wicked there egg production is mad there like machines lol i have them every summer come winter they feed me once more.. give as much room as you can feed water and they will sort the rest

[Joe99]

Whatever you get, make sure they are kept in a fox-proof enclosure.

 

Bloody Charlie has had dozens of my birds down the years because my pens weren't secure enough & I like too let the birds range

[Dirty Harry]

I started with a dozen hybrids then started to hatch my own traditional breeds. Now 4 years later I have 3 hybrids left and a lot of the traditional. The hybrids lay themselves out quite quickly and now they are knackerd and lay no eggs. The traditional lay less eggs but will last a bit longer. I would recommend barnavelders, aurtralorp, light Sussex, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Reds and Cuckoo Marans. All mine are friendly and lay well except for in the winter.

They can make a real mess if you get too many for a small space.

Plastic houses are good for cleaning if you only want a few but if you get a wooden shed source some real creosote. This will kelp red mite more effectively than anything else I've used.

Also invest in galvanised drinkers and feeders. The plastic ones are cheaper but the frost kills them.

 

Harry

[FalconFN]

Whatever you get, make sure they are kept in a fox-proof enclosure.

 

Bloody Charlie has had dozens of my birds down the years because my pens weren't secure enough & I like too let the birds range

Yup, even with a secure enclose you only need to forget to close the door properly one night and they're all gone. It's happend to me a couple of times so now we buy plain brown year old ex layers that come from a free range farm £1 to £1.50 each and they lay all year round.

[Seamus]

I've been keeping chickens for years; when I moved house at the back end of 2011 I let them range and lost the lot to foxes within a week (lesson learnt!).

 

I now have a pen that is made out of a large old green house (cost almost nothing) with glass removed and replaced with chicken wire, buried into the ground and surrounded by sleepers. I attached the coup to one end and use the old door way to get in and out. They've been fine in that for over a year now.

 

The main issue I have currently is rats, you will get them!

Edited January 10, 2013 by Seamus

[everycal]

Go for a slightly larger coup and run area than you think you need to start with as you will end up adding to your flock. Make sure you have a neighbour who can look after them when you go away.

[Shoot-rhino]

I bought 70 hyline hens at POL on the 29th of november. I've now had 70eggs a day for the last two days! Was hoping for around the 55-60 mark. I'm sure it'll soon drop back!

[Dirty Harry]

I'm tempting fate here hut in 4 years I've not lost any to the fox. I also have 20 ducks and geese that come off the pond and walk off down the fields.

My advice is make sure you shut them in at night before dark. Mine have a large pen made from electric poultry netting but I don't bother to electrify it. My dogs, pigs and kids put the foxes off and the rams are in the area at the moment.

Like Seamus said rats will arrive. I would put some bait boxes down as soon as you get the chickens and store the food in a sealed container like a dustbin.

 

[Kes]

Lots of good advice points I'd stress are.

Make them a run with galvanised netting at the bottom 2 feet, fixed into the ground and 6+ feet of plastic mesh above - this is cheaper and keeps the hens in, otherwise they will trash your garden. Leave run doors open at night after putting chickens in their hut and closing/locking the coop door - I've had chickens taken whilst roosting in a coop by badgers.

Keep food in a metal bin and compost the shavings and poo for the garden - min 12 months. Feed them greens - weeds, cabage spinach etc, for a complete diet - not grass as loose grass in the pen can be broken and compacts in the throat and can be fatal. Tie up greens so they need to pull bits off. Agree with Galvanised equipment entirely. Some varieties like leghorns can fly and will escape so make the pen taller and expect escapees. I find Rhode island reds are good birds, as are Marans and Dorkings, Aruacanas also lay blue green eggs and are less filghty than legbars. Great hobby . We have no rats as Badgers clean the pen at night so no food is left out. new feed is kept in a bin. We have had chickens taken by a fox (now deceased), badgers, and apparently next doors cat has taken a miniature breed tonight - one only. The cat will wish it had not eaten my chicken if its involvement is confirmed.

Also useful if you know a farmer you can get some wheat off as a helpful dietary addition. Bags of layers pellets cost £7.50 for a 20 KG sack which will last 30 chickens about a week.

Dont do it to save money - it doesnt but they will be the best eggs you have ever tasted, as someone has already said.

Any probs, happy to help if I can.

Good Luck

[Fisheruk]

I have re-homers. Minimal cost, less than £1 to buy. Started laying in the box on the way home. Run made from construction sites fencing 2 panels long 1 wide, 3x6 metres, wire netting over the top, roofing slates dug in around perimeter. No fox problems.:-))

[Imperfection]

I keep chooks too and if you're after simple reliable egg layers then ginger farmyard hens are perfect.They're friendly so ideal if you have kids,robust enough to put up with pet dogs (my dogs wont go near the hens-sharp beaks) and lay around 4-5 eggs per week.

 

If you're after a dual purpose bird then either the white or black Sussex is good.They lay plenty well,but are larger than average so have a good amount of meat on them.

 

Whatever breed you choose,dont under estimate foxes though and be prepared to get hit atleast once.

[bullet1747]

Cheers every one defo something we fancy doing the house is out in the country so mr fox is about ,look would have it my good friend will sort them his name is mr hornet his wifes name is HMR

Edited January 10, 2013 by bullet1747

[Snap Cap]

I have Gold Lines which like Orpingtons are an ideal "starter" breed,,good layers about 300 a year and easy to keep, was going to move on to posher breeds but quite happy with the goldlines,

 

Dont be tempted to buy a ready made coop and house online especially from a company thats named after a large river, a determined fox or even cat could be inside in no time, they look good in the pics but once you have assembled it, you will see what I mean.

 

Build one yourself but if possible make it portable as chooks will reduce your grass to stuble in no time, and then they will be prone to bacteria and parasites from the bare dirt. You just pick it up and move it to a new spot so the old area can recover, thats what I do anyway, bit of a pain fox proofing it in its new position each time but thats the joys of chook keeping.

[leeds chimp]

how easy are they to keep if you get an entire self contained pen as trying to convice SWMBO that we can get some down the field with the horses

[Snap Cap]

Easy to keep but if your coop is going to be a permenant fixture then you might want to think about letting them out for a ramble, ie fence a larger area off with the coop inside if you have the space, but if your not about all day they are at risk from fox.

 

I let mine out into the garden but its fenced all round so they just have the garden roam about in. I open the coop just before I go to work, so they are free to come and go as they please, but the missus is in all day so she keeps an eye on them.

[joe1978]

We keep a few chooks and they are fun to have around.

I think most things have been covered by the folk more knowledgable than me. Ours are in an enclosed roofed run mostly but if someone is around, us or the neighbours, they are let out to wander as they see fit.

They also develop individual characters. Unfortunate as my wife now sees them as pets instead of livestock, which means vet bills instead of necking any dodgy looking ones. :(

[Reece]

Make sure you don't have them too crowded. If you do, they'll make quite a mess. How much space do you have for these chickens?

[Imperfection]

Couple more things.If you have them in a static run you will need to lime the soil once or twice a year as it will become quite acidic from their droppings and is bad for their claws.Normal garden lime from a DIY/garden centre sell it in 5kg boxes,but dont use builders lime as thats caustic. Its envitable they will suffer from red mites at some point which they get from wild birds and in a wooden coop they are a pain in the backside to get rid of.They live most of the time between the roofing felt and timber so is advisable to choose a one piece waterproof roof (like cement board),but they also live in all the nooks and grannies then come out at night to feed on the hens blood when sleeping.

 

Another breed to consider is the leghorn.They're much smaller than the average hen and in their first year will lay one white egg every single day-they're a prolific layer.They have quite a funky almost fearless personalty too-mine will run into the house and join the dogs eating from their bowls.

[bullet1747]

Make sure you don't have them too crowded. If you do, they'll make quite a mess. How much space do you have for these chickens?

My back garden is about 50 meters long and 35 meters wide , I have a shed the length of the garden by 3 meters wide ,the dog has about half thought the other half can be made into something for the chickens ,it is a concrete pad the shed foot print ,the canal is at the bottom so mr fox un less he can swim will not get in that way it will have to come past the house so not worried about that ,I'll try and put a few pics on Tomoz so you kind peeps can say do this or no not that

[harpoonlouis]

\Wife has 3 Lomond Red crosses, with the cost of the run, food, netting etc etc they lay the most expensive eggs known to man but they make her very happy so Pricless!

[TaxiDriver]

Make sure you have somewhere you can dispose of the ...... the chicken poop and /or whatever you have down in the run.

My local council wont take it in the brown (compostable) refuse bin.