Chicken advice

[pegasus bridge]

I brought 6 ex battery hens last year, they were approx 10 months old at this point when they were due to be slaughtered for pet food. They were in a right state, looked half plucked, large combs . After just a couple of months they feathered out, settled in and have been laying very well since, getting an egg a day per bird for the last month as the days get longer.  
 

keep food contained and don’t leave scraps around and they shouldn’t draw the rats in 👍

3 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Ex battery hens are brilliant - most likely still have 3 years left in them and will still lay maybe 5 eggs/week. The biggest pleasure, however, is seeing the transformation from the poor condition they arrive in to superb looking specimens in about a month - mine had never seen rain and just stood out in it at first not knowing what to do. They WILL eat your garden and dig up your lawn like a rotavator on steroids so be warned - gave my chucks away about 5 years ago and my lawn has just about recovered. Eggs will cost you twice shop bought prices as the feed is not cheap in small quantities but they taste sublime - you will also need to buy Diatomaceous earth to keep red mites at bay. As you eat the Eggs, crush the shells and put it in their food - cheap source of the calcium they need to lay decent eggs.Go for it cos they are fascinating birds to have around the garden but be sensible as to how many you keep - dont take the wife when you go to collect because she will want to rescue all of them. Contact the British Hen Welfare Trust for the best advice.

Totally agree with this 👍

[Mice!]

Some great advice but I can top it all.

The best thing is if your neighbour gets chickens, then your kids can watch them, feed them you get some fresh eggs and the odd rat, but your garden doesn't get trashed, I doubt there are any insects in my neighbour's garden and they poop everywhere so your going to step in $$$$ they haven't really destroyed his garden but he only had 4.

They are fun to watch, until a dog gets in and kills a couple, second time its happened to next door, he wasn't pleased, but should have put a fence up last time it happened. 

[pegasus bridge]

I’d also agree they will trash garden, it’s worthwhile building a large run and putting straw down for them to scratch around in and perhaps letting them free range in the garden acouple of times a week, just don’t forget or lock them back in when they roost in the evening 😉

[treetree]

I was having a similar idea, but hearing about the destruction of the lawn is putting me off. Would it be that bad if I were able to move the house and run onto a new patch every couple of days?

[MirokuMK70]

I keep mine in a permanent run approx 7 sq m with a cover to keep the ground dry. The ground is covered in a layer of sharp sand which i periodically dig out, replace and dig into the garden and veg beds to improve my heavy clay soil... they will destroy any garden they can access.

[fatchap]

Some very good advice there chaps thank you. On the subject of them destroying my garden, there isn't an awful lot left to destroy, my new pup who's now 5 months old has done a sterling job so far. holes everywhere, can't put plants in, he just digs them up and runs off with them. Its pretty trashed, 

[Lloyd90]

4 hours ago, peck said:

Several years ago i had the same idea, all went well for a couple of months and then i started to notice they had been scratching around as they do but all of a sudden the garden started to look like a bomb had hit it, they were scratching everywhere with everything slowly being destroyed. My advice is, build them a large run that can be moved around so that when the ground becomes bare you can move it to give them fresh ground. You can then use the ground they have just been on for growing veg as it will be nicely fertilised.

 

 

I think a smart person who rotates their veg raised beds, would build a chicken run and house that is the same size as the raised beds size. Then when you rotate the crops, you could just lift up the chicken run and coop, and stand it on the next bed, and it works into your rotation  

 

When I move house and try to gros some veg etc, I will try to remember that  lol 

38 minutes ago, fatchap said:

Some very good advice there chaps thank you. On the subject of them destroying my garden, there isn't an awful lot left to destroy, my new pup who's now 5 months old has done a sterling job so far. holes everywhere, can't put plants in, he just digs them up and runs off with them. Its pretty trashed, 

 

Thats another reason people have kennels  

[WalkedUp]

I really want chickens but haven’t got enough land to have a separate allotment for them. My neighbours can’t understand why my dogs are not allowed to run in the garden. They have a kennel and a run. We bring them into the garden to sit and be part of life, but as soon as you let them run about it cuts the turf up. The dogs do not foul or urinate in the garden, my chickens would either need to be very well trained or very well fenced in. 

[Lloyd90]

57 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

I really want chickens but haven’t got enough land to have a separate allotment for them. My neighbours can’t understand why my dogs are not allowed to run in the garden. They have a kennel and a run. We bring them into the garden to sit and be part of life, but as soon as you let them run about it cuts the turf up. The dogs do not foul or urinate in the garden, my chickens would either need to be very well trained or very well fenced in. 

Can you take them somewhere else nearby to toilet then or in the run? 

[WalkedUp]

The chickens or dogs? 🤣

[Velocette]

Just to add a little to the good advice here,,try sharing the pen with a neighbour and extend it across part of both gardens. We did that for years and by sharing the costs,the work and the eggs it was fine. Its worth the investment in strongish square mesh at least on the lower 3 ft of a 6ft fence because ordinary chicken wire will rot quite quickly and is a pain to replace. Find a local tree surgeon who will supply cheap or free wood chips and sling half a dozen bags in the pen now and then to give them plenty to scrat in. Finally,,I always get a few sacks of wheat from one of my arable farms at a very reasonable cost/free each year which pads out the layers pellets.

PS. I too have Cream Langbars which are the most paranoid and flighty hens I've ever seen,,,nice eggs though.  

[figgy]

As for can you move across your lawn every few days yes. But forget and leave it longer it will look like a grass court at Wimbledon at the end of the tennis, bald muddy.

I used to mow and feed my lawn so it looked like a putting green. Hens and dog made it look like the Somme.  You can't have a nice garden with dogs and chooks. 

[AVB]

2 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

I think a smart person who rotates their veg raised beds, would build a chicken run and house that is the same size as the raised beds size. Then when you rotate the crops, you could just lift up the chicken run and coop, and stand it on the next bed, and it works into your rotation  

 

 

Eglu do something like that 

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_cube/

I want one but the wife says "no"

 

[Yellow Bear]

39 minutes ago, AVB said:

I want one but the wife says "no"

wise lady

[Wb123]

An old ibc and a grinder makes a very cheap coop, that plus an electric fence makes an easilly moved run. 

Layers pellets are £8.60 for 25kg here and a bag lasts about two months. 

I have never noticed a change in the rat situation with/without chickens over the years, I generally shoot or trap three or four a year but we always have at least horse feed around. 

I have never been bothered by neighbours cockerels or our own. Smaller ones have a more shrill crow though that apparently is much more annoying. 

Those large round trampolines also make a cheaply acquired movable run with the addition of some chicken wire. 

[Lloyd90]

45 minutes ago, AVB said:

Eglu do something like that 

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_cube/

I want one but the wife says "no"

 

 

Yes lots of them come on wheels that you can move around as you go.

 

My mate has one of those Eglu but the small one he had it given to him ... doesn't rate it. 

[Wb123]

I use five strands of electric wire rather than the really expensive poultry electric net. 

[Imperfection]

I've kept hens for quite a number of years. If you decide to get some i advise on having a minimum of three. All birds get depression if on their own and often will die without warning so keeping three means if one dies-you will always have a pair.

 I prefer specific breeds and have them as odd pets rather than being an egg layers so chose what you want. Ginger hens are the most friendly perfect for children.

 

[Imperfection]

27 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

 

 

My mate has one of those Eglu but the small one he had it given to him ... doesn't rate it. 

I have an Eglu and highly rate it. Its easy to clean (soapy water), insulated and mine is in Om;ets original orange!

[Lloyd90]

4 minutes ago, Imperfection said:

I have an Eglu and highly rate it. Its easy to clean (soapy water), insulated and mine is in Om;ets original orange!

 

Those real small ones? that;s what my mate had said he didn't want to keep birds locked up in it all the time it was tiny. That one posted above they reckon will take 10 birds 😮 

I'm sure they're easy to keep clean being all plastic ... but for what they are also think they're very expensive. 

 

[Imperfection]

1 minute ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

Those real small ones? that;s what my mate had said he didn't want to keep birds locked up in it all the time it was tiny. That one posted above they reckon will take 10 birds 😮 

I'm sure they're easy to keep clean being all plastic ... but for what they are also think they're very expensive. 

 

Yes they are pricey but i bought it years ago which was a lot less than now. Mine is the Eglu Classic.

[ShootingEgg]

10 hours ago, blackbird said:

Spare a thought if you have close neighbours, they draw rats, we never seen a single rat in our garden since next door started keeping chickens now we see them all the time.

Wild bird seed will tow rats.. My parents have had ex chicken farm chickens for 10yesrs, in that ten years we've hade to trap two rats, I put up a trail cam so we can see if and when we get problems. The last rat we caught was shot off the wild bird feed table. We have a proper pen thats got the wire on the floor outside so nothing can get in to the food and water.. They come out in the day then back in at night 

So for the OP any kind of ex lay birds are fine, be it cage, battery, free range etc. Some you can pick them up from about 50p upward. 

[Lloyd90]

17 minutes ago, Imperfection said:

Yes they are pricey but i bought it years ago which was a lot less than now. Mine is the Eglu Classic.

 

They're worth looking for second hand if you can get one, I bet they are handy for keeping a few chickens in a normal sized back yard  

[Big Mat]

We've kept a mixture of everything over the years.

Currently got 2 leghorn hybrid things, who lay 300+ eggs a year and 5 gold lines who are due to start laying soon. 

 

Once lockdown is over,I've got some others to pick up, that lay blue and green eggs, for the little un as she loves collecting the eggs

[Velocette]

https://www.theclevercoopcompany.com/coops

I've had one of these for over 5 years now,,after finding it difficult to keep wooden ones clear of red mite and general rot. A bit pricy,,roughly the cost of two wooden ones, but as tough as you would want,,dead easy to clean and as it just slots together can be dismantled for deep cleaning every couple of years. As they suggest, its mounted on 4 posts aprox 3ft high with a slatted ramp up to the door.