Topic: chickens

[macmac]

Our favourite friends down the lottie have just got some chickens.
It's all new to them ,they have looked into it very carefully and hopefully doing all the right things .
What advice would you other chicken keepers give them that they wouldn't find in a book ?

[Old bird]

That every night, after you have got them to wash their teeth, you tuck them into their beds and give each of them a kiss.  Then in the morning, repeat the washing their teeth and brushing up their feathers, dig a few dozen worms for breakfast (remember the early bird and worm saga) give them loads of room to scuff around in and pass the time of day with each other.  Loads of food.  Warm egg laying facilities with TV in case they get bored waiting for the egg to pop out!

Seriously nothing really except be kind to them and they will repay you with loads of eggs and companionship.  I let mine onto the grass paths - they keep them trimmed and it also gives them greenery to eat and keeps their interest going.  I let mine into the polytunnel at the moment and they have magnificent dustbaths all of them fluffing away in the dry soil having a whale of a time.  They, because I am kind to them, enjoy running around after me - I call them and they all come hurtling which also helps when they need to return to their run!

I would suggest if they could incorporate a dry area where they can spend the day if it is p***ing down and a wind free area.

Old Bird

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you grow Jerusalems, let them in once they've grown above chicken height. We did that in Cornwall, and they used to spend half the summer sitting in the shade.

[Old bird]

You are right Robert, my Jerusalem Artichoke bed is next door to the chicken run so they get the shade when needed during the summer and when they are let out for a scratch around they love hiding in there!

O B

[coznbob]

Ok, this is going to sound like I don't like my chickens ( I really do :-*), but, a steep learning curve for me is that they are not cute and good natured.

They can be vicious little sods when they want to be, when 1 of mine went broody, she effectively put herself out of the pecking order, when she finally stopped they all went for her. And might I add, very badly, they nearly killed her.... grrrr ......But apart from that, they are lovely ;D

Drainage of the run floor is pretty imp. too oh and if you wear anything remotely sparkly, painted toenails with flip-flops expect to be investigated with frantic pecking :o

[halfofmanic]

Ok, this is going to sound like I don't like my chickens ( I really do :-*), but, a steep learning curve for me is that they are not cute and good natured.

They can be vicious little sods when they want to be, when 1 of mine went broody, she effectively put herself out of the pecking order, when she finally stopped they all went for her. And might I add, very badly, they nearly killed her.... grrrr ......But apart from that, they are lovely ;D

Drainage of the run floor is pretty imp. too oh and if you wear anything remotely sparkly, painted toenails with flip-flops expect to be investigated with frantic pecking :o

Yes our are ex battery    started  with 18  down to 11   changing their water today

and they tried to eat my gloves while the others were having a go at my pants my wife swears that if she fell over  while struggling to get up she would have some fingers missing

You might like this little story    one of the looker after ers   ;D saw a mouse in our storage food container while cleaning it out  maybe he is a bit bloodthirsty  i don't know  but he got one of the ladies and put it in the container  with mousey running around   he said the chick   watched it go past with little interest     he thought   

once mousey had gone past     the chicken got it by the throat    so that along with picking on the week   proves your right      they are still funny though

when we clean them out shovelling the poop  into a bin  the things keep jumping in   

or sit on the end of your shovel   ;D ;D

[Old bird]

My two at home have killed a mouse and I was horrified to find them both "playing with it" one had it in her beak (it was by now dead) and the other one was chasing her for it and grabbing its tail!

I am pretty sure that they would have eaten bits had I not removed it!!!

But having said that my two at home are very very sweet.  They do occasionaly peck at me - but that is not malicious, they just don't have fingers to jab me!!

Old Bird

[Robert_Brenchley]

Poor chickens, having their yummy mouse stolen!

[teresa]

shame about the mouse hens love them.
I would say to your friends to sit with the hens hand feed them and handle them to  gain their trust comes in handy if you need to do anything with them.

[Steven]

Best advice?

Ensure their safety.

The humble fox is the biggest threat to poulty keepers and despite how many you might have-it will kill every single one given the chance.Other than that,they're dead easy to look after,their food is very cheap,have individual quirky personalities and reward you with great tasting eggs! They'll eat most table scraps (avoid anything meat based though) and have a voracious appetite for slugs/snails.

I cant stress the importance of their safety though.I lost all of mine recently after a fox managed to scale a 7ft fence so dont ever under estimate them.

[suzyegglet]

hi everyone i keep hens on my allotment, and have kept hens for quite alot of years and i also think the main thing to worry about is keeping them fox and rat proof, my hubby had a tedious task of digging out the inside enclosure then putting galvanised wire netting half inch square on the ground, then infill again with the soil, then he built a wooden framed structure, then covered that in the same galvanised wire and connected it together to the wire floor pieces, then put a door on and plastic corrugated sheeting on the roof part and three sides of the enclosure, it is 100% vermin proof, it was hard work but worth the effort, then he put some harris fencing and gates onto that to let them out in the day whilst we are down the allotment, and they scratch about outside for a few hours a day, then we lock them back inside for the night safe hopefully!also the best product for preventing and killing all external and internal mites including worms is called DIATOM, it is a natural chemical free organic product and since using it for 3 years i have had no worms, mites, lice etc on any of my hens, it is great stuff, i get mine from a website called Flyte So Fancy. hope this is helpful,   :)

[cocopops]

Hens, I love them. 

When we got our (17) ex-bats two years ago we built a huge run for them.  Our neighbours, who are farmers, stressed the importance of an electric fence.  It did cost almost a hundred pounds for the box and wire but we have not lost a hen yet to M. Renard.  The wire runs twice round the pen, low for weasel type creatures and about 8" up for the fox.

I bought a new bin today and when looking for liners to fit I said the helpful assistant that I only emptied my (20l) bin once a week.  When he was shocked I told him that most food waste goes to my chickens and dogs, I recycle everything I can; anything else goes into the woodburning fire.

They can be vicious with each other but that is where the 'pecking order' phrase comes from.

Bon courage, enjoy - Coco