Topic: They've Arrived!!!

[Lazybones]

The chickens arrived on Saturday.  I'm so excited.  Only 4-6 weeks and they will be producing eggs.  They seem happy enough in their new surroundings.  The black one is called Bubble and the Ginger Nut is called Didi (not surprising as these are my 19 month old daughter's favourite words). 

Round one to the chickens too.  The cat took one look at them, puffed up and sloped back inside the house and has only made brief appearances for food and water (oh, and to look pathetically at me).

Ahh, the good life.  Soon we will be self sufficient.  Now, if only someone could tell me how to grow children's clothes without all that sowing mallarky - have tried the veg approach of plant and water but all that ends up happening is she grows and not the clothes....... ;D

Will try to post a piccie later when OH gets home and shows me how to blooming well do it.

[sandersj89]

Excellent, another hen keeper!

We have had 3 for a number of weeks now, the second bird came into lay on Saterday and has laid half sized eggs for the last 3 days.

Perfect size for our 3 year old!

Jerry

[moonbells]

I wish I could keep a couple of chickens or ducks but we have a restrictive covenant on the house (no livestock) and lottie tenancy agreement likewise :(

The former's a pain as one of the old houses whose gardens abut ours has a whole load of them and so we can hear clucking most days :)

moonbells

[wivvles]

I wish I could keep a couple of chickens or ducks but we have a restrictive covenant on the house (no livestock) and lottie tenancy agreement likewise :(

Is your allotment a Council one?  If so, check whether there is a local bye-law that prevents the keeping of chickens on the allotment, or if it's just been written into the tenancy agreement.  If the latter, then I understand that you can ask for it to be changed, although you would then need to get it through the various committees etc.

[Ceri]

moonbells - does the covenant specify what is livestock - perhaps you could keep two chicken as, well, er, pets - that just happen to lay eggs.  It's not like you want to keep goats or the odd sheep now is it!

After all, presumably you could keep rabbits, and for many people rabbits are actually livestock?

I think restrictive covenants of this type are only ever recalled when neighbours fall out - how are your neighbour relations - if they are good and they too see chickens as pets personally I wouldn't have a problem! 

[Doris_Pinks]

Our house has the same thing Moonbells.......... :'(  :'(  :'(  :'( I so want to keep chooks, allowed on our lotties, but no space on mine, and I don't fancy the driving back n forth daily to keep an eye on them!
Lucky you Lazybones, and all other chicken keepers out there, a slightly green DP ;D

[busy_lizzie]

Many congratulations on your new arrivals.  You are lucky! I really would like to keep a few hens but they are not allowed on our Allotment Site.  However I have been looking at our kitchen garden veggie patch at home, which I mainly used before we had an allotment and I am really tempted.  The area is about 5 yards by 7 yards surrounded by an 8 foot wall on one side and 7ft fence on the other two.

  Some time in our house's dim and distant past, part of someones garden was bought and so we have a little off shoot to ours.  I could put extra wire netting up though to make it higher.  We once hatched out two duck eggs in our airing cupboard and brought up two gorgeous ducks in our garden.  They eventually grew too big for the garden and so even though it broke my heart I had to let them go to a City Farm.   I don't think it would affect the neighbours at all if we kept about three hens and have no knowledge of any covenants on the house.  So what do you think?  Did have two hens before, Henley and Henrietta in another house.  Ooh! I am so tempted, but where would I get them from and where would I buy chicken food? Any advice LB or Sandersj89.  ??? busy_lizzie

[Lazybones]

Well Busy Lizzie, I was rather taken with this fabulous package called the Eglu from www.omlet.co.uk.  It's fantastic.  Everything comes with it - Eglu, foxproof run, food, food and water dispensers and even the chickies and egg boxes.  Had a look around for traditional ones but realised I could only ever have 2 in my garden so there was no point in having anything larger.  It's not cheap but I am so pleased with it.  So far I've had friends, neighbours and work colleagues all round to have a good look - didn't even know some of the neighbours before this arrived.  Have converted 2 already who now realise they can keep chickens in a City garden.
 ;D ;D ;D

[busy_lizzie]

Thanks for the info LB but I was horrified when I saw the price of it.  Did they say £365.  Somehow think this is not in keeping with the tradition of an ordinary allotment holder/gardener who would tend to make things out of recycled materials. All the building materials and compost boxes and bed edging we have has been scavanged from skips and things people have thrown away.  My husband made a fabulous greenhouse for about £50, mainly for the roofing material, the rest was from recycled stuff.  People are so wasteful.

I think what I had in mind  was my husband building a chicken house and nest box from wood.  We have plenty,  - a neighbour down the road has just knocked down their huge wooden shed and we have had the pick of the wood. We would let them run around the allocated space we have which would be netted off from the rest of the garden.  We are surrounded by a brick wall and high fencing and I have never ever seen a fox in my part of the world so that is not a danger, so they would be quite safe and they would be locked into their hut at night.  Our big outlay I would expect would be the purchase of the hens and their food. 

That is not to say these things haven't got their place, but are not for us, though I appreciate your reply.  :) busy_lizzie     

[Lazybones]

Head hanging low now busy lizzie  :-[ I don't normally go around spending a fortune on things.  Honest!!!  And I am a normal allotment holder and everything I use is recycled.  In fact the edging I took out of my garden to put the chickens house in has now made a lovely edging to one of my beds.

I see your point though  ;D

[sandersj89]

As you say there are many cheaper ways to keep hens. The eggloo, for all it’s good points, is pretty expensive. They do come up on ebay from time to time so keep an eye on that if you are interested.

The approach we have taken is to adapt a 6 by 4 shed. This bought new from B&Q for £80 and we have simply added a pop hole, perches and nest boxes. The boxes are external boxes so we can collect eggs with out going into the sged, materials cost about £30 for those. This has actually made a house far larger than we need for 6 hens, it could easily accommodate 20 birds if we wished. No way could we cope with the eggs though!

The run is large, half the size of a tennis court so we had pretty good fencing in place already, we did need a 100 yard roll of 4 foot chicken wire but that is not expensive. The only other things we had to buy was feeders and water troughs.

We have had them a good few weeks now and I have to say they are a pleasure to have around, They are used to us and come running to the pen gate as soon as they see us. They will feed from our hands and are happy for the kids to stroke them.

2 hens have laid from day one, a third started at the weekend and is producing half sized eggs at the moment.



The eggs are a lovely flavour and have great yellow yolks. The hens also love the slugs I pick up by night. Their morning treat is an ice cream tub of slugs. They also go mad for calabrese or mashed potato!

Jerry

[Lazybones]

Well Jerry, I'm very impressed with the eggs so far.  Mine have turned down my leftover carrots but I'm sifting though the veg peelings I normally put on the compost heap and picking out the greens - I have been told that giving them greens produces yellower yolks?

Wish I could devote half a tennis court portion of my garden to the run but alas, I'm in the middle of a City so even though it's classed as a big garden you can imagine the size.

Still, they both seem very happy so far and although I have been told to keep them in their run for a week before letting them wander into the garden, I have been having a sneaky pick-up, which has been going down ok with them so far.

[sandersj89]

I have been told that giving them greens produces yellower yolks?

Yes, it is the caranteen(sp) in green growth that colours the eggs, especially on new spring growth.

Winter greens are not so high in it and the eggs will fade a little in the winter.

The one veg not to feed them is raw potato though.

Jerry

[busy_lizzie]

What fantastic eggs.  Makes me keener than ever.  :) busy_lizzie

[slugcatcher]

Now, if only someone could tell me how to grow children's clothes without all that sowing mallarky - have tried the veg approach of plant and water but all that ends up happening is she grows and not the clothes....... ;D

Sheep and kangaroos come to mind (the old ones are the best) ;D ::)