Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Doris_Pinks on November 11, 2003, 19:08:07
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I know some of you out there must keep them!! ;D
Have a perfect spot for them, well I think I have! and my lottie neighbour wants to share the chores! So the question is, are they a joy or a pain to keep?! (bearing in mind I am a 10 min drive away!) Dottie P
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Page 3 of The Basics. There are 2 lots of discussions. If you need more info I will try to answer any questions.
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Thanks Eric, i put Chickens into the search facility and nought came up! Will go and look I knew it was here somewhere! DP
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Hi I am looking for hens for the garden the lottie is close to the woods so foxes etc. ::)
Years ago you could find chickens no problem no they seem to be the show types and all I want is eggs layers.
This time of year not so many around even thought of buying eggs and hatching my own. ???
Found this site :Dhttp://www.backyardchickens.com/links.html
American but lots of usefull info just cannot find a UK site as good they even swap eggs. ;)
Have a look Doris at least its fun reading it all.
Teresa
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No predjudice here
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=bcae6844-7bef-6870-4c1a-572d4d6741b5&size=lg)
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Oh Eric
did you not have some Sussex now thats a lovely bird 8)any pics. But lovely pic what are they how about a pic of your ducks? :D I am green with envy. Where did you say you lived. Could I be had up for chicken russling. :-[
ha ha
Teresa
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Awwwwwwww see, I want chooks even more now! Will check out that site teresa, I agree, not much on the UK sites at all! Thanks ;D
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Oh Dottie
You are allowed to keep chucks on your lottie?
I wanted them down the bottom of my garden but nogo. Too many rats and foxes. ( I was told)
My grandad used to have hens AND a pig in the back garden!!
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Yup CS, so long as there is no rooster...tho as we back onto the cemetary he would only be waking the dead!
Dont think we can keep any other livestock tho. Foxes will be a major problem, havbe to have a lot of research and long hard thinks ??? before I get them! ;D
DP
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Well Dottie P - good luck with your search - Nothing nicer than a really fresh egg.
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The funny thing is I can't eat eggs, not boiled, or fried or scrambled or poached, or even egg sarnies! YEACH!!! But I can use them in cooking and the rest of the family like em! ;D
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Hi Doris
I can only eat eggs scrambled but in baking 6 in a bread and butter pud the custard love it ;D
Got some fertile eggs today farmer said they should be ok laid this morning 9 of them RIR so we shall see in a months time how many I get hatched then there is always how many will be the male versions ???
But its starting from scratch.
Teresa
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Here are some of the hens.
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=6003606b-eda2-1d99-4c40-60f0420b20cf&size=lg)
On the fence left to right. Rocky the Dark Sussex bantam male, Attila the hen, Dottie, White one the peking bantam and on the patio Snowy the last remaining light Sussex big hen. No up to date phot of ducks yet.
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Lovely photo of the family, the Sussex I fell in love with when I saw a photo of it. Oh well if I can hatch some this time Sussex and Marams next you have to think big.
hee hee
Teresa
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I always knew I was a chick, but a hen??!! Dottie (P, that is!)
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I`m afraid I don`t know anything about chickens, but I have worked out how to get my fourth star and be a senior citizen like Tim.
(only another 29 to go!)
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I love the way you've given all your chucks names ! We're not allowed livestock so I'm thinking of "adopting" a chicken from this site http://www.adopteereenkip.nl/ it costs 30 euros a year and for that you get 6 eggs a month and the satisfaction of knowing the chucks are well looked after (and organic). There's a webcam to view and you're ven allowed to visit - what do you think - should I do it ?
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BB I think you should do it, what fun! And you get eggs too ;D Hope fully they won't be sending them through the mail! :) DP
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Oh BB thats different and you get 6 eggs a month.
So working on 6x12=72 eggs in a year how much would you pay for 72 eggs in Holand.
Yep go for it and think of it as a christmas present to yourself. you can then post the pic here for us all to see.
Teresa
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Doris, chickens need a commitment different to cats and dogs. They have to be let out of their "shed" in the morning, and be put away at night before the foxes get 'em, no matter the weather. Putting them away at night can be a chore, as they don't like being put to bed on a nice evening when you want an early night !!!
Eric, your pics are great. Did you see BBC Breakfast yesterday morning when an author (can't remember his name) brought a chicken into the studio. She was beautiful. He explained that he had seven chickens each with a name, like yours, and each with a different personality. The chickens were allowed to wander at will, and he often found an egg in his "IN TRAY". His office was in an outhouse. He didn't mention how he coped with their poops.
Next door's Mrs T. (turkey) had a closed eye last weekend, and I was very concerned about her. The side of her face was quite swollen, and I urged my NDN to take her to the vet. He didn't do so, and she died. I'm keeping my own counsel for the sake of good relations, but I'm not happy - Mrs t. was supposed to be a pet. It put's a peculiar slant on the saying - a turkey is for life not just for Christmas.
Thanks for the pics of your Chicks, I am looking forward to seeing your ducks in due course.
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Oh Colin what a shame, I know vet fees can be expensive but a good vet will let you pay over so many months if the bill is large.
Also their is the PDSA if your a pensioner on your own etc you can get free treatment and all they ask is a donation. You can pick up a form from the local vets.
If all else fails their is the RSPCA will help.
So no need to have an animal suffering does not matter what animal you have cat,dog mice or chickens you have to have commitment for them and you know when they are not well.
I knew a woman years ago who thought more of her pets then of her children. Yep it takes all sorts.
Teresa
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At last the ducks have been persuaded to leave their pen and wander the great outdoors and here they are.
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=c1a877ce-34a6-42cc-7dd5-30f23af93e5b&size=lg)
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Okay, good duck story! A neighbour of my nan and gramps in rural Devon built a wee water feature in their small backgarden. She is a real bird lover and always lays on a delicious spread for our feathered friends, when low and behold, one day, a pair of ducks arrived to feast. A few weeks passed, and they became regular visitors to her water feature, and they decided to call it home! Within days, a nest had been built in the herbacious border, and before she knew where she was, she had mum, dad and 9, yes I said 9, ducklings waddling around her (small) garden! You can imagine the state of her ornamental water feature with all those guys in it! They still visit daily for lunch and supper, arriving in V formation through the sky, all 11 of them.
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OK - chickens, ducks - just come to Bourton-on-the-Water for ducks - they start out with 10+ chicks each and when you look again, there's only one? - sad life? - but to the point - 'Birdland' is one of the local attractions - when (now almost 50ish) daughter ( then about 6) was leaving the then school in our village, a MACAW dropped onto her shoulder - and wouldn't leave - and she became a very honoured person!!
Next? - Tim
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Eric, thank you for the photo of your beautiful ducks. My NDN would be so envious if he could see them - yours put his in the shade.
EmmaJane, what a lovely story about your grandparents neighbour. It must be a magnificent sight to see them flying, and even more exciting to know that they are flying to them for lunch. They are so lucky.
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Taken a while but they have now found one of our ponds and spent the afternoon clearing it of duckweed. Fortunately they decided that they would go back in their pen at dusk. They don't half make a mess of their water. Interesting to see if they manage to find the big pond. We have hundreds of wild ducks flying over (the Shropshire meres are only a few miles away), but have only seen them on the pond once and found an abandoned clutch once. (Yes it was abandoned, we kept an eye on it, but the eggs disappeared one night.) Still would like another female though.
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Oh Eric the photo is lovely the drakes are beautiful and you want more lovely.
Emma that was a lovely story of your nan and her ducks.
Teresa
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i would love chickens but they're too much of a commitment at the moment. also a bloke down our lotties lost 60 chickens and 12 ducks to vandals last week, all in one night. i won't go into the details, its absolutely horrific what the people did but it certainly makes you think carefully about the security of the site. his plot backs onto some houses, i can't believe no-one heard anything.
beautiful ducks eric!
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Unbelievable!....Legless.... a fox, yes, but vandals , very sad and shocking. I just can't understand why?? for God's sake do they attack harmless creatures?
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I blame the parents and schools for not educating youngester in the joy of haveing a pet and understanding animals in general.
A fish in a tank is fine and looks pretty, but for a child it has to touch a animal and feel the heart beating to appriciate the importance of life in all things living.
I remember my son now 30 comming home as a child from boys brigrade saying why do we eat Gods creatures. Being a farmers daughter found it hard to explane to him and it took a while believe me. Because we had a dog,cat and 6 hens at the bottom of the garden.
The schools should take children to a farm to pet the animals and so should parents on a regular basics. The next generation would be better off for it.
Legless did the police/RSPCA get involved the vandles should be sent to a farm to work as a sentence they might learn something.
As for the people in the houses people are too frightened to go out when its dark thats the real shame of times to come. If they had done some may have been saved.
Teresa
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the police are involved and its been on the front page of the two local papers but i doubt they'll catch them. they have appealled for witnesses pointing out that the people who did it must have been scratched to bits.
i understand what you're saying about fear keeping people inside, it is a very sad state of affairs.
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Jo, Saw the article in the local paper and was shocked and digusted by what went on. Can't believe any sane person could be so sick and warped as to kill those poor birds in that way. It knocks your faith in human nature, and must have been devastating for the poor plot owner. What a horrible thing for him to have to face. It goes beyond vandalism doesn't it? busy_lizzie
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i just can't imagine what was going through their heads. and that poor bloke to turn up in the morning to that.... i see him quite often and i just don't know what to say to him.
i love to see the chickens down the allotments, i really hope i can have some soon (hubby has promised that when we move next i can have some land and some livestock!!)
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Jo, when you can get round to speaking to the poor fellow, would you add our commiserations to yours.
As in the G&S Mikado, the authorities should make the punishment fit the crime - but of course, they are too weak minded.
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i will do that colin. :)
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I keep livestock and have done for the past 6 years, and you expect to lose some to the fox.
The same thing happened to me i lost 60 hens, 30 ducks, 3 goats and 6 geese in one night. The police said they must have had at least a transit van, and yes no one saw or heard anything. It is sickening but you just have to get on with things and grin and bear it.
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I was talking turkey to the farmer I get my Christmas goose from. She was saying that they keep the turkeys on a different farm to the one they do business from, because it has been known elsewhere for the whole lot to disapear into a truck overnight...... >:(
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Saw a good one driving to work, i decided to go the scenic route, and near a farm a woman had 2 hens out for a walk with leashes on them :o i tell you i nearly crashed the car. Now i like livestock but to take them for a walk :-/ , please get a life.
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We walked past a farm a little while ago, which had alpacas on it - quite a head turner!
Didn't know you could "grow" llamas in Sheffield!
Ten x
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We have a large Llama farm near here, they look really amusing as a herd in a field, sorry but they always seem to have a haughty air about them! (gone right off them after being spat at by one I was feeding!)
And Jethro as for leads, my kids take their Guinea Pigs for walkies on a lead.........puuulllllllleeeeaaasssee! Poor things, luckily they just sit there and nibble grass so the novelty wore off! ;D
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reading the last two posts has reminded me that some years ago....when I lived in Caversham (nr. the Thames in Reading) there was a bloke who used to walk his goat on a rope down to the local shops and back home again...now I come to think of it ...he lived in a road that backed onto allotments....so maybe he kept it there.....we all got used to seeing it about..and his companion who walked with them ::) also....when I lived for a while in North Essex (Nr. Saffron Walden)...the two children next door to me used to walk their ferrets on leashes.....nothing really surprises me anymore....altho chickens....that probably does!! ??? H.P.
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I remember years ago my Dad coming back from the pub saying he'd seen a bloke walking an elephant - we didn't believe him of course - until we later saw that the circus was in town.
My wife has often reported to me that she sees a bloke near her work walking his massive pot-bellied pig. :o
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i once took a ferret for a walk on a lead in 8" deep snow - that was hilarious - it loved it, he had to jump!
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Aaahhhhhhhh......how sweet....just can picture it.. :)
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Up here in the wilds of Yorkshire....often see an old nag tethered outside the village pub enjoying a bucket of beer!!!!
.........and that's just the farmer's wife.......his horse is allowed inside!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Hi all, now listen i know the wife's ugly but to call her a goat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway she looks canny when she's had a shave ;D . The horse can drink more than her so i might let her in and keep the horse outside.