Does anyone keep chickens?

[Shadowchaser]

Please talk to me about them!

I was thinking of getting some ex battery hens for the garden after seeing some sorry looking ones and thinking it would be a nice thing to offer them a home. Not too fussed about eggs but it would be nice to get the odd one.

How much time do they take to keep care of? Is it a case of daily cleaning or more like weekly? What happens in winter do they have to stay inside lots of the time, do they get bored?

Best coops/runs? I’m rural ish with foxes (think long gardens backing onto woodland but with neighbour's either side)- am I condemning them before I begin? I have huge gardens so they could run free but I have a cat and dogs who haven’t been chicken tested so at least initially they need keeping separately.

Ive also heard a lot about rats and mites, how much of a huge issue are these? Not sure how impressed my neighbour's would be if we created an infestation.

Any experiences would be great.

We have chickens and I help rehome them for fresh start for hens. After years of keeping hens I have had various Omlets and runs and now have a mark 1 Eglu cube attached to a walk in run. We have had red mite in it but was easy to get rid of by jet washing and spraying down. I clean them out once a week and clean out the run every 6months. We have a builders bag of wood chip delivered every 6 months and completely swop out the wood chip and jet wash the flags the run is on which is hard work.
Bird flu lockdown usually lasts from around November to May where you aren’t allowed to let the hens out in the garden so the run should be big enough for them all to roam round in for a few months. Omlet stuff is expensive but worth it and you can get used stuff on eBay.

Forgot to say chickens are lovely to keep though and mine are very friendly and love treats (chopped up grapes are their favourite). I love going out in the garden after work and letting them out for a potter around while I have a cup of tea on the terrace. The eggs are really nice too and it’s lovely watching them blossom.

If you have mink around I would be concerned. They can get in anywhere and a friend lost her chickens to mink even though they were in a run.

I have 5 Pekin bantams, fully wired run made by local builder and an Eglu. They free range the garden in the day, but because they have feathery feet and are quite small they don't do too much damage. They are very friendly, most let us pick them up if we give them mealworms in return. Downside, they can be quite vocal, have eaten all my marigolds, and there is a fair amount of poo sweeping required. Dave the chicken is pictured.

How do you clean all the chicken shit off the grass in their pens?

I can see how the coops can be thoroughly cleaned, but grassy areas outside?

@BMW6 we don’t have grass underneath the run. I have them on a flagged area with hardwood chippings. We swop these out every few months otherwise just leave it. If you have them on grass it just turns into a muddy pooey swamp really quickly.

When we had ours in a large garden, we just accepted that the grass was theirs - I'll admit that we didn't anticipate just how much mess they would make. If I were keeping them in a larger garden, I would section off part of the garden for them, and move them to another section every few months. I wouldn't keep them in a run (Eglu size) because I feel they need more room. As mentioned, it's a useful option for holidays or if you need to separate one bird, and I suppose you could argue rescue hens are better off in a run than some other options.