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I am a new chicken keeper and I have a few questions

12 replies

maristella · 21/04/2012 10:06

We have been wanting chickens for a few years now, been researching, then was saving for start up costs.

This week a friend gave us her chicken and house :)

The chicken laid an egg on her first morning here. On the second morning there was no egg but there was one when we got home from school/work.

No egg yet this morning. What time do they lay? How long shall I wait before making DS his breakfast? Grin

Also as there is just one chicken, we really feel she wants company. Her coop has a small run, but we feel she needs much more. Next week we will be buying a large run to attach to what she currently has. Would that be the best time to introduce a companion? Or should we do it sooner?

Also can you tell me a bit about your feeding patterns? We have been giving pellets and grit in the morning with fresh water, and corn and scraps at tea time. We have started taking the food and water away overnight when she is in her house to prevent rats and for them to be cleaned. Is this right?

We just really really want her to be happy :)

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KlickKlackknobsac · 21/04/2012 10:17

Sounds like everything you are doing is fine.
Introduce a couple of chickens perhaps. Do it anytime- ideally the same looking bird. The chickens lay eggs anytime- no regular pattern in my experience. Its not the rats but the foxes you need to worry about- they leave a terrible mess of your chicken if they get in- the main thing is keeping it secure. They dig into the coop so look out for signs of digging. Good luck- they sound like happy chickens.

maristella · 21/04/2012 10:32

Yes, foxes. Eek!

We are putting a wire skirt around the house today, and I've been checking for signs of digging.
Would foxes dig through in one night? Or would they keep coming back to dig more?

Good to know it's not just our hen who lays at different times :)
Thank you so much for your advice

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KlickKlackknobsac · 21/04/2012 10:39

Foxes will do it in one night, dig under the skirt and get in the coop. Just make sure the coop is always locked at night and very secure. Ours is on a concrete base. Stilts is another possibility. But its remembering to lock it that's important- I have a friend who forgot (but she is usually very fastidious) and the chickens were all killed. If you have a cockerel they will fight the fox and you will hear it (if its close). So a cockerel is a good idea but then it makes getting the eggs harder (the cockerel tries to stop you) and they cock a doodle do all the time so it depends where you live. But if you get a cockerel then you might get chicks. Plus if they break an egg then they eat it- don't be alarmed.

maristella · 21/04/2012 10:50

We're not in a position to get a cockerel, it would make us very unpopular around here!

They dig under the skirt???? Shock
I thought the skirt was a good deterrent!

The house is closed off at night, but the chicken managed to open the door this morning and was in the run when I got up, so if she can open it a fox certainly can.

This is a very steep learning curve!

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KlickKlackknobsac · 21/04/2012 10:56

Make sure the house is not able to be opened accidentally.
The skirt WILL be a deterrent, but those foxes are big and determined. The skirt is better than nothing- but get that catch fixed.
Good luck!

boomting · 25/04/2012 01:16

Sounds pretty good to me.

There's no particular time that hens lay - it takes 25 hours to produce an egg, so obviously it shifts throughout the day. Some breeds are better layers than others, age decreases egg laying capacity, and sometimes they just have off days / off periods (like, erm, all of winter with most of mine).

Your feeding schedule is textbook, although I'd question the need to remove the food and water overnight. Water won't attract rats (desert country this is not!) and hens need constant access to water or it can affect laying ability, and overall health. The coop should be rat proof anyway - if they can get in at night, then they will start (a) eating your eggs, and / or (b) attack your hen. To avoid rats (and other vermin), make sure food isn't scattered on the ground where they can access it, and make sure that the food supply (i.e. that in a 20kg food bag!) is kept well out of harms way. We found an old-style metal dustbin to be good for that - they are capable of chewing through plastic! Finally, make sure that layers pellets and grit+oyster shell are available all day (it's not clear from your post if they are), and keep the feeding of corn / scraps to a minimum. As a treat, greens are more nutritious, and porridge (made to be very stiff, with water, warmed in the microwave - they love it) makes a well-appreciated treat, particularly in winter or when they need a supplement / medication (it's quite an accurate dosing mechanism - they are pretty much guaranteed to eat all of it at the right time, unlike sprinkling medicine on layers pellets, and it's less traumatic than shoving a syringe down their gullet.

maristella · 25/04/2012 18:52

Thanks boomting :)

The run is not ratproof as the base is not covered in wire, but the house section gets shut at night, and is rat/fox proof. The chicken does not have access to water/food overnight as this stays outside - is this ok?

The pellets and grit are put out in the morning, and tend to get eaten throughout the day. She does kick the bowl over occasionally, but less so since we moved it to the edge of the run.

I'm interested in porridge being fed to chickens - actual porridge? And is that good for adding meds in?

We haven't given as many scraps as we thought we would have, as we have used a lot less fresh veg since recession. She does get half an apple on days when there are no salad or cabbage leaves.

Good news - we get 2 more chickens next week Grin Grin
They come with their own house so they will be introduced to each other through the wire gradually

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boomting · 26/04/2012 00:16

Personally I always kept the food, grit & water indoors, because then
a) it keeps the rain out of the food (and wet food goes off very quickly, and can't be fed to them for fear of causing health problems)
b) they have access 24/7. Hens need constant access to water. This is particularly true in summer when the heat rises, sun comes up far earlier than you want to get up and let them out in the morning, and egg production rises. A lack of water (even one episode of dehydration) can permanently reduce egg production. They also like food early in the morning - if you feel their crop in the morning, it's completely empty (if it isn't, and feels like there's a hard lump in there, google impacted crop - it's easy to treat yourself, but can be serious if you don't treat it) which means they're rather hungry.
c) It keeps the rats out at night. Rat's aren't attracted to chickens, they're attracted to sources of food.

And in all fairness, I never found any reason not to keep the food and water inside.

If she's kicking the food over, then I'd suggest buying one of these sorts of feeders, and hanging the feeder (at the same height as her back; this will also stop her flicking food out with her beak, a wasteful habit known as 'billing out') if possible. Even if that's not possible, it will be more stable than a bowl (I'm surprised the the bowl ever avoids being knocked over tbh!)

When I say porridge, I do mean actual porridge oats! Sainsburys Basics (only the best for my girls . . .), mixed with water or bio-live yoghurt, and warmed in the microwave. Although they may be a little suspicious at first, once they taste it they'll love it. To make it possible to eat, it needs to be made quite stiffly (so that you can form peaks with it IYSWIM). This can, however, have the unfortunate side effect of them eating it too fast, getting it all stuck to their beaks, and then managing to flick it across the coop, pebbledashing the walls with porridge! I digress, however . . . I have used it particularly for any supplements and potions from the feed store that are meant to be good for them.

The most accurate dosing method for oral liquid medicine (unless it needs to be injected, your vet should be able to give it to you in this format; don't start messing around with powdered medicines where dosage needs to be accurate) is via a needle-less syringe. There's a bit of a trick to getting it down their gullet - you need to kneel, chicken between legs, use your inside thighs to restrain the wings (firm so she can't wriggle but without crushing!), your backside to make her bend her knees slightly, your left hand to prise open the beak (thumb to stop her moving her head back, one finger between the upper and lower mandibles), and your right hand to operate the syringe (there's only one hole that it'll go down, it's big enough to fit a mouse down (yes chickens have been known to eat mice whole!), so it's obvious where it is; you won't suffocate her).

For greens, they don't have to be human food. Strictly speaking, it's illegal to feed anything to livestock that has seen the inside of a kitchen, but that's another story. Half an apple is an awful lot of food for one chicken, and it's not nutritionally balanced, as layers pellets are. You can also opt for things like grass (make sure it's short, to avoid impacted crop), anything from your veggie patch that has been 'got at' by slugs / insects, fruit that's a bit over-ripe, mine always liked lemon balm - someone else had planted the herb, I never worked out what to do with it but they ate it quite happily! If you can, just letting her out for a wander will have the desired effect in terms of the intake of greens - she'll graze on whatever takes her fancy.

There's a thread on introducing chickens on here from the last few days. If you haven't already, then have a read through as it's quite helpful.

maristella · 28/04/2012 19:57

Thank you for yet more fab advice :)

I bought some feeders that attach to the wire walls, because she was kicking her food and water over all the time. She had also been filing the rim of the water dispenser with grass and mud. The wall feeders have been a great success! The food is getting a bit wet though, so I'm working on that...
I'll also get a couple to attach inside.

I've also stopped plying her with scraps :)

Here's hoping she has a nice nights sleep in her lavender bedding tonight Grin I bloody love having a chicken!

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boomting · 28/04/2012 20:05

Lavender bedding? Lap of luxury!!

Sounds like it's going well, although I forgot to link to the type of feeder I mentioned in the previous post! This is the sort of thing www.grevilleanursery.com.au/kbm/product_images/o/397/chicken_feeder__50608_zoom.jpg although there are lots of variations on the basic design. They're easily available from eBay, some of the smaller ones are sold for people with aviaries, and I do know of a couple of chicken-friendly urban pet shops that stock them too :)

boomting · 28/04/2012 20:06

PS with regards to her getting mud in it - have you tried putting it on some bricks?

maristella · 29/04/2012 15:10

The hanging water feeder is working very well, but I think I will put them inside her coop so that the food doesn't get wet and so that she has overnight access.

The lavender bedding - hilariously spoilt or what!
It's only for the nesting area, because it costs a bit more... Grin

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