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Chicken keepers

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Chicken keeping for beginners!

5 replies

AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 27/07/2019 11:55

My BIL (husbands brother) has just bought a house that has a ridiculously long garden. All he wants of it is a nice lawned area to sit, and then a place to put his koi pond which will leave approx 60 meters in length spare (from the blue line). He doesn't care about the rest and is happy to offload it onto various family members. He says I can have the last few meters (the last bit from the orange line) to turn into a miniature butterfly and bee meadow. But I'm thinking that I would like chickens now more than a meadow.

Where do I start? Tell me everything you think I need to know about keeping chickens please!

Chicken keeping for beginners!
OP posts:
30under · 27/07/2019 19:35

The Haynes manual for chickens is pretty good, and there are YouTube videos...
Best to find a friend who keeps chickens and take their advice :-)

AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 28/07/2019 19:53

Wow there's a Haynes manual for everything! I don't know anyone who keeps chickens sadly. I wouldn't know where to find anyone who does!

Are there Facebook groups?

OP posts:
Pennina · 30/07/2019 11:08

Wow, what a garden!

A few thoughts spring to mind:

Are you able to get there on a daily basis to feed water collect eggs and clean?

How many hens are you thinking of getting?

Have a good think and browse on Internet re-housing and runs as foxes can be very cheeky especially in areas where birds are being kept along way from the humans!

yellowDahlia · 04/08/2019 12:52

Yes Pennina has outlined some of the main considerations - housing and daily care are the two things but in general chickens are pretty easy to look after (in comparison to many other pets anyway) and very entertaining to own!

Facebook groups - yes lots! There are probably ones local to you which can be good for sourcing birds, equipment, fertile eggs etc (should you decide to hatch at any point!) and other bigger groups such as The Friendly Chicken Group (UK) or The Poultry Pages are really helpful when you've got a random question or just looking for general advice.

Websites such as the BHWT have lots of info too and I've recently discovered Raising Happy Chickens which has loads of help and advice on almost every aspect - in fact it's a great starting point.

MogTheSleepyCat · 04/08/2019 14:34

Although its a predominantly American site, I would recommend backyardchickens.com - its so informative!

On youtube, check out Cotswold Chickens for lots of British, educational videos on chicken keeping.

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