have about convinced dp that we need chickens, but a couple of questions to you experts, please?

[fryalot]

We've got their hen-house sorted (ish) and we have an idea where we would buy the actual chickens from.

What do we need on a day to day basis? food? water I presume, bedding stuff?

And how much will the food/bedding and stuff cost on a weekly basis (roughly)

Tia

[BloodySmartarse]

oh stop being practical lewis

[Alambil]

diversionary or financial?

[BloodySmartarse]

no logic i can see... sounds like a diversionary tactic to me.

[handlemecarefully]

? I can't see the logic, why must you wait until after you have decorated the house. Are the two related? [confused emoticon]

[BloodySmartarse]

och, go out and buy them anyway.
he'll be glad of the eggs, and you'll get sommuch pleasure from them

[fryalot]

aaah, super!

that's what we'll do then.

thanks all


(although contrary dp has just informed me that he would now like to wait until we've decorated the house, so it may be some time yet before we actually get a chook or two! grr!)

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

they lay plenty of eggs, they chuck them out of the farms at 1 year old as the production slows slightly, but they still lay enough for us normal non evil greedy folks. (sorry rant)

[mummydoc]

my mum has ex-battery hens and they often lay from day one, i think they are so grateful they keep laying for fear oyu might send them back

[fryalot]

I thought about adopting an ex battery hen, but do they lay eggs?

We want them as pets, but also as layers...

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

I use layers - 6.40 big bag lasts my 6 chooks 5 weeks.
water, mine are in a cube so the food and water containers came with it but those upended bottle things look good.
Bedding I use shredded paper in the nest box and aubiose in the run, the aubiose is about £8 a bale which last 2 changes and I change about 6 weekly.
You could try storrs poultry, raw green cottages - both huddersfield way so not too far I think.
or you could adopt an ex battery hen google BHWT for rescue details.
(that is my next project).

[mummydoc]

no problem, forgot to add they need grit to keep there shells hard, my 2 get to free roam aroudn the garden so find there own gritty stuff if you have them in a run oyu need grit but that is not expensive, mine do not eat much mainly because they scoff all the slugs, worms etc in my garden and my kids will not eat their crusts so the chickens get that too, and my dd2 gave them a whole box of wheetabix yesterday

[tortoiseshell]

We use;

layers pellets - about £8 for a big bag that lasts my 6 chickens about 1 fortnight.

water - get a drinker, (as mummydoc described) so that they don't kick food into the water.

bedding - I use easibed which is like aubiose/hemcore - like woodchips, that absorb moisture - really good for keeping the runs fresh.

[fryalot]

thank you, btw

[fryalot]

oh fab!

So really quite cheap then!

Wonderful.

[mummydoc]

chickens are great, i have 2 , they lay every day so = 14 eggs/week , occasionally we get barren periods usually in autumn when they moult abit. you need a water container, a simple plastic ice cream container will do, or you can get fancy ones with a bottle that up ends in to a tray so the water continually keeps level , i feed mine scraps from veg peelings and bread/stale cake etc and chicken corn . we go through a £3.00 bag every 4 weeks or so an dfor bedding i use shredded paper ( how green!) from dh office but you can buy straw just like you would get for a rabbit for instance.