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Chicken keepers

Meet others keeping chickens on our Mumsnet Chicken forum.

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Original poster

Bit urgent; embarassingly virgin chicken keeper (to be) questions.......

14 replies

SalVolatile · 03/11/2008 22:15

I would like to keep hens. A few. Pekin bantams seem kind, friendly and unfussy....?

do not want hundreds of eggs or large hormonal chickens who will have bigger hissy fits than I do.

I have never touched a bird. Alive or dead. Ever. Is this a problem?

Am undecided between Omlet's new Eglu Cube (clearly designed for chicken virgins like Yours Truly) and Forsham Cottage Ark's wooden triangle thingy, but am being persuaded by the fox resistant wire edge around the Eglu as we have foxes in the garden and the dog ate the guinea pigs last month
Any preferences, oh MN chook lovers? And please don't tell me to go free range, as we have a 2 acre rural edge of farmland garden and the buggers would never survive/come back. I can move the said run around the grass......

HELP, PLEASE

OP posts:

racingsnake · 03/11/2008 22:52

I think keeping them in an ark and moving it is a lot kinder than letting them get eaten by foxes (or dogs). Shoudn't matter that you have never touched a bird (unless that's dueto advanced bird phobia rather than just not having been introduced to a chicken at a formative age). I would suggest you get them in the spring when you;ll be hapier to spend time outside with them. Get pullets (teenaged chickens) and you can all learn together. Never tried an Eglu or Fordingtons ark - we have always just botched somethng together - but think either could make life a lot easier. Might depend which would fit nto our garden better. Surely F is also enclosed with wire and has a secure little bx to shut them up in at night? Chickens are great fun and will eat all sorts of left-over scraps from children's plates and weeds (as well as well-balanced layers' pellets. They'll soon lean that you come with food nd be very pleased to see you. They'll even lay eggs (but not in winter). Good luck!

Original poster

SalVolatile · 03/11/2008 22:59

Hmm, thanks! No, I don't have a phobias, just I have never got up close and personal with a chicken but the Six Year Old wishes me to . The ark is enclosed with wire but my dog dug under the edge of the guinea pig run and flipped it up, and I was wondering if the wire of an Eglu plus the return it has on the bottom would be more effective?Also on the flip side have heard that Eglus can be draughty and leaky in rain so wondered if there are any seasoned MNers out there with Eglus that can tell me more? Also, are there any Bantam fans out there?

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Callisto · 04/11/2008 08:49

Pekin bantams are sweet little birds, but bear in mind that they don't lay all year round and may take the whole winter off. Also they are soft-feathered with feathery feet so don't do well in damp conditions. Ideally they prefer somewhere dry but well lit during the day if it's raining (and remember that laying is strongly influenced by the amount of light the chooks are getting everyday). My chooks spend lots of time in our greenhouse in the day and the feed and water is in there too.

Don't worry about them roaming too far - little Pekins will be happier closer to home, but they won't like being chased by your dog. Can you train it to ignore them? Otherwise a pen is best but make sure you don't overstock.

As for handling chooks, they don't peck (or if they do it won't be very hard) and will quickly become tame. Just grab around the body so that you have the wings under your hands and wash your hands afterwards.

HTH. x

LadyLaGore · 04/11/2008 10:36

i have a cube.
have just built a shed and moved them overe to that
like you say a cube is a good one to learn on... but i think the run is comparatively tiny and i couldnt bear to keep them in there all day. they would knacker the grass in a day and a half. youd have to move it that often imo.
theyre also v spensive, i now know of other makers where you can get more for your money.

i would recommend littleacre products... theres one in partic which sounds like it would suit you as it has wheels for easy moving, and built in run, which you can actually walk into to get to the girls (human accessibility is a pita with the cube run, tho ive adapted mine it is still a hassle)

the chesford 6-8 bird one is about the same price as a cube and id much rather have one of these than another cube. other people stock littleacre btw tho not sure what that does for you.

theres loads ofd other makers tho... check out this list to start with and have a look around the chat pages, lots of info. and theyre a freindly and helpful bunch

LadyLaGore · 04/11/2008 10:39

wrt security from foxes/dog etc, another option is to pave or concrete an area and have a large walk in run with a house either attached or within it. you put down bedding of some kind and they scratch about in that. periodically you clean it all out and re-lay whatever it is you have on the floor.
i quite like the sound of this approach.

Doodle2U · 04/11/2008 13:05

I have a Cube - it's dry & draught-free. It now sits inside a permanent run we put together ourselves (see profile).

The fox-proof things comes from an outside 'skirt' around the bottom of the run - it means foxes can't dig in or under. If you went for the ark, you could tack some weld mesh all the way around the outside and achieve the same effect. If you sit the ark and run on slabs, foxes can't burrow under either. (See tortoises profile pics).

Hope this helps.

Doodle2U · 04/11/2008 13:05

I have a Cube - it's dry & draught-free. It now sits inside a permanent run we put together ourselves (see profile).

Hope this helps.

Original poster

SalVolatile · 04/11/2008 17:58

Thanks forall your help - I feel excited as htough I'm joing a club or something! . I have been to see the ark today and decided on that as the maker says he can clip a bungee type electric cable around it to deter my dogs and the fox . Hope it works, though...... also he thought bantams would not like our damp Kent clay that much and recommends 3 hybrid bog standard chooks which he says are tough and lay all year round. And guess what!!!! I picked up my first chicken (or is it a hen?) today I was dead chuffed - much bonier than I thought.

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Original poster

SalVolatile · 04/11/2008 18:01

Doodle - what are the flower pots for, if you don't mind me asking?

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Doodle2U · 04/11/2008 21:13

Ah...yes...well....erm....the thing is, when I measured up for the dog pound (run) I didn't factor in the ladder which comes with the Cube - duh! So, embarrassingly, in front of DH, I had to admit that I'd "got it wrong"! By then, the run was built and no chance of sending it back, so we had to take the ladder off and I used the plant pots for the chooks to hop on to and into the Cube.

Now to be fair, it works really well and the plant pots give the chickens summat to hop on and off during the day - added interest!

I don't know where I heard this but if I'm right - chickens become known as hens in their second year. Double check that though - it could be one of those facts I just dreamt!

LadyLaGore · 04/11/2008 22:52

yeah, i think they are pullets before that.
and get this; cock isnt just short for cockerel, they are 2 diff age-groups

go figure.

yay for your new hen (or whatever). i want some new ones now ive moved them into their massive shed palace

Original poster

SalVolatile · 05/11/2008 19:58

I heard....could be wrong..... that a chicken is something you eat, and a hen lays eggs (according to my grandfather, anyway

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sparklylucy · 05/11/2008 20:05

I 'learnt' on silkies which are small hens rather than bantams, but lay nicely and get really tame. I had also never touched a hen before but now i love them and have loads!!!! welcomed to chicken world

dazmum · 15/11/2008 17:00

We have had some Pekins and they are lovely, but one was very noisy and we were worried about the neighbours, even tho they didn't complain.Agree with Callisto about the fluffy feet being a bit of a problem in muddy conditions. Two out of the three were very broody too for a long time. Agree also with racingsnake about getting them in the spring, becuase you will want to waste loads of time outside just watching them! Pekins are good to start with as they are so friendly and very pretty. We now have ordinary brown ones which are great for eggs, but not so full of character as the Pekes! Good luck and welcome to the mad world of chickens!!

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