um...in a nice, fluffy way...how long do chickens actually live for?

[Fillyjonk]

Am thinking of getting some, vaguely, but don't want a long term commitment

I mean, I don't want to be looking after them when the kids have gone off to university (the kids are 0, 2 and 4 atm)

so...how long do they last?

Oh and do they need someone to do something for them EVERY day-can we go away overnight? (problem here is that we have teachers on every side as neighbours so...they all bugger off in the holidays. And they are the sorts who are unlikely to be bribed with a fresh egg, tbh...)

It depends really, but I think 5-6 years. You do need to let them out and shut them up every night unless you have a fox proof run, in which case overnighters are fine. You won't regret keeping chooks, and you'll definitely still have them when your children are married with their own kids...

ah but does this mean I can't go away for the next 5-6 years?

The dc are lobbying for Pets. They really want a cat, or, for some utterly unknown reason, a bulldog . We have promised them a wormery but somehow this is not fitting the bill. So we thought-chickens...

Well, if you get a fox-proof run and coop where they can put themselves to bed etc, I can't see why you couldn't leave them for a week as long as someone could come and check every couple of days. You can get feeders that can be filled up with a few days food, the same with waterers.

This site www.keepchickens.info will give you loads of info.

If you do decide to keep chickens you won't regret it and they are very cheap to keep.

And chickens will become really tame if you handle them regularly, as your children undoubtedly will, though I think that hand washing with anti-bacterial soap after a handling session is a must.

Callisto, i have another chicken-related question. what do you do when your chickens get poorly? do you take them to the vet? or do you 'dispatch' them? or are they like hamsters and either alive or dead??

that is a fabulous site and I must not look at it now as I have to go out, and will be sucked in

so I am going to ask my next question HERE, even if its on that site (sorry)

Which is

Are Eglus foxproof ?

I've no idea but I would assume they are. The site is here: www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/homepage.php

Callisto, font of all chook knowledge

My good friend told me that you cannot introduce new members into your little chicken gang, is this so? I want to start with 4 and then when I'm feeling braver (and my DH has become more accustomed to the idea)add a few more.

What if half of them go to the great coup in the sky, do I just have to deal with depleated numbers until they all drop off the perch?

We had one when I was a kid that made it past her 10th birthday and another not far short we had to put down aged 8 after she fell in a pond. If you want hens that live for less time, you can get ex battery rescues and then you'd be looking at up to 6 more years for the ones that make it through the initial shock of adjustment.

Missingtheaction - I don't take my chooks to the vets because the consultation would cost more than replacing the chickens. However, if they catch a 'cold' I dose them with antibiotics which (as I know the vet) he will supply without seeing them. Chickens can get some horrid diseases and anything complicated or expensive to treat would result in DP dispatching the chook(s) in question I'm afraid. I should add that this has never happened and I have had chickens for years.

Marmadukescarlet - you can introduce new chickens to an existing flock but you need to be careful. Free range is easiest as the new ones can get away more easily. If they are packed in to a little run you would need to fence a little bit off for the new ones until the pecking order has been established (probably a week or so). They can all sleep together as once the lights are out chickens go to sleep. I would also say don't introduce just one new chook, get at least two so they have their own mini flock which will gradually be absorbed into the main flock. Chickens can peck each other to death but this is very unlikely with small free-range flocks.

Thank you, they will be semi free range.

The first 4 chooks are 1 yr old ex (insert name of very nice supermarket) free range hens (past their use by date apparently) but I also want a selection of hybrids which lay coloured/cream eggs, from a local producer.

They will be housed in a pen which is 9 feet by 15 feet, although they will be let out into the paddock whilst I am mucking out, grooming etc - there are way too many foxes round here to have 100% free rangers.

I will probably go for a run within the run to start with.

Just keep an eye on them to start with and if one of them gets a bad peck and is bleeding separate it until the wound has healed.

By the way - chicken grooming? I'm intrigued...

LOL no, not the chickens but the ponies

a chicken with a cold? the mind boggles. very reassuring on the dispactching front - i used to be able to do this in my farmers daughter days but don't think I could face it now and don't have anyone to delegate it to so would need to know that it isn't going to be a regular occurrance