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Does anyone keep chickens?

157 replies

KatieMac · 14/01/2005 20:49

Is it easy?

Can anyone do it?

What will I need?

What do I need to know?

OP posts:
SofiaAmes · 15/01/2005 23:15

I had chickens (in an urban environment) as pets as a child. (3 hens and a rooster). They were smelly, noisy, dumb and constantly fighting over the rooster. He had an incessant sex drive and harrassed the poor hens within an inch of their lives. I had to put the rooster in a box in a closet in the basement every night so he wouldn't wake up the neighbors.
Personally wouldn't recommend chickens in the city.

Levanna · 15/01/2005 23:31

I wouldn't expect the hens or the neighbours to put up with a cockeral! I don't think that a couple of bantam hens will make much as much noise or smell than the large dogs each of our neighbours have, hmmm, maybe I could bribe them with (albeit little!) eggs if it does become a problem .

ChicPea · 15/01/2005 23:46

I love MumsNet for threads like this .

A friend of mine keeps hens, in a country village setting, and adores them. Thinking that they are a peaceful flock/brood (?), she has been mortified to see when one became ill they all start pecking at it.

Any hen behaviourists out there?

KatieMac · 15/01/2005 23:57

I'm probably being very thick.

Knee height is about 18 inches (well my knee is)

So the Eglu is about the same height as my hutch - isn't it.....so would that be OK for Bantams - or am I going to have to find a chicken specialist?

I thought Mumsnet was the font of all knowledge.....girls you've let me down

Never mind I think I know more now than when I started.....maybe

OP posts:
redsky · 16/01/2005 00:12

katiemac, i think your hutch sounds just fine for the purpose. I'd go ahead and get the bantams. Good luck!! Ours are not smelly or noisy, but they produce a HUGE amount of poo!

KatieMac · 16/01/2005 00:17

Thanks Redsky - I'm going to see someone about it tomorrow......My DH has just remembered someone we know keep (lots of) chickens - we think she might laugh when we say we want a couple as pets - but we don't care .

So Bantams here we come - I hope (and I'll ask her to look at the hutch - that way I can be certain - I wouldn't want them to be unhappy)

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE - I'll let you all know how it goes....

OP posts:
lowcalCOD · 16/01/2005 07:26

ppph had some, one was called "sur - ellen"
lol and they were attacked by a fox yes,
dont know if she has replaced themt hough

lowcalCOD · 16/01/2005 07:27

oh and sofiam ameas pmsl

redsky · 16/01/2005 08:44

sorry COD - you've lost me there!

KatieMac · 16/01/2005 19:22

We've lost the ladies Telno.....I'm about to be petulant I WANT CHICKENS - Can you hear the foot stamp?

Never mind I'll try again tomorrow

OP posts:
lowcalCOD · 16/01/2005 19:24

pph had some, one was called " sue ellen"!!
a fox got them , I dont know if she has mroe now.

redsky · 16/01/2005 19:26

Hi Cod - I got that bit but what about 'sofiam ameas'?????

WellieMum · 16/01/2005 22:18

Am feeling v. wistful at the idea of a hutch! We live in the country and our chickens are very free range. It's a real pain because they lay their eggs all over, up trees, down drains, in the dog kennel.... I'm at my wits' end trying to keep track.

You have to do a full scale egg hunt every time you want to make an omelette, v. annoying, sort of like easter every day but without the chocolate.

princesspeahead · 17/01/2005 19:13

Hello hello!
Yes I do have chickens (yes they were eaten by a fox but bought some new ones the next day - couldn't bear the thought of buying eggs in a supermarket again). I have one of the Forsham cottage arks to keep them in - the Broughton - and they are very happy and lay beautifully. You don't need a rooster - wouldn't advise getting one. If you want to go on to brood your own chicks you can always buy fertile eggs for about £1 each, roosters are more hassle than they are worth (and noisy).

My hens are super easy to look after - they have their feed in a hopper so it only needs refilling every few days - get a BIG water thing, as they drink a lot of water, and then you won't be refilling it every two seconds (more like every other day). 4 hens gave us 4 eggs a day through the summer, more like 2 eggs per day in the winter (but that is from good layers, like the various hybrids, or white sussex, or marans - not the really fancy pants ones which look lovely but don't lay so well). They do poo a lot, but mostly at night, so lay newspaper under the perch and then once a week or so chuck it on your compost heap. Great fertiliser.
I recommend an ark, because you can (A) keep them in there all the time, if you have a serious daytime fox problem like we do (bloody local farmers won't allow hunting over their land and don't shoot them, either) and (B) you can move it every couple of days so they always get fresh grass (v good for their eggs) and it also means that you don't get a permanent manky scratched up bit of ground that the run is on, which attracts rodents and looks and smells horrible. By moving every couple of days they just fertilise the ground and your lawn looks great. That is assuming you aren't going to let them be completely free range, which is another option, but it makes it tricky to find the eggs and the fox will get them sooner or later.

your hutch would be OK for small bantams, if you can install a perch which gives them head room to sleep (just a few inches off the ground, but make sure it is the right size and comfy for their feet). Also check what your hutch is roofed with, because if it is roofing felt you will have to change it - it will be a breeding ground for mites which your chickens will be v unhappy with.

Phew, think that is it for the moment! Have a good look at the forsham cottage arks site, it has a very amusing section on keeping a few chickens in the garden. May I also highly recommend a deeply spoddy but hilarious publication called..... "practical poultry"! Monthly, and worth every penny of the £2.20 it costs!

KatieMac · 17/01/2005 19:19

Princesspeahead - you are wonderful.....all the info I need ....lots of advise

The roof looks like small green gravel stuck on black - I guess that could be roofing felt...so what do I replace it with?

And how many can I have, 2?

Sorry to ask more questions when you have been SO helpful

OP posts:
lowcalCOD · 17/01/2005 19:21

ahem
pph havent you forgot hte book a certian mn gave you?

lowcalCOD · 17/01/2005 19:22

katie dont be too nice to her - it goes to her crown

KatieMac · 17/01/2005 19:25

Well if she has a crown and time to polish it.....

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lowcalCOD · 17/01/2005 19:28

soupy got her abook when she had her ds2, cantrememebr its name willa sk the dragon

princesspeahead · 17/01/2005 19:29

hmmmm, 4ft by 2ft run - dunno - maybe 4 bantams? if you move them regularly to fresh grass. no, maybe 3. it is quite small - can you extend the run a bit to more like 6ft?
I think if you have the gravelly stuff that isn't felt, it should be fine. look at the underneath of the roof, if you can - is it at all felty? If not then go for it, but make sure you keep a good eye on your chickens and it for the first couple of months - if you see your chickens itching and you see tiny red dotty things at the top of the hutch then you probably have got mites and can change it then. To wood, or non-felty roofing stuff (ask your local builders yard)...

and of course, coddy, how could I forget?! - I was given a splendid book called "hen and the art of chicken maintenance" by a fellow psychic mumsnetter when I was contemplating buying chickens (but hadn't told anyone yet). And it wasn't coddy!

SoupDragon · 17/01/2005 19:43

hehehe. I couldn't remember what it was called

princesspeahead · 17/01/2005 19:45

it is very amusing!

KatieMac · 17/01/2005 20:24

If I could keep them with the guinea pigs I could make it at least 8ft by 4ft (if not bigger)
I might get 2 and see if we get on......and buy a bigger hen house if we do

OP posts:
Levanna · 17/01/2005 23:23

KatieMac, I've come across this website , it's got loads of great info, particularly regarding keeping garden hens (go to the 'in the garden section' ).
I've also found out that, though some (particularly) urban areas have restrictions and regulations regarding chicken keeping (ie. no cockerals, or even no poultry whatsoever!) Bantams (true bantams - one's with no larger counterparts of the same breed) have no restrictions as they are classed as avery birds, not poultry .

geekgrrl · 18/01/2005 06:54

I recommend 'keeping chickens in your backyard' (available from amazon). We have 13 chickens but they're totally freerange (apart from last year's cockerels which will soon get penned in for fattening! )
Oh, and go for the silkies. They're beautiful, friendly and can't fly. Other banties can fly very well which might not suit you. I used to keep silkies as a child for years, they always laid well.

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