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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

PLEASE SIGN IN IF YOU HAVE CHICKENS

177 replies

tortoiseSHELL · 17/03/2008 13:54

I'm still campaigning for a 'chicken' topic - I think MNHQ have said it is too much of a 'minority' topic. But, there seem to be loads of us. So please sign in so I can see how many there are! Thank you!

OP posts:
ska · 19/03/2008 15:17

btw gentleotter, we had our old two in annclosure enxt to our hens and every chance they got, the hens attacked them. any advice?

marmadukescarlet · 19/03/2008 17:04

ska, you may be able to download blueprints/instructions for making from the www.

Some friends got templates/instructions for a sparrow terrace. (lots of birdhouses in one)

sylvev · 19/03/2008 17:34

We are busy converting wendy house into chicken house, hoping to get chickens soon

GentleOtter · 19/03/2008 18:16

The old sandpit does just fine for a pond for the ducks....my ducks are really tiny and happily splash about in an old roasting tray.
That duck ark is nice and what i had been aiming to make - my carpentry skills are just awful so they are still in with the leghorns tonight.
Are you able to move the ducks much further from the chickens ska? Give the chickens a big cabbage or two tied up high...it stops them being bored and bullying.Or branches of greenery for them to skulk under.

GentleOtter · 19/03/2008 23:34

Please don't tell me I've killed yet another thread ?

bluejelly · 19/03/2008 23:35

I don't have chickens but I love this thread title

Original poster
tortoiseSHELL · 20/03/2008 08:59

Sorry I was away all yesterday, my internet was down .

Justine - thanks for the update - and thanks again for agreeing to give us a topic!

ska - you definitely don't need a pond - I think ducks only need to be able to wet their heads, though they obviously prefer to be able to swim. Do you ever go on Practical Poultry? Their gallery has some pics of people's setups, including ducks.

dancingonthelilypads - I think chicken introductions either go well or are bloody - it's unpredictable! But I would start with a few and then increase if you want to. Bear in mind that the more chickens there are, the more poo there is!

OP posts:
ska · 20/03/2008 09:27

we introduce new chooks at dusk by putting the new ones in when the others are roosting and sleepy. When they wake up they think they've always been there (chickens really aren't very bright, look at the size of their heads!). We haven't had any problems having had lots of newcomers over the years. Takes a few days for pecking order to work itself out but we've never had any violence.

bundle · 20/03/2008 14:17

can't believe there's a chooks section...and MN Towers always going on about keeping number of categories down

FluffyMummy123 · 20/03/2008 14:20

Message withdrawn

bundle · 20/03/2008 14:23

oh yes, must do that

cluck

GentleOtter · 20/03/2008 17:07

All hell has been let loose here - the gale outside brought down a few of the runs and the 13 cockerels have all escaped. There is only one hen in the hen run -( cochins really DO NOT run away). 56 hens and two ducks yet to catch but we will wait until dusk.
Anyway, chaos aside, it is well worth looking at this months Practical Poultry magazine as there is a good article on incubators plus a piece on keeping ducks for the first time.
Chicken of the Month is Wyandotte. That is specially for you, Cod, who is reading this avidly.

Original poster
tortoiseSHELL · 20/03/2008 17:08

OH no! Have you seen the episode of the Good Life when Lenin the cockerel escapes onto a bus...

OP posts:
GentleOtter · 20/03/2008 17:19

We don't have a telly but LeStat the Orpington thinks it is his birthday and all the ladies are not refusing.....
The polytunnel copped it too so the plastic is flapping like a Tibetan Prayer flag. Thats what we get for living on the side of a mountain in Scotland with Hurricane Thingy howling around us.
The good news is an egg from the duck.The drake just flew past the window as I wrote that....

GentleOtter · 20/03/2008 18:36

Whooo windy out there
Got them all.

marmadukescarlet · 20/03/2008 20:50

Glad they have all been rounded up.

I think our chicken topic may be up and running! Yay.

WelliesAndPyjamas · 20/03/2008 21:22

hey, you did it, tortoiseshell!! well done!

Must try and think of something to post now

smellymelly · 20/03/2008 21:24

Yeah we do, bit of a smallholding here too!

ciderapples · 20/03/2008 22:10

Hi there. I have 2 hens (Welsummer & Dorking) & a Maran X rooster in my orchard.

RuffledFeathers · 21/03/2008 08:23

Another chicky owner here. Currently a couple of Buff Orpingtons, a Maran and a Barnvelder known as Evil Edna!

farmerJoy · 21/03/2008 10:14

I have hens, those are the ones that lay the eggs!, at my family farm and visitor centre. Apart from lambs in spring they are the favourite animal, children love to watch them clucking, they are not too big to be a threat and to collect a warm egg freshly laid is miraculous. Just watch their faces when they pick up an egg and it is warm.
Magic
Farmer Joy
PS I started to keep hens when I lived in Wanstead, London 25years ago

deebee · 21/03/2008 12:49

me me me, I have 4 children and 5 chickens, 2 golden sussex and one light Sx and 2 mongrel tiny chicks from a friend!

deebee · 21/03/2008 12:52

oh and does anyone remember Hugh FWs chicken coop on a stick? Would love one of them......

ska · 21/03/2008 19:23

does this look any good for ducks? help!

hellymelly · 21/03/2008 21:38

really want chickens and there is a henhouse here even though the garden is small but the previous owner got rid of them as they were blamed for causing a rat problem-any thoughts from anyone would be welcome,and henhouse info too as this is just a shed really and it looks a bit run down and in need of replacing and a new run.I am clueless as have never kept hens but would love them asap.