Anyone keep chickens?

Jenny_Wren_3

Thanks all for your replies. I have ordered "Keeping Pet Chickens" from amazon and like the look of this coop and run http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHICKEN-COOP-HEN-HOUSE-POULTRY-ARK-HOME-NEST-RUN-COUP-L_W0QQitemZ160378499488QQcategoryZ46292QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BIEW%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D11%26ps%3D63 on ebay. Hubby is making me wait to get it though as we're moving house in about 6 weeks!
Our puppy is only cat sized and won't grow much bigger so chickens should be ok but I want to keep them in as much as I can. I love the idea of the straw. I want to cover the bottom of the run with wire to deter mr foxey so straw will protect their feet!

Mojisola

lostinrates wrote: »

I'm not sure how lovely the hens think it is, but they tolerate the cats well, until last few days, when the cats seem to get a sharp telling off and steer clear.

Less charmingly the chickens have also relaised the cats hunt mice, and mice are nice, so if the cats come through the chicken paddock with ''supper'' the chickens are prone to surrounding the cat till it surrenders its ''goody''. :eek:

Ours think so, too. We have some suicidal field mice who risk entry to the chicken run to grab some grain. You can see the mini-dinosaur in chickens when they catch sight of a mouse. You never look at a chicken in quite the same way again after you see it swallowing a mouse whole!

lostinrates

Jenny_Wren wrote: »

Thanks all for your replies. I have ordered "Keeping Pet Chickens" from amazon and like the look of this coop and run http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHICKEN-COOP-HEN-HOUSE-POULTRY-ARK-HOME-NEST-RUN-COUP-L_W0QQitemZ160378499488QQcategoryZ46292QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BIEW%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D11%26ps%3D63 on ebay. Hubby is making me wait to get it though as we're moving house in about 6 weeks!
Our puppy is only cat sized and won't grow much bigger so chickens should be ok but I want to keep them in as much as I can. I love the idea of the straw. I want to cover the bottom of the run with wire to deter mr foxey so straw will protect their feet!

Re covering run floor: it is essential to keep the fox out, but if you go for a static rather than movable house and run bury the wire. I wish we'd never wired our moving house and run, becuase its almost impossible to keep very clean and we have to move daily in summer, instead of every few days, because otherwise the grass grows through.

also re dog: depending what breed of dog and its nature please don't assume a small dog is fine. Terriers are just as much likely to see ''sport'' in a chicken and some friends of mine recently lost a hen to a chihuahua cross.

Introducing your dog young is a good move though.

Jenny_Wren_3

Not a terrier, a cav king charles/ bichon cross. Gets on ok with my rabbit except wanting to play chase, rabbit soon turns round and chases her off!
Would putting the house/ run on slabs be better?

Mojisola

Jenny_Wren wrote: »

Would putting the house/ run on slabs be better?

We have the house on slabs but chickens need to scratch and I think the run should be on soil.

lostinrates

Mojisola wrote: »

We have the house on slabs but chickens need to scratch and I think the run should be on soil.

If its permanantly sited I would use wire, but bury the wire....yes its harder work, but ultimately much better.

Mojisola

On a permanent run, the wire can be buried in the ground as shown in these photos - http://nomadmother.blogspot.com/2009/09/fox-proof-fencing.html
It comes down the fence and curls down, along and back up again on the outside of the run and is then buried in the soil. If a fox tries to dig under the fence, it keeps hitting the buried wire and usually gives up.

giantmutantbroccoli

Mojisola - That's what I was talking about! It's hard to describe w/o pictures

I know the secret to the most wonderful tasting eggs in the world, btw. Everything you feed your birds will affect the flavour of the eggs - so for e.g. if you give them some garlic to help get rid of parasites, expect weird tasting eggs for a couple of days. Malty feeds will produce vaguely malty-flavoured eggs. Fruit and vegetables produce a nice tasting egg, but if you like your eggs to be strongly egg flavoured you need a good source of protein. I used to give mine fish and meat scraps, as Mojisola has mentioned they will also find their own meat!
When my free-range birds had to be confined (I got sick of losing them to foxes and lightfingered locals) I worried they wouldn't get enough interesting wild food to keep them entertained and keep the egg quality high. So I fed them maggots I got from a fishing shop, as a supplement to their normal layers pellets and veg scraps, and the eggs tasted fantastic.

If you do try that OP I'd reccommend you don't tell your family why the eggs taste so good when you sit down to breakfast.:p For some reason no one was as excited about it as I was :rolleyes:

Mojisola

giantmutantbroccoli wrote: »

If you do try that OP I'd reccommend you don't tell your family why the eggs taste so good when you sit down to breakfast.:p For some reason no one was as excited about it as I was :rolleyes:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

shegar

I always feed my 6 hens on layers mash, it contains lots of good ingredients and proteins, thay also have all household waste and my neighbours give me some vegetables from their garden too, my eggs are a super deep yellow colour . Also nother point to remember hens do not lay very much when they get wet and muddy feet so keep those hens dry and they will lay all winter as well as summer. My hens have the run of the garden where they scratch all day if its dry and when we get wet days I leave them in the run which is 10 foot X 8 foot. covered with corrugated tin top and 2 sides , , they also have a hen house where they are dry and wind free with plenty of straw, I got my hens POL in march this year and they have laid everyday since,:T I have 1 black hen , 1 speckled hen and 4 light sussex hens , ive had hens in the past usually bantams which also lay super eggs but they tend to get broody too often which result in off lay for weks at a time , ideal though if you want to hatch some more . You can pay diferent prices for your mash it all depends where you get it from but ive got one supplier nearby that I pay £6.50 for bag of layers mash which is a excellent price, you have to shop around . I have worked out that to feed 6 hens on one bag of mash works out 14 pence per day , a bag lasts me 5 weeks. ive always had hens and totally refuse to buy shop eggs ,nothing compares. happy hen keeping :j