Daydream thread continues.....

Rummer

I still need to dig the brambles out, I soooooo don't want to!

alfie_1

rozee....if you mean by SHARE with feathered friends ,that you and static and they will be within same fencing then id say NO unless you can cope with a new style carpet....believe you me you would convince yourselves that you had NO poops on your shoes till you walk in and see you have !!!....BUT if you mean within but seperate then YES, great fun ... make sure you have secure housing [ie a garden shed.] you can always reuse it when you end up with a mini zoo [oh yes you will...] obviously this is based on being in a small area. mine are really friendly [goosegoggins and ducks] and if i cant see them i just call out and they answer me !! i would start with a half dozen hens,get em friendly,your kids will get to know/feed them then in the summer get some geese . if the geese frighten your little ones early on it may put them off. chooks are great as a kids starter [plus eggs] this is only my opinion and probably you can get bits and pieces from us all, put em together and then decide ??

Itismehonest

I totally agree with, alfie. Geese can make very good guard dogs so, with little ones about, it would probably be better to start with something smaller & less brave. Youngster's minds can be hard to change once something has frightened them.
Geese are messy. Ducks are messy. Chickens - unless fed too much yoghurt - are more easy to clean up behind.

Know anyone with a goat, Rummer?

lostinrates

Rozzee, i should send you some pics of the little boy we have here. He will be two next month and knows not to walk behind horses, not to ever turn his badk on an animal, to only stroke gently, and to get to the hedge or fence if the horses skip at all. he is also great with cats and dogs, fearless, gentle. Its a great thing for children.

The animals all adore him, and our geese are calm, but i do mote they are at his face level, i would!'t like to be him sometimes. He loves the chickens A LOT. Today he told me little bald 'Cutie' is his chicken. But he doesn't like her baldness and will not stroke her, he adores the snow balls.


Well handled chickens, especially not too frgile ones, are child friendly. I think the bigger ones are better if you go purebred, little flighties are fragile and tempting both. The ex batts are very tame, so aother option, if ypu think your babes can cope with their ugly bald bodies!

lostinrates

Oh, if you can take the noise, i still really want guinea fowl. If you find the eggs they are yummy..rich and beautiful. But also, they are less reliant than chooks...putting themselves to bed etc.

rozeepozee

Yes, I do mean separate, alfie. There's a long triangular sized garden area to the North side of the house and we're just about to site the static there. It's basically overgrown lawn plus what I suspect are a few fruit trees scattered around with a border of fence and hedges to one side and trees to the front. There will be loads of space (I'm such a bimble, I've got no idea about the real size - it's just "big" to me - but not as "big" as the Big Field (paddock) which is 3 acres. I'd say it's probably about... a quarter of an acre?

We are essentially going to fence all round the static and make a large playpen for the children! I thought if we then made some additional pens, tagged onto this, we might be able to house some birds there, with suitable accommodation for them, of course.

Don't worry, I'm not going to just go out and buy some before educating myself about how to keep them, but before I buy any books... I thought that we would have to wait until OH gets the tools from his workshop moved down here, which won't be until the build is more or less finished, that is, the end of the Summer, as I'd like him to build some fancy housing, but if they can be out up temporarily in something that we can utilize elsewhere later, and I just know we are going to need lots of sheds, (sadly all the ones currently on the land - bar one breeze block built one - are rotten) so if they can be put up in a shed... I remember you all talking about the poop issue too, so, that's why I realised: separate enclosure. How tall would the fence need to be? I've read geese don't fly... The geese I've seen all fly!

lostinrates

rainbowcattail wrote: »

It's also a great thread for those that aspire to this lifestyle & are making small changes to get there, for example hens sound great & were on my future list but realistically I would worry myself into the ground about every ruffled feather, I'm bad enough with my cat - also reading LIRs recent crop tales & about the losses of others hens has made me think twice about my list . Its very useful . Also the veg growing info is too
X

Losing choopks is hard. Its harder when they are part of a breeding group or breediong plan, because you are sad you have lost them and feel confounded. My hybrid plan is tharted due to some loses here. But ctc said, and i agree, you 'get used to it'. When you have more than a handful they get a bit less humanised and know them less well. Some special characters are very hard to lose. Dear cuckoo last year was tought, a great bird.....ideal for rozee she would have been, and i have a few very special ones that i bred, and bangs, my clicker chicken, i will be sad when she goes,

Harder is having to dispose of them for some reason. I would say of every thing poultry are the easiest to buy and supposedly to keep, but the most lifestyle commitment and tying. They are of course, fundamentally productive and useful in the quickest and most direct way.

Itismehonest

How about starting with some Dutch bantams, rozee?
The eggs are smaller but they're quite good to start out with & are like little chickens for little people

lostinrates

rozeepozee wrote: »

Yes, I do mean separate, alfie. There's a long triangular sized garden area to the North side of the house and we're just about to site the static there. It's basically overgrown lawn plus what I suspect are a few fruit trees scattered around with a border of fence and hedges to one side and trees to the front. There will be loads of space (I'm such a bimble, I've got no idea about the real size - it's just "big" to me - but not as "big" as the Big Field (paddock) which is 3 acres. I'd say it's probably about... a quarter of an acre?

We are essentially going to fence all round the static and make a large playpen for the children! I thought if we then made some additional pens, tagged onto this, we might be able to house some birds there, with suitable accommodation for them, of course.

Don't worry, I'm not going to just go out and buy some before educating myself about how to keep them, but before I buy any books... I thought that we would have to wait until OH gets the tools from his workshop moved down here, which won't be until the build is more or less finished, that is, the end of the Summer, as I'd like him to build some fancy housing, but if they can be out up temporarily in something that we can utilize elsewhere later, and I just know we are going to need lots of sheds, (sadly all the ones currently on the land - bar one breeze block built one - are rotten) so if they can be put up in a shed... I remember you all talking about the poop issue too, so, that's why I realised: separate enclosure. How tall would the fence need to be? I've read geese don't fly... The geese I've seen all fly!

They do not fly, but they do get on their bellies and wriggle under gates! Mine went off down the road last weekend, we had to herd them back!


They also keep the grass neat. I am sure your kids can do something creative with the feathers.:D

alfie_1

this my goosegoggins. it is a sebastopol breed and i think they are lovely.quite gentle and "fluffy"...:) i used to breed them up to 10years ago but stopped when i moved . i am trying to find more but people ask silly money !! i love all geese as they have "attitude"