Cheap eggs - Keep some chickens!

Noozan

I totally agree with you MrsR, I've been keeping a spreadsheet to work out the average cost of our eggs. I factored in the cost of the Eglu, hens and layers pellets etc. Our first egg cost us back In February cost us £349, today our eggs "cost" £6.44, lol.

PugLady_2

I've been thinking of keeping a couple of hens for a while now, but am a bit concerned about the neighbours.
Can anyone give advice on how much noise they make and if they smell a lot.

Thanks


P.S.

Just realised there is quite a lot on here about keeping chickens so I'll read through it all. I imagine my questions will already be answered.

squeaky

Sue_Hart wrote:

I've been thinking of keeping a couple of hens for a while now, but am a bit concerned about the neighbours.
Can anyone give advice on how much noise they make and if they smell a lot.

Thanks


P.S.

Just realised there is quite a lot on here about keeping chickens so I'll read through it all. I imagine my questions will already be answered.

Indeed they are

To help you in your reading we have a number of threads listed in the Organics section in our Indexed collections (see below) and there are other threads listed in the Food Section of our MEGA Index sticky at the top of the forum listing.

You can find Organics in our "Indexed Collections" sticky at the top of the forum listing, or you can follow the clue in my signature any time you see it or...

..you can use the Indexed Collections link in the Blue Bar at the top of every page which looks something like this:-

calleyw

Also check with your local council and your house deeds before you do anything.

As a lot of houses and councils do not allow you to keep animals that are not deemed as pets. E.g chickens, pigs, cows etc.


Yours

Calley

Curry_Queen

Does that mean I can't turn my garden (when I get one) into the local farmyard then :doh:

After watching Corrie the other day I joked to DS that we're going to get a pig in the garden when we move, and he just gave me a strange look :rotfl:

Actually, I could never raise and kill my own pig as I love them too much so it would end up a pet forever LOL!

I do wonder how many people have gone out and bought pigs to put in the garden after watching Corrie though :eek: Now chickens is a different matter, and I really hope to have a garden big enough that we can get a couple again

chrislee765

I got my first egg yesterday, and another today!!
I love my chickens dearly!

looneyleo

So glad everyone is having as much fun with chickens as my family is. We have six chickens which we bought purely to keep a small area of woodland in our garden tidy by scratching up the weeds etc. We got so tired of strimming it every weekend! We aren't big egg eaters, but in the summer they provide enough for my family, both sets of grandparents, aunts/uncles and neighbours - and occasionally the library ladies! It's nice to give such a wonderful gift that puts the smile on everyone's faces on a Sunday morning.

They cost us very little (my family own a pet store so all food/straw is at cost/free), they eat all the scraps from the kitchen, help us with our compost heap, garden for us but most of all - my kids love them! 3 year old and 1 year old love standing at the fence and feeding them, watching them scratch about and of course collecting the eggs. They are very funny creatures to watch, especially when they come running over at the sound of the kitchen door opening just in case there is a scrap of food to eat! We also keep them until they die naturally...even if they have stopped laying.

Of course, there are downsides - just like in Chicken Run...they are always trying to escape, which is annoying when they pooh on the childrens garden, you obviously have to clean up after them, sometimes they hide their eggs in rogue laying spots (which take ages to find!) and of course going on holiday can be a pain, but we always let the lucky person who looks after them have first dibs on the eggs which goes down well.

Good luck to anyone thinking about starting up - we love them! :rotfl:

looneyleo.

pollys

I'd love to keep chickens, but at the moment I'll have to be content with buying my eggs from the local farm. The hens are free to roam and peck and at 70p for 6 they are "cheep"

I have loved reading all about keeping chickens though - Thank You.

chloe99_2

my mum used to keep chickens - she only had hens and the only time they made any noise was noise they make when they've laid an egg (not cocka doodle do but more of a cluuuccckkk cluck cluck cluck cluck cllluuuuuccckkk cluck cluck cluck cluck etc).

you may need vet trips but we used a disposable plastic cat box (top opening) with no problems. I would say our main cause of vets was sniffly coughing kind of ailments due to getting and introducing new birds in the wrong season (too early in spring or late in summer so damp and muddy which wasn't good for young birds who have just moved house and aren't fully grown)

they were really great, I wouldn't want the pen right by the back door and they do poo wherever you allow them to go, but they're not really that smelly, especially if you use something like egglu and clean out the tray once a week

you might find much better prices to buy hens right now with bird flu scare as this is bancrupting the chicken breeders

nic82

After looking at the Omlet site, I've just emailed my bf about keeping chickens. I think I know what the answer's going to be though. I love the pink eglu, though am 100% sure bf won't go for that!