ooops i've done it again.....more chickens...

picklepick

wow maximumimpact, your hens are very lucky ladies! is the greenhouse for the hens aswell?

MaximumImpact

Ahhhh..the greenhouse is green fingered money saving at its best!!!

All the glass in it was smashed or cracked so...the frame is actually the chicken house with wood and a nestboxfitted to it...a cunning design by the OH....

This piccy should make it clearer...

picklepick

ha excellent, what a brilliant idea. Now all i need is a garden....

DON79

Well my OH got his chickencoop today and his treadlefeeder and drinking cup and barrel.

He has built the coop up already! And we are not getting the chickens for another month yet. Well he must be keen! :rolleyes:

Trouble is my 2 and a half year old has already worked out how to open the door and release the chickens! And we don't even have them yet! :eek: :rotfl:

skipton

Great news. What breed of chickens are you having?

DON79

Hi Skipton, to be honest, I have no idea! I know we are getting one grey one and a couple of the red ones and another different one too! Not so good am I!! It is really OH's department to be honest, he is getting them from his brother who has a few different breeds. Will have to ask!

angelavdavis

Hi,

I collected my chickens yesterday - they are ex battery and have been brought back to health by the previous owner who gave them to me free.

They have already managed to get out of the Eglu Cube (while I was checking for eggs, I lifted off the egg hatch door and put it on top and they flew out!!!

They had a good mooch about the garden all morning and met one of the cats before I was able to tempt them back in with food this afternoon!

They have also managed to pull ten onions out of the veggie bed!

mumof4's comments in this thread convinced me with her post about the Eglu Cube to splash out using my savings.

Penelope_Penguin

DON79 wrote: »

Well my OH got his chickencoop today and his treadlefeeder and drinking cup and barrel.

He has built the coop up already! And we are not getting the chickens for another month yet. Well he must be keen! :rolleyes:

Great :j You'll be hooked now I'll add this to the main hen-keeping thread, now that it has become about hen keeping, rather that just the original question.

Penny. x

DON79

Thanks Penelope Penguin, I thought I was going a bit crazy there because I was sure I hadn't subscribed to this thread! :rotfl:

Thanks for that!

Donna

Mistymaid

MaximumImpact wrote: »

Just a couple of other points for you to be aware of.....although people say chickens don't smell...they do if you aren't scrupulous about cleaning them out regularly. Also make sure that you have somewhere to dispose of the used litter as it is a haven for the chicken keepers second most hated enemy..the rat!!! Rats can be a big problem and you will need to be ruthless with them if you see any signs that they are around....

Also depending on what breed of chicken you get, they can be quite noisy in the mornings and evenings...I don't find it an offensive noise but some people do...

heres a pic of my run and coop...the house itself is fox and rat proof, unfortunately the main run is not and I have a rat problem at the moment which I am trying to combat with glass down the holes and snap traps..should this fail I may have to resort to poison which isnt ideal.....

If your method doesn't work, get some Slaymor bait bags. It's the most effective stuff I've found. You need at least 2 bags. Put the first down and you won't think it's being effective. But after the second goes down ... no more rat problem and you tend to be clear for a good while as well.

It's like Picadilly Circus round here sometimes because people know I've got a tub full and they keep turning up to cadge it!

I did have some success a few years ago with wholewheat flour mixed with cement, but it failed dismally here and I resorted to using the poison. Been very successful though.