Does anyone keep chickens in an EGLU?

Lizbetty

Poet wrote: »

I just wondered because you never look up and see a flock of chickens

The thought of that seems really funny somehow!

I asked OH by the way about eating the infirm. He was having me on :rolleyes: (d'oh..I'm slow because of pills and lack of sleep...), but he did say he couldn't watch one suffer if it was really poorly and he'd have to gas it to put it out of it's misery. I couldn't do that either I have only bad experiences with vets and their escalating charges, so I didn't want to have to take a poorly chicken to the vet and end up being talked into blood tests, xrays, a lifetime of expensive pills and visits to the coast for recouperation, etc...Do you have to have them vaccinated btw? I read an ad recently for chickens and they had been. Is it a one off jab does anyone know?

Poet_2

lucy, get over to the forum on www.omlet.co.uk they know everything about chickens- click on the tab at the top that says "club"

kabie

Could someone answer a couple of questions please.
1. What is the smallest garden area I could get away with for 2 chickens? Would it be cruel (or impractical) to keep them in a run and only let them out for a couple of hours a day?
2. With clipped wings what would be the lowest garden fence I could get away with?
I'm really keen but hubby thinks it'll be a lot of hassle, is there loads of looking after, for example how often would I have to change bedding etc and give their house a thorough clean.
Thanks. (need to phone HA to check whether we're allowed to keep a couple of chickens first so I suppose this could all be in vain :rolleyes: )

Yategirl

kabie wrote: »

Could someone answer a couple of questions please.
1. What is the smallest garden area I could get away with for 2 chickens? Would it be cruel (or impractical) to keep them in a run and only let them out for a couple of hours a day?

I'm really keen but hubby thinks it'll be a lot of hassle, is there loads of looking after, for example how often would I have to change bedding etc and give their house a thorough clean.

yup.. I'd like to know all this too! My young sons are really keen and would - a chicken for each of them and one for me sounds great!

Penelope_Penguin

Hi Kabie and Yategirl! We keep 8 chooks in an area about 6m by 3m. They have a house to roost in (and lay eggs when the girls are a bit older). They really like to be outside during the day, and will go out in all weathers.

If you clip their feathers they won't really be able to get off the ground, so a low (about 1m) fence won't be a problem from that point. However, predators (cats, foxes??) may be able to get in.

We change thier bedding weekly and give the house a thorough disinfecting twice a year, or more often if it needs it.

They're great fun, and really not much hassle at all.

HTH, Penny. x

Yategirl

thanks PP, what area would you recommend for 3-4 chickens then? Our garden really is tiny so I can't see that we could have more than say 4....

Poet_2

Yategirl wrote: »

thanks PP, what area would you recommend for 3-4 chickens then? Our garden really is tiny so I can't see that we could have more than say 4....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEDW:IT&ih=012

we're getting 3 ex battery hens, see the link to the run/coop we're buying above, we're fencing off a bit of garden which will be at the end of the run so they can go straight thru into it - the covered part of the run has a little door at the end so we'll just leave that open for them to go thru when they feel like it- the fenced off garden area will be approx 3 ft x 3ft, just to give them an area to scratch in- the fenced off garden bit will also be covered over with mesh or something to stop them jumping out.

Compared with being in a tiny cage, I think any bit of open space is good. Even if you just had a coop and run like the link I posted and didn't let them out into the garden/yard, surely that's better than being stuck in a cage with no daylight or fresh air?

You can rehome ex-battery hens via http://www.thehenshouse.co.uk/ they're 50p each, there's no guarantee of egg laying ability but I've seen posts from people on here who've rehomed ex batts and say they get eggs.

Poet_2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Hi, can you tell me what the quality of this coop/run is like please? I've been considering buying one but I don't like spending so much money on something I can't physically see/check out myself.

Thanks

well. it's just arrived!!!! Haven't unpacked all the bits yet but had a quick look, it looks really good. Doesn't look like it's treated/stained but we can do that ourselves. Once we've put it together and checked all the bits are there, we'll let you know! That was super fast delivery!

Yategirl

that looks really nice Poet! must explore some more of those pens

I have worked out that I could fit an eglu and run (which was 5ft wide by 9ft long) into a space - this would allow the central area of the garden to be clear and therefore there is space for children, dogs and chickens to play (though I know one dog (we have 2) will not be able to be allowed out with the chickens when they are "free"). SO.... bearing in mind I still have to persuade dh :rolleyes: I need some sort of house and run to fit a say 9 1/2 ft by 4-5 ft space at less than the cost of an eglu and run(!) That kind of money is beyond me however lovely the house and run is!! mmm... wonder if dh would make me one.... might be pushing it I think!!!!

Yategirl

another thought... what do people do when they go away? I know I can ask friends but it would be physically difficult to take a large hut and run to their garden.......

need to cover all angles before I work on dh! Yes... I know we go camping therefore large field + hens = bliss but we never have enough room in the car for 2 adults, 2 children and our camping stuff as it is!!!!!!!