Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

loftyboy_2

Apart from giving me all the eggs I can eat, and most of my neighbours..... My 9 girls......6 Blackrocks, 2 Rhode Island Reds and 1 Buff Orpington are good for the soul..... They are no real effort, and just about break even with the feed I buy. If you haven't tasted a creamy, orange yoked, firm white eggs.......... you have'nt lived.......


...................ok ok...... its going a bit too far, but they recycle almost all my waste food (and others too), and produce lovely food....... Give them a go.........

I havent eaten any......not because I'm too squimish......but I prefer to let them retire..... Like me....!!!

If you have joined us from the book:-

Welcome

Pull up a nice comfy chair, have a drink of your choice
beside you, and be prepared for a long and interesting
read. Many new visitors frequently find that they have
all spent hours browsing the fascinating posts and help
that is to be found here on Moneysaving Old Style.

If you'd like to read more on all sorts of subjects then do
please click on the link below:-

Money Saving Old Style

Please scroll down for more on chickens

(Board Guides are asked not to merge these threads in order to preserve links from the book)

Official MoneySavingExpert.com insert

Thanks to loftybox for starting this fab thread. Click reply below to take part in the discussion. If you haven’t already, join the forum. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.


[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner]

trafalgar_2

I ain't got no space to keep chickens .............or I would love to

wirm

lol! Yup chickens are handy! Although they do leave a mess!

Caterina

If anyone wants to keep chickens in a small garden in an urban situation, check:

https://www.omlet.co.uk

Expensive but lovely - we are thinking of getting a couple of hens, as pets as much as for eggs!

Caterina

cathy_3

I was all for it, till I found out that they stop laying after about 3-4 years then you have to kill them

arrrrrgh

no way

lol

cathy_3

mink35
Regular MoneySaver





Possibly sad - but I remember these - JUST!

   

---

on Today at 6:12pm, loftyboy wrote:...but I prefer top let them retire..... Like me....!!!  




Conjures up a lovely picture of little old lady chickens, lol!    
 


poochy
Notso Newbie MoneySaver







   

---

poochy
Notso Newbie MoneySaver

---

My mum and dad have kept chickens for years and I hate it in winter when they stop laying. I buy free range, organic but they're never as good.

Apart from the taste they're a fab colour. Scrambled eggs and omelettes are yellow instead of 'magnolia' and my cakes and yorkshire puds seem to rise better.

 

---

16011996

can i swap the kids for chickens?? they prob make less mess.

cathy_3

kids for chickens!! I think thats a disgraceful thing to even consider,

especially when you could get 3 superman comics and a yo yo for ONE kid

16011996

yeah but you can't boil superman comics or a yo yo, and dip thick white bread in it.

bugs

I was all for it, till I found out that they stop laying after about 3-4 years then you have to kill them

No you don't! As Loftyboy says, they could just as easily have a graceful retirement. Also, old breeds can continue laying, albeit at a greatly reduced rate, for years, and on top of that they do help if you have a garden, by eating bugs, scraps of fruit and veg, and producing, er...compost accelerator. And again to quote Loftyboy - they're good for the soul, just to have them wandering about and chatting to you in the garden.

Then of course you'll be spending more time in the garden so you may as well grow some more stuff, and you'll be getting out in the healthy fresh air, saving money on buying produce and stress relief activities and excercise which is all very money saving indeed.

https://www.omlet.co.uk

Expensive but lovely - we are thinking of getting a couple of hens, as pets as much as for eggs!

Ooh do get them but don't get one of these! They're so plastic and ugly. And horrifyingly expensive. You could convert a small shed/tool store, with a perch, nest box and airholes and pop-hole. Line with newspaper and then sawdust or straw, make sure the roof doesn't leak. It'd come in at half the price of an eglu...you could paint it to match anything else in your garden or to blend in...you can repair it yourself...

The problems, or challenges if you prefer, with keeping chickens are foxes, cats, and rats, which the girls must be well protected from, constant fresh clean water, shelter from inclement and overly clement weather, daily fresh food, and getting someone with it to look after them when you go on holiday.

It takes us about 15 minutes a day in total to do the necessaries of cleaning, feeding and watering, but in fact we spend hours each day because it's so nice to be in the garden with them wandering about.

Chickens are the way forward...I could get quite religious about that. I could make space for a duck deity too...

System

Dont they stink? Do they do their mess everywheree?