Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

mardatha

Well for me it ( the Eglu, in answer to Lola) seems the easiest option, because I'm not able for crawling around scrubbing a wooden house and spraying it for mites etc, I just can't do it. If I was younger & fitter then I'd do something bigger. We used to have aviaries and kept hawks then owls, that was quite a bit of cleaning and I gave them up in the end because I wasnt able. The ME knackered that for me like a lot of other things but an Eglu I could manage lol ! I wish I could see one as well.. is hard to see how big they are from pics.

mardatha

I want bantams because everybody says they do less damage. I want a big fenced off bit at the top of the garden...but commonsense tells me to go for an Eglu with a run and move it every day.... But I dont think I'd ever have the money for that anyway. OO problems /decisions !

mardatha

Is there a type of bantam that lays more eggs than others - or a type that lays a lot less ? Sorry for all questions !

A._Badger

mardatha wrote: »

Is there a type of bantam that lays more eggs than others - or a type that lays a lot less ? Sorry for all questions !

Not that I'm aware. They're a bit unpredictable, though. One of our girls has laid like a champion - we were getting almost an egg a day from her - but despite being exactly the same age, the other one never did start before the winter came and put an end to laying for the year.

wammy77

Hello all

We recently got 4 girls and I have a couple of questions if anyone is kind enough to answer

I have heard soooooo many differing rules for what to put in and not to put in the chicken house: yes to straw, but no to hay.... only newspaper... nothing in the perhcing area, only in the nesting box....!!!! I'm confussed!!!! We have been using a small amount of straw/hay in the nesting box and then newspaper to line the removable tray below their perches (which I lift up and pop in the compster).... worried now that I'm doing it wrong!

Also, I know people give the hens leftovers, but am not 100% sure what NOT to put in (I don't want to make them sick). Again, lots of different advice on this which is very confussing!

Lastly - does anyone else recycle the egg shells, bake them and crush them for the hens? I know it's not done all that much now but just wondered how many do it versus buying it.

Thanks in advance

mardatha

I read on another forum people talking about the eggshells thing, that's what they were doing, baking and then using a rolling pin on them.

oldandhappy

mardatha wrote: »

O how I wish I had that kind of husband ... I think mine was a cat in his last life I do like the look of bantams though..

He is a one off luckily or unluckily depends how you view him:). His best mate is one of our Cats honestly.

I do not like the plastic pens much..but I can see the cleaning side would be better than wood and they are light enough to move around the garden.

We use wood chips in the runs and chippings like thick sawdust almost inside with straw not hay for nesting box.

Chickens I understand will eat most things but our pets get the shop bought chicken mixes and maize treats.... a few toasted bread crumbs and biscuits crumbs they love and some fresh grass pulled up in passing....

mardatha

Can you buy wood chips ? I can get straw ok. I worry about getting them and paying out a fortune and the wee sods not laying a single egg.... then the husband would have a field day !

jungliemac

I use straw mostly in my Eglu or Auboise when I can get it. Think its chopped up hemp grass. The eglu is easy enough to move and comes apart easily. I have just added another metre piece of run so now have a 3m run and they seem happy enough in there. They just peck around the garden most of the day anyway. (When they aren't looking through my patio doors to see what we are doing) If you register on the Omlet forum there may be someone local that has one that you could go and see it up and running. Omlet also sell refurbished ones at a lower cost that new ones ( think they may be ones they have taken to country fayres etc) There is also a marketplace on there with people selling used ones. I got mine off preloved and its been fine.To be honest the money I have paid out I reckon it's never going to be cheaper than the price of eggs but the enjoyment they bring is priceless. Also bear in mind when it comes to selling on I won't loose much as the eglus don't fall apart and rot so I'm sure to make some of my money back.

mardatha

Ok ta I bet if and when I do get them he will come round anyway. All his life he hated cats until we got a stray moved into our stick box...and now he talks to him when he thinks I cant hear, and calls him "furball" ( cat not a hunter, too lazy, wont bother chickens. The birds eat his food from his dish and he just opens one eye)