Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Mojisola

doodlesmum wrote: »

Enjoy your eggs when they arrive,nothing beats seeing your kids faces when they find their first egg,our 2 and 4 yr old love getting them in.

As you're new to home laid eggs, you might not realise that if you boil really fresh eggs, they don't peel very well. Boiled eggs that you're eating out of the shell are okay but, if you want to peel them, keep them for a week to 10 days.

Gigervamp

Mojisola wrote: »

As you're new to home laid eggs, you might not realise that if you boil really fresh eggs, they don't peel very well. Boiled eggs that you're eating out of the shell are okay but, if you want to peel them, keep them for a week to 10 days.

I didn't know that. No wonder I have problems peeling them! Thanks for the tip!

Gigervamp

Welcome to the club Mambury.

We started in february last year with 3 and now have 20! Our Araucana chicks that we got a couple of weeks ago are growing nicely and one of the larger ones was trying to crow this morning, bless him! So, we now know that we have at least one cockerel. Hoping there are at least a couple of girls amongst them!

ionahenor2

My Daisy is top chook too. She keeps the others in line but I suspect she gets alot of backchat from Lettie who she has to sort out every now and again.

Little Digger my BlackRock is still poorly.

grey_lady

Hi Mambury, it might be an idea to find out what your new arrivals are currently being fed so you can switch over gradually. I recently had to introduce 3 pol hens had all been kept previously on mash, two of them seemed happy to take layers pellets straight away but the the littlest one only goes for mash, so I'm keeping an open mind about offering both for a couple of weeks.

jennyjelly

Hi

We are just about to start keeping chickens, never having had them before (We have or at some time have had cats, dogs, rabbits, rats, etc, but never any kind of birds).

I would be grateful if someone could take a look at these and tell me which they think would be most suitable for 3 or 4 birds.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHICKEN-COOP-HEN-HOUSE-POULTRY-ARK-RABBIT-HUTCH-RUN-/120731386391?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item1c1c26c217#ht_7358wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200518325108&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_5322wt_1139

We haven't decided on these particularly, they are just an example of the sort of thing we know we need.

Also a few questions if you don't mind:

1. Do these give them enough space or will we need to let them out to run round the garden?
2. Are there any features we should definitely have, like a particular kind of ventilation or a slide out tray, and what other considerations are there?
3.The place where we are planning to site the coop only gets sun in the morning and is in shade the rest of the day. Will this be a problem?
4. Can anyone recommend a really good beginners book - there are so many on the market and I don't know which one gives the best advice.
5. Would you recommend buying youngsters or getting ex battery hens? (My heart goes with the latter but I'm not sure if it's the most sensible way financially!)

I know there are some experienced chicken keepers on here so I hope you can help us to get it right!

Kimitatsu

jennyjelly wrote: »

Hi

We are just about to start keeping chickens, never having had them before (We have or at some time have had cats, dogs, rabbits, rats, etc, but never any kind of birds).

I would be grateful if someone could take a look at these and tell me which they think would be most suitable for 3 or 4 birds.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHICKEN-COOP-HEN-HOUSE-POULTRY-ARK-RABBIT-HUTCH-RUN-/120731386391?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item1c1c26c217#ht_7358wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200518325108&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_5322wt_1139

We haven't decided on these particularly, they are just an example of the sort of thing we know we need.

Also a few questions if you don't mind:

1. Do these give them enough space or will we need to let them out to run round the garden?
2. Are there any features we should definitely have, like a particular kind of ventilation or a slide out tray, and what other considerations are there?
3.The place where we are planning to site the coop only gets sun in the morning and is in shade the rest of the day. Will this be a problem?
4. Can anyone recommend a really good beginners book - there are so many on the market and I don't know which one gives the best advice.
5. Would you recommend buying youngsters or getting ex battery hens? (My heart goes with the latter but I'm not sure if it's the most sensible way financially!)

I know there are some experienced chicken keepers on here so I hope you can help us to get it right!

Can I say it depends on the birds you get! For ex batts then that should be big enough but if you fall in love with a big breed like orpingtons then you would only get about two in there!

So to answer some of your questions:

1. I would let them run around the garden too - they will soon dig up the ground underneath their living accomodation and you will need to move it around the garden to ensure they are not standing in soil constantly which they have soiled.

2. A slide out tray makes it easier to clean for you (unless you have a small child or pygmy you can put in the hutch!) ventilation they only need a small amount of ventilation but if you can remove the lid to allow condensation to dissapate then that is also good. There should be a small area somewhere (usually the top) where you can have a ventilation window.

3. SUn in the morning is fine - would be more of an issue to be honest if it got the sun all day as they could over heat.

4. Books are great and I am sure there are loads around, but see if you can find a breeder or show hobbyist who will show you the ropes, miles better than any book to be honest. When we first started we went to look at a couple of chicks and left three hours later having toured every single coop this lady had. We learnt more in that three hours talking, being shown and asking questions that we had in months looking at books.

5. We started with ex batts and then moved over to a pure bred flock. Ex batts dont always last very long (although our eldest one went to about 5) and you dont always know how they have been treated, but they are great to start with, and will bring you huge amounts of joy.

rachbc

We had our first eggy today!! Which I prompt knocked on the floor but it was still magical finding it. Obviously I had to pretend not to and let dd discover it - she is thrilled to bits. I suspect it was laid b ginger our black rock but how do I tell?

mardatha

I've got two identical black hens rach. One lays huge big pale cream eggs and the other one small deep brown eggs !

rachbc

I'm intrigued what the others are going to be like - this was quite pale shell and nearly all yolk inside. I shall have to set up nest box cam to see who's doing the deed!