Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

blottedcopybook

Pink-winged wrote: »

Hi blottedcopybook,

There's an earlier thread on keeping chickens so I've added your thread to it to keep the replies together.

Pink

Oh! Much obliged, ta

blottedcopybook

Do any of you routinely worm your birds? I haven't done mine before but since they've all stopped laying and are moulting I've just flubenvetted them all to be on the safe side because there's been some dubious looking poo around my garden recently.

Icewytch

I give mine regular garlic doses in their scraps food. That seems to keep them pretty healthy in lots of ways.

kiwichick

Hi All,

I'm on the llokout for a henhouse/coop as we are getting 3-4 hens from our neighbour soon.

Would you mind taking a look at this

http://www.cybercheckout.co.uk/Items/Item.aspx?SKU=940000470&CAWELAID=205027073

and letting me know what you think? Is it robust enough or value for money??

Thanks,
Al x

Badger_Lady

Hia,

Firstly, don't be fooled by "reduced from £250" - that coop is always £75! It's about the right price for something that is only reasonably robust.

The best coops are actually converted sheds - you can just put up any old wooden shed, pop a branch in it for a perch and a few nesting boxes (again, any old box, even cardboard) and you've got something ideal with plenty of space

How do you plan to let the chickens out? Would you prefer to have a run where they can pop out safely away from foxes, or will you be there every day to let them in and out? Will they be free range in your garden (beware of veggie plots!)?

Badger_Lady

This is a very attractive and usable solution, but pricey!
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9546502&fh_view_size=6&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB&fh_search=coop&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1228919937708&isSearch=true

Personally, I've converted my old outhouse and paid a friend to build me a chickenwire enclosure with a catflap

kiwichick

Thanks for the replies, I was thinking the price was a bit of a joke in terms of the reductions!

I have a 150ft x 25ft garden so they will have a fair whack of that to run around in during the day. I would prefer to convert an old shed or similar and have that stationary inside a larger fenced area - if that makes sense.

Al x

IsoChick

We managed to acquire some new chickens (for free!!) over the weekend, and also made a deal with a new agri-food supplier to get our layers pellets even cheaper than usual

This means that I will have a) more eggs for us, and b) more eggs to sell. I now should be able to make my monthly animal food budget back in around 3 weeks!

The other good news is that the person we got the new hens off might know of a cockerel going spare as well, which means we can have more meat birds to raise and eat

Patchwork_Quilt

Well, I'm very jealous. Good luck and well done

Penelope_Penguin

Well done. We have a cockerel and (we think ) a broody hen, so are hoping for chicks without the use of incubator and heat lamp, come the spring :j :j :j

I'll add this to the main hen-keeping thread

Penny. x