Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

EggHead_2

Just read your post chickenKorma, had to register to reply!!!
Please DO NOT USE SAWDUST, you can use straw (not hay) and dust-extracted wood shavings, not sawdust...it is believed to be responsible for cough and breathing problems in chickens.

Mojisola

nykmedia wrote: »

One quick question for anyone with experience of chicks hatching under a broody hen - how do you feed them all? I can't use chick crumbs because the mother hen can't get them and I can't use pellets because they are too big for the chicks. Should I just use layers mash if any of her eggs hatch? I don't see any way of keeping mum's and babies' feeding seperate if they are with her and have never had the problem before now, as I only ever used incubators for hatching eggs. Help! (They will have an outdoor, grassed run.)

I don't understand why you can't use chick crumbs - we always have. Mum will eat some of them but we always supplement her with grown-up food as well. She will teach the chicks what is good to eat and to start with she won't show them anything too big. They'll try to peck at everything but they pay most attention to what Mum shows them.

sianster

Our chickens arrived on Sunday, and we had our first egg last night! :j:j

The man we bought our coop from said the eggs don't taste right if you eat them the same day & we should keep them in the fridge for a day or 2 before eating - is this right? Does anyone eat their eggs fresh on the sameday?

Frugaldom

*zippy* wrote: »

Does anyone here keep ducks that could offer some advice please?

I can't claim to be in any way a specialist but I love keeping ducks. (should add that I'm starting over, had to get rid of all mine a while ago, now hoping to hatch some new ones.) I have my first eggs of 2009 due to hatch in the incubator in about a week, got them from a friend has over 200 assorted ducks, geese and chickens.

Re the chick crumbs scenario - I meant how do I get the chicks to eat enough of the medicated crumbs without mum getting them to ensure they get the coccidiostat in sufficient quantities to immunise them. I've given up on that, though, as they far prefer to scratch and eat everything from the grass and hardly ever go near the crumbs unless I sprinkle them.

I have eaten eggs on the same day they are laid and I don't think I can tell the difference, never really thought about it, because I keep all the eggs together and use a week's worth at a time. (Not hard with only 2 hens laying :rotfl:)

I have woodchips on part of the outside runs, a layer of course shavings on the floors of the houses with chopped straw over the top and in the nest boxes. The chicks are all on chopped straw but the hens do lay in the hay.

jomilne

Hi there,

I am due to move house this weekend, and will finally have a nice big garden! There is a section at the bottom of the garden (think the lady before was growing some veg in there and had fencing it off to stop her dogs weeing on them!!) and I am thinking of getting a couple of chickens and using this area as their run. I'm trying to find an old dog kennel or similar for their house, but what I need to know is whether there is a minimum height for the fence around the run? I live on a small island so there are no foxes to worry about. The fence which is already there is about 3 feet high.

Thanks!

Frugaldom

Hi jomilne and welcome to the wonderful world of poultry keeping Congratulations on the house move, large garden and future feathered friends.

My lot freerange out in the garden and my fences are all of normal 3' height, including the runs where the hens get closed in at nights. However, I do have netting across the tops of the runs to deter anything from snatching chicks out of them - we have a lot of hawks, gulls, crows and buzzards here. None of mine have clipped wings, so they can still fly out the garden and into the fields if they want to, but it's very rare and they need to be startled by something for them even to attempt it. I guess it depends what breeds of chickens you intend keeping, as some are more placid natured than others.

I should add that the cockeral does flutter up onto whatever is nearest to him to compete in crowing competitions with the cockeral along the road, but I think that's just a boy thing. :rotfl:

basmic

I wish I had some grass in my concrete backyard. I'd love to keep a couple of chickens.

I knows zero about chicken keeping, or even where to go and get some chick/ens - would it be possible to keep 2-3 chickens in my backyard, for eggs? I'm not sure I could kill a chicken for meat, mind. :eek::o

Frugaldom

If you have a secure place for them to shelter, lay and exercise then you have enough space to keep a couple of chickens because they don't take up much room. You could always put down a thick layer of woodchips (not bark) for them scratching around in and as long as they are kept clean & dry, have sufficient fresh water and the correct diet, they'll live there quite happily and lay you eggs. But I'd check you are allowed to keep poultry first, just in case your landlord / title deeds prohibits it.

Good luck, come back and let us know what happens.

basmic

My landlord is fairly relaxed, but I do agree about checking first.

I have 6-7ft brick walls around my backyard, so would I need to clip the chickens to stop them flying away? Or can they only get to about 4ft high, anyway?

If I did get chickens, I'd probably find a big wooden box, or make one out of some old pallets, and put straw in there. As for pecking about, some straw and woodchips could be put down. Does £100 sound reasonable for an initial outlay, including buying food?

Are there any good cheap/decent suppliers of chicken food online? Or would it be better to have a look around my area, to save on postage costs?

chickenkorma

EggHead wrote: »

Please DO NOT USE SAWDUST, you can use straw (not hay) and dust-extracted wood shavings, not sawdust...it is believed to be responsible for cough and breathing problems in chickens.

Many thanks! I had read that before (believe it's the same with all pets) but am clearly going mad - I meant wood chippings as have good supply- think I've read that these would be ok- and best to put them on top of newspaper under the perches to make it easier to clean?!
I have ordered a house online with a 6ft run with sheltered area at end as I just don't feel happy that my old rabbit hutch would give them enough space... Really hope it arrives before the weekend so I can get it assembled & hopefully even go and pick up my first birds.... :> All my friends think I've gone mad as it's all I talk about now! Thank you for your help and advice- I'm sure I'll be turning to you in the weeks to come with many more issues!