Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

ionahenor2

poohbear59 wrote: »

We had rat problems. With them, the rooks and the pheasants helping themselves to the feed it disappeared really fast. It is too expensive now to be feeding all and sundry.

We called R3ntokil who sorted out the rat problem. Then we got two barn cats from a rescue centre. We have to pay to feed the cats but we now have no rat problem. And the cats are cute, still wary of humans but becoming more friendly.

Do the cats live outside poohbear59 ?

Thriftkitten

Been a turbulent few weeks for us, Mr cockles the lemon milfleur sablepoot bantam found his voice and began humping anything with feathers.... decided i needed to look for another home as residential area and as the days went on he was making a racket earlier and earlier.
My naughty car took me to buy 2 copper marans and a buff cross, couldn't take just one... wouldnt of been fair so took them all. This put mr cockles into overdrive.... he began showing off like no ones business and has spent the day from 5am crowing every ten mins or so.....I tried every person known to man with no luck, then chanced a farm who were only too glad to have a boyfriend for their hens BINGO!
I was sad to see him go as we had raised him from a fertile egg under a broody but hey ho, he needed to go before we got reported and turfed out due to his voice.... On the way home the naughty car picked up 4 more bantams d'uckles i think they are... sooooo cute and as quiet as lambs, which is more than i can say for the copper maran girls, they are scared of the other girls, but the buff cross was chest bouncing with primrose even through the wire fencing, when i went up to check both had blood on their combs... I was shocked, however no lasting damage and they seem quieter today, just sniffing each other through the barrier. I now have a grand total of 15 hens and no cockeral so the neighbours will get a lie in tomorrow..... naughty car will be locked in the garage from now on!!!

ionahenor2

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Thriftkitten.

poohbear59

ionahenor2 wrote: »

Do the cats live outside poohbear59 ?

Yes, because they were barn catys and had never been handled by humans. They were found at about 8 weeks old in a derelict barn, taken to the animal rescue and had been there for 18 months locked in a cage. They live in a store room out of the back of our house. They have to come in via a cat flap in the back porch but they can run fast if one of us or the dogs are around. One of them is very friendly now but his brother is still terrified of humans He even had to be caught and sedated at the vets for his worming treatment. That won't have helped his fear of humans.

Cottage_Economy

Hubby came home this afternoon to find a chicken in shock and our two 5 month old indian runner ducks 'attacking' her. After searching the Internet for ideas on how to tackle the situation, it became clear that hubby believes our two girls are actually boys, as evidenced by a pair of curly tails and raspy voices, which suggests our poor chicken was being pestered for sex if not already subjected to it.

I haven't seen the curly tails myself but then I wasn't looking for them as we were guaranteed from a reputable supplier they were both 22 week old girls when we picked them up. I've looked at pictures of them in the six weeks after that and there's no curliness so maybe the supplier was fooled.

I will check the tails tomorrow morning and the ducks can spend the day in the garden separated from the hens to give the poor things a rest.

If it does transpire they are drake runners, what are the options beside the chop? They cannot live with hens and we're not prepared to have a separate pen for them as we already have massive pen that takes up a big area of the garden. We wanted the ducks and the hens to go round together and forage as one team.

Do people take on pairs of drakes?

And there we were congratulating ourselves on having clever ducks that put themselves to bed every night!

Helen2k8

I would put the male ducks in the pot I'm afraid (unless they're rare breed or fantastic examples of the breed). They have, how shall I phrase this...insatiable appetites, and I don't mean food!


Anyway, I was mainly popping into the thread to ask if anyone had ever kept quail for eggs/meat?

Cottage_Economy

Helen2k8 wrote: »

I would put the male ducks in the pot I'm afraid (unless they're rare breed or fantastic examples of the breed). They have, how shall I phrase this...insatiable appetites, and I don't mean food!

Trust me, we had noticed their appetites for booty!

We've managed to find them a home with someone who has a large back garden and no other pets right now, so Sunday they're off to their new owners. And we decided to charge for them to make sure no-one decided they were cheaper than buying a duck dinner from a supermarket!

ionahenor2

Cottage have you been in touch with the supplier? If they guaranteed they were girls they should honour that.

Cottage_Economy

ionahenor2 wrote: »

Cottage have you been in touch with the supplier? If they guaranteed they were girls they should honour that.

Not yet but they didn't guarantee it. What the supplier said when asked "Are you sure they are girls?" was "Yes I'm positive they are". When we paid for them there was a slip of paper that we were given saying that they would take back the animals within a month if we weren't satisfied and that they could not guarantee the sex of any bird.

Small ducklings I can understand, but 18+ week old ducks I don't. However, that slip of paper covers them.

We will send a letter to them telling them what has happened and how unhappy we are, but beyond that I'm not sure there's much we can do besides not buy from them again.

wiggywoo9

I have a maisonette with a medium-sized balcony at the back of one of the two bedrooms, all fenced off and quite safe. Its the top floor and back against the opposite wall. As soon as I saw it I thought of what I can do to utilise it- right now, its merely the spot for pigeon poop. I'd really like to have chickens there.
It is quite a big space and has no drop, its a bit like a mini patio area.

I've never kept chickens but I've always wanted to. My mum has grown up with them and I haven't, and I'd love to share the opportunity with my son. It is just me and him in our maisonette, and I've kept pretty much every other animal. There is enough room for a comfortable coop and lots of space to run. I refuse to keep a dog as its quite different and does need a garden, but surely chickens are ok?

I can buy everything needed, but I'd just like to know if this is a wise venture? Would the pigeons hurt the chickens- could I simply put wire over the area? Where do I start? Its straight concrete but I could put down grass rolls? Any tips?

The space is just going to be left for the pigeons else and I can just see a nice coop there which would be lovely.