Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

grandmasam

Hi everyone :wave:
My ds has offered me 2 pol pullets, cotswold leg bars, :j
My query is , any ideas where i can get a coop and covered run, reasonably priced? I have looked on line but am unsure. Was a farmers wife and so am used to chooks, but in larger quantities!
Thanks in advance
Caz

spirit

You can get them on e bay but often are not brilliant quality. Do you know someone who is handy at carpentry? Failing that the local Freeads or Preloved or Gumtree?

Possibly even ask wherever you will buy the feed from if they know of anyone selling?

Cottage_Economy

One of my chickens looks healthy and eats well but is holding her tail feathers just a shade under horizontal to the floor.

She went broody last week and stopped laying, but has since snapped out of it. Her comb is nice and bright, she's zipping around eating and drinking, her cloaca looks ok although it is pale so she isn't back on the lay yet (I know she's not because she's the only one who lays white eggs and there have been none).

I should reiterate she is not holding her butt down in a penguin like stance, just her normally perky tail feathers are down, almost in a protective manner like dogs and cats do.

We found one of our boy ducks had managed to fly over the fence the other day and I'm sure got hold of her ( the boys are very randy and are in the process of being rehomed), so I'm concerned he has hurt her. The cloaca isn't ripped or damaged but obviously boy ducks can cause internal damage sometimes, although there is no sign of blood fresh or old on the feathers surrounding the cloaca.

Any ideas?

ljonski

Hi its sounds as if you are right and Ducky got her in a fit of passion. if there is no internal damage then everything should be ok

palflat

Hey, I'm enjoying reading this subject. when I was a kid we kept chickens in our garden in a specially built 'shed'. It was quite large and took an afternoon to build with help from our neighbour. We kept a few chickens over the years, and when they stopped laying our grandad came round and wrung their necks. It didn't bother me as a kid, it seemed natural. They tasted much better than shop chickens anyway, and had a much better life!! One day the chickens were allowed out of their chicken wire run, and into the garden to have a scratch at the soil to forage worms and insects. Whilst there they apparently discovered the garlic plants that my dad was growing in one of the borders. They ate the lot, and over the next day or so we got garlic flavoured eggs!!! I've often wanted to tell people who keep chickens about this, maybe some of you like the taste of garlic, so now you know. Don't knock it till you've tried it!!!

TheLadyA

Got 6 chickens about 2 months ago and its one of the best things we've ever done! 6 beautiful huge eggs every day so friends, neighbours and family are happy too. The ladies - big bertha, bojangles, mike (in memory of mike the headless chicken - Google it) and the 3 brown ones are great fun and love visits from our cats and the toddlers from next door. I would recommend keeping chickens to anyone. You don't need loads of space, they are easy to look after and the rewards are great. To anyone thinking of keeping chickens.....just do it. You won't regret it.

halight

TheLadyA wrote: »

Got 6 chickens about 2 months ago and its one of the best things we've ever done! 6 beautiful huge eggs every day so friends, neighbours and family are happy too. The ladies - big bertha, bojangles, mike (in memory of mike the headless chicken - Google it) and the 3 brown ones are great fun and love visits from our cats and the toddlers from next door. I would recommend keeping chickens to anyone. You don't need loads of space, they are easy to look after and the rewards are great. To anyone thinking of keeping chickens.....just do it. You won't regret it.

Plus 1,

Would not be without hens now!:j:j

SAS0

My home deeds say I cannot have livestock and other animals like pigeons, etc because my area is considered to be within the city limits area.

I have a good size garden on the front and a good size terraced area on the back.

Can I have chickens or not ?

Thank you

ljonski

livestock and poultry are separate entities. Do you own your own home? Do any neighbours keep chickens. Cockerels are a separate issue and rules against keeping them in urban areas are understandable. What does your local council website say ?

artybee

Check the deeds to your property as there may be a covenant preventing the keeping of chickens. My deeds specify fowl and swine. My sister's deeds forbid her from opening a sweet shop.