Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Syman

It is never easy however they are "lost". i still have not replaced my girls since the fox visit in sept.

Better_Days

Last weekend I got 4 ex batts.

They aren't that well feathered so we are keeping them in the shed. We have put down shavings and newspaper down on the floor and they have made a glorious mess of it all. What would you use as they will need to stay in the shed until they feather up.

When the weather is dry we leave the shed door open so they get some fresh air.

Syman

Better_Days wrote: »

Last weekend I got 4 ex batts.

They aren't that well feathered so we are keeping them in the shed. We have put down shavings and newspaper down on the floor and they have made a glorious mess of it all. What would you use as they will need to stay in the shed until they feather up.

When the weather is dry we leave the shed door open so they get some fresh air.

I used myscanthus, also known as "elephant grass" found it was better than the shavings.

Better_Days

Syman wrote: »

I used myscanthus, also known as "elephant grass" found it was better than the shavings.

Thanks - where did you get it from?

Syman

Better_Days wrote: »

Thanks - where did you get it from?

i get from a local supplier to me in Surrey. It is also used as horse bedding.

Thriftkitten

Ecobed or easibed is another good source instead of shavings, I have 10 rescues and I think it better to let them out during the day, their egg production will drop vastly too with lack of light, I find if its raining my rescues will shelter where as my oldies prefer to stay out foraging rather than niping back to shelter in the shed

chrisfreelander54

Hello all.

I have been looking at getting
Chickens for a while now and have come to the conclusion that, we are going to add 4 chicken to our family home ( the children are really a excited).

The thing is I have never had chickens before so a total novice, and have an abundance of questions to ask. (Hope you don't mind).

I have been looking at omlets eglu as the idea of having a robust, easy to clean coop sound like the ideal coop, are they worth the money or are there any cheaper alternatives?

I have been talking to a bloke at work that has 2 egg laying hens and feeds them on wild birdseed and meal worms, is this advisable?

What are the best breeds for newbies, my DD12 wants a silkie, are these good as a starter bird or are the for the more for the established chicken owner?

What are the basics for the upkeep of chickens, clean once a week etc?

What are the common illnesses also signs and symptoms?

What is the best material for bedding?

Our next door neighbour has 3 Yorkshire Terriers that yap constantly (owner kindly trained them to do this when had cats) is this something that will upset the chickens or will they become accustomed to it?

Thanks for you help.
Chris.

If I think of anything else I will add it here.

furball

Hi as a chicken owner I found all the answers to all the questions on Omlets forum. Click on the forum at the left hand side after you have clicked the link below.


https://www.omlet.co.uk/club/

Money_maker

chrisfreelander54 wrote: »

Hello all.

I have been looking at getting
Chickens for a while now and have come to the conclusion that, we are going to add 4 chicken to our family home ( the children are really a excited).

The thing is I have never had chickens before so a total novice, and have an abundance of questions to ask. (Hope you don't mind).

I have been looking at omlets eglu as the idea of having a robust, easy to clean coop sound like the ideal coop, are they worth the money or are there any cheaper alternatives? Easy to clean is good but also remember that you need generously proportioned house and runs, particularly if you want a large breed.

I have been talking to a bloke at work that has 2 egg laying hens and feeds them on wild birdseed and meal worms, is this advisable? Laying hens should be on a good layers mash/pellets with birdseed/mealworms/corn as supplementry to this.

What are the best breeds for newbies, my DW12 wants a silkie, are these good as a starter bird or are the for the more for the established chicken owner? Google is your friend but each breed has different traits.

What are the basics for the upkeep of chickens, clean once a week etc? Commonsense really, clean as required and be attentive for signs of problems.

What are the common illnesses also signs and symptoms? See website below.

What is the best material for bedding? Never use hay. Wood shavings, straw or some horse bedding is suitable. Ask at your local supplier as horse bedding can be cheapest.

Our next door neighbour has 3 Yorkshire Terriers that yap constantly (owner kindly trained them to do this when had cats) is this something that will upset the chickens or will they become accustomed to it?

Thanks for you help.
Chris.

If I think of anything else I will add it here.

Lots of questions. Try www.downthelane.net who have an excellent forum (particularly on illnesses etc.). The BHWT has general advice on care of ex batts which pretty much applies to ordinary hens too. Try getting a few relevant books out from the library, there is a whole host of information available and it will be beneficial to your new girls if you do your homework first.

*zippy*

Silkies are very pretty, but we found them not very hardy and they aren't great layers. The omlet site is great for getting an idea of the different breeds, but then go and view some, we took ages deciding then went off to collect them and they were huge, it's not easy to judge their size in photos. After a bad experience we are also careful where we buy from and look for hobby breeders.

We have two dogs they are trained not to touch the hens, but they are woofy at other things and it doesn't bother the birds. Just make sure you are secure from next doors dogs.

We are going to get an omlet cube when our wooden coop needs replacing they do seem excellent, just watch with the smaller ones as they don't seem big enough for the amount of birds they claim to house.

Chickens are really easy to keep and you can't beat having your own eggs, good luck x