Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

egfcomps

Just a quick note to say the chooks seem to be back on their feet. Gave every thing a good scrub out and cleaned the run right back to bare earth and covered the run to keep the elements out.

Frugaldom

That's great news egfcomps, you must be so relieved!

Steady_eddie, talking of strange places to lay eggs, my mum used to keep Sebrights and one in particular used to wait until it could get into the back porch and lay in the coal bucket! We even saw it tip the entire (metal) bucket upside down and she laid underneath it. It's one of mum's favourite stories, I think. Mind you, she never seems to realise that if the bucket tipped over the hen, it didn't really have any other choice but to lay there since it was trapped until someone removed said bucket. :rotfl:

My lot still haven't gone into their new house other than for a quick nosy round about and a bit peck at the food I've used to try and bribe them inside! Typical, they get a nice new house with loads of space and they still want to cram into a converted dog kennel - don't they know how to appreciate luxury? :rolleyes:

Edited in - sorry, forgot to add photo of the latest Motley Crew Sorry it's a bit big but it's difficult getting all the chicks in the one picture - there are 8 there

bexxie90

I have 4 bantams and for 2 weeks 3 are in their nest box and will not budge. The 4th is ok and happy running aorund the garden but what do I do?

Are they ok and how long will this broody phase last I miss watching them running around the garden!
bex.x

Frugaldom

Hi bexxie, if you don't have a cockeral and you don't want to put fertile eggs under your banties then I would just make them go out through the day until they get the idea that sitting about not laying isn't what it's about. You could also try taking the bedding out the nest boxes and laying some weldmesh across the floor, that should prevent them from getting too comfortable. Are you checking to make sure they have stopped laying? You might find a pile of eggs in there, otherwise. I'm not allowing any of mine to go broody from now on, they can jolly well work for their keep by providing us with eggs from now on - I have enough chicks to supply a street now! :rotfl:

bexxie90

Hi

tried the putting them out but all they do is huddle up on grass together hopefully this will cease soon
Blinkin ladies!

x

Alias_Omega

Been considering some chickens for a bit now, the wife says im mad but hey..

We have a piece of the garden that was used as a raised flower bed below, but the rabbit ate all of the flowers and everything else we have put there. One year on, its still dead and an ideal place to put something. The area is about 1mtr wide, by about 3mtrs long.



Will this be big enough.?

I did only want 1, but then you cant have 1, so it was 2.


Are chickens noisy, or dangerous.?

I ask this, as part of our house deeds, there is a conveyant which says that we cant have noisy or dangerous animals.


We still have the bunny rabbit, he just lives free range in the garden, so no access to the chickens as they would have a house, and run built across the back.

Frugaldom

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Are chickens noisy, or dangerous.?

In general, hens are fairly quiet and are not classed as dangerous, but I'd still OK it with the neighbours around you just in case, reassure them that you wouldn't be keeping a cockeral (mine was crowing at 4.30am today). My hens get quite noisy when laying, but I wouldn't say they are any noisier than a small dog barking and it's only for the short time it takes them to lay. Probably ex-battery hens would be ideal, although I'm not sure if anyone would sell you just two. I'm afraid it's better with three, IMO, just in case anything happens to one of them. Ex-bat hens would appreciate that amount of space after being cooped up 3 to an 18" square or whatever, whereas freerange hens may object to being so restricted.

Good luck convincing the OH, just make sure she knows there'll be lovely 'homegrown' eggs that will work out much cheaper than the supermarket prices, that could work. And also, make sure there's someone prepared to look after them if you need to go away overnights/holidays, whatever

tru

Meet my girls Left to right - Mogs, Pink, Penny and Harry. Unfortunately, Pink died last week :sad:



They're almost 6 weeks old.

I haven't let them roam the garden yet. I have a pond, will they be OK with it or should I fence it off? Not sure if they'll try to dive in...........:D

Sorry the pic's so big, I've resized twice and it won't change :rolleyes:

steady__eddie

"Are chickens noisy, or dangerous.?"

They could be considered to be quite dangerous if you were a big fat nice juicy worm :rotfl:

Frugaldom

Cute chicks, Tru! What kinds are they? I have a Harry here too, but he'll need to go eventually And I'm sure I heard Captain Beaky attempting to crow this morning, too. But I don't name all my chicks...

My lot eventually went into their new home yesterday but have been misbehaving this morning by flying up onto the gate and out into the drive. I suspect they got spooked coming out of the new house to be faced by a herd of cows that weren't there when they went to bed, so it hopefully won't become a habit. Wing clipping may be in order soon, though.