Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Gigervamp

Blimey, Wilkos selling chicken coops now!

edmund_blackadder

Gigervamp wrote: »

Blimey, Wilkos selling chicken coops now!

Yup ... seems like they have quite a few actually!

batcatz

edmund_blackadder wrote: »

That looks like a very good henhouse but costs much more than I want to pay ... afterall we are only going to get 2 chickens I think. If i find they struggle with the ramp then yes I may get an extra perch to give them a boost up!

Hi, just wondered what coop you decided to buy in the end? The one on ebay looks good, but I wish it didn't have the felt roof and a low run. If I buy this I will extend the run.

I have 2 silkies and a speckledy and will get another hen in September.
Amanda

DON79

Hi everyone! a bit worried just now! We (temporarily) have a cockeral we are looking after - trouble is, he is a noisy bird and crows a lot during the day. Now i know this is not so bad because it is daytime but it does annoy me so am sure it annoys the neighbours. We have him in a completely pitch black shed overnight and don't let him out until it is well past dawn but he still crows inside the shed.

At the moment, i am inside with all windows and doors tightly shut and am letting the kids watch a movie and I cannot hear him crowing. But if the tv was off, you can still hear him through the double glazing. We have spoken to the neighbours on each side who have both said they are ok about it as they know he is not going to be a permanent resident. He will be with us for another week and three days but my nerves are going to be completely frayed by then as well as making us the most hated/talked about family in the neighbourhood. And call me paranoid but I was in the garden and was sure could hear another neighbour over the back fence talking on the phone about the situation!

What should we do! Get rid of him to his home asap? Just grin and bear it for another week? I am just sitting here waiting on the Environmental Health/RSPCA or even the Police knocking on the door about noise complaints!

p.s. have just heard him crow even above the kids movie!

Frugaldom

Don, there isn't a lot you can do about a cockerel crowing other than try to keep him quiet during times that could be termed as anti-social. You could try shutting him up at night into a low level house of some sort so he can't extend his neck to crow but there's not much you can do about daytime unless you have a tiny run. You're very lucky to have quiet hens, mine are almost as noisy as the cockerels at laying time. Chin up, it's only another week or so until he goes home and you'll know next time not to babysit a cockerel. Is there any way you could take him to his proper home and then just visit to do the feeding/watering/letting out & in bits?

Good luck, hope your nerves aren't too shot to pieces.

DON79

Thanks Nykmedia! this is the one and only time we will have him definitely! He is going to a permanent home in Wales after this, we were asked to find him for my brother in law who wants him to breed from. So he won't be back!

Our hens are generally very quiet, we have one hen that loves to announce to the world that she has laid her egg for the day and she can be noisy, but only once every day or two really.

I will be on tenterhooks til he goes but I suppose if anyone official does turn up then they can be told that he is leaving and not staying so will cease to be a nuisance. But won't be doing this again, family or not!

Thanks for the words of encouragement though.

ANY_CHANCE

I am thinking about getting chickens but is it possible if you dont have a huge garden?
i am trying to read through the thread to see what it all involves
how many chickens would you advise?
how much space do you need?
what type would you advise?

Frugaldom

Any Chance, before you do anything, make sure you are allowed to keep chickens in your garden. If it's a rented house, you'll need permission from landlords/housing association etc and if you own the house (mortgaged or otherwise) then you'll need to check your title deeds as many have clauses written into them forbidding livestock and/or poultry. If you have neighbours, discuss it with them, too, just in case you end up with noisy hens. All being well, start your research online, read books etc and decide what type best suits your needs. Spacewise, I prefer to see at least 1m2 per hen but I reckon you could consider keeping as many as 3 hens in a 3' x 6' approx run with adequate housing & nestbox. This could provide you with around 6 dozen eggs a month depending on breed of hen. Just my thoughts on the matter of happy, healthy chickens. It's even better if they can get out to scratch and peck about in the garden but any space is better than a tiny cage in a battery farm.

DON79

things just go from bad to worse just now, went out this morning to collect eggs and let the chickens and Mr Noisy out, and saw a rat! :eek: brilliant! :rolleyes: or to be more accurate saw his bottom and tail as he disappeared behind the shed! I am hopeful he is not a permanent resident because the house next door has been empty for some time and the garden was a complete jungle, they have been clearing the garden all this week of the overgrowth so I am hoping he has just been flushed out from next door. Plus we have a large area of empty grassland/moorland almost very near to us.

The dogs are in the garden just now so I am hoping they will chase it and scare it away.

Frugaldom

Don, good luck flushing out the rat. It does seem to be like a comedy of errors for you at the moment and I shouldn't laugh, but look on the bright side - it's a learning curve that has kept us all entertained and sat here waiting for the next episode. It's weasels that we have here and I'm always dreading going out and finding that one has got into any of the runs or popped up through the day when the hens are out in the garden.

Just starting to see the differences with the Silkies and it looks like we may have 4 cockerels and 3 hens, so that's another 2 cockerels I'll need to sell, as one's already spoken for and the other unrelated one is staying. Just got rid of 3 x 16-week old pullets and an 18 week-old 'Ned the Thug' cockerel on Thursday, so that's paid for a few weeks' feeding. Still got Captain Beaky and he is still growing! :eek:

Congratulations on your first egg, XNatalieX :beer::T