Living on $12,000 a year

Sallygirl

RE the chickens:

Moanymoany - Sorry for the late reply. Been desperately busy for a couple of days and haven't been able to post. I don't find that my hens get sick any more often than cats or other animal. Fairly healthy as a rule. I've never taken a hen to the vet. I've always bought them from a source which had them vaccinated. Most of my hens have died by themselves, some through illness and some of old age. There has only been one that had an "assisted" end and I asked a favour of a farmer that we know for that. Oh and Mr Fox took one. I've kept hens for 6 to 7 years now and have lost 8 hens over that period. Most of my current set are at the end of their second summer so I expect them to live another 3 to 4 years, barring illness. The number of eggs will drop off quite a lot after next summer.

If you have contacts with people who keep/have kept hens, I should ask them for advice regarding illness. People are usually only too willing to share their knowledge (which is great, as we know here on MSE) and a practical demonstration is better than lots of book reading.

My husband has made two coops now, although we bought our first. It is not too difficult if you have basic woodworking skills. Cuprinol do a wood preservative that is "bat friendly" and so is also chicken friendly. You got to be a little careful about the wood preservative as it must be ok for bats to be ok for hens. DIY stores' cheapo just won't do the job for the hens - something to do with fumes and their lungs.

Hens are happy little creatures with a wealth of little noises and funny expressions and their antics often have me in stitches. Don't worry too much about the ilness side. Those problems won't arise very often.

Read up on the internet. Try Low-impact living initative as they have a fact sheet http://www.lowimpact.org/factsheet_poultry.htm

If you have any specific questions, I'll tell you what works for us.

S

moanymoany

Thank you sallygirl. In fact DH has been doing some research of his own and has discovered that several people he knows at work keep chickens and all have been very enthusiastic. He has been given lots of advice on making coops, feeding and lots of other things.

He has come home with a large wooden box which will be turned into a coop this weekend. We've decided to have the birds (3) and the kit we need to buy for our wedding anniversary present to each other (39 years today - I was a child bride!)

Your advice is much appreciated, thank you very much :A

ceridwen

Hi

Quick thought for the day - seedsaving (whoops! this is the woman who is still trying to get herself sorted to get her tiny backyard blossoming like the wilderness) - anyway - I have found a useful website for info re seedsaving:

http://www.primalseeds.org/seedsaving.htm

Have a good weekend all!

(PS; Moany - just spotted website re chickens that might give food for thought - styles for henhouses:

www.chicken-house.co.uk/

moanymoany

Today DH and I have spent 6 hours making our chicken house. We decided not to try to make a design as we had to use what we had and didn't want to have to buy anything.

We started with a large wooden box DH got (legally) from work. The rest is made from what we had in the garage and the wood we froogled from the big skip. It needs some tar paper on the roof, but otherwise the house is done.

tomorrow we will make the run. When it is finished we will have bought nothing for it. It is made from what we have. We are both so pleased with it. When I can find out how to put piccys on the posts I will put some on.

Dd worked on a free range egg farm when she was 14, we called in there yesterday and looked at all their stuff. They will have fully vaccinated point of lay pullets at the end of the month. They said they are selling 300 pullets a month - people are into keeping chickens. The birds are £5.75 each. We are taking sallygirls advice and buying 3.

Thank you all for your encouragement. :A

ceridwen

We await those piccies with interest then!

Sallygirl

Chickens again moany moany:

Have a read on the internet about what is suitable for the roof of the coop. Some manufacturers use stuff called Onduline and some do a wooden roof (well treated with Cuprinol). Our roofs are wooden. The tarred felt usually used for rabbit hutches, garden sheds etc is not so suitable because red spider mites (yeuk!!!!!) love living in the felt stuff. Sometimes you find tarred felt on the roof of a really cheap bought coop. Red spider mites are horrible things that make your skin crawl never mind the hens' skin. They are gross. I'm itching just thinking about them. They live in crevices and come out at night to feast on your chickens' blood. Not nice! They are tiny - about half a millimetre long and are grey in colour until they have had dinner when they are fat and red..... We've only had an infestation once, thank goodness, but using tarred felt is like putting out a welcome mat for them. Sorry!

moanymoany

OOh yuk - thanks sallygirl. A timely bit of advice. We will get our heads around a suitable alternative.

Red spider mites need not apply!!!!!:eek:

doddsy

ceridwen wrote: »

On the grow your own food theme - one of the things that is defeating me a bit on this having such a tiny little yard (rather than a "proper" garden) is that compost heaps are not possible with the sheer lack of space - so could do with being able to buy readymade bottles/packets of organic "food" for plants as easily as the conventional chemical ones I could just walk up the road and buy. Sort of defeats the object of virtuously not spraying chemicals everywhere on my tomatoes - but then having to use plantfood made of chemicals! So if anyone has any info. to share with us on where to buy this it would be appreciated.

Ceridwen, you could look into growing a comfrey plant in a large pot. Every couple of weeks or so you can cut some leaves (they can take quite a haircut). Put these in a bucket of water and leave to rot, use the 'tea' diluted as an organic plant feed. This is particularly good for tomatoes etc.

One word of warning though - get a bucket with a lid, this is truly whiffy stuff!
hth
doddsy

ceridwen

doddsy wrote: »

Ceridwen, you could look into growing a comfrey plant in a large pot. Every couple of weeks or so you can cut some leaves (they can take quite a haircut). Put these in a bucket of water and leave to rot, use the 'tea' diluted as an organic plant feed. This is particularly good for tomatoes etc.

One word of warning though - get a bucket with a lid, this is truly whiffy stuff!
hth
doddsy

Thanks for that. Can I just clarify a point - "some leaves" - say 2 or 3 maybe? (dont want to leave a bald plant). Also - how much would I dilute the tea by (I'm thinking that I guess that would be say 10 parts water/1 part tea)?

(right - off to see if I can get hold of a comfrey plant)

moanymoany

Sallygirl wrote: »

Chickens again moany moany:

Have a read on the internet about what is suitable for the roof of the coop. Some manufacturers use stuff called Onduline and some do a wooden roof (well treated with Cuprinol). Our roofs are wooden. The tarred felt usually used for rabbit hutches, garden sheds etc is not so suitable because red spider mites (yeuk!!!!!) love living in the felt stuff. Sometimes you find tarred felt on the roof of a really cheap bought coop. Red spider mites are horrible things that make your skin crawl never mind the hens' skin. They are gross. I'm itching just thinking about them. They live in crevices and come out at night to feast on your chickens' blood. Not nice! They are tiny - about half a millimetre long and are grey in colour until they have had dinner when they are fat and red..... We've only had an infestation once, thank goodness, but using tarred felt is like putting out a welcome mat for them. Sorry!

We went to the allotment today and I spotted some sheets of corrugated plastic. Dh said the guy next door had given them to us. They will be perfect for the roof.

I have to confess, I had a moment or two where I thought we might have to BUY something :eek: