keeping chickens - help and advice (merged)

tankgirl1

Hiya

Ive got a large rabbit hutch off freecycle which i plan to convert so that i can keep a couple of chickens. what does it need in it?

i'm thinking something for them to roost on- how high off the floor of he hutch does this need to be?

and a nesting box in case they decide to grace me with some eggs!

obviously i will make sure it is fox proof etc, and am planning on building a run to go with it.

any advice will be muchly appreciated!!

thanks

tg x

churchmouse_3

Hi there , is there anybody out there to give me some advice on keeping a few chickens for eggs ? ie ... bedding, feed {household scraps included } what is poisonous etc. I just know there are loads of you old stlylers with the savvy..... thanks in advance.:T

harveybobbles

Just make sure you don't have rabbits aswell at chickens...

wolfehouse

there was a whole discussionon here once about the eglu
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=560670&highlight=chicken+coop

it looks so cute i was tempted to raise a chick or two just to get one

lizzylou

Hi can any one help, one of my ladies is standing funny, a bit like a duck ( tall with her back end down) she is eating ,drinking and running about fine but i have separated her from other hens as she is being pecked. any advice welcome to what is wrong with her. thanks x

pboae

That's a classic sign of being egg bound. She needs to see a vet ASAP. If you know what you are doing there are things you can try yourself, but if you get it wrong you'll make it much worse. If she is egg bound and it is left untreated it will probably kill her.

fsdss

as she is eating, running around and drinking fine i would doubt egg bound chicken as in my experience they become loners and sit hunched all day until egg has passed (more serious cases need vet treatment) i would pop over to the omlet forum and ask them over there.

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

pboae

Sorry fsdss, I disagree. They don't go off their food and drink until later, by which time it may well be too late. There's lots of other things it *could* be, e,g, worms, an infection, etc. But when there is a possibilty of it being something potentially fatal, it's not worth taking the risk.

fsdss

Egg Bound

A hen is "egg bound" when she fails to lay her egg. This is a common condition, and may result from inflammation of the oviduct, a malformed or double yolker egg, or a too large egg in a young pullet.
Some of the symptoms are...

• The bird seems very restless
• She will drink little and eat little
• She will tend to stand all hunched up
• She visits the nest regularly in an attempt to lay her egg
• Her oviduct may end up protrude due to excessive pushing by her to eject the egg; internal haemorrhage or exhaustion may occur and the fowl may die
• She may smell badly
• Her vent will look quite red and protrude
• She may have faecal matter that has built up behind the egg, if you see white liquid that will be her urates trying to pass.

above quoted from practical poultry.

treatment for eggbound chickens
hold them over a pan of steaming water to try and relax the muscles, or try and sit them on a warm hot water bottle with a towel over, try and see if you can pop the egg out of the vent using some form of lubricant (olive oil or vaseline).

weegie_2

Wonder if anyone can help .....

I'm looking into getting 2-3 chickens - small coop and run - in our back garden. It's fenced in etc so ideal space. The only problem my title deeds say that we are prohibited from keeping poultry, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, bees or other livestock.


Does anyone know what the worst is that could happen if I ignore this and go ahead? I see a couple of our other neighbours have rabbits... I don't think I would have any objections from my neighbours.

Would appreciate any advice.....

Thanks guys

pboae

How old is your house?