Where can we get hens from?

Alison_Cross

Thanks for this - so it's the hygeine that attracts/deters rats? Keep the area clean of hen poop and food and all should be well? This is great news. Thank you v much :-D

AX

elantan

how would you go about having hens with cats? we have a large waste area at the back of our house and frequently get mice rats etc in so we bought a cat (who since has died) and were thinking of getting another two to help with that problem but son and myself would love to have hens do cats and hens get on? we also have alot of foxes about at night (but doesnt everyone) would i need to take special precautions for both? thanks

steady__eddie

A lack of hygiene would in my opinion cause rats to make more regular visits.
They are reputed to be intelligent animals and if they visit once and find something to eat, then they are more likely to return at a later date to see if the "cafe" is still trading. Besides that however, for the health of the chickens in a confined space it is best to maintain a decent standard of hygiene.
It's been a good 20 years since I last had any (ckickens that is) but nowadays rats appear to have successfully migrated to the suburban environment, aided no doubt by fornightly bin collections and black plastic bags. If you live in such an environment then the chances are they are coming to a street near you soon. The same may be said of the fox who can be seen my way making for the discarded Macdonald cartons.
Foxes definitely like chickens, preferably raw. It's like making Herod the manager of a Mothercare store. They do not appear to kill just enough to satisfy their immediate hunger but will kill the lot. I was not troubled by cats as I had a bantam c*ck with mine and he would see off any cat. I would be wary of cats, perhaps someone who has both may be able to give a more qualified opinion. It may depend upon the disposition of the cat. Animals can be funny beggars, I had a dog which was 99% Jack Russell and a rabbit and the rabbit used to terrorise the dog.

Alison_Cross

Thanks for this - I'm very lucky in that I live on an island that doesn't have foxes (yet!)

We do have huuuuge cats though - disposition more 'pyjama bag' than 'rampant killer', so hopefully chooks in a protected environment wouldn't have to be too concerned about those particular moggies!

Is it better to get chooks all at the one time, or is it ok to maybe buy a new one later on? Would it get hen-pecked for coming to the group late?

Regards

AX

steady__eddie

I was a money saver at a very early age and only on one occasion did I buy any chickens. The rest of the time I was given them by folks whose broody hens had done their job rather too successfully and they had stock surplus to requirements and more importantly space.
About once a year a couple of new hens would appear and I would just let them mix with the others. After about a week the pecking order would be established, this is a strange pastime which I have also observed in the female of the human species. Imagine that you have three hens, A pecks (dominates) B and B pecks C. A is at the top of the pecking order and C is at the bottom, sometimes it can get complicated whereby C pecks A but I have long since given up trying to understand the workings of any female mind suffice to say once the pecking order has been established, everything is fine.
If you buy a new hen later on, it does not necessarily mean that it will be pecked, it may establish itself at the top or near the top of the pecking order and will be the the one doing most of the pecking ! Size is not particularly relevant in pecking order status, I recall one hen who was no bigger than a dove and was at the bottom of the pecking order. After she had successfully sat her first batch of eggs she changed overnight and was numero uno pecking hens over 3 times her size. Being one of these male chauvinist pig thingies, I put it down to hormones and let them get on with it.