Hen house corner

Alfietinker

Baby chickens or mini-mees ? ;-) One step at a time (but then again )

moggins

Is it possible to build a henhouse from scratch? XDH has promised me loads of palletwood for free.

halloweenqueen_2

Don't put felt on the top though or you can get red mites which affect the chicken. The chickens will follow you round and talk to you - they are actually quite good company!!
(no I don't get out much!!).
The eggs are delicious!
I wonder if anyone has got any views on something I read on the net today - that its better to give your chicken rabbit food pellets if they are being fed scraps etc as well as grit as commercial chicken food pellets contain chemicals and possibly ground up chickens?

play2day

Hi Alfietinker,
Have you got your hens yet? If not I suggest you consider Black Rocks, point of lay is the best age to go for in my opinion. We have two who lay consistantly every day. They are very friendly, have figured out that young children are a good source of biscuits and will sit on your feet given half a chance!
We also have a couple of Kahki Campbell ducks, if you are after a good consistant layer you can't beat them.
Our birds are free range in the garden with Forsham Cottage Arks to sleep in at night, they put themselves to bed and I just close the door. I can honestly say the chucks have caused very little damage other than making the odd sandbath in the lawn, the ducks however are another matter, my wildlife pond looks like the Somme.
We feed the birds on organic high lay pellets but they have all the scraps that the dog doesn't. There is no waste in our household.
One tip for your coop: Ensure there is a lift out tray under the roosts and line it with old newspaper to make cleaning easier, 30 seconds to changer the paper each day makes the weekly clean out a doddle.
Good luck and enjoy your birds!

Sarahsaver

how do you keep the ducks 'in' do you clip their wings or do they come home all by themselves?

Alfietinker

Ooh, we drive past a house with a huge duck pond. Lots of breeds all following each other is very funny

We're not getting the chooks until our currants have cropped in June/July time (bird flu restrictions permitting). I'm still looking into breeds - we've been reccommended Black Rocks, Buff Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes (bantams).
People seem to think 3 chooks is best :j

Halloweenqueen: I'm still researching feed etc but I guess it would depend on the brand of pellets? I'd like to be as organic as possible but we couldn't afford to spend a fortune on feed so they'll be getting lots of scraps too

Moggins: I've ordered 2 books from the library. They've been recommended but I haven't got them yet so can't comment.

Starting with Chickens!!
Katie Thear

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel Society)!!
Michael Roberts, Sara Roadnight (Editor), Roberts Michael (Illustrator)

Chucksmum

I buy wheat from the local farmer, usually costs about £3 per cwt. Chickens free range so they forage a lot, and get lots of worms when I'm digging the garden.

Mrs_Miggins_2

We've got 8 hens and 4 cockerel-ets at the moment. 4 were given to us, and then last autumn we borrowed my mum's incubator and hatched out the others, who are just coming into lay now - we're eating the cockerels one by one, and they're delicious, and will keep the hens as layers. Everything's a bit "heath robinson" in this house, so one hen house is a dog kennel, on bicycle wheels, with the old guinea pig run attached (GPs are sadly no more) - it works though.
Haven't had chance to read completely through the thread yet but - has anyone mentioned bird flu? Our birds (usually completely free range) are being kept in moveable runs at the moment - is anyone worried - and has anyone else done anything - I love to know what...

Alfietinker

Ooh I forgot to update - we're now getting 3 chooks at the end of March! They are three unknown breeds - Esmarelda, Florence and Daisy. They're running in a field ('on hold') at the moment and we're trying like mad to build a covered run so we can get them 'inside' before the flu gets here. Can't wait!

Muppet81

First time I have tried posting anything on a chat site so hope I do it right!
Does anyone have experience of rescuing battery hens. I am a novice to hen keeping and have asked to go onto an "adoption list". Any advice you can give would be welcome.
Thanks