Home grown chickens to eat? (Merged Discussion)

~Chameleon~

Thanks to both of you :A

I was rather hoping that they might not find their "voices" until they reached maturity and started trying to attract the hens, but it seems from what you both say that this could happen at quite an early age.

I think I'm going to have to rethink my plans on this as no way would I want to inflict that on my poor neighbours, I'm already worried they might complain about the noise hens make when they've laid an egg :rolleyes: :rotfl:

rog2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I'm already worried they might complain about the noise hens make when they've laid an egg :rolleyes: :rotfl:

That will be nothing compared to your shrieks of delight when you find the first egg, Chameleon. :rotfl: :rotfl:

Seriously, though, the odd 'gift' of half a dozen eggs will work wonders to placate your neighbours.

owtfornowt_2

My brother keeps chickens and he has just invested in a chicken shed that lets all the poo fall out the bottom of the shed & when needed it moves around on a small trailer, so ground is getting fertisllised.

It also has a timer that opens & shuts the door when the sunset/rises. Chickens will naturally go into a shed when it starts getting dark as they like to see inside the shed so there are no nasty suprises.

Don't know if this type of shed is suitable for gardens - he has 5 acres for his cuooks.

singlehouseholder

I would love some, but couldn't ,"dispatch" them if they were in pain, doubt many could.

jammy_dodger

Hi Susank ....saw that you live in n.e scotland ? i live in n.e too and am needing to order black rocks too could you let me know where you ordered them ? cheers....NOt sure if i should of put this on this thread am new to this

arkonite_babe

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

I hope someone on here can help..

I have been thinking on and off for a while about keeping chickens. We have a large back garden and plenty of room for a hen-house with large run - the garden is enclosed, so they could be pretty free-range a lot of the time also.

Does anyone know of the pros and cons?? I was thinking about getting 3-4 chickens - hopefully they will supply us with enought eggs for us (family of 4)
Are they noisy? are you allowed to keep chickens in your garden? are they friendly?

I would be grateful for any help bfore I make my final decision..:o

Hi

we already have quit a large thread about keeping chickens so I'll add this to it for you

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

hex2 wrote: »

For ex battery hens try http://www.bhwt.org.uk/rescue-dates.php. Hybrids at point of lay cost between £10 and £20 here, but I see a lot of people quoting £5 per bird - if anyone can tell me where then I am all ears.

If you are NStaffs/NDerbys then Leek Market or Chelford Market.

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

rsooty wrote: »

I
The garden is approx 8x8m and approx half is lawned. The problem is that I would be wanting to share the garden between 2 children, a few chickens and a small vegetable patch, this would probably only leave me with a 2x2m patch. Would this be large enough for 2 or 3 chickens?

In a run, I'd go for 1 bird per sq metre. You've got 4 sq metre, so yes, three plus one for the hen house. If you are not sure, go for bantams - they don't take as much space or eat as much, although the eggs are smaller (but in a better white/yolk ration for baking apparently). Consider that 3 birds might not be 3 females - it's more common to be sold a trio of one (noisy) !!!! and 2 hens. As for the half lawn, treasure it whilst you can - it won't last long under hens. I'd think about doing 2 runs, using one at a time for the hens whilst the other works/recovers as the (well fertilised) veg patch.

breadline

Hello,
I keep chickens, duck, guinea fowl, turkeys and geese.
I started with a few ducks in a run with several childs sand pits full of water for the ducks. eventually I dug a large pond as they are really mucky and really messy. (the ducks enjoy gardening with me they leave the garden alone and just wait for the worms.

hens will dig everything up, your garden will be complete decimated.
My hens have a hen house, kept open all the time even at night, (I have 2 cats and they dont bother the any of the birds.) I do have a small field where all the birds roam, so they dont come into the garden much, I have a veg garden and they havent bother it. (I do have a dog, so I think the birds give him a wide birth)

Feed
Corn is about £4-£5 a sack complement this with all you kitchen waste.
reduced bread from supermarkets and veg waste from market stalls and supermarkets.

Keep them clean, or you will get rats......
Hens get mites.

If your going to eat them you will have to kill them, pluck them, gut them,
clean them then eat them.
Then you have to get rid of all the waste.

I would say find someone who has poultry and go and get hands on with them.

Dont forget holidays...someone needs to care for them while your away..

If this has put you off a bit dont let it because its great to eat home grown stuff.

There are loads of cheap poultry out there looking for homes.
Try allotments, go to farms ask around.

And after all that I'm not that fussy about chicken, local game dealer sells a brace of pheasant around £3, local butcher rabbit £1 each. Duck about £3-£4. Much better than Chicken.

rog2

breadline wrote: »

Dont forget holidays...someone needs to care for them while your away..

Not much of a problem if they are 'layers' - we never found any shortage of 'volunteers' to feed and water our chickens in exchange for the free eggs.