Home grown chickens to eat? (Merged Discussion)

Lotus-eater

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Been looking at this protection pen so they can have plenty of room outside yet remain safe and secure. What do you guys think? You can also fit polycarb roof panels to it which would also satisfy DEFRA rules for keeping poultry safe from Avian Flu.

I think you can build your own for alot cheaper, but if you don't have any wood banging together skills you could buy it. I just use 900mm high chicken wire tied to posts, they occasionally fly over the top but not very often. Cats shouldn't be a bother, depending on where you live foxes will, but they don't bother me in the daytime where I live, I have to make sure the chucks are locked up tight at night though, I've lost about 10 chickens to the fox.

Lotus-eater

jordylass wrote: »

I wanted to keep some, but mentioned to my neighbour who said 'her husband' wouldn't be happy and would report me. I'm pretty sure our deeds say no livestock, so I'm stuck unless we move

We had the same problem, a good talk and making friends with the party that wouldn't like it always helps

Lotus-eater

destiny_star2006 wrote: »

And the money we save from buying eggs will let me be able to buy free range chicken meat!As we buy at least 6 eggs per week and ive always bought smart price eggs as we live on low budget but i certianly wont be doing that now¬

Sorry, but you won't save money producing your own eggs Its a lifestyle choice, not a money saving choice. Just work out how much your initial set up costs are and work out how many free range eggs you could buy for that.

~Chameleon~

destiny_star2006 wrote: »

And the money we save from buying eggs will let me be able to buy free range chicken meat!As we buy at least 6 eggs per week and ive always bought smart price eggs as we live on low budget but i certianly wont be doing that now¬
And i also bought the 2 for £5 meat chickens for the same reason but as i say what i will save having my own eggs can let me add that little more to buying better meat!

You also need to factor in the cost of feeding the chickens, buying the de-lousing powder, disinfection for their housing etc etc and that's not including the initial set-up costs of providing housing/fencing/nesting boxes/feeders/drinkers etc, plus any additional vets fees if any should become ill!

As Lotus-eater said, keeping chickens is not about saving money (will cost a lot more than you currently spend on buying your 6 eggs a week) it's a lifestyle choice


I also notice you want to rescue ex-battery hens, which is fantastic for those who do, but you need to be aware that most of them go off laying for quite a while (one of the reasons they are killed off) and it will cost you time and money to get them back into good health before you ever see an egg from them. If you're on a low income already then you really need to think this through properly and work out whether you can actually afford to keep chickens.

Farway

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Sorry, but you won't save money producing your own eggs Its a lifestyle choice, not a money saving choice. Just work out how much your initial set up costs are and work out how many free range eggs you could buy for that.

And remember to factor in the food for them, they do not live on fresh air

dogcat_2

Hmmm ....... Nice idea

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too much hassle. I thought about it once.

geordie_joe

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I've been looking at these pens which also allow you to put a covering roof over to protect food and water sources from wild birds' droppings etc.

They look good but for that price I would build my own. You're going to have to build them yourself anyway as they come "flat packed on pallets"

All that company has done is pre cut the wood to size and possibly pre drilled any hols for screws/bolts.

Apart from that they don't look all that stable. There are no triangles on the long sides which could mean they will sway and eventually fall apart.

Hapless_2

defra registering is compulsary with 50+ birds but advisable to all poultry keepers, otherwise it could be a couple of days until the news hits about bird flu, whereas with registering you should get the news same day.

Hapless_2

DON'T BUY CHICKENS. Get them from the battery hen trust.

http://www.bhwt.org.uk/

dND

And don't forget, chickens are a twice a day, 365 days of the year tie. Thats just letting them out and locking them up again at night. And because of the changing length of the days you could be looking at any time between 9 am and 4pm or 6am and 10pm.