We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Home grown chickens to eat? (Merged Discussion)
Options
Comments
-
I never suggested it was like keeping a dog; just because you personally have had lots of experience doesn't mean you can assume people on this forum will not be equally as proficient as yourself keeping chickens or any other livestock. Comments like "they're going to be the new chiuhua" are demeaning to people looking to make a genuine improvement to their own lives and gain a better understanding of where their food comes from.
Many people will go into it with no idea with what is going on. A few years back it was pot bellied pigs.
If people want to keep chickens then I recommend taking a course in it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4785664.stm
From 2006An increase in the number of hens in a 50-year-old wild flock is thought be the result of owners dumping their birds amid fears over avian flu.
Known as the Ditchingham Fifty, the birds live on the Norfolk/Suffolk border on the A143. But since the threat of bird flu the number of birds pecking at the side of the A143 has risen to about 200.The "Bloodlust" Clique - Morally equal to all. Member 10
grocery challenge...Budget £420
Wk 1 £27.10
Wk 2 £78.06
Wk 3 £163.06
Wk 40 -
Chickens are as expensive as you make them. You can worm them monthly with Fluebenvet at £22 for a v.small tub or you can splurge £3 on unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar and add 25ml per litre of water for 3 days a month (plastic drinkers only), grated carrot has much the same effect. You can delouse them with Farmyard louse powder at £7 a tub or use ant killer from Tesco containing Permethyrin which has exactly hte same effect. After that £6 of food each week keeps 28 chickens happily fed who in return provide roughly 120 eggs per week sold at 80p per dozen (£1 to those who forget their egg boxes) I break even on the food bill over the year as well as having eggs to swap with the neighbours and more than enough to cook with.
I also invested in an incubator which enables me to hatch my own chicks, the boys get eaten at 6 months old having had a free ranging life. The incubator also goes out on loan to several of the local schools each year.
If anything keeping chickens is much easier than keeping a dog. Conversation with my neighbour goes "I'm away for the weekend. Would you mind letting the chickens out in the morning and shutting them up in the evening, I'll clean them out when I get back. Enjoy the eggs". Bit different to Hello Mr Kennels can I please give you £40 to lock my dog up for 48 hours, yes shes had all her very expensive vaccinations, gosh really you can't fit her in for 3 months....".
Obviously there are foxes to consider and birds of prey and avian flu just like theres rabies and distemper and worming and fleas and house training to consider when you have a dog. To imply that people put as much thought into getting chickens as they would popping into the pet store for a gerbil is just a bit far fetched.Saving for a Spinning Wheel and other random splurges : £183.500 -
Chickens are as expensive as you make them. You can worm them monthly with Fluebenvet at £22 for a v.small tub or you can splurge £3 on unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar and add 25ml per litre of water for 3 days a month (plastic drinkers only), grated carrot has much the same effect. You can delouse them with Farmyard louse powder at £7 a tub or use ant killer from Tesco containing Permethyrin which has exactly hte same effect. After that £6 of food each week keeps 28 chickens happily fed who in return provide roughly 120 eggs per week sold at 80p per dozen (£1 to those who forget their egg boxes) I break even on the food bill over the year as well as having eggs to swap with the neighbours and more than enough to cook with.
I also invested in an incubator which enables me to hatch my own chicks, the boys get eaten at 6 months old having had a free ranging life. The incubator also goes out on loan to several of the local schools each year.
If anything keeping chickens is much easier than keeping a dog. Conversation with my neighbour goes "I'm away for the weekend. Would you mind letting the chickens out in the morning and shutting them up in the evening, I'll clean them out when I get back. Enjoy the eggs". Bit different to Hello Mr Kennels can I please give you £40 to lock my dog up for 48 hours, yes shes had all her very expensive vaccinations, gosh really you can't fit her in for 3 months....".
Obviously there are foxes to consider and birds of prey and avian flu just like theres rabies and distemper and worming and fleas and house training to consider when you have a dog. To imply that people put as much thought into getting chickens as they would popping into the pet store for a gerbil is just a bit far fetched.
Brilliant, thank you for that, best post on this thread yet. Loads of info and will use it when I set my chicken up. By the way can you leave the chicks when born outside in a hut without heat or do I neat plenty of heat in the shed for them0 -
If your chicks hatch as nature intended then they get all the heat they need from mum, its best to separate them and mum from the others for at least 8 weeks to stop them being bullied or killed.
If you hatch them in an incubator you'll need to give them heat 24 huors a day for the first 2 weeks than gradually reduce it to night only by 4-5 weeks, sooner in the summer when its warmer at night. You won't need to heat the entire shed, just a small area of it approx 12" by 12" (up to 12 chicks) with a heat lamp, out of draughts.Saving for a Spinning Wheel and other random splurges : £183.500 -
We have some chooks (4 of them) and also millions of covenent restrictions.
We just phoned council to see if chickens were livestock. They said that they wernt and the volume and type we were having meant they were either caged birds or pets (neither which would count as livestock).
I would phone council and check with them. Dont let your neighbour threaten you. We told our neigbours six months ago we were getting them. Last week he said to me 'when your chickens arriving' so I told him they had been against his fence for 5 months. He didnt even know. Not that he minded as he was ok with chooks.
Chickens are far more easier than dogs and far cheaper to look after.
As for chickens being the latest craze. I think its not a bad thing to have a craze which encourages people to be a bit healthier and closer to animals.0 -
Hi moo2moo
I think the reason a lot of us are advising caution is that we are worried that many people will have been shocked by the TV programmes and rush off out to buy chickens without actually thinking through what they are committing themselves to. And that will lead to a lot of birds suffering which none of us would want.
I like you was blessed with a wonderful neighbour:A. She also had chickens and alway insisted on looking after my chooks even though they were in a big enough house, that had light and air too, that they could have spent the odd day in there if they had to. She was also on hand during the day and if she heard a commotion from them always went to check that they were OK.
Thank you for the other information you've given. :T I was about to start mine on the cider vinegar, does it really need to be unfiltered as I don't think I can get that here (but am trying to brew my own at the moment). Also is the ant powder a branded one or Tesco's own and could you put up the ingredients list so I can try and match it with something over hereAiming for a Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget
FASHION ON THE RATION - 2024 62/66 coupons : 2025 36/66 coupons0 -
Keeping chickens is not like keeping a dog. I don't wish to put anyone off, but there is a lot more to consider, from foxes to avian flu, keeping up with the Defra rules etc.
For one thing, they are not pets, should there be an avian flu outbreak in the vicinity, your nice out all day birds will have to be shut in until the controls are relaxed.
I strongly suggest that people do not rush out and get a couple of chickens until they have spent at least 6 months researching the subject. Remember, there are no kennels for chickens for when you want to go on holiday.
I have nearly 30 yrs experience of home free-range chickens and they are hard work.
I only have 10 years' experience, but I find them very easy to keep - would never describe them as *hard work*. We leave ours for weekends (especially during the cooler months) with food and a drinker. For longer periods, we have several school age friends willing to assist for some pocket money.:rudolf: Sheep, pigs, hens and bees on our Teesdale smallholding :rudolf:0 -
Just a thought, but do young c0ckerels make as much noise as their adult counterparts?“You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”0
-
~Chameleon~ wrote: »Just a thought, but do young c0ckerels make as much noise as their adult counterparts?
Once they reach maturity they do.
It's hard to put in polite terms, but they crow for two reasons. One is to let other cockerels know this is their territory, and two to let the girls know they are the only stud in town.
Once a cockerel realises that girls are not soppy and can be fun they will call for them constantly. They will also crow to let any other cockerels in the vicinity know that these girls are his.0 -
geordie_joe wrote: »Once they reach maturity they do.
It's hard to put in polite terms, but they crow for two reasons. One is to let other cockerels know this is their territory, and two to let the girls know they are the only stud in town.
Once a cockerel realises that girls are not soppy and can be fun they will call for them constantly. They will also crow to let any other cockerels in the vicinity know that these girls are his.
I'd suspected as much but have never owned c0ckerels before, only hens. I'm just wondering if I'd get away with raising them to a decent size for the table before they started annoying the neighbours“You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.5K Spending & Discounts
- 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards