Home grown chickens to eat? (Merged Discussion)

Benny24

Would love to keep chickens and hens. Sadly can't due to restrictions on the deeds of the house.

rog2

dND wrote: »

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.

That is, indeed, true, dND - However, when we last kept chickens we found them less of a 'tie' than cats or dogs, because it was easier to find someone to feed and check on them, in return for 'free' eggs whilst we were away.

elaine373

I would like to keep chickens and the programmes last week has made me think further and investigate. I wont get any until i am 100% sure i can look after them properly. I was browsing on ebay for a hen house and saw how expensive they are. I realised as i was looking, how very similiar my childrens old playhouse is to some of the hen houses on ebay.(wooden 5ft by 5ft). I will either convert it to suit any hens needs or will sell it with the potential of it being a hen house.I would love to bring a bit of countryside life to the inner city. Am i being naive?

~Chameleon~

elaine373 wrote: »

I would like to keep chickens and the programmes last week has made me think further and investigate. I wont get any until i am 100% sure i can look after them properly. I was browsing on ebay for a hen house and saw how expensive they are. I realised as i was looking, how very similiar my childrens old playhouse is to some of the hen houses on ebay.(wooden 5ft by 5ft). I will either convert it to suit any hens needs or will sell it with the potential of it being a hen house.I would love to bring a bit of countryside life to the inner city. Am i being naive?

Not at all! The playhouse sounds perfect for a hen-house!

You will need to put in a couple of perches (2"x2" lengths of wood will suffice, just smooth off the edges slightly) and some nesting boxes which can be made from any old box, e.g. the wooden orange crates you can get from the greengrocer etc.

You want the nesting boxes to be off the floor so either secure them to one of the walls or build a shelf to put them on. Make sure there is adequate ventilation so if it currently has a window you might want to think about replacing that for strong wire mesh instead, just make sure it's sheltered from prevailing winds or it might be too draughty.

Sounds a great project and will save you loads of money too!

Daz1

elaine373 wrote: »

I would like to keep chickens and the programmes last week has made me think further and investigate. I wont get any until i am 100% sure i can look after them properly. I was browsing on ebay for a hen house and saw how expensive they are. I realised as i was looking, how very similiar my childrens old playhouse is to some of the hen houses on ebay.(wooden 5ft by 5ft). I will either convert it to suit any hens needs or will sell it with the potential of it being a hen house.I would love to bring a bit of countryside life to the inner city. Am i being naive?

Not naive at all. If only more people would consider the possibilities of growing veg/rearing chickens in urban areas, they would be much greener and friendlier places. Have a look at the web, there are numerous websites giving advice on keeping chickens in small urban areas, even flat rooftops of buildings. The only thing to be wary of is any by-laws or covenants or local regulations prohibiting it and the nuisance factor to your neighbours....most of which will be imagined by an over-zealous neighbour eager to prevent anyone from having what he can't have. Of couse, the above doesn't apply to plants, which I am doing in containers this year. So far have planned tomatoes (cherry and beefsteak), carrots, courgettes, strawberries, potatoes, mixed salad leaf, peppers and cucumbers. Your playhouse sounds OK, stick up a couple of shelves and perches and make a little nest box area where they will lay their eggs (creatures of habit). Check for leaks and draughts and remedy as required. Include a small door out onto a secure area outside where they can scratch around safely and they should be happy

hex2

moo2moo thanks very much for your post, very helpful.

The set up cost will be enough to put a lot of people off I suspect. We have both had chickens before, as do both sets of grandparents so we knew what we have let ourselves in for. We built our own ark (lucky to have a very competent DH) but materials still came in at £80, 4 hens £15, feed (1 x grain £12/20kg& 2 x pellets£6/20kg) £24, feeders £25, bins for the feed £20, £2.50 for a bale of straw plus of course the ongoing costs of the feed and add ons as per moo2moo. I have no illusions that they will pay for themselves, but the pleasure of collecting two eggs from our chickens this morning outweighs the cost and 'inconvenience'. Incidentally it is £2.65 per 12 medium free range eggs in my local co-op.

We also have two dogs, three cats and some indoor goldfish. In terms of hassle for return I think the goldfish are the worst .

rog2

hex2 wrote: »

In terms of hassle for return I think the goldfish are the worst .

I looked at the 'per kilo' price of Goldfish Food, in Tesco - I think it is about £74.00. :rotfl: :rotfl:

Thank God they sell it in 28 gramme packs.

Tabby_Kitten_2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

You will need to put in a couple of perches (2"x2" lengths of wood will suffice, just smooth off the edges slightly) and some nesting boxes which can be made from any old box, e.g. the wooden orange crates you can get from the greengrocer etc.

You want the nesting boxes to be off the floor so either secure them to one of the walls or build a shelf to put them on.

Just make sure that the nest boxes are lower than the perches or they will end up sleeping in the boxes instead of on the perches and you will end up having to clean the boxes out everyday to keep the eggs clean

Tabby_Kitten_2

Just for info, in the 21st Century Smallholder it's got the cost of feed per chicken worked out at £12 a year in 2006.

rog2

Tabby_Kitten wrote: »

Just for info, in the 21st Century Smallholder it's got the cost of feed per chicken worked out at £12 a year in 2006.

Which works out at 3.3 pence per day. Assuming a 'lay rate' of 50% that works out at 79 pence for a dozen free-range eggs. Not bad value at all.