Anyone here keep chickens?

[Saluki]

We had Warrens and we had some Black Rocks - who were a bit Diva-ish. We always made sure we kept a minimum of 3, in case one died and then the other was not left all by herself.
As has been said, Warrens on point of lay, is the way to go. We were going to buy an Eggloo from the Omlet site but they are rather expensive. Foxes are a fact of life, I'm afraid. We never had problems with foxes and I don't think that @StickBouncer did either, when he kept hens. He had quite a few of them.

We bought Layers Pellets to feed them. Always got organic layers, as the extra 50p a sack for a better product seemed worth it. Our hens loved a bit of porridge (not hot porridge) and sometimes we would chop up a strawberry and put in for them. They loved pasta too. We would get greens from the market for them, at the end of day when they were being sold off cheap as they were a bit battered. Our hens were spoiled rotten. If my back garden was a little bigger, I'd have them again.

Horse shavings were great for their box, as was shredded paper. Finally, something sensible to use your security shredded paper for, hen bedding. It gets used up faster than for hamster bedding so you might need more mail. Easy to muck out.

Don't forget to give them names and cuddle them from time to time. Hens love being cuddled. The eggs are just a bonus of having great pets who are not as demanding as cats and dogs. Oh, as been said before, kiss goodbye to your lawn if you love it.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

We used to have chickens, and we will again. There has already been plenty of good advice here.

1. My main advice is don't get roosters. Just don't. They are evil. And you don't need them if you don't want to breed.

2. Make sure you have a well-made coop, and that you lock them up securely at night. Everything eats chickens. Here in Canada we have the added problem of racoons, which can open closed or bolted coop doors, which is what did for our last couple of hens.

3. Select your breed fairly carefully for their characteristics to suit your needs and your climate. We had Buff Orpingtons and Barred Plymouth Rocks, because they are both good laying hens, quite friendly, beautiful and cope well with very cold winters we get here in Ontario.

 

[SD1]

Find a neighbour who keeps chickens, encourage them to get more and buy their surplus!

 

[Sandra6]

I kept chickens on an allotment, they're really low maintenance - feed and clean out in the morning, pick up eggs.
They lived in a wooden shed, that had been purpose built with roosting beam and nest boxes.
They ate pellets/ feed from the farm shop and veg peelings,stale bread and the occasional cake.
In my opinion they need to have free run of an area, and shouldn't be kept in a cage/pen/run unless it's at least as big as a garage.
If you clip their wings they won't fly away but they do like to perch in low branches.

 

[Ganymede]

Several good points - and deffo no cockerel! Horrible things and your neighbours will hate you. (Actually you can tame a cock to be nice but it won't stop it from crowing.)

They love greens so if they are not on grass they thrive with extra cabbage leaves, handfuls of grass, they love stickyweed (cleavers) etc. Some chickens prefer cooked greens so I always put the grotty cabbage bits under the steamer to cook when we have cabbage/greens etc for dins then give the cooked bits to the birds. Technically illegal but everyone does it. Chickens who like cooked greens will usually be happy with raw lettuce, radish tops, chard, good weeds though.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Long shot of garden needing its pre winter tidy up & coop with inner and outer runs.

The full enclosure is 15 X 10 feet. The coop is claimed suitable for 6-8 birds. We have 3 currently (RIP Gladys a couple of weeks ago) and personally I think 4 is enough in here.

Tyres: there's one inside too - gives them something to have a mudbath in if the ground soil is very waterlogged - ours is near sold clay and always wet now. The tyres have bagged topsoil in them

I stapled the green tarpaulin (£2 B&Q) over one end and round the side slightly to protect their food and them from wind and blown rain. Works well.

The wood fence round the bottom and low wire is just to stop them pecking at the grass.

The gate is a spare piece of coop extension held in place and sliding between 3 broom handles. Low tec and works.

The wire on top is a precaution, they're smart birds- if the bottom door is open, they will get onto it and can flap from there to the slidey gate and escape onto the grass & veggies.

Inside the coop, perches and nest box with lid in place.

1 foot square cheapo flags, extending past all 4 sides of the inner run by 6 inches. Never had a fox problem & we do see them regularly nearby.

Another general garden shot, this is plenty big enough for them the fence is dead cheap to buy and just hammers into the ground. Top tip: cheap wooden decking squares from B&Q etc in their outer enclosure are useful as step plates in bad weather.

Weatherproof small storage box for their feed, grit, wood shavings, cleaning tools & suchlike.

Other things to think of: Buy a paper daily or get friendly with the local newsagent to supply you with a few returns every couple of days. You should change their coop floor paper daily & we line the nest box with newspaper too, keeps the box cleaner from poo and the odd soft egg that splats in there.

Buy a cat box, they're perfect for chicken transport and 2 birds will fit in one regular size box. We got ours off Gumtree for a fiver.

 

[Ganymede]

View attachment 110024
Long shot of garden needing its pre winter tidy up & coop with inner and outer runs.
View attachment 110025
The full enclosure is 15 X 10 feet. The coop is claimed suitable for 6-8 birds. We have 3 currently (RIP Gladys a couple of weeks ago) and personally I think 4 is enough in here.

Tyres: there's one inside too - gives them something to have a mudbath in if the ground soil is very waterlogged - ours is near sold clay and always wet now. The tyres have bagged topsoil in them
View attachment 110026
I stapled the green tarpaulin (£2 B&Q) over one end and round the side slightly to protect their food and them from wind and blown rain. Works well.

The wood fence round the bottom and low wire is just to stop them pecking at the grass.

The gate is a spare piece of coop extension held in place and sliding between 3 broom handles. Low tec and works.

The wire on top is a precaution, they're smart birds- if the bottom door is open, they will get onto it and can flap from there to the slidey gate and escape onto the grass & veggies.
View attachment 110027
Inside the coop, perches and nest box with lid in place.
View attachment 110028
1 foot square cheapo flags, extending past all 4 sides of the inner run by 6 inches. Never had a fox problem & we do see them regularly nearby.
View attachment 110029
Another general garden shot, this is plenty big enough for them the fence is dead cheap to buy and just hammers into the ground. Top tip: cheap wooden decking squares from B&Q etc in their outer enclosure are useful as step plates in bad weather.
View attachment 110030
Weatherproof small storage box for their feed, grit, wood shavings, cleaning tools & suchlike.

Other things to think of: Buy a paper daily or get friendly with the local newsagent to supply you with a few returns every couple of days. You should change their coop floor paper daily & we line the nest box with newspaper too, keeps the box cleaner from poo and the odd soft egg that splats in there.

Buy a cat box, they're perfect for chicken transport and 2 birds will fit in one regular size box. We got ours off Gumtree for a fiver.

Nice one, @shouldbeinbed!

Have to say, with a large henhouse and only 5 hens we do not muck out every day. We have one of those houses with a metal floor that you can slide out, which is also good. We use a good layer of sawdust which absorbs well.

When you said about tarpaulin - yes shelter is important. Our run has trees in it/overhanging so there is plenty of shade in the summer, this is important as well as shelter from inclement weather in the winter.

 

[Chromatic]

There used to be someone on here that took in a few rescued hens, and it was lovely seeing their gradual improvement in health from when she first got them.... Goes off to search....

That was Wafflycat I think. Wonder what happened to her?

 

[Sara_H]

Excellent! Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'll check out the links. Am beginning to err on the side of not keeping hens TBH.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

One thing which hasn't been mentioned so far is what are you going to do when they get old or ill? I kept them solely for the eggs and when they became old or I felt they weren't earning their keep, I was prepared to kill them and get more in. I wouldn't have taken them to a vet either.
Sounds brutal, but it's a consideration you have to think about.

 

[stephec]

One thing which hasn't been mentioned so far is what are you going to do when they get old or ill? I kept them solely for the eggs and when they became old or I felt they weren't earning their keep, I was prepared to kill them and get more in. I wouldn't have taken them to a vet either.
Sounds brutal, but it's a consideration you have to think about.

I've choked a chicken before now, we used to buy the dirt cheap at farmer's markets.

 

[Sara_H]

One thing which hasn't been mentioned so far is what are you going to do when they get old or ill? I kept them solely for the eggs and when they became old or I felt they weren't earning their keep, I was prepared to kill them and get more in. I wouldn't have taken them to a vet either.
Sounds brutal, but it's a consideration you have to think about.

How long do they live (if allowed to!) after they stop laying? I'd probably let them retire gracefully.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

@Sara_H They can last a few years, gradually the eggs become fewer and fewer but they do tend to be bigger.
After three years they are pretty knackered, face it, so would you be if you'd laid an egg virtually every day in that time!!!!

Even my cat wouldn't eat them (after cooking) when they were that old.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I keep chickens.

For a day or two in the fridge

Then they get roasted and eaten

Very nice too.

 

[User482]

We kept them for years in our small garden using an Eglu. We permanently fenced off an area and topped it up with wood chips so they had something to dig through. They're great fun, low maintenance and the eggs are delicious. And think of all the fun naming them. We had Henrietta, Layla, Shelley and Yoko.

We'll probably get some more in a year or two.