General Chat

Well at least thinking of it ..... Got half an acre and because of health finding hard to keep up .... Any advice from my gene friends?

Why not get some rescued chickens, apparently they thrive with some tlc and it saves them from being slaughtered.

If you google rescue hens you will find places nearby where you can get them after they have been rescued and checked over, won't cost much and fairly easy to keep as long as they have a safe fox proof nighttime shed.

My parents kept chickens for years when I was young, fed them scraps and grain and pellets and in winter boiled up potato peelings with some bran stirred in.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Lizx

We have chickens and they are so friendly plus give amazingly eggs. They put themselves to bed at night and if you go away often neighbours are happy to help for the eggs.

Ex battery hens don't usually live very long but would give a good introduction. We have a mixture but the latest are Black Rocks bought via our local fish van at point of lay - about 18 weeks and are so friendly. You will need a fence around the area you keep them in and if they try to fly out clip the feathers on one wing,

Hi David,
I keep hens, I've bought 'point of lay' and had 2 lots of 'rescues'.
Point of lay I bought a selection of breeds. I had a 5 ft high fence around them but soon realised the size of pen the they need isn't enough if you read what the internet suggests no matter where you read, I had 6 originally and the pen was 12 foot by 12 foot and they often had the run of the garden, the pol took a time before laying and the eggs were small but they soon got bigger and the hens thrived.
We then moved the hen run to the bottom of the garden, its is now 35ft by 18ft, covered in completely so I get no jackdaws or other wild birds in and keeps foxes out, I shut mine in at night when its is cold but now the sun comes up early I don't, they're out at dawn eating and pecking around.
My rescue hens I had 6 at a time, the first lot were okish, pretty bald but within 4 months had pretty well got all feathers back, they are quite timid of coming out of the house for a few days and they are week in the body and legs, so make sure if you have a rack for perching that you can manage to help them up onto the perches at night as they cannot jump up that far with out wing feathers and the legs aren't strong enough and that a nesting box is low down as well until they're stronger..
My second lot I never saw before getting them, we had another 6 , one came with a damaged leg, she could hop about but it was cruel to keep her as she struggled to hop around and was extremely thin, she'd sit hunched up and was picked on, her leg had lost all feeling as had her foot, I'm not sure how her leg was damaged.
Rescue hens tend to have beaks clipped and often have damaged feet, I've had a couple with claws missing and odd shaped feet.
But all in all most have gone onto lay the most beautiful eggs, I fed mine up on pellets, corn and some powder called 'chicken spice' you add it to wet feed, I used to do either spud pealings or brown wholemeal bread and layers pellets, made warm with the chicken spice added in the winter, it keeps them in good condition and helps them over a moult.
They also have oyster shell and grit. I worm mine 3 monthly and check the house weekly when I clean them out for parasites, there are loads of different powders and liquids for keeping hen houses clean and free from lice and red mite, I uses jeyes fluid then once dry I sprinkle red mite powder around to keep it free from them, check the hens feathers weekly to make sure they don't have lice, I check my hens daily to make sure they're clean rear end and not bleeding any where as hens that see blood will keep on at that area and cause a lot of problems for you.
Over time I am now back to 5 rescues and 1 of my original pol hens, rescues don't last that long, my pol have died over the time I've kept hens which is 6 years.

Sorry this is so long! :O didn't realise until I'd finished what I'd written.

Good luck
Dolly

Failing keeping hens, why don't you let someone else take the land over for veg growing, you can then get some veg for yourself in part payment

Dolly

So thankful for all advice .. Been looking today at hutches and birds ... Will keep you informed as to next step :)

We plan to get some ex batts at the end of July. We obtained a small shed from freecycle, and my husband has made nesting boxes, and the run from what we had in our garage. I joined a website for like minded people, and we are looking forward to getting our birds.

Neighbour two doors away keeps banties, and one of my A***n customers also keeps ex batts.

I used to help my Auntie feed her free range and deep litter hens, and collect their eggs during the school holidays.

Dolly, your information is most useful, and David, I hope your poultry keeping is a success.

Thank you Angel, I do hope you have great success with your battery hens, they are very weak when you get them and very stressed, they struggle to understand where to lay eggs to start with so keep and eye out for them laid anywhere :-) I never use hay in nesting boxes I buy a bail of shavings, it makes fantastic compost with the hens droppings.
They also soon work out a hierarchy, I have no cockerel to do that for them, it may look very agressive to start with but as long as no blood is drawn you'll be ok, if there should be blood at any time, I always have to hand a spray bottle of 'purple antiseptic' it covers the red and stops the pecking, it also helps to heal any pecked parts, the spray is used for all sorts of animals for small sores and abrasions.
the food I buy is in 20kg bags, £8.45 for layers pellets and the same for mixed corn.
The battery hen people recommend a feed for the hens, I have never used it, just layers pellets, it doesn't taken them long to learn to scratch and pick about on the floor like free range hens should.

if you need any more info, just drop me a pm :-)

Dolly X

Agree with Dolly re food and don't be tempted with layers mash that you have to mix with water. The mash they don't eat is wasted.

Our neighbour breeds hens and has a number of broody hens sitting on eggs at the moment. She has offered me a salmon faverolle youngster if the eggs hatch. We had a couple years ago with feathery feet and a creamy ruff so they don't see their feet very well. They were lovely friendly hens.

One warning - they are addictive - and it is very easy to aquire more than you intended but the eggs are always welcome by friends and neighbours.

We used to have ducks (Silver Appleyard) but the eggs need to be eaten with a week, unlike hens eggs which can last for 3, althougth they make superb cakes.

What a lovely thread, so interesting and informative:o)
l would love to have chickens but Vics not keen and l don't think we have enough room really:o(
l always chat to one of the cashiers at the supermarket, she has some,but had to re-home her cockerals as they were too noisy!!

Good luck David :o)
jude :D

Such a lot of help out there ... Looks like we may have a second hand coop and neighbour has offered to help with the fencing/run ... Hybrids are now the prefered option so looking to get three of them middle of the month once all is in place , Will inform as can . If you want more info am on facebook

We got our three girls in two weeks since, and it has been a steep learning curve.

On the first morning, despite the six foot fence all the way round the run, and pea netting over the top, one got out! She made her way over the potting shed roof, via the workshop to the garage roof. OH got the ladder out muttering "I didn't want them in the first place".

She flew over my head - my almost worst nightmare - I had one in my face when I was very very small, and landed in our garden, thank goodness. We got an old dust sheet, and managed to guide her back to the run.

Out came the scissors, and I clipped one wing on each hen. They can still travel fairly high, but hopefully now that the pea netting has been adjusted they will stay in the run.

I have had two or more eggs most days, and have used them in baking, scrambled, fried and boiled.

Yesterday we had torrential rain, and the run was a sea of mud. This morning OH completed the roofing to cover half of it, and we have put pavers and wood chippings over the rest.

This morning, after putting up three wind breaks, we let them out. I am fearful they will hop into the huge field at the bottom of the garden.

By 9pm, they are roosting in their shed, and I fasten them in.

They really are a joy.

Congratulations and so pleased they are a success. We also had one with the wonderlust when we first got the younger hens. She got out of a stable with 8' sides and spent the night in a hedge before we found her.

They are fine now they know the boundaries. We give them grain in the afternoon and they come to call when we rattle some in a tin.

Kay

As I understand it from poultry keeping friends - beware of rats.

And foxes.

I had 38 hens in January in a lovely large safe, roofed pen. We let them out each day and shut them in at dusk. I now have 22 hens; up until last week when 14 foxes were shot in our area, every time I let my girls out, I found a pile of feathers. I kept them in for weeks on and off over the summer hoping the foxes would get the hint and go away but no such luck.

Now my hens have been safe for a week - until the next lot of urban foxes is released in my locality.