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Keeping Chickens

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Barmaid | 20:31 Mon 07th Mar 2011 | Home & Garden
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I've received some good links on here for my "keeping chooks" plan. But cost is an issue.

Does anyone keep their own chooks? I am only thinking of two - something like Welsummers.

If you keep your own, what do you think to this style of henhouse for them? I want them to be happy.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk...WQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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Avatar Image NazNomad
I wouldn't 'confine' them to that run area. Will you be letting them have 'free run' of the garden?
20:32 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image DTCwordfan
talk about spoilt chickens - should make a great pie though
20:34 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image Barmaid
Question Author
lol, don't be daft! I like my borders - they'll destroy them. I won't mind them being out when I am around (which is a lot of the time), but not "unattended". So I need a bigger run.........
20:34 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image Barmaid
Question Author
Yes but they will be pets DT not just egg producers and I would like them to be safe (4 predatory cats here)!!!
20:35 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image DTCwordfan
http://pets.vivastree...c-hen-house-/29379638

and 4getmenot will like this as it is her back yard and they know about keeping multi-toed chickens.
20:36 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image NazNomad
The shed & nestbox part look fine for 3 chooks ... I had 3 in a run 8'x20' and they still came out and roamed the garden (yes, they will scratch the crap out of your borders).

Think how long the grass in that run will last before it's just a muddy pool of chicken-shít (yep, about 2 days) assuming you're not constantly relocation the thing around the garden.
20:38 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image NazNomad
Christ, DT ... £646?

Does it have flush toilets and a Rembrandt in the nestbox?
20:39 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image DTCwordfan
freezing weather is a great time to move the crap.....believe me - have done that for a friend.
20:39 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image Barmaid
Question Author
Nice idea DT but a) tis very expensive and b) there is no run (and when I am not around I want them to be able to get out and scratch and i can't trust the FH to look after them since he is not keen).

I was planning on shifting it round the garden Naz. I don't want it too big because it needs to fit in my brother's van if we go away (so they can go to the chicken holiday park at my parents)!
20:43 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image DTCwordfan
And I wanted to find you a Rolls Royce hut for your little friends complete with a bathroom for keeping their combs in...........

Oh well.
20:45 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image Barmaid
Question Author
lol.

My FH's take on my "growing our own food, composting our waste, having chooks and a wormery etc" is "For Funks Sake, it's like living with Felicity bloody Kendal".
20:48 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image DTCwordfan
I wouldnt mind a date with her though.......
20:50 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image NazNomad
From that eBay listing ...

Q: "How much space do they need?"

A: "Roughly 1 square foot per bird".


I wouldn't keep chickens in an area that small ... yeah 1sq.ft to roost, maybe, but not for daytime running about. I think 1 square metre/bird is the minimum area needed to label a chook 'free range'.
20:51 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image Barmaid
Question Author
I think you'll be fighting the FH off DT. Shame I am not blonde, slim and winsome.
20:52 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image DTCwordfan
lol - its more the personality that counts for me.......
20:54 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image Barmaid
Question Author
Yeah I think they need a bit more Naz. I spoke to a friend about it the other day for some advice (he keeps chooks, geese, ducks, sheep). He said they need about a square foot each which I thought was tiny. My coffee table is bigger than that.

I only want two (one would be lonely and three would be too much). And based on the number of eggs we eat, two is about OK. (Although if I do go down this road, I cannot object to the FH having fried egg sandwiches which makes him smell terrible).
20:56 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image NazNomad
pmsl ... do it, chooks are great.If you discover they need more room, just get a portable 'run' and move that about instead of lugging the whole coop around the garden.
21:00 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image AlBags
The friends I work for have 4. They live in an Igloo .. There is enough space for them .. and it contains the nesting boxes which you can get to through a flap. The Igloo has a small covered pen attached with feed in a bin. From this (which has a wire gate) you should let them out in daylight hours into a wired off area with water which they can scratch about in.
Good thing about Igloos is that they are easily moveable, weatherproof and fox proof. Foxes get to know where the chichens are .. and WILL check out security.
21:07 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image AlBags
Happy chickens will produce varied nos. of eggs .. My friends 4 are doing 2-3 per day at the moment average.
21:08 Mon 07th Mar 2011
Avatar Image society
Barmaid, get some chicken-fence wire and a some pegs to keep the wire firmly in the ground. Very easy to set up, take down and transport.
21:13 Mon 07th Mar 2011

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