any advice?
wife has talked me into them if they ain't to much trouble.
for all the pedants, sorry it's in the bike forum. 😛
I've got some; wife and kids love them but I can't stand them. Their personality(!) is dreadful. They're such premadonnas!! They're in the house if I turn my back-drives me mental.
Nice eggs tho and they don't take much looking after. Not a cost effective method once you factor hutches feed etc...
initial start up cost seems high, even if i build the hen house and run myself.
any tips?
Yeh i have 4 hens.Easy to look after but you need to control spider mite in the summer.
When i clean them out i use a gas bottle and flame gun to just scorch the inside of the chicken house and then i spray with jays fluid which seems to work well.
give them plenty of space, and dont expect the lawn to stay as lawn for long.
ours liked cold porridge and raisens.
Had 4 hens and acockerel maran breed batam sized, the run and house i built from one sheet of ply plus odd bits from shed, i kept the food in the shed in a metal dustbin and would let them free range during the day, we lived in country surrounded by fields and other peoples chickens so noise from cockerel was not a problem, i was going to breed them but we moved to usa, the eggs were lovely and 4 hens gives enough eggs for a family of 5 plus some to sell or give away, if you sell them its pays for the food, i got some books from the libiary to read up on ther breeds and keeping them, i found a website from google listing breeders and locations. i found it hard to find the breed i wanted, the breeder said that he had a constant demand for his hens as did most other breeders due to the j oliver programme etc, but the kids like them and and i would get more again if i could
Low maintenance, the eggs taste great, and they're good fun to watch wandering around the garden.
We've had chickens for years, great education for the kids on where their food comes from and the responsibilities involved. Get or make an Ark with living quarters on top and a bit of a run underneath then if you want to go away for a night you don't have to find someone to check on them. If you are away for a weekend or longer it's never hard to find someone to look after them in return for fresh eggs.
Hybrids are best to start with, high egg output and very hardy, but once you have some you'll soon want some differant breeds. We have speckldies and Black Rocks, love watching them cluck about the garden in the summer.
If you are a proud gardener don't do it as they will dig up your lawn, veg and flower beds if you don't watch them. We are lucky enough to have enough room for them to have their own little area, but it is soon devoid of vegitation so we let them have an hour or two in the garden several times a week.
re the gardening - I fenced off an area for my hens, and also fenced off the veg patch for when they're out in the garden. It works fine.
Agree, 4 hens keeps us in eggs. I don't free range them round the garden for reasons given above, but keep them in an ark - house plus run - which sits on some weldmesh to keep foxes out and chickens from trying to scratch too big a trench. The ark I have is from Forsham Arks [url= http://www.forshamcottagearks.com/ ]here[/url] who also have useful info on their site particularly an [url= http://www.forshamcottagearks.com/MainMenuPages/ForshamFowlFanciers1.htm ]intro article[/url] worth a read, but are not the cheapest. Another with a good reputation is Littleacre. However, our ark has lasted well, currently 5 years old and on its second set of inhabitants.
You can make your own ark and there are good plans around, I used a pair of books by Michael Roberts called "Poultry Housing" and "making Mobile Hen Houses" to make a broody pen and the info was fine. Keep the feed in dustbins in the garage/shed or expect mice, apple cider vinegar in the water keeps it clean (find your local country shop/provider of all things horse) and you will need a supply of bedding - straw or I use a hemp derived material again sold as upmarket horse bedding, a sack lasts about 3 months and is fine ( albeit uneconomical as horse bedding). Daughter+pony = no chance of happening round here.
Finally, for the livestock get hold of some hybrids bred for free range/smallholder production e.g. Black Rock, Rhode Island/Sussex cross, Bovans Nera, Rhode Rock etc., get vaccinated Point of lay birds - about 16-18 weeks old so they don't need molly codling. clean out house every 1-2 weeks and move to new bit of grass every 4-5 days - wheels or a strong helper make this easier - view it as weight training for the riding. Agree that inside of run needs cleaning re-treating every year. Other than that they look after themselves.
Apart from this year when anno domini caught up with 2 of the original 4 and we had to restock, we haven't bought an egg in 5 years and the ark is a magnet for children - ours and their friends.