Advice on keeping hens in the garden please?

shaywest

iv'e been keeping hens for about 5 years now
they dont need a cock to lay eggs (do you need a man to menstrate)
a cock is good if you have a wide open space (he'll keep them all in tow happily pecking around together)
they dont need vets or vaccinations (they come they go)
great way to get rid of table scraps(they love rice pasta leftover cereals pretty much anything ,beats clogging up your brown bin)
if you have a compost heap they can spend the whole day picking away at it.cats (i have many)are rarely a problem,or dogs for that matter.
make sure they have something like an old shoebox filled with straw in the darkest part of the coop to lay in.
lots of fun (and eggs ) ahead
pm me if you want the number of reliable suppliers of pre lay hens
definitly go for it !

kerrysgold

shaywest wrote: »

iv'e been keeping hens for about 5 years now
they dont need a cock to lay eggs (do you need a man to menstrate)
a cock is good if you have a wide open space (he'll keep them all in tow happily pecking around together)
they dont need vets or vaccinations (they come they go)
great way to get rid of table scraps(they love rice pasta leftover cereals pretty much anything ,beats clogging up your brown bin)
if you have a compost heap they can spend the whole day picking away at it.cats (i have many)are rarely a problem,or dogs for that matter.
make sure they have something like an old shoebox filled with straw in the darkest part of the coop to lay in.
lots of fun (and eggs ) ahead
pm me if you want the number of reliable suppliers of pre lay hens
definitly go for it !

Of course if the hen is sick it needs to see a vet, unless you advocate allowing an animal to suffer simply because they aren't expensive to buy!

Yorky

My pullet enclosure has turned in to a 'mudbath'. Can anyone suggest some ground cover ? I thought of bark mulch - is that a good idea?

rovergirl

I have put down all the spare stones that I dug out of the veggie patch, to create a sort of hard core which works quite well, think there may be problems with bark because of bugs, but check the threads on the poultry keepers forum - its a mine of information.

Yorky

rovergirl wrote: »

I have put down all the spare stones that I dug out of the veggie patch, to create a sort of hard core which works quite well, think there may be problems with bark because of bugs, but check the threads on the poultry keepers forum - its a mine of information.

Thanks. Could you provide a link to that forum please?

rovergirl

http://thepoultrykeeper.co.uk/ is the place to go:)

ttm

Yorky wrote: »

My pullet enclosure has turned in to a 'mudbath'. Can anyone suggest some ground cover ? I thought of bark mulch - is that a good idea?

Bark is great but you will need to dig it all out and replace it occasionally unless you move the hens around. Otherwise the hens will eventually just be living in a compost heap of their own droppings. Our chickens are out during the day and find the dogs run covered in about 2inches of bark irresistible to scratch around in - well after they've checked if theres anything dogs bowl. As far as bugs in Bark is concerned what do you think chickens are scratching around for all day? Brushwood chippings from a tree surgeon are just as good and often a lot cheaper.

bertie1

I am in Cork . Got some from Midlands poultry in Laois ( day old chicks) . Bought a timber hen house off them as well. Got electric fence netting on ebay to keep my dogs & the local foxes out . So far so good they are 5 months old now. None laying yet but the cocks are making noise in the mornings

dazed+confused

A lot of you seem to be in the chicken ownership for the long haul and I don't want to horrify anyone here. I'm think of raising some broilers purely for their free range meat rather than eggs. Does anyone know where to source good eating breeds and whether hens or cocks make better eating?

eadaoinm

Hi there!

You mentioned getting battery hens to keep, I'm really interested in this but wonder how you go about getting them? I'm located in Co. Meath and wonder how to go about it?? Any advice would be great!:)

dazed+confused

I know a guy in Drogheda that will be retiring his free range hens in July and is giving them away. They are coming to the end of their second year. They will continue to lay until the winter when they will go into moult and then they will start to lay again after that.

I picked up a new batch of chicks from a guy in Edenderry yesterday. He had everything from Hens to Turkeys to Ducks. He was really was dead on. You might find it easier to just buy a few "point of lay" hens. I bought 6 day old chicks from him which are the start of my laying stock. I already have a flock of broilers on the go.

eadaoinm

Thanks for that info Dazed +Confused! I should be cracking on (excuse the pun!) from the weekend on (once the chicken accommodation is made, so I'll bear that in mind!

shaywest

try this guy (could be the same guy d+c talked about)
thornwell poultry farm 0868201777

arctictree

Friend of mine just set up this site for anyone interested in keeping hens:

http://www.keepingchickens.ie

lemoneyes

Hi. New user here. I'm also getting hens this week. I've researched everything but i still have one main concern RATS. I have purchased an auto-feeder. Is this a bad idea. Whats the best way of detering rats as I detest them.

olaola

Spotted this : http://petethevet.blogspot.com/2009/08/do-you-want-hens-in-your-back-yard.html

animalcrazy

Good luck to all the new chicken keepers!
We free range our poultry, they can go as far as they want, into the fields next door and all. We used to only have chickens, but got two ducks just to add some variety to our flock. We got aylesburys and soon realised we liked them much better then our chickens! They don't fly so can't go up into trees, they are much slower then chickens so easy to herd, they lay bigger eggs, they lay better then chickens and are much cuter lol.

We gave them a paddling pool to play around in and they are great, we now have five and are replacing the chickens with ducks as they die off. I recommend Aylesbury ducks to anyone who free ranges! The eggs taste the same and have the same nutrionial value.

wexford202

One of my hens came out of her house eysterday with 13 babies.

I attached a picture but I couldn't get all of them in one pic

:rolleyes:

Dusty87

animalcrazy wrote: »

Good luck to all the new chicken keepers!
We free range our poultry, they can go as far as they want, into the fields next door and all. We used to only have chickens, but got two ducks just to add some variety to our flock. We got aylesburys and soon realised we liked them much better then our chickens! They don't fly so can't go up into trees, they are much slower then chickens so easy to herd, they lay bigger eggs, they lay better then chickens and are much cuter lol.

We gave them a paddling pool to play around in and they are great, we now have five and are replacing the chickens with ducks as they die off. I recommend Aylesbury ducks to anyone who free ranges! The eggs taste the same and have the same nutrionial value.

You find aylesburys lay better than your chickens? What breed of chickens? Aylesburys are a fattening breed. If you think there good layers get yourself some khaki kambells:)

ttm

Dusty87 wrote: »

You find aylesburys lay better than your chickens? What breed of chickens? Aylesburys are a fattening breed. If you think there good layers get yourself some khaki kambells:)

Do any breeds of chickens lay less well than ducks? Just wondering why you can't buy ducks eggs in the shops 365 days of the year?

ttm

wexford202 wrote: »

One of my hens came out of her house eysterday with 13 babies.

I attached a picture but I couldn't get all of them in one pic

:rolleyes:

Wonderful................. if thats 13 ***hens*** you have there

Edit> But do keep and eye out for local cats and dogs if they are not in a run.

Dusty87

ttm wrote: »

Do any breeds of chickens lay less well than ducks? Just wondering why you can't buy ducks eggs in the shops 365 days of the year?

Oh yea, different breeds lay different. You can get duck eggs in some shops. I cant answer your question as why there not as popular though. midlandpoultry.com wil give you the traits of each breed of hen, which lay better, which are better for meat etc. They dont do ducks i dont think.

scottyboy1973

......but I'm just wondering how much time this will take? I like the idea of having chickens - we have 2.5 young children and I like the idea of them knowing where the stuff comes from. But my issue is that I don't have masses of time

I was looking at www.chic-hens.ie - they have a special on a coop at the mo for 275 unpainted http://www.chic-hens.ie/optionalextras.html. is this too much to pay?

And should I let them just roam around my garden or keep them in some sort of run? we have a good bit of space so that shouldnt be an issue?

Any my last question is about Old Mr Fox - anyone have any advice on what they've done to stop him getting at their chickens?

Thanks a million - SM

PS - it's great that so many folk are having such good experiences with this stuff!

tampopo

Try www.thegoodlife.ie

you can't go wrong

scottyboy1973

tampopo wrote: »

Try www.thegoodlife.ie

you can't go wrong

thanks a million

Ive read in a few places that they dont really lay in the Winter so am I best waiting until spring before getting all set up?

jameswburke

ttm wrote: »

Bark is great but you will need to dig it all out and replace it occasionally unless you move the hens around. Otherwise the hens will eventually just be living in a compost heap of their own droppings. Our chickens are out during the day and find the dogs run covered in about 2inches of bark irresistible to scratch around in - well after they've checked if theres anything dogs bowl. As far as bugs in Bark is concerned what do you think chickens are scratching around for all day? Brushwood chippings from a tree surgeon are just as good and often a lot cheaper.

Additive-free mulch is available in bulk or smaller quantities at http://www.southeastfirewood.com

My hens like it and it goes in the compost when they've muddied it up too much

North&South

Hi, we are in Galway & started with our chooks last year.
I have quite a few friends who keep their own birds & have a good 20-odd sites faved as well, for advice!

So far, we have 3 common brown hens - the mainstay egg layers
4 Marans, one of which is our top broody girls - she's currently raising 7 chicks & 2 keets - then we have 2 green-legged partridge hens, a Rhode Island Red rooster, a white dorking rooster, and 2 guinea fowls... then there's the 3 turkeys for xmas & beyond...... and 2 muscovy ducks (well, a drake & a duck)

Hubby built a huge rabbit hutch in the spring when we were going to start breeding rabbits for meat & fur - this plan has had to wait now & the broody hen & chicks all live in there quite happily - once the broody is out, it will become the nursery pen for the growing chicks - until they are big enough for the oven.

Mainly, as other folk have said, make sure that the chicken houses are kept clean, don't overfeed them especially if they are free roaming, and keep an eye on their health. As long as the bottom litter is dry, you can just add to it - especially during the winter, it helps to keep them warm - unfortunately, we had a flood in our main chicken house, so ours are all roosting on tyres at the moment :eek: But they love it!!

You don't want to be running to the vets every 5 minutes - that would make your eggs & meat very expensive!!
Look for alternative remedies.... a sage brew with honey will help if any of them develop coughs & colds - use chopped garlic in their food to help worm them - and apple cider vinegar in the water is a real tonic for them too!

Keep an eye out for Poultry bring & buy sales - not so much for buying birds, but they are good places to get your dustmite powders, wormers, feeders, etc.

We have 5 chicks in an indoor rabbit hutch at the minute - and another 12 eggs in the incubator - so next year should be good for the freezer, especially when the rabbit plan starts up properly - yay!

Any advice, feel free to PM.

dazed+confused

Dusty87 wrote: »

You find aylesburys lay better than your chickens? What breed of chickens? Aylesburys are a fattening breed. If you think there good layers get yourself some khaki kambells:)

I had 4 Khaki Campbell ducklings hatch at the weekend. I hatched them under a broody Copper Maran hen. It was her (and my) first time hatching a brood. I've always bought day old chicks before this.

I'd never use the incubator/heat lamp method again for rearing chicks. Now granted that's only because I'm only on a hobby scale, buts its incredible to watch the hen caring for the ducklings and keeping them warm. There's no running cost for a heat lamp, no set up to be done ensuring that the lamp is the right distance away from the bedding etc. If the ducklings are cold they tuck in under the hen to warm up, they waddle off for a feed and a drink every few hours and then come back again.

Watching nature at work in the instincts of the hen and the ducklings is absolutely fascinating. Its amazing that the hen took to it so naturally, I was slightly curious as to whether she would notice that they were ducklings and not chicks, but she doesn't seem to mind at all!

LisaO

dazed+confused wrote: »

Its amazing that the hen took to it so naturally, I was slightly curious as to whether she would notice that they were ducklings and not chicks, but she doesn't seem to mind at all!

Wait until the ducklings decide to go for a swim - the hen often gets into a panic then

Same here - had a solitary Khaki Campbell duckling hatched by my brahma hen last week. She absolutely dotes on him/her - clucking away to call it to feed & offering tiny morsels. Very cute

dazed+confused

Same here - had a solitary Khaki Campbell duckling hatched by my brahma hen last week. She absolutely dotes on him/her - clucking away to call it to feed & offering tiny morsels. Very cute

Ha yeah, my brother is convinced that they'll never learn to swim because they haven't got a duck to teach them.
I asked him how duck raised in incubators learn to swim and he fell silent, doing his confused look.