Keeping chickens (for eggs)

deisemum

seanyroche wrote: »

Great infomation here. have you a phone number and directions of keohg pkultry as I can't find It on google thanks

I cannot find the phone number but I'll contact the people I got it from originally. I was trying Keogh's before I noticed that it's Kehoe's. It's not far past New Ross just off the N25. You go past the Brandon Hotel through the roundabout at the top of the hill and follow the road for about half a mile - 1 mile and take the next left. There's a dark signpost on the right-hand side under the trees pointing to the left for Kehoe's Poultry. It's just up that road on the corner.

I need the number myself as I need to replace a couple of hens.

seanyroche

deisemum wrote: »

seanyroche wrote: »

Great infomation here. have you a phone number and directions of keohg pkultry as I can't find It on google thanks

I cannot find the phone number but I'll contact the people I got it from originally. I was trying Keogh's before I noticed that it's Kehoe's. It's not far past New Ross just off the N25. You go past the Brandon Hotel through the roundabout at the top of the hill and follow the road for about half a mile - 1 mile and take the next left. There's a dark signpost on the right-hand side under the trees pointing to the left for Kehoe's Poultry. It's just up that road on the corner.

I need the number myself as I need to replace a couple of hens.

Thanks very much. Still can't find it with the other spelling. Would be good to call and find out what they have and the prices before going down there. Thanks again

deisemum

When I got my hens from Mrs Kehoe she prefered people to phone in advance as she wouldn't always have hens at point of lay every week. I'll get back to you when I get a contact number.

seanyroche

deisemum wrote: »

When I got my hens from Mrs Kehoe she prefered people to phone in advance as she wouldn't always have hens at point of lay every week. I'll get back to you when I get a contact number.

thanks a million

seanyroche

seanyroche wrote: »

deisemum wrote: »

When I got my hens from Mrs Kehoe she prefered people to phone in advance as she wouldn't always have hens at point of lay every week. I'll get back to you when I get a contact number.

thanks a million

Well, did you find the number after? Sean

deisemum

seanyroche wrote: »

Well, did you find the number after? Sean

No but I'm meeting other GIY'ers tonight so should hopefully get hold of the number then. I need to get a few hens myself.

deisemum

I finally got the phone number for Kehoe's Poultry today, it's 051-421776.

I've only got 1 hen at the moment, 1 died last Thursday and they need company so I'm getting more tomorrow. I just hope they settle in ok as I expect there'll be squabbles while the pecking order is fought out. I heard if you put a bit of vinegar on each hen it confuses their sense of smell

cococoady

In the process of building a coop myself. Have the outside run built and its joined onto the side of a shed. I'm just really stumped on how to build the hen house itself. The layout and the size of it. I'm only planning on having 2 hens so any advice or pics of your own is appreciated

Iyaibeji

I would suggest having a look here
http://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

Plenty of ideas there.
Also, there are lots of free plans online for chicken coops.

I'd suggest you get 3 hens if you can, so if something happens to one the other will still have company.
Also, go bigger than you think you'll need , as you may well find yourself wanting to add more to your flock once you discover how lovely they are to own.

Cabaal

Finally sorting my garden out this year to get chickens, have my two raised beds built and put in this weekend and just putting down weed barrier for my gravel area. As part of this I'm putting in woodchip for where the chicken coop will be going.

Only took three years from when I first started looking into getting chickens :pac:
Opting for this coop

cococoady

3 years :-0
Some careful planning going in there haha. I decided on Friday I wanted em and by Saturday I had a run up. Only have to sort out the housing part now.
Does anyone know where I can get chicks so the little one can raise em and watch em grow, and then we eventually get eggs from for the dinner :-)

spankmemunkey

deisemum wrote: »

I'm in Viewmount and I've got 4 hens and wouldn't be without them. There is no comparison between the freshness, texture and colour of your own hens eggs and the majority of shop bought eggs. We don't have a rooster, I wouldn't inflict that on our neighbours or ourselves.

We've got Rhode Island Reds crossed with Light Suxxex and they can each produce up to 330 eggs in their first year, a bit less in subsequent years, they moult after about a year laying and may stop laying for about 6 to 8 weeks then when their feathers grow back they should start laying again. We bought them when they were near point of lay and had them 6 weeks before they started laying. They're great entertainment too;)

You're allowed keep poultry in urban areas, in fact Trevor Sargeant endorsed this while he was still Minister and notified all councils about this. I checked all of this out before getting my feathered ladies, with the council and Dept. of Agriculture.

The only paperwork that you must do even if it's only for one bird is download a form to register your flock with the Dept. of Agriculture, this is just in case there's an outbreak of bird flu or something like that and the Dept can contact registered bird owners. It's free and they don't come visiting.

My husband built a hen house within a shed and made a run out the back of it. As we weren't using our garden during the winter we let them out into the lawn but now that we're sowing seeds and planting vegetables he built a portable one out in the lawn area that can be moved around so they have access to grass.

They're very cheap to keep, a bag of layers pellets costs around €12 and lasts about 10 weeks for 4 hens, a bale of bedding straw lasts about 2 months and costs about €5 - €6. I mainly put it in their nesting boxes and a small sprinkling of it in the body of the hen house, I line the hen house and nest boxes with cardboard and newspaper. A bag of grit costs €2.50 and is essential for them to grind their food and for forming the egg shells, I'm still using the first bag that I got back in mid-September when we got the hens.

A drinker costs €4.40 and a feeder about €5. We got our hens from Keogh's Poultry just past New Ross and they were €8 each. We're getting 4 eggs a day so give some to neighbours and to the mindees to bring home.

They love scraps of food, things like potato skins, leftover veg, fruit, melon, sweetcorn, pears, apples etc. No meat or salty and processed foods. Avoid bread unless it's wet.

I clean out the hen house about once a week to 10 days. For small birds they produce plenty of sh1te but do at least 50% of it at night. I just clean out the paper, straw and sh1te and put it in a compost bin so will have great compost later in the year.

I did poultry husbandry as a subject in college back in the early 80's including incubating, rearing, killing, post mortums and cooking chickens, turkeys, geese as well as hens. My classmates and myself were known as cock chokers.;) We just used our hands and manually killed them, we didn't use an axe or knife. It's all in the technique but we had to use a broom handle for turkeys.

I have been considering getting a couple of chicks to rear for the table but my children and mindees would not fancy me killing something we reared.

We have 3 cats as well but they keep out from the hens, a couple of pecks and flapping of wings sorted that.

If there's anything you want to know just ask and I'll see if I can help. I fully recommend getting them.

Great post and I hope your knowledge and skills have been utilised by other posters, id love to keep chickens in my garden, I would also love to keep Ducks! any views on Ducks? nearly wrote Dicks there ha,do Ducks not fly away? I reckon they would be louder then chickens?

deisemum

The second of my new hens laid her first egg today, the first one started last week but they're very small but will get bigger soon enough. The last of the original hens has stopped laying but she's in good enough form and keeps the new ones in check with the occasional peck or chase round the garden.

Ducks are noisier and messier than hens but would be ideal in a rural area especially if you grow vegetables as they'd clear slugs.

spankmemunkey

deisemum wrote: »

The second of my new hens laid her first egg today, the first one started last week but they're very small but will get bigger soon enough. The last of the original hens has stopped laying but she's in good enough form and keeps the new ones in check with the occasional peck or chase round the garden.

Ducks are noisier and messier than hens but would be ideal in a rural area especially if you grow vegetables as they'd clear slugs.

I reckon you should start a Waterford The Good Life Thread, Where waterford posters talk about raised beds growing your own and having animals etc etc in an urban setting, Im sure it would be popular and help people poke their foot in the water.

bluecherry74

Hope you don't mind a Corkonian butting in! This thread is great, especial deisemum's post on the first page. I'm in the process of getting hens for the first time and there's a load of useful info here.

spankmemunkey, I like your idea of a Good Life Thread. I might have to steal your idea for the Cork City forum if you don't object.

deisemum

www.giyireland.com have loads of local groups around the country and some branches around the world. You'll meet lots of like-minded people from all walks of life who can help with the Good Life and it's one of the best things I've ever gotten involved in.

spankmemunkey

bluecherry74 wrote: »

Hope you don't mind a Corkonian butting in! This thread is great, especial deisemum's post on the first page. I'm in the process of getting hens for the first time and there's a load of useful info here.

spankmemunkey, I like your idea of a Good Life Thread. I might have to steal your idea for the Cork City forum if you don't object.

I think you should start a good life thread and i think we should have one on the Waterford City Board, instead of huffing and puffing and moaning and groaning we could reintroduce a real community spirit by helping each other with ideas tips and hints and support in growning your own window veg to full gardens and keeping animals, and i put forward Deisemums name to start the good life thread if you dont mind, you have such experience to share, I have my own little bits to add but i will wait til the thread has started by someone else, Im too controversial on the waterford board to start it, i will wait till someone else does!

deisemum

spankmemunkey wrote: »

I think you should start a good life thread and i think we should have one on the Waterford City Board, instead of huffing and puffing and moaning and groaning we could reintroduce a real community spirit by helping each other with ideas tips and hints and support in growning your own window veg to full gardens and keeping animals, and i put forward Deisemums name to start the good life thread if you dont mind, you have such experience to share, I have my own little bits to add but i will wait til the thread has started by someone else, Im too controversial on the waterford board to start it, i will wait till someone else does!

You can call be Barbara, lots of people do

I don't mind starting a thread, will I just copy and paste the post I put on the first page here to get it started?

spankmemunkey

deisemum wrote: »

You can call be Barbara, lots of people do

I don't mind starting a thread, will I just copy and paste the post I put on the first page here to get it started?

Yeah but just keep the heading the good life in waterford for people who want to assist each other in shared information on the good life and so that we are keeping it waterford related its for waterford people about waterford locations and where to get things seeds animals etc in Waterford, just so we dont get the this doesnt have anything to do with waterford talk, WGYO or something?

Twoelles

If your looking for hens a little closer, petworld in ferrybank have a range of hens

belcampprisoner

this is cheaper

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/poultry/4590662

cococoady

Just finished building a hen house in my shed today with a small outside run adjoining. Have a couple of chicks coming next week aswell.
Wish me luck :-)

spankmemunkey

cococoady wrote: »

Just finished building a hen house in my shed today with a small outside run adjoining. Have a couple of chicks coming next week aswell.
Wish me luck :-)

Do you live in a suburban area of Waterford? like will there be neighbours beside your house or behind your house? I want to do it aswell but wonder about the noise and what the neighbours will say. are you in the city? if you dont mind me asking, if you want to reply through PM thats great cos i really wnat to do this too.

deisemum

spankmemunkey wrote: »

Do you live in a suburban area of Waterford? like will there be neighbours beside your house or behind your house? I want to do it aswell but wonder about the noise and what the neighbours will say. are you in the city? if you dont mind me asking, if you want to reply through PM thats great cos i really wnat to do this too.

I'm in the city and surrounded by neighbours and hens are quiet, much much quieter than a dog or children. The only time they might cluck is if they feel they're going to be attacked ie if a strange cat comes into the garden or if the one of the hens suddenly realises she doesn't know where the other hens are if they've gone behind a shrub.

Occasionally one may cluck after laying an egg but my new hens haven't done that. They generally make a low cooing sound when they do make a sound.

bluecherry74

I live in a suburban part of Cork and my hens are very quiet, as deisemum says they're much quieter than dogs or children. They cluck away amongst themselves, but it blends in with the sound of wild birds and other background noises.

I do have one fairly loud hen who has trained me to feed her treats by standing at the door of the run and squawking continuously whenever she sees me. :rolleyes: Even that isn't particularly loud though.

cococoady

spankmemunkey wrote: »

Do you live in a suburban area of Waterford? like will there be neighbours beside your house or behind your house? I want to do it aswell but wonder about the noise and what the neighbours will say. are you in the city? if you dont mind me asking, if you want to reply through PM thats great cos i really wnat to do this too.

I live out by kilcohan pk with neighbours either side and behind me. I don't have the chicks yet so dunno bout the noise but I hear they don't make much noise. Roosters do however

deisemum

cococoady wrote: »

I live out by kilcohan pk with neighbours either side and behind me. I don't have the chicks yet so dunno bout the noise but I hear they don't make much noise. Roosters do however

That's cocks for you

lewisdhead

I too am looking at getting chickens. I have an old, large dog run that is not used anymore, so is a good spot to put a coop in. It is patio slabbed but loads of weeds have grown through. I plan on taking up the slabs and clearing the weeds. I plan to let them out around the garden, I live rurally and have lots of space. What would be the best base to put down in the run after I remove the patio slabs?? Do they need grass in the run?? Could I spread gravel or bark mulch??

bluecherry74

I would remove most of the slabs and leave some around the coop so you have somewhere dry and mud free for their food, etc. When you're taking up the slabs don't bother removing the weeds. The hens will have great fun doing that for you. There's no point in putting down grass either as that will soon be pecked bare. Plain earth with a little smooth gravel is ideal.

Someone mentioned to me on another thread that bark mulch can be toxic if it contains cedar; pine shavings are fine though. But really, there's no need to put anything special down if you're going to free range them as well.

cococoady

Got 2 chicks today from Cardboardwindow and he also kindly have me a loan of a hen to look after the chicks who are just over a week old. Lovely little things they are. Can't think of the breed the chicks are tho haha