Beginners Chicken keeping questions!
Discussion
After some advice on keeping chickens.
We're decided on it and understand the level of time/care they need.
I want some advice on what type of run and coop to go for.
The intention is to buy a pre built coop, I'm not decided on what type to go for yet though. The only things that are a definite are that it will be off the ground and have a vertical sliding door in case I want to go for an auto opener at some point.
The intention is that they will have the run of half the front garden (which is fenced from the road) in a run that just has mesh up to waist height and then be shut away at night.
My questions are on the safety of this arrangement and also the practicality. Would I be better to have a taller run with a mesh roof for more safety? We have never seen foxes in our area, but as it's rural, they are obviously around. There is a local hunt so I'm not sure if this keeps them at bay a little?
Are we safe to just let them out each morning and shut them away at night? Would this be OK if we went out during the day etc? Then fenced area will be around 20sq m.
Thanks!
We're decided on it and understand the level of time/care they need.
I want some advice on what type of run and coop to go for.
The intention is to buy a pre built coop, I'm not decided on what type to go for yet though. The only things that are a definite are that it will be off the ground and have a vertical sliding door in case I want to go for an auto opener at some point.
The intention is that they will have the run of half the front garden (which is fenced from the road) in a run that just has mesh up to waist height and then be shut away at night.
My questions are on the safety of this arrangement and also the practicality. Would I be better to have a taller run with a mesh roof for more safety? We have never seen foxes in our area, but as it's rural, they are obviously around. There is a local hunt so I'm not sure if this keeps them at bay a little?
Are we safe to just let them out each morning and shut them away at night? Would this be OK if we went out during the day etc? Then fenced area will be around 20sq m.
Thanks!
Keeping chickens is great fun, and the eggs are much better than from the supermarket. This is a long answer but might help
. Firstly, any pre-built ark is good, but I would recommend one with a run, and don't buy ones that are really cheap, as they are seriously crap. We have 4 cheap ones and they need weekly repairs, whilst the locally made, slightly more expensive one has never been touched. Expect the chickens to destroy your garden (but they do a good job at weeding!).
There will undoubtably be foxes, they are very difficult to control, and even turning them inside out with a .243 won't stop others taking over the territory, it's why they can be hunted so much! (Pre hunting ban of course...) I would get a coop with a run for this reason, it will keep them safe if you leave and come back a bit off schedule. A fox is an opportunist and has a pretty much set time of visiting, nearly every day. It's not always in the night either, we had one that used to come at 2pm and sit and watch the chickens. I would also seriously recommend an electric net, they are around 50m long and you can join them if you want it longer. (Starter kits with a fencer et al are handy) it will let the chickens roam but restict them exiting (foxes will be put off but can still enter, but not always escape!) and will also stop any dogs or catsvisiting from the local road or path, which can happen. Also as always, where there is livestock, there is dead stock.
It's great fun and it really does make much nicer food, I would heartily recommend it!
Also, don't get an egglu, all the other chickens will point and laugh.
. Firstly, any pre-built ark is good, but I would recommend one with a run, and don't buy ones that are really cheap, as they are seriously crap. We have 4 cheap ones and they need weekly repairs, whilst the locally made, slightly more expensive one has never been touched. Expect the chickens to destroy your garden (but they do a good job at weeding!).
There will undoubtably be foxes, they are very difficult to control, and even turning them inside out with a .243 won't stop others taking over the territory, it's why they can be hunted so much! (Pre hunting ban of course...) I would get a coop with a run for this reason, it will keep them safe if you leave and come back a bit off schedule. A fox is an opportunist and has a pretty much set time of visiting, nearly every day. It's not always in the night either, we had one that used to come at 2pm and sit and watch the chickens. I would also seriously recommend an electric net, they are around 50m long and you can join them if you want it longer. (Starter kits with a fencer et al are handy) it will let the chickens roam but restict them exiting (foxes will be put off but can still enter, but not always escape!) and will also stop any dogs or catsvisiting from the local road or path, which can happen. Also as always, where there is livestock, there is dead stock.
It's great fun and it really does make much nicer food, I would heartily recommend it!
Also, don't get an egglu, all the other chickens will point and laugh.
There are many suppliers out there of coops and runs (get a copy of Country Smallholding), two that I have seen, used, and can vouch for the quality of are Flyte So Fancy, and Forsham. Not cheap initially, but the chinese junk you see on eBay is made of timber about half the thickness, and nowhere near as good at standing up to the weather.
Run - difficult to say, there's many different options here from the Ark & Run type, up to building a large enclosed run with the coop inside. If in doubt, go bigger - chickens love having lots of space to rootle around in.
If you make your own run, use a fine mesh, not "chicken wire" - stoats can be as big a problem as foxes.
Run - difficult to say, there's many different options here from the Ark & Run type, up to building a large enclosed run with the coop inside. If in doubt, go bigger - chickens love having lots of space to rootle around in.
If you make your own run, use a fine mesh, not "chicken wire" - stoats can be as big a problem as foxes.
It would be unusual but not unheard of for something to happen during the day.
We have had one day time massacre in 5+ years, but if you ensure that they are safely in the coup before dusk then you **should** be ok.
A few weeks ago my son shot out of bed about 9 30 pm as he thought he had not locked one of the coups properly - he was correct and both the birds in it were dead.
He keeps 50+ chickens and the day time massacre apart the only time we have lost any is when he has either been late or not been able to find the odd one at locking up time.
We have had one day time massacre in 5+ years, but if you ensure that they are safely in the coup before dusk then you **should** be ok.
A few weeks ago my son shot out of bed about 9 30 pm as he thought he had not locked one of the coups properly - he was correct and both the birds in it were dead.
He keeps 50+ chickens and the day time massacre apart the only time we have lost any is when he has either been late or not been able to find the odd one at locking up time.
Thanks all, I had meant to reply to this the other day and forgot.
I think my plan is sorted now and I'm happy with it.
I will be going for one of the cheaper generic chinese special Coops at this point. I know that the most I can expect from it is 3 or 4 years and this ties in with the life of the birds so will allow us to decide if we are in it for the long hall or not. Plus, I just cant justify the £600+ to buy something from Flytesofancy etc.
I'm going to fence off an area 10m x 5m that they will be allowed to use when we are at home. The coop and attached run will be kept inside this. When we go out, the birds go into the run. I've bought a large roll of welded wire mesh for the fence and will also use some of this as a skirt for the coop as an extra safety measure for when we are out, but the birds are not in the coop.
Our daily routine fits quite well with looking after them as I leave early each morning so can let them out then. My wife will then put them in the run if she goes out during the day. I will then put them in the coop at dusk once the kids are in bed etc.
I think my plan is sorted now and I'm happy with it.
I will be going for one of the cheaper generic chinese special Coops at this point. I know that the most I can expect from it is 3 or 4 years and this ties in with the life of the birds so will allow us to decide if we are in it for the long hall or not. Plus, I just cant justify the £600+ to buy something from Flytesofancy etc.
I'm going to fence off an area 10m x 5m that they will be allowed to use when we are at home. The coop and attached run will be kept inside this. When we go out, the birds go into the run. I've bought a large roll of welded wire mesh for the fence and will also use some of this as a skirt for the coop as an extra safety measure for when we are out, but the birds are not in the coop.
Our daily routine fits quite well with looking after them as I leave early each morning so can let them out then. My wife will then put them in the run if she goes out during the day. I will then put them in the coop at dusk once the kids are in bed etc.
When I was growing up we used to have hens, but mainly ducks, with nearly 2 acres of land. We kept them in a stone shed overnight and throughout the day they were left to roam. Never in all our years of keeping them were they ever attacked by foxes, perhaps, ironically, this may be because we lived in the countryside and they had their own food store (I didn't see my first live fox until I visited London).
The only time we had an attack was on a pen holding some ducklings we'd hatched. We heard a commotion going on and getting to the field we found the ducklings being attacked by a hedgehog. It had climbed up the knee/thigh high chicken wire fence and proceeded to kill the ducklings. It had been a dry summer, which meant there wasn't that many worms about for the hedgehogs to feed on, or so a neighbour who had working terriers told us.
If it wasn't for the fact that we witnessed the hedgehog in action we would never have believed it could a) climb up a fence and b) kill ducklings.
At the end of all that, I guess it just depends on where you live, what you think the risk is with foxes in your area. I see them about my estate on a fairly regular basis on an evening so I if I was keeping hens I think I'd be more inclined to keep them secure, even throughout the day.
The only time we had an attack was on a pen holding some ducklings we'd hatched. We heard a commotion going on and getting to the field we found the ducklings being attacked by a hedgehog. It had climbed up the knee/thigh high chicken wire fence and proceeded to kill the ducklings. It had been a dry summer, which meant there wasn't that many worms about for the hedgehogs to feed on, or so a neighbour who had working terriers told us.
If it wasn't for the fact that we witnessed the hedgehog in action we would never have believed it could a) climb up a fence and b) kill ducklings.
At the end of all that, I guess it just depends on where you live, what you think the risk is with foxes in your area. I see them about my estate on a fairly regular basis on an evening so I if I was keeping hens I think I'd be more inclined to keep them secure, even throughout the day.
5678 said:
We're pretty rural. Not quite middle of no where, but on the edge of a small village a good 10 miles from the nearest large town.
I think it's more down to luck, if you are in a foxes territory or not. But here at least they come back as fast as you can 'discourage' them, possibly partly that we have quite a few chickens, so they are more noticeable to the discerning fox...Don't underestimate badgers, or birds of prey either, but i haven't found them to be a particular problem (and the birds are great to watch hunting!)
Chickens are generally quite easy to look after, with only wing clipping if you want to stop them flying out (yes chickens can fly) Turkeys, and especially guinea-fowl are more difficult, with Guinea-fowl being akin to chickens on meth
.Do you have a specific breed of chicken in mind to keep? we have had success with cream legbars, Bresse Gauloise and especially good success with French copper marams. Cream legbars lay brilliant bluey-green eggs, but we have found them to be less hardy, whilst the copper marams are a simple, hardy breed that seem to lay pretty consistently.
I'd planned to get four hybrids from this guy http://www.motherhenspoultry.com
He's been hugely helpful and pretty local to me too. From what I understand the hybrids are quite hardy, not too fussy and good layers. As a first timer, this appeals!
He's been hugely helpful and pretty local to me too. From what I understand the hybrids are quite hardy, not too fussy and good layers. As a first timer, this appeals!
Newbie chicken keeper here - just this week took deliver of a stroller type house and run from Flyte So Fancy, all the gubbins and a load of feed from a local farm store. Bought 7 point of lay hens from a local lad yesterday and we had our first egg 'birthed' in transit in the back of the car 
We live in farmland so I'm going to allow them to free range completely unrestricted - will take our chances with predators as long as the hens are locked up safely at night.
They are highly amusing and my kids absolutely love them.
We live in farmland so I'm going to allow them to free range completely unrestricted - will take our chances with predators as long as the hens are locked up safely at night.
They are highly amusing and my kids absolutely love them.
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff