Got some Chickens today!
Discussion
Apparently its all the rage, wifes been banging on for ages so we go to the Shepton garden show and make a bee line to the Omlet stand and buy their demo chicken run complete with 2 little hens about 4 weeks away from layin 12 eggs per week. The Omlet run is really cool and totally fox proof - made of plasic and steel. Little buggers are locked in for the night, hope they are alright. Make great pets apparently and good with dogs (they will need to be)!
ps met the designers they have sold 5000 in 13 months...flippin heck and all using their own capitol. Aged 27, nice little earner at £385 a go complete with delivery, erection (ohh er missus), chickens and feed.
>> Edited by sjp63 on Sunday 4th September 21:11
>> Edited by sjp63 on Sunday 4th September 21:12
ps met the designers they have sold 5000 in 13 months...flippin heck and all using their own capitol. Aged 27, nice little earner at £385 a go complete with delivery, erection (ohh er missus), chickens and feed.
>> Edited by sjp63 on Sunday 4th September 21:11
>> Edited by sjp63 on Sunday 4th September 21:12
we've had our Eglu and chooks for just over 12 months now - they are brill! We had neighbours lining up to take care of them while we were away recently. The eggs are fabulous...
What sort of chooks have you got? We have a Ginger Nut Ranger called Velma and a Miss Pepperpot called Daphne.
Ali
What sort of chooks have you got? We have a Ginger Nut Ranger called Velma and a Miss Pepperpot called Daphne.
Ali
We have six chickens - including some pedigree bantams (apparently), and five Indian Runner Ducks.
They are the wife's foible - by the time you have factored in the cost of the coop, the feed and the hassle each egg works out at about a quid.
The ducks are the same, and each lays an egg per day.
So we have about 35 duck eggs per week, and 30-40 chicken eggs. I eat about one egg per fortnight - if that. Same for the missus and the nipper so we end up giving the rest away.
Go figure.
They are the wife's foible - by the time you have factored in the cost of the coop, the feed and the hassle each egg works out at about a quid.
The ducks are the same, and each lays an egg per day.
So we have about 35 duck eggs per week, and 30-40 chicken eggs. I eat about one egg per fortnight - if that. Same for the missus and the nipper so we end up giving the rest away.
Go figure.
My mum has loads of chickens, and loves them to bits!
They run totally wild though, and we have lost lots to foxes. Had to kill a few ourselves too when chicks have grown into cocks, which are no good to anyone!
They do smell a bit, but only when close to their hut, and they don't do the lawn much good. Birdflu is a worry, as all sorts of birds share their food; kestrels to seagulls! They have broken seagulls' legs by attacking them: they can be vicious!
They run totally wild though, and we have lost lots to foxes. Had to kill a few ourselves too when chicks have grown into cocks, which are no good to anyone!
They do smell a bit, but only when close to their hut, and they don't do the lawn much good. Birdflu is a worry, as all sorts of birds share their food; kestrels to seagulls! They have broken seagulls' legs by attacking them: they can be vicious!
Sister and brother-in-law had some once - ran
free round the garden, with a hen-house like
Fort Knox to lock them in at night. Great idea
in theory, the eggs were fantastic, the family
dog & cat soon established a pecking order (arf arf),
but after a while the bloody things became obsessed
with getting into the house (chicken crap all over
the utility room - nice). The most surreal time was
one Christmas - I walked into the kitchen to find
three of them pecking at the glass oven door,
presumably in an attempt to liberate the (very
dead, very tasty) goose that was roasting inside.
Chickens were passed on the next occupant of the
house.
Oh, and....
Your local fox family are rubbing their paws
with glee....right now, cunning plans are being
drawn on fox blackboards, small scale models of the
chicken coop are being studied on fox dining tables,
fox watches are being synchronised, and fox-sized
bolt-cutters and oxy-acetyline torches are being
prepared. Oh, and they're all doing the "I Feel
Like Chicken Tonight" dance. Trust me.
free round the garden, with a hen-house like
Fort Knox to lock them in at night. Great idea
in theory, the eggs were fantastic, the family
dog & cat soon established a pecking order (arf arf),
but after a while the bloody things became obsessed
with getting into the house (chicken crap all over
the utility room - nice). The most surreal time was
one Christmas - I walked into the kitchen to find
three of them pecking at the glass oven door,
presumably in an attempt to liberate the (very
dead, very tasty) goose that was roasting inside.
Chickens were passed on the next occupant of the
house.
Oh, and....
sjp63 said:
The Omlet run is really cool and totally fox proof - made of plasic and steel.
Your local fox family are rubbing their paws with glee....right now, cunning plans are being
drawn on fox blackboards, small scale models of the
chicken coop are being studied on fox dining tables,
fox watches are being synchronised, and fox-sized
bolt-cutters and oxy-acetyline torches are being
prepared. Oh, and they're all doing the "I Feel
Like Chicken Tonight" dance. Trust me.
£385 buys a lot of eggs. 
markmullen said:Being couped up is no excuse. You could outfox your landlord if you built a run for them in the loft, lay down and consider the thousands of recipies which use eggs before you make your decision
Two words, bird flu 
Seriously, sounds cool, probably not for me though not liking eggs and living in an apartment!
£385
Point of lay pullets normally cost around £10 per hen, a standard fox proof run big enough for 4 hens you're looking at £50, feeder and water tin £10 each.....so say £110 quid all in.
Still nothing like fresh eggs of a morning, though be warned if you let them out they will destroy your garden, and chickens seem to have an inexplicible habit of crapping only when they are standing on the garden path.
Oh one more thing, what are you going to do with them when they get a bit older and stop laying? Best thing is to kill em and make chicken soup of them for older hens........just can't imagine many city dwellers doing this.
Maybe I should setup a home for elderly chickens.....and a pie shop next door
Point of lay pullets normally cost around £10 per hen, a standard fox proof run big enough for 4 hens you're looking at £50, feeder and water tin £10 each.....so say £110 quid all in.
Still nothing like fresh eggs of a morning, though be warned if you let them out they will destroy your garden, and chickens seem to have an inexplicible habit of crapping only when they are standing on the garden path.
Oh one more thing, what are you going to do with them when they get a bit older and stop laying? Best thing is to kill em and make chicken soup of them for older hens........just can't imagine many city dwellers doing this.
Maybe I should setup a home for elderly chickens.....and a pie shop next door
timmy30 said:
£385
Point of lay pullets normally cost around £10 per hen, a standard fox proof run big enough for 4 hens you're looking at £50, feeder and water tin £10 each.....so say £110 quid all in.
Still nothing like fresh eggs of a morning, though be warned if you let them out they will destroy your garden, and chickens seem to have an inexplicible habit of crapping only when they are standing on the garden path.
Oh one more thing, what are you going to do with them when they get a bit older and stop laying? Best thing is to kill em and make chicken soup of them for older hens........just can't imagine many city dwellers doing this.
Maybe I should setup a home for elderly chickens.....and a pie shop next door
Its just a bit of fun, they make good pets and produce nice eggs.....The cost is in the fox proof and easy to clean egloo house/run thing.
got to be done. Named foxy and handley by the kids after our deceased dogs.....since replaced
>> Edited by sjp63 on Monday 5th September 12:55
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