Allotment & chickens
Discussion
Gretchen said:
y2blade said:
Great Post Gretchen. 
We have three Chickens ...they are such great characters, real fun to keep.
Thank you. I could go on...We have three Chickens ...they are such great characters, real fun to keep.
Having been upstairs singing the praises of my poultry, I've just popped downstairs to discover my Labrador has just devoured a dozen fresh eggs (and most of the box) that I'd left on the kitchen worktop to take on our camping trip to Skye tomorrow.
Chickens. They are the most well behaved, funny, interesting, entertaining and rewarding animal I've ever owned.
I bloody hate dogs.
My dog loves eggs too, the shell the lot.Have a nice Camping trip on Skye...sounds cool
y2blade said:
That is where my three lovely girls came from, they enjoy a life of luxury now.
When we got them they were in a bit of a state
After first moult the feathers come back and they look greatThey are free range, Hatchs not open due to them being 18 and half weeks old only been in shed since 17 weeks, they have 20 acres to roam and a the multi tier system within the shed gives the birds plenty of room to move, and plenty of perching space
RussH91 said:
y2blade said:
That is where my three lovely girls came from, they enjoy a life of luxury now.
When we got them they were in a bit of a state
After first moult the feathers come back and they look greatThey are free range, Hatchs not open due to them being 18 and half weeks old only been in shed since 17 weeks, they have 20 acres to roam and a the multi tier system within the shed gives the birds plenty of room to move, and plenty of perching space
Most do...not good
y2blade said:
So you (or your employer) don't keep them in the shed 24/7?
Most do...not good
I'm currently employed while going through uni, but my parents had poultry farm since I was a toddler although smaller scale, so know bits ha. Where I am currently shed is all automated, birds get let out at 9 and are out til dusk, when most of the birds go in anyway. Most do...not good
RussH91 said:
Chickens you say?
I know you say they're let out during the day, however I think the free-range egg buying public would be horrified to know the birds were being kept in such cramped conditions at any point in the day or night.Hardly the pastoral idyll they're sold on the box...
Mobile Chicane said:
I know you say they're let out during the day, however I think the free-range egg buying public would be horrified to know the birds were being kept in such cramped conditions at any point in the day or night.
Hardly the pastoral idyll they're sold on the box...
I see what you’re saying but I'd hardly call a BMW 320d 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' but that is what marketing is.Hardly the pastoral idyll they're sold on the box...
Most of the people who buy eggs supermarket don’t care where they come through if they did they wouldn’t buy from supermarkets. They just want the cheapest.
As for cramped condition, the scratching area of the shed is 1100 metres squared and perching area 750 metres squares, which means there is only 8 birds per metre square. (To put that into prospective here is a link to a 12 bird coop being offered by a popular supplier of coops it looks less than 1.5 metres squared to me, http://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/tradit... Which when all the birds are only in the shed in the evenings when they are roosting, I personally don’t see the problem with it, neither do freedom foods, British Lions Eggs and RSPCA, as it conforms to EU guidelines, as usual especially in agriculture we are one of the only country abide by the strict guidelines.
You wouldn’t leave a 60K car in the high street with the doors open and the keys ignition. So by shutting them in at night we are only protecting our investment and welfare of the birds, reducing the risk of predators.
Sorry for the essay, regularly have this 'discussion' in pub with one of the locals.
RussH91 said:
Mobile Chicane said:
I know you say they're let out during the day, however I think the free-range egg buying public would be horrified to know the birds were being kept in such cramped conditions at any point in the day or night.
Hardly the pastoral idyll they're sold on the box...
I see what you’re saying but I'd hardly call a BMW 320d 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' but that is what marketing is.Hardly the pastoral idyll they're sold on the box...
Most of the people who buy eggs supermarket don’t care where they come through if they did they wouldn’t buy from supermarkets. They just want the cheapest.
As for cramped condition, the scratching area of the shed is 1100 metres squared and perching area 750 metres squares, which means there is only 8 birds per metre square. (To put that into prospective here is a link to a 12 bird coop being offered by a popular supplier of coops it looks less than 1.5 metres squared to me, http://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/tradit... Which when all the birds are only in the shed in the evenings when they are roosting, I personally don’t see the problem with it, neither do freedom foods, British Lions Eggs and RSPCA, as it conforms to EU guidelines, as usual especially in agriculture we are one of the only country abide by the strict guidelines.
You wouldn’t leave a 60K car in the high street with the doors open and the keys ignition. So by shutting them in at night we are only protecting our investment and welfare of the birds, reducing the risk of predators.
Sorry for the essay, regularly have this 'discussion' in pub with one of the locals.
ali_kat said:
Matt172 & Miss Diane!!Problem is with the eggs, year 1 is great, year 2 is average, year 3 you'll be lucky, however I know many that had laid for many years, just not ours
A joy to keep, watch and feed, like little dustbins for your food waste, and it's terribly addictive
We now have 6 and get 1 egg every other day, so if you want them for eggs, get the right breeds/hybrids
We just bought 2 more so hoping they will start laying soon, one of them should be a blue egg layer, for a bit of fun
We've had up to 10. They live in a corner of our garden that is about 10m x 25 m I think.
They are relatively easy to take care of. But we currently have mites again. We last had them two years ago. Nothing gets rid of them. We ended up a smoke bomb method last time. The chickens don't seem to be overrun but the wood in their coop is.
Ours are also 3-6 years old. They suddenly take themselves off and die one day we have found. All ex-battery birds.
They are relatively easy to take care of. But we currently have mites again. We last had them two years ago. Nothing gets rid of them. We ended up a smoke bomb method last time. The chickens don't seem to be overrun but the wood in their coop is.
Ours are also 3-6 years old. They suddenly take themselves off and die one day we have found. All ex-battery birds.
Coco H said:
They are relatively easy to take care of. But we currently have mites again. We last had them two years ago. Nothing gets rid of them. We ended up a smoke bomb method last time. The chickens don't seem to be overrun but the wood in their coop is.
This is why we have an Eglu.l love my chickens they are very much part of the family and have more attitude than my Doberman.
I've been scratched to pieces this weekend trying to wash one of my ladies bottoms due to a poo issue. Not her being hostile, more hanging on whilst warm water was aimed at her arse! (none of us would welcome that!!!)
I've now found red clumps on the base of her feathers, are these mites, where did she get them and how do I deal with them?
I've been scratched to pieces this weekend trying to wash one of my ladies bottoms due to a poo issue. Not her being hostile, more hanging on whilst warm water was aimed at her arse! (none of us would welcome that!!!)
I've now found red clumps on the base of her feathers, are these mites, where did she get them and how do I deal with them?
Hello OP here, many thanks for the encouraging replies, We are almost ready to purchase our birds.Our penn is nearly finished now & seems to be fox proof which was my main concern. We put half a dozen frozen chickens inside the penn & there were signs that foxes tried to get in but failed to do so which is great. Not sure i could face seeing our chickens torn to pieces by foxes ,
I'm not sure I could settle if I knew the foxes knew they were there, I'd be so worried they would find a way in, think I've been quite lucky and never seen a fox in our set of gardens
(eta; I'm a typical woman who worries, can't even settle if I know ours are free ranging in the garden )
(eta; I'm a typical woman who worries, can't even settle if I know ours are free ranging in the garden
)Edited by missdiane on Tuesday 28th August 08:22
To stop foxes all we've ever done is use a electric fencing. My parents used to have a 3ft fence which was completely a electrifyied and where I am now they have 7ft fence which has a single strand of electric wire 3 inches from the ground. And then we've made sure the birds are in at night. In the countryside this seems enough, all though I realise urban foxes are lot more brash and will attack during the day.
To stop foxes all we've ever done is use a electric fencing. My parents used to have a 3ft fence which was completely a electrifyied and where I am now they have 7ft fence which has a single strand of electric wire 3 inches from the ground. And then we've made sure the birds are in at night. In the countryside this seems enough, all though I realise urban foxes are lot more brash and will attack during the day.
We keep about 50, although it varies, in a huge outdoor run with a modified garden shed (I added two pop-holes) for night-time. The breed matters. A Buff Orpington will be really friendly, we've had Heinz 57 cockerels that will fly at your face claws first.
We started with kick-outs from a local "farm sourced" supplier and they were in a terrible state. After many months they looked perfect and all we did was give them some space, water and standard feed from the local agricultural supplier. They were still laying well but if it's eggs you are after then you have to accept that once they stop laying they become pets or you have to do the deed.
Big feeders and waterers are great. They don't cost a huge amount and it means you can empty a whole sack of feed at a time and the birds are never without food or water.
They do destroy the ground unless they have a vast area. We know a tree surgeon who is happy to drop off a trailer load of chippings every now and then which gives them loads of fun pecking around.
We have a fox problem where we are. Ours are protected by an electric fence and talking to other keepers that is the only definite soloution. Chicken wire will stop a chicken but not a fox. We've had chickens taken through square welded mesh.
If you want to sell eggs then you need, as in any business, a unique selling point. We run several different pure breeds so provide a box with blue, dark brown and light brown.
We run two computerised incubaters (temp, rotation & humidity) and sell at Cirencester so we may be able to help with chicks.
We started with kick-outs from a local "farm sourced" supplier and they were in a terrible state. After many months they looked perfect and all we did was give them some space, water and standard feed from the local agricultural supplier. They were still laying well but if it's eggs you are after then you have to accept that once they stop laying they become pets or you have to do the deed.
Big feeders and waterers are great. They don't cost a huge amount and it means you can empty a whole sack of feed at a time and the birds are never without food or water.
They do destroy the ground unless they have a vast area. We know a tree surgeon who is happy to drop off a trailer load of chippings every now and then which gives them loads of fun pecking around.
We have a fox problem where we are. Ours are protected by an electric fence and talking to other keepers that is the only definite soloution. Chicken wire will stop a chicken but not a fox. We've had chickens taken through square welded mesh.
If you want to sell eggs then you need, as in any business, a unique selling point. We run several different pure breeds so provide a box with blue, dark brown and light brown.
We run two computerised incubaters (temp, rotation & humidity) and sell at Cirencester so we may be able to help with chicks.
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