Chicken advice

We are measuring and researching, planning and dreaming. Perhaps there is a little corner of the garden for a chicken coop after all! How exciting! Instead of a bit of weedy flowerbed and by stealing a few feet from the edge of the lawn I think we can do it.As I know some of you have already got some feathered friends in the garden I thought I'd ask your advice.

Which breeds are most friendly/healthy for the beginner to keep?  If I have the coop/run against the fence will the ivy that covers it do them any harm? Any websites/books that we should read?

I'm assuming that if we give them free range over all the garden they will eat all my plants so I've found a coop that looks like it might fit and give the hens a happy life, but as the run doesn't look very big they might have to be let out to play on the grass too.  

 

Do you think it looks foxproof enough? I would hate to take on some chickens and then be responsible for their demise through lack of planning - of course you already know how much I love a list!

The thought of being able to walk into the garden and collect a few eggs for breakfast is tempting and suggests a life removed from the usual rushing about, a more relaxed pace with time to breath.

Comments

[myrtle]

can't help you with chicken advice, as i am still working on the old man about that one...but will view your answers with interest.
x

[Jewel]

What a cute chicken coop. I'm also thinking of getting chickens but I don't know alot about them yet!

[Debra in Ohio]

I agree - a coop does suggest a life removed from the usual rushing about! There is work, but enjoyable work. Before getting the chicks, have an end plan for when the hens get older, and only one rooster at a time!
Debra in Ohio

[Pebbledash]

Not yet got chickens myself....but my nephew makes beautiful chicken coops (http://oakdene-coops.co.uk/Oakdene_Coops/Home.html), and also has a new website with info for the chicken-keeping beginner
http://www.chicken-keeping-guide.com/The_Chicken_Keeping_Guide.html

[Lesley]

Ooh how exciting!! We haven't regretted getting our girls for one minute.

Ours are Warrens - a Rhode Island Red hybrid that's the type they breed for battery farming. Although I'd love some rare breed ones in future, our girls have been perfect for beginners.

They are very friendly, easy to pick up and happy to be petted.

They are bred to be good layers, which means they will lay most days. However, this also means they can exhaust themselves within a year or two and then stop laying.

As for fox proofing - our Moog tends to deter foxes! We've also laid patio slabs all round the outside of their pen, to stop the foxes digging beneath - or at least to slow them down!

They WILL wreck your garden if they're allowed out unsupervised but you can put them in a little pen and keep moving it round the lawn.

Good luck! You won't ever want to eat a shop-bought egg again!!

xxx

[kathleen watson]

You will never regret getting hens! The eggs are just completely different to any you buy in the supermarket.

We have a similar coop to this, but my husband built an extra run around the outside. It's not just foxes you have to be aware of. A friend of ours' hens were all killed by a ferret someone had failed to re-capture. Despite this, they come out every day to forage for slugs and the like. They DO make a little bit of a mess of the garden, but so far as I can see they don't really EAT our plants, but scratch around and therefore dig up smaller ones. We have protected the majority of our vegetables too with frames and netting to deter them.

The downside for me, I have to say, is all the poo! Particularly on the paths and lawns. It's everywhere and it's not always simple to clear it up. I'd recommend a very stiff-bristled brush, or better still I've seen metal-bristled brushes for paths etc.

If you have gravel or bark chippings on your flower beds or pots they'll completely destroy those too, so I'd probably get rid of it. They also jump in larger plant pots and empty them of the top soil. And for some strange reason they often spend hours pecking at the bottom of the front door...

Our three are Meadowsweet Rangers and are very friendly (although they scare our cats to death). Strangely, their favourite is dry cat-food and they run hell-for-leather to the bowls as soon as they're released. If you do let them out, you need to make sure it's slightly later in the day (perhaps after lunch) or they'll be laying eggs all over the garden. My husband found a clutch of 40 eggs once which I wish I'd seen and photographed!

You won't really need a cockerel unless you want chicks. They'll still lay fine without one. You may look at getting point of lay hens as you will get the longest laying life from them. I wouldn't buy hens if you don't know how old they are. They may be quite old and not give you many eggs.

Good luck! I look forward to seeing pictures in the future!

[marmitetoasty]

I have that chicken coop, but its not really big enough to keep them in all day, it would drive them crazy to be couped up in such a small space, mine only stay in it when its tipping down with rain, other then that they get the free run of the back of the garden... but got back in the coop at dusk.... you really need a bigger run then the little one with this coop, if you cant let them have run of the garden....

hope that helps..

x

[littlest-sis]

I suggest you keep them at Dad's house and get him to deliver the eggs for you!! Sounds exciting!I bet the kids will love chasing them around the garden!x

[Kim]

Hello I have no advice for you I'm afraid but I'm very excited for you. Can;t wait to hear more
Kimx

[Ali]

I wanted chickens badly, but a little calculation of poo volume divided by garden area times 2 kids tracking it into the house on their shoes finally put me off.

However, I did see some quail this weekend and I'm tempted again.....

[Judy Laquidara]

After years of begging for chickens, we got 10 hens this year. They haven't started laying yet but you can see our coop/run on my blog - http://www.patchworktimes.com. How many hens do you plan to keep? You would need to drive some wire down into the ground around the perimeter or lay out some wire and put long pegs into the ground to keep foxes and other animals from burrowing under. Most (not all) problems occur at night so if you're going to close them up in the coop at night and there's a solid floor, they may be safer. We have 6 Gold Stars and 4 Ameraucanas. The Ameraucanas are not friendly at all but the Gold Stars -- they are so sweet and personable. I love them but those Ameraucanas . . all I have to say is they'd better be darned good layers!

[claire]

I have exactly the same coop as you and have had chickens for over a year that have given me loads and loads of eggs! The only thing is that we bought normal size breeds and I find this size coop very restrictive so we have added space around it - fenced in as they will wreck everything green. We attached wire to the bottom too. Just watch out for red mite. We lost a bird recently and wooden coops are renkowned for them. Be warned! They killed our bird in days. Poor full fat coke all over the wood before housing and then add some special powder. Good luck though - they are brill!

[rachel]

We have three Sussex hybrids, one for each child. We got them instead of chocolate eggs for easter last year (that is a fib, we had chocolate too). They do go broody regularly (and we all get worried and think they are depressed) but they are very friendly, can be picked up, stroked, never peck. They are fabulous pets (better than bunnies in my opinion), lots of lovely eggs, but they trash the garden - we split the bottom section off with hazel hurdles for them, and put lots of bark down in the end as I loved my fennel too much. Have fun - get some!