Backyard chickens- advice please UPDATE
 

Hi,
We are currently seriously considering keeping two or three hens in our backgarden and are weighing up the pros and cons before we proceed. There are plenty of pros, but we are also interested in other jters experiences.
Are they noisy?
Do your neighbours mind?
Any problems with neighbours blaming you for rats, etc? (we have three cats, so aren't worried ourselves).
Any other wisdom to pass on?
We'd love to hear others experience, good and bad.

Btw we are in an end house in the centre of a largish town, not in a rural area.

Thanks!
Reebok

We have hens!
 

Hi there, well congradulations I have two hens & live in the country. We had 7 but Mr. Fox called. They are great fun. Get them a proper water feeder (Glanbia) stock them along with the feeder thingy (layers pellets) get put in here. They are relatively quiet. Sawdust is great for their beds, should be easy enough to find. The breed we have are Rhode Island Reds, although Bantams are smaller, and smaller eggs! I can't recommend them highly enough. One word of caution, curiosity may get the better of the cats, so be careful as they can try catch a chicken (chickens fly, so be careful), i've seen this with next doors cat but the chickens wise up soon enough. :) We get two eggs a day & the taste is out of this world. We clean them out once a week & they are thriving!

chickens
 

we live in a new housing estate and have two chickens. We got the Elgu from omlet.co.uk Although it is a more expensive outlet, it is easy to clean and maintain. We got two hybrid hens for eight euro each and have clipped one wing each so they cant jump the fence! They have the run that comes with the Eglu and we do let them out as they love to forage. They quickly ate the grass in the run so we lined it with chip bark. This means they can forage better while kept in the run.
They are very comical and very tame. They give about 12 eggs a week between them and the eggs are delicious.

Chickens
 

You may find this newsletter interesting, I've been reading it for a while, and it appears to have all the information you are ever going to need.

http://www.keepingchickensnewsletter...FSMslAod6zTesw

Regards,

Fries.

Brilliant feedback as always JTers, thanks. Will follow up on the ideas/advice, and also take a look at the newsletter. If we get any further with it I'll let you know how we get on!
R :)

chickens
 

Hi Reebok,
Well, fair play to you!! I live in the country and would love some chickens! have a half acre out back so plenty of room. Found this site might be helpful to you.. www.chickenruns.ie seems to be eggg plain things so might be of use to you!! pardon the pun!! :)

Hi,

We have 5 hens in our back garden in a Dublin suburb. Various different breeds, with appearance and egg-laying rate both being factors in deciding which to get. We increased our 'flock' from 3 to 5 a few months back. For the sake of peace and harmony, if you're thinking of getting three, get them all at the same time, rather than two and then an extra one, as this will allow them to settle into a proper 'pecking order' (that's seriously the phrase used!) more quickly.

I agree about getting proper feeders; if they can they'll scratch at the food bowls and send the stuff everywhere. Ours love it when we give them scraps of fruit and veg. We even put pineapple and melon peel through a food processor so they have little bits to peck at. A couple of times we've had apples that have lost their crunch, I left them in the hens' enclosure, cut in two, and they have great fun pecking at the apple halves.

You can get a purpose built hen house from places like B&Q (quite expensive), you can check Gumtree or Buy&Sell or the like to see if there's anyone local who makes hen houses, or you could have a go at making one yourself. However you source your hen house, I'd recommend trying to get one with a built-in run; this will keep them more safe if you're out and can't leave them to roam the garden. (We had foxes come after ours in the middle of the day, but they managed to escape!)

They're well worth keeping (maybe not economically efficient, but in terms of personality and the flavour of the eggs); I'd definitely recommend it.

Hi

We started off with 4 and have had up to 24 at one stage - we reared our own and then gave some away.

All in all the very best was when we rescued some hens from a so called 'free range farm'.
They were in such a bad state but now are totally transformed and the best egg layers we have ever had.

Perhaps some of you out there might consider this as an option.

You will thoroughly enjoy your hens and what a great way to teach children where food comes from and animal care

Yes i've heard that chickens, even say if you get 4 this week & 4 next week, they won't get on at all, they'll fight and feathers will go flying!

I would have loved to have rescued some chickens from a cruel life but know of none in the Sunny South East.... maybe next time I'll be lucky to find some who would love an acre to roam free on, with pond to drink from!

Our two hens have already become celebrities in their own right, following anyone that calls to the shed, along with teaching children in a nearby Nai Scoil about chickens & where eggs come from. They are even getting used to being cuddled by the children.... and it seems to calm both down a treat!

Just to tell you all, chicken manure is the best of all for plants, according to my wise old Mum who always kept fowl.

where would you get rescue chickens???? Also are dogs a threat to chickens??

Don't know how often this page is updated, so maybe you should contact them to find out.

Dogs can sometimes chase at bark at chickens, which can upset them, but I've also been told of some dogs who are afraid of them. I suppose it varies. We don't have a dog, so you'd need someone else'd advice on that.

Fizzywitch is where we got our rescued chickens - pretty poor state when we got them but thriving now.

We have 3 dogs and all are afraid of the chickens, as are our cats!!!
The chickens give the dogs and cats some right auld pecks...ha ha.

Its important that you introduce the chickens to the dogs slowly. Keep the chickens behind wire for about a week or so. Dogs can go up and look and smell chickens. The novelty soon wears off but make sure you keep dogs on a lead for a day or so when chickens are eventually let out.

Such a great sight to see dogs, cats and hens all wandering around together.

If you are at ease when introducing dogs to chickens they will sense this and will be relaxed. Dogs pick up on your emotions.

Best of luck

Dogs & chickens!
We've two dogs, a little & a large... little one was curious but she gives them a wide berth.. Older large dog, lies on the lawn and the chickens come up close to him, he just looks at them really... Yes i'd say introduce slowly to be on the safe side... I'd also recommend you handle the chickens a little too, in case you ever need to catch them for an inspection if they've problems etc. My two come over if you call them, that's as i've got them trained to Porridge Oats, or shaking the bag, and they run like mad! :)

only thing i'd worry about is my dog hurting the chickens, a few jt'rs have met her and while she's not vicious she is a rather "mental" boxer!!! The cats i have were here before she arrived and she still hasn't gotten used to them and chases them all over the place. Would love dearly to have a few chickens but would be terrified something awful happening to them.

Do you know what.... i think you should get your chickens.... just supervise at times to make sure the Boxer doesn't get a taste for them, but they've soft mouths & chickens can fly, and have nails... so it could be all is fair in love & war! :) The boxer will find them a novelty at times i'm sure but if you feel they'd all get along with some work, well then do what you feel.. Good luck!

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/1/April10Chickens

Check this out.Hope it helps.

hens
 

hi reebok
hens are grate to have our kids love them.
if you havent got a closed pen and the fence is low they will fly out
but if you get one wing cliped it will stop them flying out.
i have 19 hens so all my nabours dont have to bother bying eggs.
i have no problim with my own dogs but a frend of mine
lost 3 hens to his nabours dog once they get the tast of blood
they will keep killing.so his nabour got rid of the dog.

chooks
 

hi Im in Wexford have 5 girls and other then them turning the garden over they are great manure compost great, they wander around and the noise is not great just dont get a cockeral, also join on line the urban chicken group its free and so informative you will have no worries and the eggs are great any more info needed contact me susansandles_57@msn.com (i was a 1st timer last year when i got them but no hassle they live with cats (in fact they belt them if they get in the way) and dogs they dont worry as long as they are locked up at night........good luck sue

Update
 

Well folks, I did promise an update ...
We got our first two hens about a month ago, and as predicted, LOVE them!
We got a coop and run from donedeal.ie, and fenced off a "free range" section of the garden for them. We got a couple of red hybrids, and they very quickly got tame. we can hold them and stroke them now and they follow us around. They lay six days out of seven and the fresh eggs are delicious.
They will eat a variety of kitchen scraps, so our brown bin collection fees are decreasing!
The cats soon got over being curious, and in fact one cat sleeps in the coop during the day, not a bother to anyone! We too have a dopey boxer dog, who would probably love a good sniff of them, but to be honest is just as interested in trying to pinch their scraps or worse, eat their poo - yuk.
Yesterday we got two more hens - that's the limit, honest - but as I had been warned, they are addictive!
I didn't realize how easy they could be to look after, and how relaxing it can be to watch them. Thanks for all the advice and tips everyone.

Chickens
 

Hi
Congrats to you on your new family..I too only started last year with 4 'ladies' and a bantham cock (Charles),we then decided to expand and went to some poultry shows and bought some more..Please please be careful when buying from these shows as alot of the birds are very sick and some people are only out to make a quick buck!!!however the ones that i bought were sick and passed it to the others and we ended up buying 3 different antiboitics to get them well again..so please if you do decide to expand please buy from a reputable breeder (we buy ours from Avondale poultry in Cork)and make sure your hens are vacinated(which good breeders normally do) and stick with the same breeder..it is also a good idea to confine your hens in another area for a period of 10 days before introducing them to your flock.Also please cut down on the treats as this can interfer with laying as some scraps can leave them egg-bound, we get a bag of hen treats (corn mixed with oats and barley)from a pet store and it is E5.95 and the bag lasts around 2 months, just give them @1oz in the evening before the go to bed as it also helps to fill them up and keeps them warm for the night. Also do not forget to give them mixed grit as it helps to make the egg shells harder...and finally always thank your girls for the gifts (eggs) that they give you..i hope i havent overwhelmed you with information but we to had to learn the hard way and now we are blessed with happy hens. If you need any more info please ring me on 085 1354743 id be happy to help in any way...best of luck

chickens
 

Hi,
We had many chickens over the years on our farm. Also rescued some chickens from a nearby battery. They are not nice places....
There is lots of good advice here re feeders etc. Regarding dogs the next door neighbours dog came over a few times and killed one or two, so it depends on the dog. Advice just watch them.
Also chickens will fly so either keep them in a high enclosure or clip their wings. This does not hurt but ideally best to keep them safe in a high enclosure if you can. They also love places to scratch and dust bath. Helps their feathers. Also dont overcrowd them. They may peck eachother if stressed.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Gill

hens
 

hens are noisy .u need to move them regurlarly if penned and they ****.
hens are great waste disposers ,theres eggs of course the neighbours dont hear them at all anymore go for it

hens
 

i have 4 hens and i love them, i also have a "mental" boxer and find that she is just curious, but very gentle with them.
We also dont have any trouble with mr.fox because of the smell of our dog, its brilliant, highly recommend have backyard hens.

We got an old rabbit hutch from another j'towner and just built a run onto it, although if i had the money i would looove an eglu. i find housing them is the most expensive but there seems to be no shortage of rabbit hutches on the freebies sites and they are so easy to convert, i will update with photos when i get a chance