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.