Chicken questions

[HABU]

my chicken... i took these two pictures yesterday and posted them... it's a chicken from somewhere that has taken up residence in my back yard... next to where the dog gets tied out to... it's been there for a few weeks now so i reckon it's permanent personnel now...

i shall name it fred...



i just figured i could post it here on this thread being as chicken threads are somewhat scarce nowadays...

[LiamRatSnake]

Originally Posted by HABU

image

image


my chicken... i took these two pictures yesterday and posted them... it's a chicken from somewhere that has taken up residence in my back yard... next to where the dog gets tied out to... it's been there for a few weeks now so i reckon it's permanent personnel now...

i shall name it fred...



i just figured i could post it here on this thread being as chicken threads are somewhat scarce nowadays...

I can't see the picture...

I'm thinking if I gravel it, I'm gonna need between half a tonne to a tonne.

[CKS]

Originally Posted by LiamRatSnake

I lied, I do have another question, home made dust baths. What can I use? I heard wood ash, but I don't have any of that lying around, could I use chinchilla sand or something similar?

Its important not to overthink chickens too much ... they tend to make their own way through life if given a few basic provisions. My hen house is pretty sparce but they make good use of the garden, their very happy & healthy aswell. They tore open a bag of builders sand and made a dust bath all by themselves! If your getting chickens just as pets, what about ex - battery hens. They tame down fairly quick and you'd be doing them a favour

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by CKS

Its important not to overthink chickens too much ... they tend to make their own way through life if given a few basic provisions. My hen house is pretty sparce but they make good use of the garden, their very happy & healthy aswell. They tore open a bag of builders sand and made a dust bath all by themselves! If your getting chickens just as pets, what about ex - battery hens. They tame down fairly quick and you'd be doing them a favour

I don't like your bit of advice. Nobody can think and consider and plan 'too much' before taking on the responsibility of getting any animal. Chickens have the same basic needs and levels of care to be met although some people seem to imagine that the bare minimum 'will do' for them.This attitude makes me hopping mad.
Provisions for any animal, be it dogs, reptiles, livestock, should not be 'basic'. You should be aiming to provide the best for them, not the least you can get away with
Ex battery hens are not for everyone. Many come with terrible injuries where they are pulled from the cages (I have photos of my last batch), they do not live long and are prone to cancers and other problems. The sort of people who think that 'basic' is plenty good enough for mere chickens, are happy with a short life and are amazed when I tell them that I have had 1-14 year old hens here (pure breeds) who potter about in perfect health and still laying the odd egg.
Those kinds of poultry owners think that hens are old at 5 years old and aren't surprised when they die at that age, due, no doubt, to a proper lack of care.

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by LiamRatSnake

Ok Fenwoman, all taken on board, thanks very much I was thinking of using a shed, but it takes up a lot of the run as it would have to be within the run. Food/feeders/drinkers/wormers/wound spray/parasite dust powder/red mite powder all accounted for. I'm in touch with someone with some pure breed birds available, Rhode Islands, Orpingtons, Sussex ect ect and will look into hybrids, but large fowl are what I want really. If I didn't go for a shed, my Father in law get's building materials cheap, so it will probably be home made, and ideally I wanted it raised enough so the chickens can utilize the space underneath it, maybe 3 feet up, how far apart should each perch be?
Now the run is against a wall at two and a half kinda, of the four sides, seven feet high, the patio up to the run has cover over it as far as the run if that makes sense, like an over hang thing, canopy might be the word, from the house, so essentially I could carry that on onto the run, protecting it 100% from the wind and the rain. The half a side that isn't against a wall is still enclosed. The run was a veg patch which has a brick wall about 1.5 feet along the front and a bit of the side of the run, so we are thinking of building up from that. Underneath the soil in the run is concrete so no rats could get in through the bottom, when it's built the only way in will to be to chew through the wire, which will have to be addressed. The feed will be kept in the shed, which is home made and next to the run, there will be no way of the food being eaten by rodents. I was thinking of splitting the section up into 3, IE the furthest section from the coop could be soil (the rain won't be able to get on it) that they can scratch and root in it, another section I was going to use gravel, and the third maybe wood chips or something. Let me know what you think, thanks Liam.

Try not to think of the henhouse as merely somewhere to sleep and lay. With the run dimensions you gave, you can easily place the shed across one end. The run will still be 12 foot long and the door will be 3 1/2 foot from the outer edge. Given that the door on a 6X4 shed is usually 2 1/2 feet wide, it means the door has plenty room to open and get propped open in fine weather.
Rats will chew through wood so easily be able to chew into the henhouse and kill the birds. This is why I suggested a free standing shed raised up on breeze blocks. It makes it harder for them to h ide under and chew, plus it's a place to put your bait station. Rats will also chew through plastic dustbins if you store your feed in them, as a stable owning friend discovered. I had to lend her my best hunter cat for 3 months to get rid of them to a level whereby she could control them with bait. The place was well infested, literally scored of rats running as she moved bins and sacks and all because she was a townie and didn't understand the importance of a good baiting regime.
The other thing I wonder is, how you can properly clean a bare earth run? Woodchippings are awful. They are expensive as they compost down so you have to keep replacing them. They may grow mould on too and they stay damp. People who have kept fowl for some years, use gravel but I know all the newish forums and magazines will keep mentioning bark chippings. It seems to be a fashion which people keep repeating to new poultry keepers, while us old timers advocate gravel. Yes you might have to buy a ton and do the job properly, but once you have bought it and put it down, you'll never have to top it up or replace it like you will with bark, it dries well and will not harbour mould and fungus.
Are the birds to be mainly confined to the run? If so, you might find the large fowl won't live long as they'll get fat and their hearts give out. I heard so many times from people with cochins that they drop dead with heart attacks at an early age. One woman even wrote this in a poultry magazine which made me furious. I have kept the breed for 30 years and not had this happen once. The difference being, mine were not fat and ranged freely instead of being kept in a small pen.
The other thing which bothers me is the concrete underneath the soil in the run. This will simply hold any water and moisture and in a couple of months, bark or gravel, your hens will be puggling about in a stinking muddy poopy mud splodge. You'd be better removing the soil and having bare concrete. It will be easier to clean too. The water you use to hose the run out, has to be able to run off and drain away somewhere. Chickens can stand a good amount of cold, however, the smallest bit of damp will cause problems and kill them. Hence having good ventilation in the henhouse and me saying to remove the window glass completely. They don't feel the cols. They are wearing their own feather duvet after all and when they hunch down on the perch at night, they cover their feet with their breast feathers and are warm and snug.
I commend you for planning the whole thing out properly and asking questions. Too many people would have thrown up some kind of house and not given a thought to how easily they can clean the run and keep everything dry.
If you do buy pure breed birds, how will you manage them becoming broody, which they will. They literally sit in a semi coma for weeks on end until the eggs hatch. If the eggs are not fertile, they can literally sit there and starve to death. Hence my suggesting hybrids.
What made you choose pure bred large fowl over hybrids?

[HABU]

maybe i'll toss fred some oats out today... oats he might like..

[CKS]

Originally Posted by fenwoman

I don't like your bit of advice. Nobody can think and consider and plan 'too much' before taking on the responsibility of getting any animal. Chickens have the same basic needs and levels of care to be met although some people seem to imagine that the bare minimum 'will do' for them.This attitude makes me hopping mad.
Provisions for any animal, be it dogs, reptiles, livestock, should not be 'basic'. You should be aiming to provide the best for them, not the least you can get away with
Ex battery hens are not for everyone. Many come with terrible injuries where they are pulled from the cages (I have photos of my last batch), they do not live long and are prone to cancers and other problems. The sort of people who think that 'basic' is plenty good enough for mere chickens, are happy with a short life and are amazed when I tell them that I have had 1-14 year old hens here (pure breeds) who potter about in perfect health and still laying the odd egg.
Those kinds of poultry owners think that hens are old at 5 years old and aren't surprised when they die at that age, due, no doubt, to a proper lack of care.

We all have our own methods of rearing and keeping animals ... as stated my chickens have access to my garden all day so it's not like they need an obstical course to keep them entertained. Your very opinionated in what you believe to be true, disagree by all means but don't disrespect others experience or advice. Your fantasist view that anyone keeping animals should do the very best for them would mean no one actually owning any animals. Ultimately keeping animals captive at all is cruelty which makes you just as unsuitable a keeper as me. Now kindly keep your opinions to this person valid

[LiamRatSnake]

Originally Posted by fenwoman

Try not to think of the henhouse as merely somewhere to sleep and lay. With the run dimensions you gave, you can easily place the shed across one end. The run will still be 12 foot long and the door will be 3 1/2 foot from the outer edge. Given that the door on a 6X4 shed is usually 2 1/2 feet wide, it means the door has plenty room to open and get propped open in fine weather.
Rats will chew through wood so easily be able to chew into the henhouse and kill the birds. This is why I suggested a free standing shed raised up on breeze blocks. It makes it harder for them to h ide under and chew, plus it's a place to put your bait station. Rats will also chew through plastic dustbins if you store your feed in them, as a stable owning friend discovered. I had to lend her my best hunter cat for 3 months to get rid of them to a level whereby she could control them with bait. The place was well infested, literally scored of rats running as she moved bins and sacks and all because she was a townie and didn't understand the importance of a good baiting regime.
The other thing I wonder is, how you can properly clean a bare earth run? Woodchippings are awful. They are expensive as they compost down so you have to keep replacing them. They may grow mould on too and they stay damp. People who have kept fowl for some years, use gravel but I know all the newish forums and magazines will keep mentioning bark chippings. It seems to be a fashion which people keep repeating to new poultry keepers, while us old timers advocate gravel. Yes you might have to buy a ton and do the job properly, but once you have bought it and put it down, you'll never have to top it up or replace it like you will with bark, it dries well and will not harbour mould and fungus.
Are the birds to be mainly confined to the run? If so, you might find the large fowl won't live long as they'll get fat and their hearts give out. I heard so many times from people with cochins that they drop dead with heart attacks at an early age. One woman even wrote this in a poultry magazine which made me furious. I have kept the breed for 30 years and not had this happen once. The difference being, mine were not fat and ranged freely instead of being kept in a small pen.
The other thing which bothers me is the concrete underneath the soil in the run. This will simply hold any water and moisture and in a couple of months, bark or gravel, your hens will be puggling about in a stinking muddy poopy mud splodge. You'd be better removing the soil and having bare concrete. It will be easier to clean too. The water you use to hose the run out, has to be able to run off and drain away somewhere. Chickens can stand a good amount of cold, however, the smallest bit of damp will cause problems and kill them. Hence having good ventilation in the henhouse and me saying to remove the window glass completely. They don't feel the cols. They are wearing their own feather duvet after all and when they hunch down on the perch at night, they cover their feet with their breast feathers and are warm and snug.
I commend you for planning the whole thing out properly and asking questions. Too many people would have thrown up some kind of house and not given a thought to how easily they can clean the run and keep everything dry.
If you do buy pure breed birds, how will you manage them becoming broody, which they will. They literally sit in a semi coma for weeks on end until the eggs hatch. If the eggs are not fertile, they can literally sit there and starve to death. Hence my suggesting hybrids.
What made you choose pure bred large fowl over hybrids?

1. Vermin can't get to the food which will be kept in a brick shed.
2. Drainage is good on the soil because we put drainage holes in the concrete, they're like concrete slabs so there's 3-4mm gaps between them too. I've never seen a puddle on there, even though the soil's quite clayie.
3. What we're planning on doing is mixing about half a tonne of sand into it to make drainage even better, then add some chicken wire on top. Then some kind of barrier, like that thick stuff you put down to stop weeds coming up, then I think we'll take your idea and use gravel. Like I say he gets building materials quite cheap, so gravel shouldn't be a problem.
4. What we're looking into now is second hand sheds to think about using, to keep costs down, although he could make one less than half the price of a new one and just as good, he's a very good craftsman.
5. We will put some traps out.
6. The hens would be allowed out from the run daily, weather permitting of course.
7. I want pure breeds, because I prefer them. I've done a lot of research on broody hens, from picking them up once a day to feed and water, to dunking them in cold water, to putting them in wire cage so that the air can flow around underneath them, simply separating her from her next until she gives in. I will obviously do a lot more reading before I choose which birds to go for. I will minimize the chance/frequency of broodiness by picking a breed which isn't as inclined to do so as other breeds, IE Rhode island red.

Thanks for all the advice.

[Pimperella]

Originally Posted by CKS

We all have our own methods of rearing and keeping animals ... as stated my chickens have access to my garden all day so it's not like they need an obstical course to keep them entertained. Your very opinionated in what you believe to be true, disagree by all means but don't disrespect others experience or advice. Your fantasist view that anyone keeping animals should do the very best for them would mean no one actually owning any animals. Ultimately keeping animals captive at all is cruelty which makes you just as unsuitable a keeper as me. Now kindly keep your opinions to this person valid

God how wrong are you.
keep it in a hutch eh, give it food and water and sod all else. Ask yourself why your poor hens had to rip open a sand bag just to have a dust bath, they must have been desperate!!!
I pity your hens with their lack of even basic care!

[CKS]

Originally Posted by Pimperella

God how wrong are you.
keep it in a hutch eh, give it food and water and sod all else. Ask yourself why your poor hens had to rip open a sand bag just to have a dust bath, they must have been desperate!!!
I pity your hens with their lack of even basic care!

Thats not what i was implying at all ... my hens are healthy and happy. I was merely pointing out that a lot of the extras can be excluded without any ill effect. And btw they were temporarily without a sand bath why i was landscaping the garden FOR THEM .. hence the sand bags. I asked myself why they tore open the sand bag as you suggested ... i came to the conclsion it's because they are intelligent. Unfortunately i cannot say the same for your ill concieved and inappropriate response to my post. Read again - i said my hens have free range all day every day. Nothing about locking them in a hutch all day - clearly somewhere you should be