New chicken owner

[Kirstin]

My husband has brought home our first chicken yesterday and have just found this forum.

What advice do you have for a first time chicken owner?

[smallblueplanet]

poultrychat posts on another forum - http://www.poultrychat.com/ - it seems to be all about chooks!

I'm sure other posters will tell you about their adventures with chickens too!

[poultrychat]

Hi kirstin, nice to 'meet' you - I do post in here as well but it is just easier in my own forum, saves me repeating myself

[cotton54321]

hi there,
welcome to chook world! We have only had our three hens for nearly 2 weeks and have had to ask loads of advice. Poultrychat.com is great - they answer all my silly questions!

[Sunbeam]

Hi Kirstin

(My sister is a KirstIN - I don't think I've ever met another before - so HELLO!!)

I have 5 chickens - they take very little looking after - they have a converted dog kennel to live in and they roam our garden. I de-poo their house once a week, feed them every morning & make sure they are locked up at night & they are very happy girls. I would perhaps suggest you get at least one more as they are quite sociable & do like to go around together - probably mugging the local cat population!

Obviously we keep an eye on them to make sure they are in good health - but aside from that they are very low maintenance... and delightful company when digging the garden

[Kirstin]

Thank you, I am now a little wiser, not very much though.

Sunbeam, hello to you and Kirstin. I don't know any other either.

[notmilk]

we've had our 3 for just under a week, so we're learning too. They seem to have settled in OK -we haven't let them out of the run yet apparently they need a while to imprint "home" then we'll let them roam the garden on the weekends! good luck and enjoy!

[Squirrel]

Hi Kirstin

I agree with what the others say, you need more than one chicken - they are very unsettled if on their own! Sociable animals they will start to recognise you (or see you as "ooh here comes food" )and follow you around.

Hens are a fascinating hobby and the bonus is that their eggs taste so good! Of course if you are growing veg, well say no more about the benefits of poo to the compost bin!

Enjoy - I can 'waste' a lot of time just sitting and watching mine!

[thingybobby]

Hi Kirstin,

You definitely need more hens.

I only started late last year and now have a dozen chooks and a turkey......the're very infectious.

There are lots of good poultry keeping books about (try your library before buying?) and/or subscribe to something like Practical Poultry magazine, which also has an eggcellent online forum.

Another forum is henhut.com

Like most things in life, there are many ways to keep hens, so be selective in the advice you take, putting your chooks welfare first and then what works best for you.

[Loz]

Oh Blimy - I stated with 2 - I've now got over 500 - beware Kirstin they are addictive!

Loz

[CountryFayre]

The best advice anyone can give you is ...enjoy! Don't worry about them too much, they will soon let you know if they are unhappy in anyway. A dry house, clean water and balanced diet is their main need. If they are bright eyed and laying well then everything in theory is fine.