More chicken advice please

[JennieAtkinson]

Really interested in keeping 2/3 chickens and advice from grapevine very informative. Can anyone tell me a bit more about keeping them - can they be left to look after themselves for 24 hours? 48 hours? Is it ok to leave them out in the run overnight? We have problems with polecats (no foxes on this remote island) but our field is walled and I would propose a further fenced area as a run and including an ark. We are sometimes away at weekends and I am not sure whether this would be compatible with keeping chickens.
How long does a chicken lay for and how long are they likely to live? We are worried they will become such pets we will end up with a lot of elderly chickens, but no eggs!!
Grateful for any advice or any good reading matter which would help answer these questions (and other novice questions!)

[Llew Edwards]

Chicken Advice

The best starting point for anyone with chickens is a book called Starting with Chickens written by Katie Thear and published by Broad Leys Publishing Ltd. (Katie also writes the poultry articles for this magazine). I got her book when I started and it's been my 'chicken bible' ever since. It's packed with information and unbelievably good value at £6.95 post-free from Broad Leys Publishing Ltd, 1 Tenterfields, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 3UW. www.blpbooks.co.uk
I believe that her latest book is called Organic Poultry. I haven't read that yet but it's on order. If it's anything like her other books, it'll be great. As you can gather, I'm a great fan of hers although sadly I've never met her.

[JennieAtkinson]

Many thanks for that advice - the book is ordered!

[andywhit]

so let them become pets, after all , people keep parrots and other ornamental birds and they don`t lay eggs.
we had 6 black rock hens over 6 years and we usually got enough eggs. i don`t think they stop laying so long as they are healthy, they just lay less frequently but larger eggs. i was told that this breed was good for this long laying period, i don`t know about other varieties though
by the way, only one was culled when very ill.two died of natural causes one was run over and two vanished ,cause unknown.

[Lottie]

Chickens are great company and make really entertaining pets. If you visit the Omlet site there is a page telling you most of what you need to know about keeping them.

The main criteria about leaving them this time of year is the weather. Frozen water mainly. They drink lots of water so if it freezes where you are you need to get someone to replenish it.

Food wise they can be left with enough food for 24 or 48 hours

Omlet sell and Eglu and fox proof run that keeps them safe so that you do not have to worry - and so easy to maintain too.

You can see mine on
http://kooringa@blogspot.com

or visit the Omlet site and sign up as a guest as see lots of other Eglu owners and read the forums for help and advice

Best wishes

[poultrychat]

They can be left for 24 - 48hours with access to enough food and water to last them. I always suggest 3 chickens as the minimum so that if anything goes wrong then you won't have 1 miserable chicken on its own. The egg laying ability depends on whether you go for a pure breed or a hybrid and the individual bird. Why not build your own house, the omlet ones are pretty expensive?

[Lottie]

I went for the Eglu, because once I added up all the cost of the materials etc and to ensure it was fox proof and easy to clean. The cost worked out the same.

I am thrilled with my Eglu - so easy to clean - just been out there and it literally took 3 minutes - I timed it - Close pop hole by turning external handle to keep the chickens out, pull out the dropping draw, empty it in a sack, reline it with newspaper, (you don't have to do that bit, that added a minute to the time) and slide it back in. Then turn handle to open the pop to give chickens access. Job done.

[poultrychat]

They can live for up to 10 years but the average seems to be about 7 if they are lucky enough to get illnesses and they can keep on laying through old age just not so often. In a chickens first year they will lay the most eggs but the eggs will be smallish, once they get beyond the first year they will lay less frequently but the eggs will be a much better size

[JennieAtkinson]

Many thanks to you all for all the advice.

[Lizf678]

Go ahead and do it. Pure breeds live much longer than hybrids which are bred to be egg machines poor things! However free range hens do slow up on the egg production a bit, hybrids lay for approximately 2/ 2.5 years, they are born with a certain number of eggs in the system and once they are used up that's it. As they are bred to lay every day if possible, it exhausts the hens and once they stop laying they seem to die soon after. Pure breeds don't lay so often and therefore don't deplete their bodies and sometimes live to be very old ladies after they stop laying. I keep six hens at a time, but I buy them two at a time, ie start with two, wait 5/6 months get another two etc, that way they don't all demise the same time! 4 laying hybrids will give you approx. 20 eggs a week in the summer, less in the winter.
Just 2 other points, your new pullets will need segregating from the old girls for a few days, within sight of each other but so they can't get at each other, then when any commotion has died down, one night when they've all gone to bed, you put the new ones into the roost with the others and let them all out together in the morning.
Yes, you can happily leave them for a couple of days providing they have a secure run, food (layers pellets) and importantly, water. They will put themselves to bed at dusk! They do like extra greens particularly in the winter
(it makes the yolks a nice gold colour as well as being good for them)
Have fun!

[JennieAtkinson]

Thanks again - all very very helpful. I will need to take the plunge!

[Berr]

The hybrids I've had have virtually stopped laying after 2 years, EXCEPT for Black Rocks which go on and on. They're hardier too and less prone to disease. Once upon a time you could get strains of pure breeds, for example Rhode Island Reds, which in the first couple of years would lay as well as a modern hybrid. These are now hard to find. Anyway, as I suggested, THEIR output also slowed down rapidly after age two. Pure breeds are the thing if you intend to breed, or if you like the idea of having chickens with a history. Otherwise, it's Black Rocks, I think! You can buy on eBay an excellent, brand new house for up to 6 chickens for about £150.

[rauni]

omega 3 eggs

I'm also thinking seriously about a few chooks, not taken the plunge yet, but on the subject of extra greens; if you feed your chickens Purslane (high in Omega 3) you get eggs full of Omega 3 (like the expensive supermarket ones, but better!). I think I read this in New Scientist. Some research done on eggs in Turkey or Greece, where the chooks graze wild Purslane. You can get seeds from Kings seeds for 99p. Maybe the birds get health benefits as side effect..?!

[poultrychat]

I think you have to be careful how you cook the eggs though or the omega 3 is 'cooked out' of the egg

[Clarea1]

Hiya,

I have an eglu, had it since september. I leave the girls in the run (3 hybrids) if there is no one in at home, obviously in winter this may mean that they don't get to free range but this is only the odd day. Chickens, whilst very nice, aren't very clever and really don't appear to experience boredom!

I have hybrids because they are less prone to going broody and are breed for laying qualities. With a good diet this is not in any way cruel, it is simply that two breeds have been bred to compliment each other. Pedigree strains as with any animal, can be more prone to inherant problems but that is par for the cousre really.

My girls are feed Allen and Page organic layers pellets and I have recently started throwing a handful or two of grain on an afternnon after reading in GYO about it being slow release to help sustain body warmth over night. They are cheap to keep. The eglu is a big outlay but compared to wooden houses it is competitivley priced and is so easy to keep clean. I just slide the litter tray out and empty into the composter. Bingo!

The chickens can do alot of damage to your garden if you have nice prize winning plants or tasty seedlings! I move their run evry couple of weeks but when we section the 'working' end of the garden in the summer, the run will be on bark chippings and won't need to move.

Sorry for the long post but they really are great and the eggs are fabulous!!