are chooks cost effective?

[pdblake]

We're lucky there. Our's is quite big (roughly 70ft x 70ft) but the area the chooks get moved around in (made the run moveable and move them every other week or so) is about 5M x 5M. There's room to move the run a few times before they get back where they started. The run is about 1M x 3M ish so they get moved half a dozen times. By they time they get back where they started it's all grown back again, with a little help from some grass and kale seed.

[ckfe]

We're lucky there. Our's is quite big (roughly 70ft x 70ft) but the area the chooks get moved around in (made the run moveable and move them every other week or so) is about 5M x 5M. There's room to move the run a few times before they get back where they started. The run is about 1M x 3M ish so they get moved half a dozen times. By they time they get back where they started it's all grown back again, with a little help from some grass and kale seed.

when you say the run does that mean the outside bit or does it include the bit where they sleep and lay eggs? cos it doesn't sound huge

[Nicos]

think there was a busybody called esme in it.. any ideas?

OMG!!!!..I can't believe I've just looked that up for you!!!

....here you go...

A Country Practice: The classic Aussie soap A Country Practice

[pdblake]

That's just the outside bit. If you look around and take a look at some of theose chicken arks you can buy, supposedly for 6 chickens, they're even smaller.

[Snadger]

My chooks (I fancy the name is derived from the chuck-chuck in henspeak!) make a profit!
I have 14 layers and about 6 eaters.
The eggs I don't use at home are snapped up by fellow allotment holders at £1.50 dozen.
They are fed on layers pellets which are dead cheap (excuse the pun!) and greens from the allotment.
The money I get in my honesty box pays for the layers pellets easily as I only need to sell 4 doz eggs to pay for a bag (£4.95 for 20 kilo)
They ae a bit tying but are self financing.
Chicken sheds and runs cost nowt as they are made from scrap material.

Laying chooks cost me £2 each apart from the ones I hatched which cost me about a quid each! Ex bats can be picked up for 50p each.

[ckfe]

OMG!!!!..I can't believe I've just looked that up for you!!!

....here you go...

A Country Practice: The classic Aussie soap A Country Practice

yes that was it!!!!... i used to love that programme

thanks nicos!

[ckfe]

That's just the outside bit. If you look around and take a look at some of theose chicken arks you can buy, supposedly for 6 chickens, they're even smaller.

is it ok to let them run round the garden or would they peck at all my veggies?

am i right in thinking that chickens can't fly?

[Nicos]

Nope- tis pigs wot can't fly!!!!
Chooks most certainly can fly if they want to- height of 4ft along the ground- but they can fly upward 6ft or so depending on their weight and inclination. Some with clipped wings are escape artists too....I think you need to choose a certain variety with a lazy temperament!

[Nicos]

and yup- they'd be delighted with a buffet table like that!!!!....fencing is the answer to be honest

[HayleyB]

My laydees are making a small profit over their keep by selling eggs, but then I have a lot of laydees and they live in a big stable and I buy layers 10 bags at a time which means they are 50p per bag less. And I had a lovely potato and onion frittata the other night.

Desperately trying to stop myself using four on the side so I can hard boil them.

And yes chooks can fly but only in short spurts which is why in some cases wings need to be clipped.

[Flummery]

Mine live in the garden. There are 4 of them and they normally inhabit a run of 3 x 2.5 metres which has the house inside it but raised on a platform so they have the whole space to use and shelter from the rain - both for them and their food. They're not expensive to keep - compare with dog and cat food etc - no pet is free. Their run is 6ft tall (I'm 5ft 9) and is covered, including the top, in small gauge weldmesh. This setting up cost is fairly high. They also have an outside area of about 3 x 4 m of grassy scrub and a few shrubs where they scratch and play as long as I'm out there to supervise.
I've never seen a fox round here but a neighbour opposite who sleeps badly sees one coming up my front path most nights! It then crosses to next door's front garden. I'm sure it does the rounds of the back gardens too but the chook run is like Colditz.

When we were little we called them chucky hens - which laid chucky eggs!

The eggs are like no others I've ever had. Even supermarket best organic free range don't come near for flavour and depth of colour in the yolk. And you can't put a price on having the chickens fly up to your knee when you're sitting with them and having a read. 3 of the 4 did it today. They like to be stroked gently - and to try making a grab for any buttons or jewellery you might have about your person! Chicken cuddles are ace!

[CoraxAurata]

Ours are in the back garden. And yes the females are hens and the males cockerals.

Not sure why people call them chooks though, too many Aussie soaps on the telly?

Its rather akin to calling cows moos........

[bluemoon]

My mum lived on her aunt's smallholding during the war and has always referred to them as chucks and eggs as chuckie eggs.
Our chicken house was supposedly 'free' in that we were given a quantity of marine ply by the firm next door to where I work. A family friend, who is a skilled carpenter, then turned it into a chicken-house for us and refused payment because he'd 'enjoyed doing it'. We bought some of the wood, the 2"x2" and 2"x1" which was needed to make the frame, plus things such as screws, roofing material, wood-preservative etc, so it still cost us the best part of £100. Having said that it's exactly what I wanted and is so strongly made that I shouldn't have to replace it for years. (the carpenter reckons 50 years if I keep redoing the preservative!!!) The adult hens (6 of) cost us £23 each and the growers were £8.50 for the Rhodies (3) and £10 for the Gold-tops (2). Lynda66 gave us the cockerels. So, close to £190 for the birds. A £20 kilo bag of organic pellets costs £13, but our feed merchant doesn't always have it available, so we sometimes have to use the Smallholder Range pellets which cost £8.05p. I could buy feed which is considerably cheaper, but all the cheap stuff, without exception, contains GM ingredients and I really do not want that.
If the hens lay fertile eggs and the broodies hatch them them I shouldn't need to buy another chicken and if the carpenter's right then the house should last longer than me, so the massive part of the outlay is hopefully over, but what with the continued costs of feed, wormer etc, then I doubt I'll ever find it's cheaper to keep chickens than to buy eggs. That isn't really the point though, chickens are wonderful, great fun and the eggs are fresher than you could ever hope to buy - I read somewhere that supermarket eggs are always AT LEAST a fortnight old before they reach the shop. I know what my hens have been eating, I know they've had the best life I could possibly give them and that's what is most important to me. When my hens lay eggs with beautiful deep-yellow yolks, then I know that it's because of a good diet and not because their feed contained yolk pigmenters.
I keep mine on the lottie. I did consider having 3 hybrids in the back garden, but in the end I wanted the scope that pure-breeds and cockerels could give me. I keep one allotment specifically for the chickens, the birds on one half and food for them (kale, sweetcorn etc) growing on the other half. It's a bit of a pain because our 'human' food is grown on a plot at a different site (a council one), but as chicken-keeping there is allowed, but is very restrictive, - 6 hens only, no cockerels, house to be built to flimsy council plans, small runs - I've taken on another plot at a private site on which the chickens are kept under a slightly less rigid regime, but with better possibilities for their welfare. After a bit of a struggle in early spring it's now working well and we're reasonably organised.

[Snadger]

My mum lived on her aunt's smallholding during the war and has always referred to them as chucks and eggs as chuckie eggs.
Our chicken house was supposedly 'free' in that we were given a quantity of marine ply by the firm next door to where I work. A family friend, who is a skilled carpenter, then turned it into a chicken-house for us and refused payment because he'd 'enjoyed doing it'. We bought some of the wood, the 2"x2" and 2"x1" which was needed to make the frame, plus things such as screws, roofing material, wood-preservative etc, so it still cost us the best part of £100. Having said that it's exactly what I wanted and is so strongly made that I shouldn't have to replace it for years. (the carpenter reckons 50 years if I keep redoing the preservative!!!) The adult hens (6 of) cost us £23 each and the growers were £8.50 for the Rhodies (3) and £10 for the Gold-tops (2). Lynda66 gave us the cockerels. So, close to £190 for the birds. A £20 kilo bag of organic pellets costs £13, but our feed merchant doesn't always have it available, so we sometimes have to use the Smallholder Range pellets which cost £8.05p. I could buy feed which is considerably cheaper, but all the cheap stuff, without exception, contains GM ingredients and I really do not want that.
If the hens lay fertile eggs and the broodies hatch them them I shouldn't need to buy another chicken and if the carpenter's right then the house should last longer than me, so the massive part of the outlay is hopefully over, but what with the continued costs of feed, wormer etc, then I doubt I'll ever find it's cheaper to keep chickens than to buy eggs. That isn't really the point though, chickens are wonderful, great fun and the eggs are fresher than you could ever hope to buy - I read somewhere that supermarket eggs are always AT LEAST a fortnight old before they reach the shop. I know what my hens have been eating, I know they've had the best life I could possibly give them and that's what is most important to me. When my hens lay eggs with beautiful deep-yellow yolks, then I know that it's because of a good diet and not because their feed contained yolk pigmenters.
I keep mine on the lottie. I did consider having 3 hybrids in the back garden, but in the end I wanted the scope that pure-breeds and cockerels could give me. I keep one allotment specifically for the chickens, the birds on one half and food for them (kale, sweetcorn etc) growing on the other half. It's a bit of a pain because our 'human' food is grown on a plot at a different site (a council one), but as chicken-keeping there is allowed, but is very restrictive, - 6 hens only, no cockerels, house to be built to flimsy council plans, small runs - I've taken on another plot at a private site on which the chickens are kept under a slightly less rigid regime, but with better possibilities for their welfare. After a bit of a struggle in early spring it's now working well and we're reasonably organised.

I use Farmgate layers pellets at £4.95 for 20Kg. It states on the packaging it is GM material free!

BOCM Pauls Farmgate Layers Pellets (Size: 20 kg)

[bluemoon]

I use Farmgate layers pellets at £4.95 for 20Kg. It states on the packaging it is GM material free!

BOCM Pauls Farmgate Layers Pellets (Size: 20 kg)

Wonder where I can get those, our feed merchant stocks either the Allen and Page GM free stuff or their own cheapo brand which definitely is not. Admittedly it's a large feed mill and the attached shop is a recent development, prior to that they just used to deliver to farms by the ton. At the moment I'm just grateful that I can get what I want and that the feed merchant's is not too far from Mum's village, so I do pass on a regular basis, but I'm certainly going to start shopping around soon. A local pet-food store is selling GM free, but are charging £6.99 for FIVE kilos, so that's a non-starter.
Sadly I can't store vast quantities - and I'm told it doesn't keep anyway - otherwise I'd order from the company you suggest and get free delivery for an order over £40, at the moment though 2 sacks at a time is my storage limit. And when you pay delivery you lose any savings.