Essentials first

[Birdie Wife]

Hi everyone,

I want to get three or four hens in the next month or two and I was wondering what essential equipment I needed? I have a starter's book but it's at my Mum's just now, I'll get it back next month but I wanted to prepare everything before then.

I'm building a coop too, so if anyone knows of some plans available on the internet somewhere then that would be mega-helpful!

Also, if anyone has any anecdotes or advice that would help, tell me what you learnt from experience when you first got your choocks, I'd be really interested.

[nick the grief]

if you can get hold of this book it will help
http://www.goldcockerelbooks.co.uk/b...chicken+coops/

Failing that try you local library. I have some plans in an old book I could fotocopy for you if you want to pm me your address. It will be a bit big, but you can scale it down.

I built mine in the end of my shed so it was 6' x 4' x 4'high with integral nest box & feeders. this kept the food & water cleaner that if it was out side.
Then they had an allweather run for winter that was bricks on sand with a cover over & grassy area for the summer with tough shrubs in to make it look better.

[sewer rat]

Birdie wife
I seem to remember a fellow grape posting a picture of a chicken hotel she and her OH had constructed - but can't seem to find it - all I can remember is that she had painted it a pastel blue colour. Perhaps a fellow grape can shed some light - there may be a sharing of ideas or even plans

[Clarea1]

For a complete kit try www.omlet.co.uk

I have an eglu, a little expensive but not bad comapred to wooden huts. The advantage of the eglu is it is sooooooo easy to maintain. The poo tray goes straight into the composter, mites can't live on the plastic, it's very weather proof etc etc I could rave all day. I love my eglu and my 3 hens. It could easy take 4 - for roosting but if they were going to be left in the run i wouldn't advise more than 3-4 size depending.

[Birdie Wife]

Hi Clarea1,
Yes I looked at eglu and thought - fanstastic idea - but out of my budget. But in another thread i found a link to a brilliant DIY website with free plans for all sorts of projects, including a chicken coop, which I have duly printed off. I've also added the website to my favourites, here it is if you're interested:

http://www.buildeazy.com/fp_start.html

[Sunbeam]

Hi there

We have recently taken on 3 rescue chooks and they are living in our neighbours old dog kennel - we have made a very basic perch for them, which we will put in when they are stronger & have raised the whole thing off the ground by approx 12 inches with a ramp to the door - considering the environment they have come from they are very happy. We also have two others who roost in the trees and roam the gardens to their hearts content - you do have to search the garden for eggs, but they will automatically seek higher ground if they don't have a house.

Happy chicken keeping!!

[smallblueplanet]

The eglu makes me want to keep chooks, it looks so easy to use and keep clean but also not too cage-like. The garden centre near us has some 'rescue chooks' - always makes me a bit tearful thinking about the poor things (but they look fab now).

Oh thats just reminded me the manageress in the garden centre was talking about 'dusting them for mites' regularly and how the staff hate doing it! Whats that about then?

Love some of the comments on the eglu faq!

eglu

"My husband was very dubious about keeping chickens at first. He was concerned that they would be yet another responsibility, and difficult to manage in a small suburban garden. He didn't think that a few eggs would be sufficient compensation . Now, however, he has been completely won over. He is charmed by their habit of scurrying over when he is busy working on the car, showing more interest, he says, than the children..."

[poultrychat]

Dusting for mites is exactly that - when they are quiet and perching at night get yourself some special powder, the one I used to use was by Barrier I think and gently 'dust' them to keep them free of mites. I know quite a few people use Nippon ant powder which is much cheaper and works really well but obviously not licenced for use in poultry

[fruit&vegvirgin]

ugh! dont fancy eating eggs from chooks done with ant powder...!

[poultrychat]

No need to worry, the active ingredient is Permethin - it's a synthetic version of a natural product, eggs and poultry are fine

[Sunbeam]

Our rescue girls are also recovering well - they had never seen daylight before they had come out of the battery ... the morning after we got them one of them stood in the howling rain/wind even though she had a warm kennel to go into & just enjoyed the fresh air -

we got them two weeks ago on Monday & they now roam the garden pulling up all my broccoli plants etc! But you can't hold it against them - did you know in their battery cages each chook has the space of an A4 piece of paper to live in? We get eggs off them now on a daily basis, we even had one the morning after they arrived, amazing considering their ordeal.. I must admit we now have to hunt the garden for the eggs though!

If you are considering getting chickens, rescue chooks are an excellent choice, they are not as scared of people as their free range cohorts and make super pets too -it is so rewarding to see them scratching away and regaining their plummage and on top of this the Battery Hen Welfare Trust only ask for what it cost to buy them off the farmers - in our case 50p per girl! We obviously offered more than that - and they are well worth their weight in broccoli plants !

[poultrychat]

Good for you Sunbeam and I quite agree the battery conditions they are kept in are horrendous. I wish my free range girls knew they weren't meant to be friendly - flying onto my shoulder to get to the corn feeder first makes things awkward

[smallblueplanet]

Any chance of a picture of your 'girls' Sunbeam? They sound great - what are their names? You can have a real egg hunt this Easter!!!

[Sunbeam]

Hi I've taken some pics of the 'Battery Pack,' their names are Audrey ("with the brown bottom!") , Beatrix & Margo (Hepburn, Potter & Ledbetter) I will now attempt to attach them... ahh... success, I thought it was going to be more complicated than that!

They are still very moth-eaten, but nothing in comparison to when they arrived... The first and last pics were taken 2 days after they arrive, hence they are in their run/kennel... the only time you catch them in there now is when they have taken themselves off to bed. One thing they are doing is pecking at their OWN chest feathers - I can only assume this is stress-related & something they did in captivity ... is there any way to stop it? They are very clever too - I went out this morning to let them out of their run & they had already got out, thing is I can't see how the hell they managed it - there are no visible gaps in their fencing & it has a wire roof too!!

[smallblueplanet]

Sounds like you'll have a 'Keystone Cops' style chasetime on your hands with those crazy birds Sunbeam.

My OH (who has kept chooks in the past) thinks the pecking might indeed be stress-related. I bet pc will know more.