Does anybody on here keep hens.  I would be so grateful of some advice.  Always wanted to keep hens in the garden and absolute beginner.  If anybody keeps hens would you be prepared to offer me some advice please.

Thank you

Tessa

We are thinking of getting some too-  so I'm interested in any advise anyone has as well.

What would you like to know, if I know the answers I will tell you :)

How much room do you need to keep hens?
1. How big is there "home"?
2. How much ground do they need?
3. What is the minimum number of hens you can keep?
4. Which is the best breed to keep for eggs?
I saw some baby chicks at Henley Market and almost brought them but no idea how to keep them.
So I will watch this with interest too?

Karen

1. How big is there "home"?
Depends on the size and number of chickens

2. How much ground do they need?
See above - they can decimate your garden with their scratching if they get out of their pen so make sure it is high enough to keep them in.

3. What is the minimum number of hens you can keep?
Two - they like company

4. Which is the best breed to keep for eggs
Something like Warrens or Black Rocks - the ones "desinged" for egg laying
Some are seasonal layers and some lay all year round except when they are moulting.

Getting end of first season hens that the commercial egg places get rid of can sometimes be a good buy.  They won't lay quite so well the second year but you should still get an egg most days.

Point of lay does not mean that a hen is about to come into lay - it is an age after which they are likely to start laying.

Get some when you are ready and others six months later, hopefully then you will get them moulting and going off lay at different times.  The best time to add new hens to a house is after dark - cuts down on the scrapping as hens have a very strict "pecking order" once that is sorted there are generally few problems

How do you keep foxes out?
Is it true they attract rats?

Lion poo..... thats the best way to keep foxes out....

Geoff :)

No its not true, foxes don't attract rats....

Geoff :)

Thank you Kerioak

my garden is not massive and I was considering placing a chicken coop at the far end.  I am only looking at obtaining 3 hens and have tried sourcing the net for information on small hens.  I cant find anything at all.  I am not looking at a rooster because I think I have to be neighbour sensitive. 

But having five dogs and five cats I need to look at small docile hens.  Any suggestions for breeds.  This is where I am coming unstuck.  My dogs will not be allowed near the hens, but cant say much for the cats if they went near the chicken coop.

I am not looking for great layers but enough to feed two adults 1 teenager with hearty apetite and to feed two elderly dogs srambled eggs once a week for their old tummies. 

On to chicken coops.  There seems to be such a wide variety of ark type coops and others off the floor.  The off the floor with the ramp up seems to be the better option and has a large netted run.  I think the hens would be happier in a larger coop. 

My main concern is the type of hen and the most appropriate type of coop.  From what I have been able to source the hens are all quite big but am aware there are smaller ones but just cant find any information on them. 

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Tessa

How do I keep foxes out?

By throwing frying pans at them!

Attracting Rats?

Rats will eat the droppings and any food that is left over (plus the eggs and chicks if they can get hold of them)
~~

I have tried electric fences, high fences, thick fences but have never yet managed to totally keep foxes out if they are determined to get in.

A concrete floor is a good idea for chicken houses so that rats can't dig up underneath - the house must be suitable for you to get a shovel or something in to be able to easily clean it out.

Most small chickens (bantams) lay small eggs and are seasonal layers - just laying during spring/early summer so they can reproduce.

I currently have Pekin bantams, 2 Black Rock hens and a pair of Buff Orpintons which are lovely - big fluffy buff coloured birds - don't know how well she will lay yet as has only just started.  Avoid Light Sussex as they, expecially the cockerells, can be aggressive - I sold mine to someone who guards her farmyard after he kept attacking me and the dogs.  Other common bantams are Silkys (which are lovely but escape artists), Dutch Gold - I only ever saw these when I had them at bed-time as escape artist was not the word for them! 

If you get four hens you could get two and two, try never to introduce a single one if you can avoid it.

I have four Cockerells - one Buff and three Pekins - the Pekins have a very quiet crow and you hardly notice them but the Buff if somewhat noiser - and he growls.

You say put concrete under the coop to stop the foxes which is a good idea.  But all the coops mentioned have been placed on grass because  they say the hens like to scrat around.  would you therefore put wood bark on top of the concrete etc.  Living in the hills of Derbyshire we have a lot of foxes. 

I read something about pekin bantams but have not been able to find any pictures. 

Is having a rooster beneficial because I was thinking of three girlies.

Tessa

Sorry Kerioak for all the questions.  Where are the outlets to buy the hens.  Im in Glossop Derbyshire.

Thanks

Tessa

The idea of the concrete is so that the rats cannot burrow under and into the house - the run can be mud (sorry, soil).  If it is nicely grassed to start with it won't last long.

If you have a local free paper then look in the farming or poultry section of that - that is where I used to advertise them when I bred chicken, ducks and geese.  Or in the local feed merchants or pet shop.  I think some markets also sell poultry

Shutting them in at night is a must.  Foxes do come round during the day but not so much when the dogs are out.

A cockerell is not necessary but apart from the Buffs mine are left over from when I was breeding them (The buffs I got as eggs and got a friend to hatch them for me as I had sold all my incubators).

I have bred, exhibited and farmed poultry & waterfowl for many years, so if there is anything else you want to know, just ask! have to say that having read such magazines as "Smallholder" etc it seems that whoever makes those quaint little arks is into a big money spinner 'cos amazingly, some people are daft enough to spend £300 on a bit of wood & wire to house 4 hens!!!
You do not have to spend silly money like this....they do not need raised houses, ramps bla bla, unless you are extremely tight on space :(
Far better to have a run on the grass & a small shed with a nest box & a perch...simple & cheap! I suggest you get katie Thears poultry books (from Amazon maybe?) as they are good for beginers. Avoid buying from those expensive pure breed/rare breed farms....they are overpriced! Ask at your local cattle market if they have a poultry fancy auction (most do)...ours is weekly here, but then theres  a big rare breed one in the autumn.
Likewise there are often ads formpoultry in the agric section of free ads papers.

Good morning,

Thank you Sam for your advice.  I do feel in my circumstances I will have to buy a chicken coop only because both Peter and I are absolutely useless at DIY.  I could place money on it that if we were to build anything that remotely resembled a chicken coop it would look like we had taken it from Steptoe's Yard.

I know what you mean the prices are somewhat high for a bit of tongue and groove.   I was on the net last night and came across white Pekin Bantams.  I think I have made my choice. 

However at the moment Pete and I are knocking down a old coal bunker (we can do that) its the putting up thats the problem.  We are then going to relocate the fish pond and after that is done re-design the garden to include a chicken coop and pekin whites if poss. 

If the bantams lay in spring and summer I do not anticipate our garden being ready up until the summer would I be stupid to purchase at that point or wait. 

Look forward to hearing from you

Tessa

Alot of people use an electric fence to keep foxes out, obviously not one that will kill them just that gives a quick shock and tells the fox to keep away, they soon learn and it is not crewl either :) Alot of free range farmers use this method and they have no probs with foxes.

The rat thing I dunno :(

<<<How do I keep foxes out?

By throwing frying pans at them!>>>
lol :D :D

Christine - that is one of the nicer options I have heard :D

Tessa, pekin bantams are lovely, I used to show lavenders & buffs....however there are a few things to remember,...1stly they are bantams which means bantam sized eggs (really tiny ones in the case of Pekins...bit bigger than quail but not much :() Also, they are an ornamental breed so from May to September you may get 1 egg every 3 days but other than that, not many. Also, they have very feathered feet & hate damp ground. if you have Pekins they do need some areas off the soil or they will get horrid rotting footings, look messy & be prone to infections. If you specialise in mud :) then a clean footed/legged breed would be better.
As for the fox problem, well some folk reckon electric works but I guess it depends on your neighbour hood foxes because I have never managed to keep them out. they will easily dig  under electric netting, or, as once happened here, learn to jump 5' high electric netting!!! fraid they are just a hazzard of poultry keeping & when you come home to find 40 prize winning and very rare black ducks slaughtered on the lawn like I did, then you learn the true meaning of "pests & vermin" when related to the fox!!

Hi Sam

Relieved (and sorry) to learn that I am not the only one for whom electric fencing does not work.  I had a visit from a fox on which it killed nearly 50 of my ducks so I put my remaining call ducks (trios of most colours) all in one large pen, with the bantams and electrified it.

A friend and her children came over a day or so later and the kids went out in the woods and came running back to tell me that all my ducks were dead, it had got onto that pen and dilled about 30 ducks, most home bred and all my hens - the birds still wandering around were fine and I think it was getting into an enclosed pen with all the panic that must have driven it to kill everything there.  I no longer breed poultry just keep a few for pets/eggs and lawn mowers.

Hi Tessa,
Have a look here for ideas.
:)

If you're wanting them primarily for eggs I doubt if Pekins are the best choice. We've had various hens and  bantams over the years and found Marans and Welsummers to be the best layers, both have lovely dark brown eggs but the Welsummers are the nicer of the two with beautiful feathering. We've found our bantams (Light Sussex) are a nightmare for going broody. Useful if you need a broody but not if you want the eggs. Ours are free range and disappear to be found later hiding with up to 14 or so eggs. Of course we have to leave them to hatch then :) One year we had about 7 broods unintentionally.  Unfortunately with being free range we've had many lost to foxes. One year we had 2 dozen hens and 2 dozen ducks reduced to almost none by foxes coming up to 3 times a day. They would even wait till we went out in the car, we'd keep watch then be out 10 minutes to pick the boys up from school and come back to find them attacking. I've even sat upstairs watching Michael sitting in the field with his gun, while at the same time watching the fox waiting for him to come back inside! They aren't called sly for nothing.

These have some info and photos for different breeds

http://www.poultrypages.com/page1.htm

http://www.gardenpoultry.cwc.net/breeds.htm

It's a pity you aren't near us (Bradford) as we've got a coop to sell.

Kath.

I used to show Rabbits, and one of the freinds I had in my breed started to show Belgian (Quail) D'anvers.  We fell in love with them at the Poultry section of the Southern Championship show (Rabbits, Cavies, Chinchillas and Poultry).

They are the prettiest hens to my mind. http://www.poultrypages.com/belgian.htm#belgian  The male birds are lovely too.

Thank you all for the messages.  My computer at home would not let me in over the weekend.  Im at work at the moment.

I am going to the Anglesey show on Sunday 14th March.  I am told there is a rather big hen section and will be looking.  I think watch this space.  Pete has told me that in no circumstances am I to come home with anything live except the dogs until everything in the garden is sorted and ready for our potential new arrivals. 

I will let you know how its goes.

Tessa

as some of you may remember im building a new enclosure for my 3 pygmy goats, and i was thinking of getting another goat but im now thinking of somesort of poultry to put in the pen with the goats, would this be ideal? the goats have no worries with the cats going in there current pen and i quite often find one of the cats cuddled up with the billy. Although gentle with the cats foxes have no chance in fact the goats often let us know there is a fox about so we are able to chase it off. We have never had a fox in the goat pen but would putting hens or poultry of somesort in the pen be asking for trouble?
We have kept hens before and lost the first one when she got egg bound? 2 to a fox and the rest we gave away when we had travellers move in at the back of our house and their lurchers kept getting into our garden and the kids kept throwing stones, as we had no idea how long they would be there we decided it would be better for the hens to be rehomed sadly a month after the people took them a fox got into the coop :(
anyway what are your opinions on keeping birds with goats?
tanya

We had goats and hens at home before I got married and they were fine together. In fact, one hen would only lay her eggs under the hayrack in one of the goat pens. Your goats might take a little while to get used to the hens but the novelty will probably soon wear off. My husband and I have cattle and they occasionally chase our free range hens away when they come too close if the cows are in a frisky mood but mostly they ignore each other. I think if animals are living together they generally have a good bond and protect their own friends. Our Bess loves our 2 cats but chases any other cats off the farm. :D   I'd say go for it! :)

Some farmers in the UK now use Llamas to keep foxes away from sheep. :)

Kath.

i keep saying that im going to get a llama as i think there great, but that definitley would be pushing it i think my mum would kick me out if i brought a llama home :D
thanks for your advice just need to decide what i want, i like the idea of guinea fowl or even a turkey
tanya

You need a licence for llamas I believe!

Jesse

Llamas are considered domestic animals so don't need a licence. Their relatives the Guanaco and the Vicuna need a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence. :)

http://www.llamas.co.uk/Pages/llamaquestions.htm

Kath.

Hi Tanya

Turkeys are VERY noisy.  I happened to be visiting a neighbour about half a mile away one day when we had some and could hear them quite clearly down there.  The stag turkeys look very like plain peacocks when they spread their tails.

Guinea Fowl - like to roost in trees or high up so you will need a fairly tall home for them in order to persuade them to go to bed at night.  They have little sense where foxes are concerned though.

LOL I think peacocks must be a cross between guinea fowl and turkeys then. We used to keep them and they were noisy AND liked roosting in trees if you didn't get them in their hut early enough. Just after we were married Michael had to spend the night in hospital leaving me (who'd never dealt with peacocks before!) to look after the livestock. I was so busy looking after the cows (and that's another tale ) that the peacocks spent the night on the house roof. :D

The tale with the cows... one of the calves out in the field was poorly so I got the farmer across the road to have a look and he said to his 2 workers "it looks bad, you'd better get the landrover and take it in" He mean't take it in to the cowshed but they thought he mean't take it in to the slaughterers!   When we realised where they were going with it we had a 20 minute or so journey racing after them and just got there as they were unloading it.  We got it home and the vet came out to see it. She said "it looks a bit shocked"   I said "yes and you would be if you'd been where he's just been" and told her the story. When I went to the hospital to pick Michael up I just burst into tears!

Kath.

mum said she would like peacocks, she is aware of the noise they make as the farm opposite work has 5 cocks and a few more hens, but as they like to roost high (the ones on the farm manage to get on to the barn roof) i think it would be no good, for the same reason im now ruling out guinea fowl, turkeys are now a very good idea, but what else could i put in with the goats, id rather not have hens, and definitley not ducks, mum doesnt like geese so that rules them out. ( it still looks like turkeys are in the lead ) What type of turkeys would be the best? (so to speak) so that i have a starting point in researching them
tanya

Turkeys can be extremely difficult to keep & to be honest they serve little purpose other than the obvious Xmas one!!! (useless for eggs :(, disease susceptible, noisy, stags can be agressive etc.etc) Why not go for poultry instead?

er are not turkeys poultry?

right with all these bad points for turkeys what other poultry would be best i would rather have something of a decent size as the will be with the goats, i need to weigh up all the pros and cons of everything before i make my decision on what to get
thanks
tanya

Wot about a nice meaty ostrich, emu or rhea ? :D :D

Have a look at Buff Orpingtons (chickens) - they are a large, loose feathered, breed and a lovely colour

Having kept most types of poultry of many assorted breeds I must say that I think the best layers were the quail (these need avairys) having sometimes got two eggs a day from them.  I built myself an incubator and wanted to try it out so bought some quail eggs from the farm shop - three hatched, about the size of bumble bees, soon came into lay and laid well until their untimely death by rats.

Turkeys and Peacocks - never again unless just growing on for the table.  Noisy, difficult to keep enclosed and the peacocks devastated my vegetable garden and when that was empty started travelling down the road to visit neighbours.

Ducks - lovely, friendly but messy

Ne-Ne's even more lovely than the ducks, pretty, very friendly and inquisitive, but someone stole them in the middle of the night from their locked house

Chickens - various types have various temperaments and abilites to escape - can soon weed a flower bed down to bear earth

Geese - make good lawnmowers but have to be watched during breeding season if you have an "iffy" gander.  My old boy will be 14 this year and if he has babies is evil!

Guinea Fowl - look lovely wandering around the lawn but kept travelling around the neighbourhood, hated going into the house to bed, perhaps I should have bought them as chicks so they were more used to it.

Think that's it.  Never tried emus or ostrich :)

Any particular reason why you don't want hens or is it just personal preference? (in which case, fair enough :) ) Are you wanting poultry mainly for interest/pleasure or for eggs? 

Kath.

we have had hens before so i wanted to try something different, eggs im not really bothered about, i would rather have something on the larger size because of the goats (or at least the size of a large cat mine are a bit bigger than a cavalier) ducks i definitley dont want because of the mess they make, geese i would like but would have to talk everyone into it a couple of times ive said about getting a couple of geese and the reply is always 'theyre viscious and over my dead body'.
im open to suggestions as to what would be best as i like to read up first to make sure i have the ideal home before bringing the animal home.
thanks again
tanya

LOL I think we're going to have to invent something for you!  Here's some info for you to read while we get our thinking caps on.  :D

http://www.poultrypages.com/basicgoosefaqs.htm#basicgoose

http://www.domestic-waterfowl.co.uk/

Kath.

thank you will get reading :)
tanya

Have a read up on Muscovey Ducks. We had them many years ago and they were quite nice. I wasn't going to suggest them before as you said no ducks but that first link says "technically neither goose nor duck it is closer to the goose genetically". :)

Kath.

Geese neednt be agressive...we have old mrs Goose who is a brecon buff and is a sweetie. Chinese can be a bit dodgy but BB's are gorgeous to look at & very sweet natured too.

thanks for all your help lots to look up, ill let you know what i eventually decide on
thanks
tanya