Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Since the move to Devon, I've been pondering - whatever to do with the back garden?

The house is situated on the side of the site of an old quarry! I really really hoped that it would have more depth of topsoil, but having begun some planting, have discovered that there's maybe up to 18" topsoil, then varying amounts of rubble, then bedrock.

Then, getting some paper and doing some brainstorming ideas, I thought - maybe I could create a garden when I could keep a couple of hens! Hens as suppliers of eggs and rather splendid looking pet birds! The idea was promptly reinforced by switching on the tv to discover Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall andJamie Oliver publicising the conditions in which mass produced chickens are raised.

I admit, to my great shame, that I, a born townie, had never really before thought about the way the birds are treated. And I do like the idea of keeping a couple of hens for eggs! From now on, I buy a free-range bird. I'll be paying more for it, but eating chicken less frequently.

I've got some books from the library, and am checking out advisory sites on line. Has anyone any experience in keeping hens?

Squawk!

Munch

yes my parents have four chickens! I adore going home to my parents and seeing them, as they sense someone coming and all coming runing up to the fence of the coup to say hello. They are simple to keep-as long as they have a good secure place to live (although saying that dad used to pull the ramp from the ground to their roosting bit up at night but no longer does it as they stay up all night!) Food and water on constant supply as well as grit (make shells go hard) and your sorted and whats good id you can but huge amounts of food for not much money in the long run.
im going to get some next year i think for my garden

Amy, how lovely! Thank you so much - fancy them rushing to greet you! I'm reading a nice little book from the NT/Country Living mag which explains how to look after hens very clearly. What breed do your parents have? I'm planning a trip to a poultry show where I can get an idea of what's involved.

I can't find in books/magazines/websites how long a happy pampered hen will live, however! My current husband imagines a nightmare scenario of me griefstricken when they die after a year or so, exhausted after all that egg laying!

Munch

Hi Munch

We currently have six chooks and two duckies. The chooks are orange ones - bred for egg laying I think. Freckles was white and Chocolate was a Rhode Island Red (I think). They lived to the grand old age of 10+. However, previous orange chooks that we rescued from Jess' school only lived for about 5 years. I believe that the egg laying breeds have been selected for high egg output over a couple of years, so any genetic condition that may shorten their lives is of no importance, because they get the chop before it is apparent in a commercial environment.

Our girls are in a big fenced enclosure which is fox and cat proof - probably a bit much for a domestic garden in Devon. In the past we have lost eggs and ducklings (that was very, very sad) to crows (aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkk, aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrkkkkkkkk, from the trees all day long - creepy birds). I did, at great expense, roof the whole enclosure with bird netting, but so many birds got tangled in it, with dire consequences for their health, that I removed it all.

One word of warning - chooks are pretty destructive in the garden. Fantastic for clearing areas of expired veges, but death to seedlings. They remind me of the raptors in Jurassic Park as they scratch around looking for grubs.

Have you read anything about chook tractors? Again, they may be too big for your purposes. Some really grand ones are made from polypipe, but I feel that it would be akin to wrestling jelly to attempt to construct such a home.


xx

Hello Caroline!

A hen can live to 10 years old? That is a very reassuring thought - terrific!

Hmm, predators. I suppose foxes would be the no 1 peril here, but as the dolls' house is situated in a sort of mini Toytown (you'll see in April!) I don't think it's too likely in the daytime, but the thought of crows hadn't occurred to me!

I'm reading up about henhouses on line - looks as if they'll live in anything from a simple dwelling to mini-hen palaces with cupola on top, but have to have nesting boxes, "droppings board" and comfy perches. Plentiful water to drink, and Amy mentioned grit to harden the shells of the eggs!

One memory comes back to me - when I was a child, and chicken was an occasional treat, my older brother used to challenge me to pull the wishbone. I tried this with my own children, but to my dismay, the wishbone was so soft and rubbery that it would bend and not break. When I saw the poor chickens on the box I could see that they were so weak on their legs they kept collapsing. Very distressing!

(A scheme I have already put into action is a wormery in the garage! 1,000 vermiculture worms chomp their way through vegetable trimmings + chopped up loo roll + occ handful Worm Treat pellets, in a special layered high rise dwelling!)

I'm on the look-out now for a poultry show where I can see hens in action. Roll on Spring! I wonder what a tractor can be for them to live in - sounds very high-tech!

Love, Munch

Hi Munch -

when still living in France , I had :
- 12 hens, I cock
- 1 buck rabbit, 3 breeding does, a plethora of little rabbits
- 2 white barbary ducks , 4 colvert ducks
- a chinchilla, 2 hamsters, an alsatian and a very large grey gander

Chicken are very easy to keep - they need an enclosed space, with covered area for night roosting, lots of straw for laying and sand/gravel for grit. I kept mine in a large shed/coop, with various boxes and things in corners - chicken are contrary creatures, and will lay everywhere except where you want them to, so you will have to hunt around each morning for the eggs.
They were not young when I bought them, but 5 years down the line were still laying every day ( even through the winter, although farmers will tell you that laying drop off during the cold months), and I finally gave them away when I moved to a flat. The chicken run can be messy, and smell a bit but the plus side is that my children never ate a shop-bought egg, and feeding is easy - grain plus all vegetable & fruit peelings from your kitchen, fresh water and that's about it. One word of warning - I initially kept a cock, because I was told that without a male the hens would not lay : this is rubbish, the male is only necessary if you want to breed. However, cocks not only crow at sun-up but sometimes during the night when disturbed by lights... Ours took to crowing in the wee small hours of the morning, and also used to attack anybody who went into the chicken run to collect eggs ( they can be very very aggressive) so he ended up as a very fine coq-au-vin...

Thank you Barbara - most informative and interesting! I feel very encouraged.

I wouldn't think of keeping a cock bird - think of all that crowing - imagine being woken up by a cock at dawn and even in the night... I wouldn't be popular in Toytown! I've been looking at an American poultry book however, and what magnificent birds they are - admired a photo of a Columbian Wyndotte rooster. Some charming advice in the NT book - "You may want to rub a little petroleum jelly onto your hen's comb to protect it from the cold and stop it getting frostbite" - how sweet!

Did you clip their primary flight feathers to stop them flying?

There's a Devon Fanciers Championship Poultry Show in Dawlish on 12 Feb! I can't believe I'm getting so rural!

Love, Munch

well my parents got the first 4 in April 2005 and have two left i think and they got another two, 1 had a stroke to had to be disposed of, the other was ill. The two orgional ones reaminang have stopped laying but Mum cant see why we should get rid just because so she bought another two.

You seem to have the idea. Have two separate runs so that you can move them to the second and let the first recover. (It simply needs a second door to the hen house to the second run). A hard water spray of the old run should get most of the poo (which is very very strong) A run should be good for 4 - 6 months occupation.

Lock them up at sundown making sure the foxes cannot break in to the hen house - they are not stupid so a bolt on the door as minimum. We used to have a potential problem with rats after the chicken feed. If it is stored outside the house then protect with metal sheet OR put your shed on concrete pillars with horizontal metal sheet protruding from each pillar half way up to stop the rats climbing up.

Thanks for all the advice! I'm getting really keen on the project now. The thought of rats is a bit dismaying, so I will bear that well in mind. I think it will be really worthwhile!

Munch

Parents chicken food is kept in plastic bins in the shed that is locked...also chickens have had the same run area for 3 years and dont seem to mind the lack of grass (we through in some of the mown grass in the summer) in fact they seem to be spreading out across more and more of the garden, they now have a gap in the fence to go through to the newer area in the ront garden they have had made