The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: SLI on April 01, 2010, 11:32:40 pm
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Hi All,
I've just registered. I have a small veg patch & several fruit trees etc. & have just bought a chicken coop.... So excited! :)
Haven't bought any hens/chicks yet as I really don't know where to start. I live on the coast in Norfolk with my partner & two of my teenaged sons.
I could use any advice that anyone would like to share. Thanks :wave:
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Hello and welcome to the forum - I am in Derbyshire.
If you have a question about chickens or anything smallholding related, ask away. There is always someone who can come up with an answer for you - everyone is really helpful!
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Thanks so much. I've ordered a few books as I'm a Londoner who's moved to the country/seaside and as a townie has no idea, so any help and advice would be very much appreciated.
I think the first thing I would like to know is what breed of chicken I should go for as a beginner - if there is a "beginners breed" as such...
I've ordered a coop with an attached run as I'd like my "girls" to have as much space as possible. The recommended number of medium sized hens for the coop is 3 - 4.
I'd also like to know if there are any essentials I'll need as a first timer.
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Hi you need to make sure it's a breed that you like looking at; then decide how important egg production is to you.Don't worry too much about being green so to speak most of it is commonsense and poultry are surprisingly hardy .
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Thanks for your advice. I think that's what I would have done - gone for something I liked the look of, but it's reassuring to know that poultry is fairly hardy.
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Hello SLI Every one has a different favorite bod as you will find but POL (Point of Lay) is a good bet for the beginner and Rhode Island Red X Black Rock is a good choice of bod they lay well and eat well when finished laying Pedigree Rhode Island Reds are very expensive to purchase Lots of people on here obtains a few ex battery bods but they need much more attention I found in the past.Let us hear how you get on ??? ;D :farmer:
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HI and welcome to the forum :wave:
I'm fairly new to chickens, but with my limited experience - here goes !
Feeder and drinker
Worming medicine
Mite/louse powder
Oyster shell and grit
Cider vinegar (for adding to their water, but can only use in plastic drinkers)
sawdust & straw for bedding
Layers pellets and mixed corn.
I'm sure there will be other things I've forgotten but more experience folk will keep you right ;)
If your run suggests 3-4 chickens, I'd probably start with 2 in there and see how you get on - you'll maybe find you have to move it quite regularly if it's on grass/earth cause they do a LOT of scratching about. Our 2 have a 6ft by 6ft run and I feel as if I'd like it to be (at least) twice that size !
I have a warren and a rhode island red - the warren LOVES cudles, but the RIR is a bit more stand offish ! I inherited these ones, but if I was choosing more, like Gavo says I'd go for ones I liked looking at. Don't get me wrong, I love my wee chookies, but there are lots of very pretty breeds out there.
Good luck and lets us know how you get on !
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Hi enjoy your first fresh eggs, I doubt you will ever buy from a supermarket again after that :D
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Hi and welcome!
My advice would be buy 2 point of lay pullets this year and two in about 18 months. If you buy 4 now, your coop will be full and they will all be spent at the same time.
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Hi Rosemary,
Thanks very much for that info - it seems so obvious once you say it, but I would never have thought of it. :chook:
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Thanks to you all for your help and advice. It's all very much appreciated. :chook:
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Hi and welcome, if I had a pound for everyone including myself who just thought it would be nice to have a couple of chicks, then I would be very rich instead of broke feeding my ever increasing menagerie.
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Hi Daisy's Mum, I bet I'll be the same as you! I can't do anything by halves... I'm not going into this to make money. I'm thinking of the chickens as pets and if we get eggs it'll be a bonus. I just love the idea of having the chooks pecking around. They'll eat bugs in the garden & if they peck the plants - so what.
I read somewhere that chickens can be poisoned by many garden plants; daffodils, tulips - in fact the list seems endless. I was going to site the coop in an area that's just grass with a few mature trees and shrubs around. There are daffodils there at present but the bulbs will be dug out. Does anyone know if this will this be ok?
I haven't even got my chooks yet and I'm so full of questions! Better now than later though. :chook:
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:wave: hi from me too sounds like your not a million miles away from us.
if you ever want to look around our poultry you are more than welcome.
we thats mum & myself at 2 locations have pekins, leghorns, utility light sussex & rhode island reds, rhode island red x black rocks, red co's and hatching a heap of different breeds at the moment.
i would also add on your shopping list leg rings so you remember the age of all your birds i have a new colour for each year.
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Our hens free range totally and have access to many poisonous plants. They are well fed, have access to grass and "good" plants, so never touch anything poisonous. If they are like pigs they have to be very hungry indeed to eat anything noxious.
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hello and welcome from a chicken keeper (and more!) in Derbyshire
Just ask anything, we're full of.. advice!
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Hi Chickenfeed - I'd LOVE to come and see your brood! Whereabouts are you? I'm North of Great Yarmouth.
I'm taking advice and am interested in Rhode Island Red x Black Rock as a few people have mentioned that they're good layers. I'm going to the Country & Game Fair at the end of April so will probably get a few ideas there.
I'm SO pleased I found this site. Thanks to you All for your help. :chook: :dunce:
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hi
i am just outside of peterborough.
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Hi there I'm very new too and I agree this site is full of help and information. I have 3 chooks :chook: who have been with me for a month now and have just started laying. Finding those eggs is as someone else said "very eggciting" (sorry). They are such funny creatures and my two teenagers who thought this latest addition to our family were not cool love them too! My hubbie and I witnessed the first lay right before our eyes - you'd have thought it was the first egg ever to be laid!! I've had several questions which have been answered here and tried 2 recipes to date so from me "welcome" and I hope you enjoy the girls when you get them! :)
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Hello and welcome, I started with 3 Black Rocks but then bought 7 ex battery hens, then another 5 Black rocks and then, a neighbour brought a stray chicken to the door, not sure who or where she came from? They are entertaining and relitively easy to care for, great pets really and getting nice eggs a bonus. Mine are free range and I usualy pick dock leaves and grass for them when I go out with the dogs...welcome and enjoy!!
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Hi SLI - welcome, I'm new too, from Aberdeenshire. I was exactly the same a you wanted a couple of chooks. My husband was fine about it as long as we didn't have a cockerel, so rang and asked about and finally found a lady who said she had a couple spare, young ones, I thought great they'll get used to me etc so happily went to get them and brought them home. They were quite young, called them Poppy and Penny but sure enough after a few weeks they started to look different!!! Yes Poppy was a cockerel but they do make a lovely pair we've had them for 8 years and Penny still lays when the weather is good, they roam around quite happily.
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8 years ... that must be almost a record for chickens. Does anyone know how long their lifespan is?
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:chook:i know of a man that has a 9 year old black rock and she still lays, mum had a light sussex that was 7 when she died.
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If you 'google' life span of chicken you get average of 7-10 and then up to 20 although I guess that must be really rare - Penny and Poppy are slowing down a bit and always hide themselves away from bad weather and I've noticed they go to bed earlier these days!!
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Hello SLI I have been thinking about this and I clearly remember we had a yard cock The sort that is much larger than the rest and very pretty I don't suppose that he was a sort he just happened to be bigger than any of the others.I remember he was in the yard when I started school he used to come for me but I grew very brave and belted him with a thack peg on Mothers advice She said if he sees you are scared of him he will chase you all the more.Stand up to him and it worked he kept his distance after that.Now I know he was still about when I left school at 15 so he was more than 10 years old.I don't know what happened to him he just disappeared like things do you know :D :farmer: