[Bison]

HI, I am about to get a couple of chickens for eggs and as pets and have spent a small fortune on books and guides.

As experienced chicken keepers is there any advice or knowledge that the guides usually neglect to mention as they all seem to cover the same topics?

Thanks

[Small Plot Big Ideas]

Not all books properly explain how much fun you can have just watching your chickens as they scratch around - I wouldn't be without mine now and we've only had them a year.

I don't even mind (too much) if they get into the flower beds!

[suziequeue]

Agree with SPBI. Chickens are fascinating and beware - you'll have twice as many this time next year so get bigger than you think you'll need in terms of drinkers, feeders and accommodation.

Get the best/biggest accommodation you can afford.

If they are going to free range then protect what you want to keep in your beds and veg etc.

We have recentley removed the fence from around our chicken pen and within a week they have sussed out where the main feed providers come from - so of a morning now they form a little delegation outside the back kitchen door!!!

Interstingly, they also follow the dog around. I am assuming they think he is something to do with the food as he is always with us when we put their food out so they have also associated him with food too. It's so funny

Good luck.

[the great composto]

My contribution would be regarding the medication and egg withdrawal planning.   Some medication means you are not advised to eat the eggs for a period of time.

I wasnt aware and lost  4 weeks of prime egg laying time a few years ago.

[taz08]

emm ,, its addictive,,, you wil be getting more hahah,
ohh and give them a few grapes,,, chicken rugby 

[OhLaLa]

...........is there any advice or knowledge that the guides usually neglect to mention...........

That fox will take your chickens during the day as well as the evening/night.
To make underneath the gate to your chicken pen fox proof too (cement it).
That peeing/placing human hair around the areas where you have poultry to 'deter foxes' is an old wives tale.
To raise your hen house off the ground to deter rats from nesting underneath.
That you also need a male chicken to make baby chickens...................
    
 
 
 

[ellied]

That while most chicken coops sold are waist height at the apex and stand a couple inches off the ground at the base, which is convenient when you're a hen, for a person leaning in through the nestboxes or tiny pophole doors, or even a removable panel in the side or roof, gives you serious backache and many removable metal lined wood trays that you supposedly pull from either end for simple cleaning, warp enough to be stuck after the first time 

They also cost as much as a 6x4 garden shed which you can walk and stand up in..  And even with 3 or 4 smaller coops to give each their required perch space, they all try and pack themselves like sardines in one until a few get brave enough to form a breakaway roost group 

If I were starting over, I'd go straight for the shed - at the time I was "just getting 4 POLs to try" - now I have 26 and might as well have gone for the bigger space to start with     Even though I thought I'd never manage to make a pophole I could have just left the door open or closed with the same result until I got my act together 

[colliewobbles]

About a year ago we changed from straw in the bottom of their house to sand (plain old builders sand from B&Q very cheap!).  It has made cleaning the house much easier - daily I remove the soiled bits (bit like a cat litter tray) and then replace all the sand every 1-2 weeks. 

Donna

[Marches Farmer]

The more time you spend quietly observing your hens the more you'll get used to the way a happy, healthy hen looks and behaves and the quicker you'll spot when something's wrong.

[hughesy]

Don't think sand will compost very well. A bonus of having chickens is that you will have a fantastic compost heap.

[goosepimple]

You know when I first started keeping hens and read lots of info I do remember thinking, 'but what about..' so many times as there was such a lot of things I wanted to know and the books didn't tell me.  I thought that anyone writing a book on livestock should do it in co with a novice. 
 
As you keep them for years, you find out most things anyway and you forget what you didn't know.  So don't worry that you're a novice, it's amazing how quickly you learn and the books do state most of the obvious things anyway.
 
Hens are fun, but we stopped breeding as we seemed to just be killing lots of lovely looking little boys and it was upsetting.  I take the easy route just buying hens.  If you do want to do the breeding thing in time, think about colour coded chicks such as Cream Legbar which have different coloured males from females.
 
Enjoy your hens.  and your sheep, goats, cows, ducks ........    just all accidentally of course!

[bigchicken]

Dont know if books cover this but my tip would be to handle your chooks regularly and get a feel for a healthy fit bird.

[JMB]

Handy tips - it can difficult to reintroduce new hens to an established group, so think how many you want to start with.
We use shredded paper for the hen house and straw just in the nesting boxes  which saves money.
And we got an automatic door for the hen house which saves rushing home in the dark to lock them in, or getting up early to let them out, or having someone open up and shut them in if we go away.
J xxxxx

[suziequeue]

Yes - an automatic door is an absolute must 

[colliewobbles]

Don't think sand will compost very well. A bonus of having chickens is that you will have a fantastic compost heap.

We use a litter scoop to remove the chicken 'poop' and the used sand just gets spread around on the field.