The FastDay Forum

Awww thank you CandiceMarie lol,

We used to have 18 hens but with time some died naturally or mr fox paid a visit and i have been bringing eggs to work for some time now as people love fresh organic free range eggs!

I love keeping them, its so easy, and cheap too! Xxx

I'd love to have a garden big enough to keep chickens, for their eggs only. I couldn't *do the nasty* and eat them for Sunday Roast, though .

Oh I hadn't thought about cockerels, do you need a boy or will a few girls be ok without a chap? Presumably there is a noise issue with a him? :0O

Oh I would love some girls but my big dog max ate my neighbours chooks when ever they flew into our yard. It was a very guilty and distressed me having to inform my lovely neighbour yet another one of her girls turned up dead due to Max's murderous ways. She was always gracious as she loves Maxy. This has totally convinced my DH that it is not possible we have chooks while we have Max. So I envy you your girls. Like you suchard ... one day

Gillymary we have 2 dogs, a girl and a boy, both staffies so not so good with chickens so they are only allowed when chickens are safely in their enclosure otherwise it would be carnage
But i do know what you mean, once i made the deadly mistake of leaving kitchen door opened and the dogs somehow bounded into garden when hens were out and about in the whole garden!!! I dont know who was more scared me or the poor chickens but thank God thee was no fatalities and since then i make doubly sure the dogs stay out of the way

Its all trial and error i guess!!


Azerblue the hens are fine with the cockerel, i have not had any problems, as for the noise well we re used to it but yes it can a be a nuisance when he starts singing at 4 am lol but because they are all inside the coop its not so bad and as long as the windows are shut then its ok but again it depends on people Henry is a bit a character and thinks he rules the roost!!

[Debs]

Until recently we had four Barnevelders, a rare Dutch breed, gorgeous girls of the large breed variety, and all with good Dutch names, Agi, Herda, Jonike and Fanni (@Dee may wish to correct me on spelling!!)
They laid magnificent, large dark brown speckled eggs and were very placid. We have no foxes in Tas (hopefully) but the they had to be shut in securely as we have Tassie Devils around our place, as well as quolls who would like a chicken supper. The previous owners of our place forgot to shut their chooks up one night and on going out to investigate a commotion found a Tassie Devil chasing their cockerel around the orchard!!!
I believe in Sydney and Melbourne you can 'rent' chickens to have in your town garden, a good idea to introduce kids to the idea that eggs don't come from the supermarket and get people thinking about not buying cage eggs.

Yes, we have chooks. Ours are silver-grey Dorkings. We also have silkies because they are very good mums. We eat the roosters, except for 2 which we keep for breeding purposes. We sell excess eggs to help cover the costs. And eat lots of eggs. I love it.

And we've got squabbing pigeons too. They are fairly new, but we have bred up 12 breeding pairs and have started eating them. We have a supply in the freezer.

[carieoates]

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@azureblue
There you go loads and loads to think about, as long as they are a quite breed, don't go for blue bells, had to re-home ours as they squawked at their own shadows, You could have a couple in a smallish garden. omlet.com is a good website. Sorry pic is a bit blurred

I love my pampered hens and would not be without them and will still enjoy them the same when they are no longer laying and would never consider putting them in the pot Ewwww. I don't eat chicken much since I got my own but if I do I only buy ones that have lived a happy active life, which are defo not your 2 for £5 in Tesco.

I Started with 2 and every now and them came home with more (which did not go down well with the other half). As said in a previous post they are very addictive and I would have a field full if I could or set up a chicken rescue place.

My big girls are 2 Buff Orpington's, 1 Wellsummer, 1 Faverolle, 1 Cochin, 2 Gold Barhamas.

My half pints are 4 Pekin's, 1 Sicilian Buttercup

The big and small girls have large separate houses with large runs that are on slabs (to stop foxes and rodents from burrowing into the runs)there is a layer of bark chippings on top for them to scratch around in, when I am at home they are free range in the garden. I live in the country and have had the odd fox in the garden, Lucky for us the local farmer shot one in the field behind our house. Only for us to spot two together in the other field a few weeks later.

They are pets with benefits because of the eggs which have so much more taste and colour than ones purchased in the shops, not to mention children are fascinated with them.

For those with small gardens Bantams or half pints as I call them are ideal.

They are easy to keep and inexpensive, however I did battle with red mite last Oct/Nov and won although it was a lot of hard work.

It is great to sit in the garden with my girls who all have such different personalities.

I got a dozen pampered poultry and yes they are very addictive and you find yourself always looking to increase the size of your flock.

They are cheap and easy to keep and their eggs are so much better than what you get from the shops.

You cant beat sitting out in the garden with chickens pecking and scratching around you while clucking away, although they like to draw attention to themselves with their egg song lol

I have a Boxer/Mastiff and a Teckel/Yorkie. I have to keep them separate from the chickens but occasionally it goes wrong. Frank, the Teckel, and Bruno, the Boxer have never harmed a chicken. They just like to play!

we had 3 chickens which became part of the family, although I never realised how much they resemble dinosaurs until they used to sit at the kitchen window looking in. unfortunately we lost ours to a fox when the coop wasnt locked up properly one night. we never replaced them but I would love to have chickens again. they are really easy pets to have.

if we hadnt got chickens I probably wouldnt have gone complete vegetarian. we had been away for a week & eaten takeaway junk so I was giving red meat a miss, but then we got chickens so I gave up chicken aswell! the eggs were lovely though xx

[carieoates]

Wow we need to set up a 5.2 chook club. Amazing.

[janeg]

I kept chooks in Shetland. The two originals came with the house and the brood grew. Loved them. Ended up with ducks too.
Had so much fun with them all. One, a wee speckled bantam was a right sook (pet) and followed my eldest lass about. I have lovely photos of her running holding Evadne. The chooks regularly wandered into the house.
And we had a caddy lamb called Rincewind who was a frequent visitor in the kitchen. It could get quite busy!
Happy days. *sigh*

You'd certainly have fresh eggs and for the strong-willed amongst us, fresh chicken too!
I'm just back from Peterborough Autumn Show and as usual, fell in love with buff orpingtons and light Sussex but my town garden is too small for such wonderful things sadly.
Anyone manage to do this?

I've got 4 Isa Browns, had them now for about 4 years and still get 2-4 eggs a day.
Some years ago we bought a breed for eating, bought the special protein food for making them grown nice and juicy. We culled, dipped, cleaned and roasted and they looked and tasted like anorexic chickens.
I have to wonder what the mass producers feed them, to get them the way they do, because we really tried and they were nothing like what you buy at the supermarket.
My chooks are so spoilt, they prefer kitchen scraps to scratching in the dirt and grass.

I have a Barnevelder. She is a great layer, but when she is broody she is one of the meanest chooks you could ever keep. She attacked my leg one day when I had the temerity to go in the coop. I took to wearing wellies and gardening gloves. She's fine otherwise. I did have a Salmon Faverolle, but she didn't live very long
My chooks are in a fox proof run which is also, more importantly, terrier proof.