Keeping Chickens

[TopCat]

I’m ordering a hen house and run next week. Going to get three egg laying hens, maybe one or all being rescued battery hens.

Anyone else keep chickens? Anyone do it in London?

 

[Athos]

I keep them, but not in London.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I’m ordering a hen house and run next week. Going to get three egg laying hens, maybe one or all being rescued battery hens.

Anyone else keep chickens? Anyone do it in London?

This sounds like an excellent addition to a hobby of BBQ.

 

[Athos]

You get some delicious eggs. And not a lot of effort required. Biggest ballache is foxes.

 

[TopCat]

I keep them, but not in London.

This sounds like an excellent addition to a hobby of BBQ.

Nah these would just be for eggs. Unless one was a bastard towards the others then maybe. It’s a lot of faff to prepare a chicken I can buy for three quid in Asda. Eggs come ready though.

 

[High Voltage]

Watch out for Mr Fox

 

[TopCat]

You get some delicious eggs. And not a lot of effort required. Biggest ballache is foxes.

I’m going to put a metal auto closing door on the hen house. Plus dig down and put in something to make it hard for a fox to get under.

 

[TopCat]

Cement in a row of breeze blocks and fix the run to that.

 

[Athos]

I’m going to put a metal auto closing door on the hen house. Plus dig down and put in something to make it hard for a fox to get under.

Yeah, I've done all of that, too. Still lost a few, though.

 

[Elpenor]

Badgers can also go for chickens but not sure if they’re an issue in London

 

[TopCat]

Yeah, I've done all of that, too. Still lost a few, though.

Any information that would assist me?

 

[Athos]

The other issue is rats, but their easier to deal with.

 

[TopCat]

Badgers can also go for chickens but not sure if they’re an issue in London

I instantly thought of James “Badgers” trying to climb over my fence to get at the chickens and the fence collapsing under his weight.

 

[TopCat]

The other issue is rats, but their easier to deal with.

Kill the rats?

I am going to do a lot of reading before getting the birds.

 

[Athos]

Any information that would assist me?

Not really. All the things you've said are good. And, at times I've tried pissing and scattering my hair around the perimeter. But still they come. And they're crafty. I set a trap baited with fresh rabbit, and watched it with a trail cam. They circled it, but just wouldn't go in!

 

[SpookyFrank]

I’m going to put a metal auto closing door on the hen house. Plus dig down and put in something to make it hard for a fox to get under.

Just dig a trench a foot or so deep, put your chicken wire all the way to the bottom then fill the trench back in.

If your run doesn't have a roof, make sure your wire has an outward overhang. At least a foot of chicken wire at a 45 degree-ish angle. Foxes aren't experts at digging or climbing but will have a good try at either if there's something in it for them.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Kill the rats?

Let the chickens be free range, and then let nature take its course between chickens, rats, badgers and foxes. Its the natural order of things.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Nah these would just be for eggs. Unless one was a bastard towards the others then maybe. It’s a lot of faff to prepare a chicken I can buy for three quid in Asda. Eggs come ready though.

Taste a lot better then a three quid chicken though.

I'd do it and I don't eat eggs, but hear they are incompatible with having any kind of garden.

 

[Athos]

Kill the rats?

I am going to do a lot of reading before getting the birds.

Yeah, or, better still, really good hygiene and secure feed storage. I now use heavy galvanised bins - they chew through even the toughest plastic.

 

[Athos]

Taste a lot better then a three quid chicken though.

I'd do it and I don't eat eggs, but hear they are incompatible with having any kind of garden.

Good layers don't tend to taste that great. To the extent that I no longer bother eating any whose necks I wring when they've stopped giving eggs.

 

[TopCat]

Let the chickens be free range, and then let nature take its course between chickens, rats, badgers and foxes. Its the natural order of things.

We also have several colonies of aggressive squirrels, my crow friends (who I dream of enlisting to guard the hens), a really right wing neighbour displaying early dementia signs and a formerly vicious rescue cat.

 

[TopCat]

Taste a lot better then a three quid chicken though.

I'd do it and I don't eat eggs, but hear they are incompatible with having any kind of garden.

I love my garden!

 

[WouldBe]

I’m going to put a metal auto closing door on the hen house.

Not sure that would work as it relies on chickens being smart enough to go inside before the door shuts.

Bloke on local allotments has a hell of a job getting his chickens to go inside at night and those that won't go get left outside. Fortunately his allotment is supposed to be fox proof.

 

[TopCat]

I’m thinking of something like this.
I might build part myself but you get the jist

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[UnderOpenSky]

I love my garden!

My neighbor stopped keeping them because they basically destroy everything...

 

[Athos]

Not sure that would work as it relies on chickens being smart enough to go inside before the door shuts.

Bloke on local allotments has a hell of a job getting his chickens to go inside at night and those that won't go get left outside. Fortunately his allotment is supposed to be fox proof.

Mine works fine. They naturally go to roost when the light gets low. So as long as the door is light activated or the programmed for different times as the seasons change it should be fine.

 

[TopCat]

Good layers don't tend to taste that great. To the extent that I no longer bother eating any whose necks I wring when they've stopped giving eggs.

I can see myself keeping on the old and knackered ones. Plus letting them in the house, sleep under the bed etc.

 

[Athos]

I love my garden!

Any area you let them into will eventually be devastated. How long will just depend on how big it is and how many chickens you have. That's why people keep them in runs.

 

[TopCat]

My neighbor stopped keeping them because they basically destroy everything...

But if they have their enclosed run and that would they need to go out into the vegetable garden? Might eat a few pests?

 

[Storm Fox]

Not sure that would work as it relies on chickens being smart enough to go inside before the door shuts.

Bloke on local allotments has a hell of a job getting his chickens to go inside at night and those that won't go get left outside. Fortunately his allotment is supposed to be fox proof.

They will put themselves to bed at dusk, but before dusk, good luck and have fun chasing the little cluckers around the pen.