FiByTheSeaside

All sorts of strange questions are popping into my head these days!

Currently where we live in the uk we don't have a garden of our own, I so looooong for a big garden and have all sorts of plans for what I'd like our garden to have... you know... various swing/slide/play house things for the kids, DH wants a really large shed (although he's not divulged why?!) and I'd love a veggie patch and some chickens . It suddenly occured to me though while reading the 'had it with wildlife' thread that maybe chickens wouldn't last very long in the garden and end up as breakfast for some animal before we even get any eggs from them!!!

So does anyone keep chickens in their back garden? or will I have to re-think this particular garden dream?

Fi
x

AlexInBC

We do - we have around 20 at the moment. Unfortunately, yes, we do regularly lose them to coyotes and foxes, and the occasional hawk... I prefer them not to be cooped up all year round (as the weather confines them during the Winter, as it is) so we just replace them periodically. You can get boxes of 25 day old chicks through the post, which was a strange concept to get used to... Maybe not relevant if you're planning to just keep a few in the back garden though!

Oh, and "veggie patch and some chickens" Yeah - if you plan your veggie patch like Fort Knox maybe!

mandymoochops

waits for DBD.....................

FiByTheSeaside

So my garden veggie patch needs its own electric fence or similar wildlife deterrent I can just picture my DH's face when we have to order stuff to make a secure veggie compound!! Maybe I could get him to rattle something up in his extra large shed?!!!!

Over here i'd expect the chickens to be snaffled by foxes given half a chance and try to secure them with that in mind... but i'd never thought about hawks!!

Novocastrian

Especially since he's trying to find a good home for his present flock.

FiByTheSeaside

Flock?! How many does he have?

dbd33

<waves>

dbd33

It's hard to count them. They won't stand still. Better than a hundred, assorted heritage breeds as well as some Rhode Island Reds and the like. Pictures on the, old, blog. Bathtub drowning is the leading cause of death followed by neighbour's dog, chopping up for the pot and wild things, hawks mostly.

Would trade for something to fit an intresting space downtown, a fish perhaps.

AlexInBC

Thank-you!!! People look at me like I'm totally mental when I estimate roughly how many chickens we have, instead of knowing the exact figure... It's easier to guess now that we've not been replacing the casualties for quite some time, but most of them look identical and they *never* stay still (apart from when they roost, and then they're spread out between the coop, barn and the animal stalls.) I can't be bothered searching for them in the semi-dark to do a headcount.

AlexInBC

Ooh - while you're here dbd33 - how are you at id'ing them? You wouldn't know what breed this one happens to be, would you? She was about halfway in size between our little silkie bantams, and our big brown laying hybrids. She was the most recent casualty of the fox and was by far my favourite... She was a fantastic mum whenever we let her hatch some eggs (always broody!) and she'd already been here for a couple of years before we moved in, in the autumn of 2005...

Poor old girl

dbd33

I have some of those though I don't know what they are. There's a thread on GU (www.guardian.co.uk/talk then news, then environment) called "Sticking feathers up you butt does not make you a chicken", populated by deranged poultry fanciers. Stick a link to the picture on there and they'll tell you what it is and how you should be grooming it.

pennyhp

We must have in the reagion of 150 Rhode Island Red crosses.
We keep them in several pens in the barn and let them out in the afternoons when they have all layed their eggs.
Our are always back in by dark and on their perches, so we don't have to go chasing them to put them to bed.
In the winter they have to stay in but they have plenty of room to scratch about and we let them have a run about the barn on a regular basis.

If you have just a few in the back garden they will need shelter from the cold in the winter. A small baby barn (insulated) with a couple of heat lamps should do it.

Keeping your own chickens is great. You really can't beat your own fresh eggs.

Next year I would like to get some Delawares as they are a good dual purpose bird. They lay regular eggs and get nice and plump for eating too.
Shop bought chicken is very expensive here and not that great either.

dbd33

Mine have access to the outdoors all winter. They don't like walking on snow but, where the horses have trodden a path, they'll wander about. None have frozen though one got stuck behind the old freezer used to store feed and was rigid when I pulled her out.

pennyhp

Some of ours won't even leave the barn in the summer!
Never mind the winter.

FiByTheSeaside

wow! I'd not thought about keeping so many depending on the size of property we end up buying in NS maybe I could persuade dh into keeping more! I'd been thinking of them just for the fresh eggs but if I could be brave.. ones for the pot make sense too. Mind you i've no idea how to kill and prepare a chicken from the start.. something I'd have to learn. In fact I'd have to learn the whole lot about keeping chickens!!