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Chickens in the veg patch

 
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sharoncaro



Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 05 2:05 pm    Post subject: Chickens in the veg patch Reply with quote
    

We are trying to decide wether to let chickens have freedom of our large garden and be shut in at night, or buy an ark which can be moved around. What are the pros and cons eg as well as eating slugs will they also eat the new shoots? Also how far do they travel, would we have to fence in the whole garden to stop them escaping? Any advice greatly appreciated.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 05 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Um, in my limited experience they'll demolish all plant-life to which they have access. I'd either get an ark, or make a big run if your garden is large enough.

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 05 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'll post detailed comments when I have a bit more time tonight. Ours are housed in an ark while we are not at home and spend a fair bit of time in the garden when we're in. I've put a few comments in the chicken keeping article on the main site.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 05 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hello Sharoncaro (Sharon?) - great to see you on the forums.

'fraid Sean's right (I hate it when other people are right )...what they don't eat, they'll scratch up to see if there are any worms underneath, or dustbathe on top of.

An ark, or converted shed with a run attached, is probably the easiest solution. This helps with the foxes which are a problem - even if you haven't seen any - in most parts of the country.

About fencing off the rest of the garden...ours don't wander in to next door, even though they could, but we don't let them outside the ark if we aren't around as we do have a lot of foxes coming through. When you're in the garden they'll often follow you round in the hope you have corn secreted about your person, or are going to wield the magic-worm-finder, or "spade" to us humans.

I would assume the worst - they can fly as much as 6ft (depending on breed) off the ground, and might spot something attractive outside your garden and just wander off, or look for a nesting place.

If other parts of your garden (eg empty beds and paths) are appropriate you could let them have the run of the garden but fence off the veg patch itself, with border edging etc. This will stop them wandering on but most will be able to fly over.

Have you had a chance to look at the chicken articles on the main site? Fiddlesticks has done a great rundown of costs and Treacodactyl's go in to more details about our own.

Sorry this is a bit rambly but hope some of it helps.

alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 05 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The arc can be folded over the veg plot in the winter, to help clear it of bug, weeds and add manure.

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 05 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Do you plan to leave the hens roaming the garden when you're not around? If so you may lose the odd one to a fox depending on the area. The hens may also roam anywhere and do damage but even with our three they seem to have different characters so some would probably be better than others.

If you are pottering around the garden then a little fencing around high risk places (new seed beds etc) has worked for us. You need to be careful when it's something very tempting like ripe strawberries as nothing seems to stop ours then.

I have honestly managed to train ours a little bit and a stern word does make them leave some patches of the garden but if they are very hungry nothing's safe (ripe toms, fruit, cabbages etc).

Tristan



Joined: 29 Dec 2004
Posts: 392
Location: North Gloucestershire
PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 05 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Our chickens are addicted to anything that I try to grow, having said that, we've had some of the best crops ever since 'the girls' have been allowed to help with clearing up. On the subject of letting them out, weigh up the cost of wire netting against that of an hour spent trying to extricate said birds from the neighbours veg patch

Guest






PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 05 11:56 am    Post subject: chickens in the veg patch Reply with quote
    

Thanks for all the info, looks like I'll be buying an ark! Does anyone have any recommendations on type or best place to buy one? They seem to be quite expensive (£200 +) or is this normal? We plan to have 3-4 chicks.

Mrs Fiddlesticks



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 05 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

where are you Guest? We bought our hen house and run from the local sawmill - the owner breeds bantams.

There are some plants that are bad for chickens - I was told never to let them eat lettuce, rhubarb or green potatoes, there may be others so you may have to fence of particular bits of the garden for that reason alone.

EJC-free
Guest





PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 05 1:14 pm    Post subject: Eglu or tradtional wooden ark which would you recommend? Reply with quote
    

We're thinking of keeping 2 or 3 chickens. We live in the country - and have seen foxes & badgers from our kitchen window at night - so know they're about.

We bothe work full time at the moment - so were looking for something really fox proof, portable and easy to maintain. We aim to let the chooks out at weekends or when we're around to keep an eye on them.

I guess our choice has come down to the eglu or a traditional ark - do you have any recomendations for me?

Guest






PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 05 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Bugs, this is Marigold123 from the Money Saving Expert site. I haven't registered here yet.

I said I'd come and have look around and I have! So far it looks like a great site.

I'd like to respond to comments about chickens running loose in the back garden.

Yes, they do eat everything in sight, except that mine refuse to eat slugs and snails, apart from the very tiny ones with crunchy shells that they probably think are extra-small rice crispies or something. But the plus side of this (if it is a plus) is that they have eaten most of the greenery in the garden anyway, so there is nothing left for the slugs and snails to destroy. They are also partial to the odd cat-killed mouse that they may find lying around. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this, but by the time you discover them fighting over the tail the question is usually academic!

Our three hens are shut up securely in their house, (a converted tool store), overnight and let out in the morning, so they are quite safe during the hours of darkness. In the daytime, they have the free run of the back garden.

I was a little wary of letting them stay out when we weren't around at first, but since they are often difficult to catch (even with a handful of corn, once they get the wind up), we decided it was easier to just let them. There are definitely foxes around in our street, but I live in a terraced house, surrounded by fairly high fences, and they have never been in our back garden since I have lived there, as far as I know.

This is probably because there is no side access to the gardens, and also due to the fact that we have two big dogs next door. I know foxes can climb fences if they want to, but I think they feel too vulnerable to do this with the dogs so close.

When the chooks were young we put them in a covered rabbit run during the day, (with shelter, in case of rain), and magpies sometimes used to sit on the fence and look hopeful, until our brave little girls formed a flying wedge and ran at them, (from the safety of their run), and saw them off! Now they are fully grown, nothing messes with them. Magpies and crows keep their distance, squirrels complain loudly from the trees in our neighbour's garden, because they can't come in and bury their nuts, (scuse me!), and our cat treats them with a massive respect.

I love the idea of them being (nearly) free-range, but having chickens loose in the garden has distinct disadvantages, apart from losing all the grass. Ours tend to congregate around the back door, or come running whenever we open it, because of the scraps we give them in addition to their normal feed. This can be a nusiance when you just want to check the nestbox for eggs or hang the washing up, as they won't leave you alone. In the absence of a cockerel, one of our 3 hens, Bermuda, (the dominant one), has got quite aggressive, and makes a point of pecking me whenever she sees me. She gets short shrift when she does, but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Also, having the hens hanging around on the patio is not a good thing from the poop point of view. To some extent I have solved the problem by using a hoe to scrape it up and throw it on the garden every day. It only takes a couple of minutes, but it is a job I'd rather not have to do. Having the kids coming in and forgetting to wipe their feet is another downside of this!

Having had our hens running around freely for a year, I've seen what damage they do over the Winter, (the Summer was fine, the grass stood up well), and realised that we don't really have the space to let them have free access all the time. I plan very soon to put in some movable chicken wire fencing to give the grass a chance to grow back in part of the garden at least.

Next Winter, I will divide the garden up and use a 'sacrifice paddock' system. They can have about a third of the garden to do their worst in, and I will re-seed it in the Spring. Thereafter I will sacrifice a different third every year.

We are hoping to move in the next year or so anyway, as we have set up a housing co-op that we hope to be able to get a property for. We would like to get a place with a bigger garden, and would then have an area just for the hens that doesn't encroach on the rest of the garden space. We would also then like to get another three hens and have a lot more eggs available to sell to friends and family members.

BTW, Bugs has asked me whether I would write something for the site on my shed-conversion. So, if you're still interested, and can stand to read my waffle, you'll see me around.

I also want to pick the brains of all the more experienced chicken keepers here. We haven't had any problems with the hens themselves so far, they have been remarkably healthy, but we've only had them a year, so it's early days yet.

I'm dying to read the beekeeping section too, as I've long had a deep need to keep buzzing things that make honey.

If there's any stuff on goats, I'll read that greedily too. I'd love to keep them myself, but at the moment our lifestyle isn't compatible with the level of care that milking goats would need. I'll save that for when the kids (ha ha!) have left home, and I am a daft old lady living by myself.

If we do move, though, and have the space, my next project will be rabbits, for meat, and possibly skins as well. I've known a few people who kept eating rabbits, though we only kept them as pets at home ourselves. It feels like a good idea to me, though the children aren't very keen at the moment!

twoscoops



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1924
Location: Warwickshire
PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 05 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Our garden looks like hurricane Charley has swept through it, so will be fencing-off the front garden this month. Don't put your hens anywhere near the veg patch in the growing season. No matter how much netting you use, they will find a way in. And you only need to forget to cover stuff after watering on one morning to lose the lot.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 05 1:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Marigold, have you seen the posts by Wellington Womble and Alison about the possibilities of overwintering a rabbit in the greenhouse? I think that Madman recommended breeding rabbits for the table too.

If you get a minute do pop up a new post in this forum about the possibilities of breeding rabbits for meat...my OH's pets once went that way so he should have something to say at least!

Marigold123



Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 224

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 05 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Marigold123, posting as Guest wrote:
I also want to pick the brains of all the more experienced chicken keepers here. We haven't had any problems with the hens themselves so far, they have been remarkably healthy, but we've only had them a year, so it's early days yet.
Well blow me down, but I think I spoke too soon. This very next morning after posting this, I noticed that my favourite chicken, Esmerelda, (Esme for short), was sitting down in the middle of the cold, hard ground, shortly after letting them out of their house. They do like to sit around, but they have preferred places for lazing in, and not usually until after a good turn around the garden first.

When I approached her she got up, but I noticed she was holding one foot up and limped when she put it on the ground. I picked her up, but couldn't see any damage or accumulated muck stuck to it, but recalled reading last night that chickens occasionally sprain a foot/ankle or whatever when descending from their perches. I'd never heard this before, so the comment was extremely timely. (Thanks very much to the person who posted!) From the way she was moving, this appeared to be what had happened.

Now some people might think this sounds a bit silly, but I have learned a bit of Reiki, the japanese energy technique, and I often use it to good effect on myself and the kids.

You can use it on animals, (and plants too, for that matter), so I let some energy flow into the injured foot for a while and put her down again. She immediately seemed to be walking a bit better, so I made sure she had some extra food near her, in case she wasn't up to jostling with the others, and left her to it. (I was a bit worried that she might get cold sitting on the freezing ground for a long time, but when I checked she was as warm and toasty as the others - I must try to grow some feathers myself, they obviously work well!)

I had another go later, and she seemed to improve a bit more, until by the afternoon she was hardly limping at all and came and ate greenstuff out of my hands with the others.

When I went to check they were all tucked up safely for the night, she had made it up to her perch, her crop was full, and though she wasn't perching as comfortably as the others, I think she is on the mend.

I'll post an update on her progress.

Thanks, Bugs, I'll definitely have a look at Wellington Womble, Alison and Madman's posts, and I'll post to ask about raising rabbits for meat too.

Thanks for the tip.

Marigold123



Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 224

PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 05 10:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Marigold123 wrote:
When I went to check they were all tucked up safely for the night, she had made it up to her perch, her crop was full, and though she wasn't perching as comfortably as the others, I think she is on the mend.

I'll post an update on her progress.

Well, the foot Esme hurt yesterday seems perfectly all right now. She is walking normally and I can't see or feel any swelling. Either my chicken healing skills are really good, or she wasn't hurt very badly in the first place!

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