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Blue Sky
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7654
Location: France
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 Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 12:02 pm Post subject: Little cluckers |
 
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Not so little now. We've had the four just over a month and getting four steady eggs a day. I'd been paying 3 euros a dozen in SuperU (not super at all) so decided to return to the good old days and get hens. Sure it costs me a couple of quid in corn here and there but other than that we are good. And they clear all the rubbish in the garden by scattering it around so it blows away. On a list of what to have and not to have the hens are high on my wanted list.
* and we don't have DEFRA so I can give them all the left-overs*
Happy cluckers!
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Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 8284
Location: South Wales
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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When we had chickens, I read them the DEFRA riot act but they still spent hours on the compost heap.  |
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sgt.colon
Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 6548
Location: Just south of north.
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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I do like hens, they make me smile.
Why can't you give them left-overs? |
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Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 8284
Location: South Wales
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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The short answer is if you pick an apple off your tree, you may feed it directly to your chickens. if you take said apple and walk into the house passing through the kitchen, you may not feed it to your chickens as it may have been contaminated by meat.
I did explain this to the chickens but they told me to flock off as they made their way to the compost heap. |
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Ty Gwyn
Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4290
Location: Lampeter
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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| sgt.colon wrote: |
I do like hens, they make me smile.
Why can't you give them left-overs? |
Because some people are so thick the law was made to cover everybody.
No meat products,so kitchen waste was banned because of thick people putting meat in the waste,its common sense really,but so many have lost that trait these days.
So as long as you peel your veg outside,you can feed the peelings,javascript:emoticon('') |
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 35900
Location: yes
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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if it has been in the human food chain it may be contaminated with a variety of pathogens which may harm livestock or human health.
not just chucks iirc all farm stock have a similar rule to curb the spread of fam , swine flu etc etc etc
if you trim it outside they can have the bit you dont want but if you do it in a kitchen they cant. 
overall it does make good sense to have biosafe fodder.
chooks have a vegetarian * rule as well, good job defra never saw mine eat a hedgehog or steal my breakfast or use a pig as a digger to eat baby rats in the nest.
* there might be a few exceptions for fish meal etc .
if they free range and help themselves to critters that is ok by defra it is the human food chain waste which is the problem.
hope that helps and is broadly accurate, tis a bit complex even with the regs to hand. |
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Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 8284
Location: South Wales
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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You should see what mine used to do with shrews and mice!  Definitely mini dinosaurs! |
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 35900
Location: yes
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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nice happy looking chooks mr sky, it is good to see young little brown hens outside doing hen things rather than having to learn in retirement if they are very lucky |
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Blue Sky
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7654
Location: France
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| Posted: Fri Apr 05, 19 7:19 am Post subject: |
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Yes, they are and they don't spend much time in that pen, it's just to keep the fox off 'em at night. Having said that one of the little rascals stayed out last night. Don't know where it went but it was back this morning. |
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sgt.colon
Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 6548
Location: Just south of north.
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| Posted: Fri Apr 05, 19 7:30 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the answers peeps. I think common sense has vanished from the UK these days. |
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buzzy
Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3563
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
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| Posted: Fri Apr 05, 19 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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I remember years ago seeing our neighbour's hens fighting vigorously over a mouse that one of them had caught.
I may be wrong, but I don't think wild mice are the most pathogen free creatures around. 
Henry |
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gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2053
Location: Llanfyllin area
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| Posted: Sat Apr 06, 19 8:56 am Post subject: |
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Some friends of mine had to built a special "hen food preparation kitchen" in order to keep the local inspectorate of chucks happy! and it had to be so far from the household kitchen and approved! All so that they could sell the surplus eggs. Luckily they were rich!
On our regular holiday in Cornwall, the hens went into the farm house, we collected eggs from all the crannies, barns with our arms in the hay and straw, even a nest or 2 in a cow shed feed passage there was no hen house there or nest boxes and the biggest cockerel ruled the roots but the smaller ones seemed to do ok too! This was, after all, the 1950's, when we knew nothing, and probably had the best eggs of my era. |
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