Garden Hens

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If you keep chickens or are thinking about getting chickens, this group is for you.

Members: 42
Latest Activity: Apr 24

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Discussion Forum

hatching some eggs?

Started by Debi Williamson Mar 13. 0 Replies 1 Like

I have just ordered my first batch of hatching eggs, a mix of silver and speckled sussex. Well thats to start with, I usually do two batches, well i only have a small incubator.Do you find that some…Continue

New hens! Any advice on free ranging?

Started by Alderandash. Last reply by Alderandash Sep 18, 2012. 7 Replies 0 Likes

We've had our hens for about 3…Continue

Tags: Chickens

A New Project.....The Girls !

Started by Catherine. Last reply by Alderandash Sep 17, 2012. 1 Reply 1 Like

Well….a new project for us. Something I had avoided for ages, but now they are here,I love em.!We have adopted two 2 year old “Light Sussex”girls, named Maisy and Daisy.We got a small coop with…Continue

Tags: chooks, hens, chickens

Bedtime for chickens

Started by Small Plot, Big Ideas. Last reply by Karin Mar 21, 2012. 4 Replies 0 Likes

I should say right at the start that we are new to keeping chickens and have only had our 3 for a few days but we have been enjoying the learning process immensely!However there is one question that…Continue

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Comment by Chris Carbis on July 6, 2011 at 23:39: Hi all,

I'm new to UK Veg Gardeners and I was please to find this group. I have 5 rhode island red hybrids which we have reared from chicks. Prior to this we has 7 ex-battery hens which eventually past from old age.

I look forward to getting loads of tips and advice.

Comment by Debi Williamson on July 18, 2011 at 12:43: Does anyone know of any chicken coop plans on the internet that are free? Its for our cockeral, thought about having a go at building one myself!!! I do have an idea in my mind though!!

Comment by Debi Williamson on July 18, 2011 at 12:49: Chris, we have 5 Rhode Islands, one of which is playing foster mummy to five buff sussex chicks, we also have 3 hy-liners and 3 leghorns, one of the leghorns is a cockeral and I think one of the chicks is a cockeral too, so Im gonna try my hand at breeding!!! We hatched the eggs under the rhode island that had gone broody. Did u get ur rhode islands as 1 day olds or hatching eggs?

Comment by Chris Carbis on July 22, 2011 at 7:37: Debi, We had them as chicks rather than hatching eggs.

Comment by steffi walsh on October 6, 2011 at 0:00: Hi,i have kept hens for about 3-4 years now,all free range on a small paddock but they do tend to hop over the gate and inspect the surrounding fruit/veg plots and lawn areas.i started with 4 but from starting out slightly timid about handling them-okay i was very jumpy! i found myself besotted by them so got more and now pick them up,inspect them etc with no fear!this has resulted in a few "slaps" by my girls but i know they are happy and i love them-they feature regularily in my blog posts and now i have the nickname of motherclucker:}for some strange but lucky reason i have never been bothered by rats/mink or foxes despite living in a very wild and rural place!My present flock are all ex battery and from a poor,sick start they are all happy and healthy,i feed them layers mash,a treat of corn and kitchen scraps,but i always put a clove of garlic in the water or cider vinegar and this helps them stay healthy and parasite free-maybe their predators dont like the smell!recently i added 2 ducks but they didnt like the chooks so live in another part of the garden,these i hope will have babies-however the male seems to be a bit clueless to most things but fingers crossed!

Comment by Teri Sherman on January 25, 2012 at 10:55: Hiya folks!

Been thinking for a while about having chickens, but am in need of expert advice. Are they very expensive to keep and feed, do they have many health problems, etc etc.

As far as I know we don't have foxes in our part of the village here in North East Scotland. I don't hear them squeal like I used to when I lived in the country down in Gloucestershire, so assume there are none about.

Will they need a lot of space? Is there a good website anywhere I could visit?

Sorry, loads of questions.:)

Comment by The Garden Smallholder on February 17, 2012 at 12:50: They look lovely Samantha, my old girls haven't come back into lay so I will probably be looking to get a few more soon - I miss collecting and eating eggs from my own hens.

Comment by jacqui turrell on March 13, 2012 at 21:37: Hi, I am new to chicken keeping and only have two - Betty and Binky - my granddaughter named them - Betty lays and egg every morning, but Binky is a little bit too young yet. They are great fun, following me around the garden and getting in the way as I try to dig over the soil. Not sure what affect they will have once the plants start arriving though!!!

Comment by Catherine on September 4, 2012 at 15:07: Hello to all here. We just got our 2 girls a few days ago. Never had hens or chickens before, but daughter has 8 so she gave us a grand coop for them.

Meet Maisy and Daisy.... Light Sussex breed.

And their coop and parents :)

They have been fascinating us for the last too days!

Comment by Catherine on September 16, 2012 at 19:43: We are 2 weeks into our New venture with our two girls. I would like to know if their are still some out there who have tips and help for us!

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