The "Grow Your Own" Thread

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Not quite 'Grow Your Own', but does anyone on here keep their own chickens?

I'm toying with the idea of keeping two of them.
I like the idea of going out and getting a couple of eggs every day.....
I have space and I can easily build a henhouse...
But I'd like opinions and views if anyone has any.

We have our house up for sale so whenever we move we plan to have chickens in our new house. My wife is VERY excited about this.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Not quite 'Grow Your Own', but does anyone on here keep their own chickens?

I'm toying with the idea of keeping two of them.
I like the idea of going out and getting a couple of eggs every day.....
I have space and I can easily build a henhouse...
But I'd like opinions and views if anyone has any.

What do you want to know? As long as you can let them out after dark and get them in before dark then you should be ok with the old fox, although they're cunning gits and will strike in the early morning, evening or even in the middle of the day but that is rare. They also like to dig and are very persistent at it too

Theres loads of stuff on line regarding building coops, make sure its secure, has perches, a nest box, and is well ventilated (but not freezing in winter)

Be prepared, if you intend to keep them in a run during the day it'll get quite muddy in the winter, and you'll need to move them about

If you just want a regular layer of eggs and aren't bothered about having a bird that has the looks and personality of a lump of wood then get your factory hybrid type, although my experience they are ghastly creations. Much better going for a cuckoo Maran, or Welsummer or if you fancy Blue eggs theres the Aracuuna. I'd buy point of lay poults, 18-20 weeks old if my memory serves me right.

Personally I'd get 3 rather than 2, no real reason but I just think that would be the lowest number to have - don't bother with a cockeral unless you want to breed, its an old wives tale that they make the hens lay

 

[So Long Architect]

We had chickens for a few years in one of those Egloo things.

Have to say it wasn't great. They either got sick and died or got got by foxes. Fox used to just come and bite their heads off and leave them lying around which was nice.

And the shit was a bit grim. Lots of it and millions of flies in the summer.

On the plus side, they were quite funny and the eggs were nice.

So my advice would be put loads of effort into fox proofing. Put a fence up and dig it about two feet into the ground to stop the buggers digging under. And don't have them in a place where you will want to do anything else cos they will scratch up everything and crap everywhere.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Chicken shits not that bad, its great for the garden too - I've never used an Egloo, they seem a bit gimmiky for me.

What breed did you have SLA where they Hybrids? They have always seemed like they're struggling to hold onto life to me and will sooner be ill and die than actually survive.

I agree with you on foxes, they are real pain and can cause horrific scenes of slaughter if you're not careful

 

[So Long Architect]

Chicken shits not that bad, its great for the garden too - I've never used an Egloo, they seem a bit gimmiky for me.

What breed did you have SLA where they Hybrids? They have always seemed like they're struggling to hold onto life to me and will sooner be ill and die than actually survive.

I agree with you on foxes, they are real pain and can cause horrific scenes of slaughter if you're not careful

Have to disagree on the poo. I think maybe our garden was just too small for them - couldn't walk anywhere without getting your feet covered in the stuff.

The Egloo was great - very easy to clean, very hygienic, very easy to move about. We never had any problems with it.

We had a couple of varieties. The only one I remember is the Rhode Island Red. The other might have been a hybrid. I think we looked after them pretty well, but some of them got sick anyway.

 

[PPB]

I've always fancied keeping a few chickens but never did anything about it . After reading the above, I'm glad I didn't put my plan into action.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

The best way to us chicken shit on the garden is to fill a barrel with water, then fill one of those little bags (made out of netting they hang nuts and stuff in for birds) with chickn shit and hang it in the barrel. Then simply water the plants with it.
If you put too much chicken shit on your plants it will do the same damage as hydrocloric acid. it's deadly stuff.

To fox proof your hen house, just line the floor and under the walls with that steel netting with the small holes. As long as you secure it, no fox will get in, and here the little bastards have been known to dig down as far as a metre deep, so this way saves a lot of back ache.

 

[So Long Architect]

The best way to us chicken shit on the garden is to fill a barrel with water, then fill one of those little bags (made out of netting they hang nuts and stuff in for birds) with chickn shit and hang it in the barrel. Then simply water the plants with it.
If you put too much chicken shit on your plants it will do the same damage as hydrocloric acid. it's deadly stuff.

To fox proof your hen house, just line the floor and under the walls with that steel netting with the small holes. As long as you secure it, no fox will get in, and here the little bastards have been known to dig down as far as a metre deep, so this way saves a lot of back ache.

Try as I might, I never managed to train my chickens to shit in the bag.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Gentlemen, that's a decent response!
Thanks very much.

2 things that bother me straight off is 'lots of flies from all the chicken shit' and 'that bit of the garden being turned into a muddy wasteland'.

Before we bought this house, we viewed one property and we peeked over the side gate (house was empty) and the garden was about 60 feet x 20 wide and there wasn't a blade of grass on it! All pecked and scratched....

The fox issue I think is a non runner as my garden is walled all the way around, there have never been any sightings of a fox around here and the end I'm planning to put the chicken run would be against my neighbour's wall and his rear garden is secure and the old lady's garden behind mine is also secure.

I don't think I'll be able to move them around much other than giving them about 20 x 20 feet to run around on.

Are they easy/cheap to feed?
Although I suppose if you put rubbish in you'll get rubbish out...

How hardy are they?
I'm a bit concerned having read the above that if I try to look after them as best I can they'll get sick anyway....

Chicken shit, do you have to shovel it up daily or weekly?
I'm concerened about the thought of them pecking away in amongst their own layers of shit right enough.
Thanks Pav for that neat little tip.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

Gentlemen, that's a decent response!
Thanks very much.

2 things that bother me straight off is 'lots of flies from all the chicken shit' and 'that bit of the garden being turned into a muddy wasteland'.

Before we bought this house, we viewed one property and we peeked over the side gate (house was empty) and the garden was about 60 feet x 20 wide and there wasn't a blade of grass on it! All pecked and scratched....

The fox issue I think is a non runner as my garden is walled all the way around, there have never been any sightings of a fox around here and the end I'm planning to put the chicken run would be against my neighbour's wall and his rear garden is secure and the old lady's garden behind mine is also secure.

I don't think I'll be able to move them around much other than giving them about 20 x 20 feet to run around on.

Are they easy/cheap to feed?
Although I suppose if you put rubbish in you'll get rubbish out...

How hardy are they?
I'm a bit concerned having read the above that if I try to look after them as best I can they'll get sick anyway....

Chicken shit, do you have to shovel it up daily or weekly?
I'm concerened about the thought of them pecking away in amongst their own layers of shit right enough.
Thanks Pav for that neat little tip.

At least once a week Roy, and don't put it on your compost heap, take some for the water barrel and bag and tip the rest. Fence them in to the area you want them in, they will turn any ground they can get at into an after the holocaust nuclear site.
They eat anything from roses to cabbages, but it's the shit that does the real damage, it really is like undiluted acid.
In my experience they cost more than buying eggs and chicken from the super market, but fresh eggy weggies for the little one, no contest.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

At least once a week Roy, and don't put it on your compost heap, take some for the water barrel and bag and tip the rest. Fence them in to the area you want them in, they will turn any ground they can get at into an after the holocaust nuclear site.
They eat anything from roses to cabbages, but it's the shit that does the real damage, it really is like undiluted acid.
In my experience they cost more than buying eggs and chicken from the super market, but fresh eggy weggies for the little one, no contest.

Ah yes!

Good point that man!

Anyone else any views on this?
2 or 3 hens will yield how many eggs per week...?

12 large free range eggs will cost me around €3.60.
Feed for 2 or 3 chickens will cost me....?

In fact.. can you feed them household food leftovers?
Long leaves off leeks, out of date vegetables and salad stuff for example....?

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

If you've only got 2/3 chickens weekly may be a touch excessive for cleaning, especially for the colder months, I would allow a month, plenty of straw in the hut

I really can't remember the shit being that bad Pav, and it worked great on my vegetable plot as a manure, they do cut up the lawn though but thats just the heavy traffic areas

If your worried about disease and illness, just make sure the stock you are buying from is good. I won't say they wont get ill, but 2 or 3 birds shouldn't have too many problems, especially if you go with a tougher breed. Feed them well, and they should be fine (a dose of cod liver oil when they're moulting to give them a boost)

 

[Wolf Hunting]

If your worried about disease and illness, just make sure the stock you are buying from is good. I won't say they wont get ill, but 2 or 3 birds shouldn't have too many problems, especially if you go with a tougher breed. Feed them well, and they should be fine (a dose of cod liver oil when they're moulting to give them a boost)

Cod liver oil??
How do you feed that to them?
I understand they need shelter right enough, but are you saying you can't bring them into the house in the winter?
I pictured them sitting by the fire with the dog, clucking away, toddling over to the dog basket and putting a couple of nice speckled eggs down...

Kidding.... :facepalm:

 

[So Long Architect]

They're omnivores so they will eat anything. Whether they should eat anything is another matter. We used to give the slugs to ours - they loved them.
Crushed oyster shell is supposed to be beneficial. Lot's of calcium apparently. You can buy it in bags.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

They're omnivores so they will eat anything. Whether they should eat anything is another matter. We used to give the slugs to ours - they loved them.
Crushed oyster shell is supposed to be beneficial. Lot's of calcium apparently. You can buy it in bags.

I was indeed reading that crushed shells are a good source of calcium for them as it also helps to produce good strong shells, rather than fragile things from batery hens.
I can bring home any tonnage of shells from the beach about 400 yards away, so that'll be good.
1st job for Susie... "Here you go, darling, break all those for me, with my complete blessing!"

 

[lemonjelly]

I have pickled 2 large jars of beetroot.

I made a lasagne with home grown onions. Jeepers the potency! Still have a number of onions left - never really had any success with onions before, so really pleasing to see 8-9 decent samples.

Cucumbers have been the best I've ever acheived. I put this down to planting them out earlier & the sunshine. I have 3-4 more to harvest this weekend.

I still have carrots in the ground. Making soup with them tonight or this weekend.

My forst tom that turned red got nibbled! Not by me alas. However the 2nd has been harvested & will be sampled soon. A few others are starting to turn in colour.

Pretty pleasing overall, though I wish I coiuld be eating the toms, as I know they'll be awesome!

The chillis have flowers. To be honest I've stopped monitoring them closely, as it has been very busy at work.

Lettuce is still growing, however growth has slowed.

Today I picked 4 cucumbers, and a few tomatoes that are slowly changing colour.
I also noticed I have one chilli! (not much from 13 plants, but there you go...)

 

[lemonjelly]

Today I harvested the carrots. I have a ridiculous number of bright orange carrots. Some are HUUUUUGE! A few small. many are odd shapes, but the smell from them is really something else. The colour also really stands out - I was in the greengrocers yesterday & in comparison their carrots seem really pale!

I've pulled up the cucumber plants. Picked various tomatoes (these beauties are now being eaten! :happy: ) & on the window sill there is a regular conveyor belt of ripening toms. Lovely!

Chilli's will be harvested this week, as it appears the weather is dropping off, so it'll be too cool for them. One or 2 of the tomato plants are now next to the composter ready to go in - though there are numerous tomato plants full of fruits still.

I repotted the lily I have into 2 seperate pots, as it wasn't doing so well where it was. I've used compost from my composter.

I also planted a few daffodils around a tree for the spring. Hopefully they'll be a marker & encouragement early next year!

I've also mixed most of the contents of one of my composters into the soil. Planning on using a fair bit more next week, & also emptying out some of the other composter to re-fuel the ground, as well as to create a bit of space in the composters for all the stuff from this year I need to put in there!

So, I'm already thinking about what to grow next year. Leeks is one thing I'm planning on. Toms & beetroot are certainties. Carrots likely. Not sure what else yet though...

 

[lemonjelly]

The high winds blew over both greenhouses.

At least that prompted me to get my backside out there & pack them away. Annoyingly, one of the "doors" has a rip in it...:argh:

Filled up the composters with all the old plants. Got all the toms in - have a windowsill full of mainly green toms now.

uckily I'd harvested the 3 chilli's I'd managed to grow thursday evening.

Lost the last batch of lettuce, but hey ho.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Doubt any greenhouse would have stood up to the winds down here yesterday - not that I have one as that's a task for next year.

Toms & runner beans went to pot as I haven't been able to do much on the plots over the last 6 weeks after the operation & have now removed them.

Still not an unsuccessful growing season. A good lot of potatoes that I am still eating - make incredible roasties & some success with the peppers that I did not expect. Raspberry canes produced a few, but did not expect much in the first year.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

I just have to say that our battered garden fence in Post 159 has now been replaced with some lovely posh fencing.

I'm almost tempted to post a photograph even though it is not a vegetable.