So,
I've been thinking of getting a couple of chooks for a variety of reasons.
1) The kids would love it
2) We adore eggs and this way we'd be sure they are free range
3) bug and weed control
4) I just love the back to the roots aspect of the idea
Now my concerns
1) rats and mice
2) rats and mice attracting snakes - eeeek
3) we have a lab, not sure how he'd go with them. He's pretty placid most of the time, though
4) The Gold Coast City Council does not allow backyard chickens on blocks less than 800 square metres - grrr
5) Will I have the time to look after them?
DH is against the idea because of the rat/mice issue. I have read that keeping their food in sealed containers and the coop clean can stop rat or mouse infestation. My question is: how much work and time is really involved with that?
I was thinking of hiring a coop including chickens for a month or two to give it a try. I'm sure the council won't "spring" me in such a short time.
Regarding the dog, I could fence off a section of the yard for them, so they are safe from the dog. Our neighbours have cats, but from what I have read, that is not an issue?
I'd love to hear from people who have some chooks...
Ok, have 30 odd chooks here, so will see what I can answer:
1) The kids would love it - yes they will, just be prepared for the odd dropped egg
3) bug and weed control - just be careful, they can really damage garden beds. Fence them off from seedlings, or cover them with some mesh. The love a scratch in freshly dug dirt for some reason
Now my concerns
1) rats and mice - have not noticed an increase, but we are rural so naturally have a fair few rodents
2) rats and mice attracting snakes - eeek - not noticed any increase and we do have snakes in the area
3) we have a lab, not sure how he'd go with them. He's pretty placid most of the time, though - tough one, we had one dog that did not touch them, but the other did. Not to kill them, but to chase and play, so he damaged them. You wont know till you get them together. Speak to a dog trainer about what you can do, otherwise good fencing, which a good idea anyway due to foxes, Organic Gardening (ABC mag) had a great article on building a fox, snake etc proof chook pen
5) Will I have the time to look after them? - they really are not much time per day. Just feed them, check their water, collect the eggs. Clean out their nesting boxes every so often (tends to be 1-2 weekly herr. Clean the coop every so often, ours requires a big dig out and replacing the mulch.
DH is against the idea because of the rat/mice issue. I have read that keeping their food in sealed containers and the coop clean can stop rat or mouse infestation. Just a sensible thing to do. We have those kiddy wheelie bins - rats can't climb into them or lift the lid
I was thinking of hiring a coop including chickens for a month or two to give it a try. I'm sure the council won't "spring" me in such a short time. - Great Idea, if you are so uncertain then renting is they way to go
1) The kids would love it
Yep DD sure does!! One of our hens is her favourite and lets her carry it around, take it down the slide, you name it.
3) bug and weed control
Yes, but they also do a fair bit of digging and your garden beds will be flung everywhere! LOL This is not an issue for us as we have them in the front yard where it doesn't matter, but I wouldn't let them out in my vegie patch (again). They also make a bit of a mess with droppings near our door, so I need to clean the doorstep every day. They like sitting on it and calling to us inside, or just sit there and watch us, strange things.
Now my concerns
1) rats and mice
2) rats and mice attracting snakes - eeeek
We've never had rodents because of the chickens and the feed is in a closed container we got from Pet Barn, with a scoop. We have had a couple of rats since our neighbours got their house de-pested (whatever the word is), but that's the first time in nearly two years of chicken keeping. Nothing to do with the hens. The seed and scraps do attract heaps of the native birds though, so I feel I'm feeding half the bush population some days! As long as you are guaging how much seed they eat and not leaving too much out, it shouldn't attract rodents. There's never any left in our coop! I should add we live right near the national park and so far no snakes either.
3) we have a lab, not sure how he'd go with them. He's pretty placid most of the time, though
Our dogs are separated in the back yard. One is fine, not sure about the other. Better safe than sorry though! There are neighbourhood cats, but having seen one of our chooks chase away one that was silly enough to come into the yard I don't think it's the hens with the problem. LOL
5) Will I have the time to look after them?
They look after themselves!! As long as they are let out and shut away, fed with scraps/leftovers/enough seed and watered, that's it. They're the most low maintenance members of my household. DD cleans the coop out every few days (fresh hay) to earn her pocket money. Takes about five mins. I put worming solution in their water every few months. That's it! They even put themselves in the coop to roost at night.
I don't know how you'd go with the council, but they aren't a noisy pet and shouldn't upset the neighbours if you were worried about someone complaining? How much land are you on?
Agree with Astrid & Jennifer here - we have two chooks and don't have any issues with rats, mice or snakes. One of our dog tends to chase them but he gets scowled at & stops. I let them out here and there for a scratch but they do dig up the garden beds!
Thank you for your input, ladies.
I think I might try the renting option first. It probably costs as much as setting one up anyway, but it feels like less of a commitment. Might ask on freecycle if someone needs a babysitter for their chooks while they are on holidays or something, that way it would be free...
I would certainly talk to the neighbours before getting chooks to make sure they are fine with it and to talk to them about any concerns they might have. The promise of free eggs might get them on board. It might also be easier if I tell them we're renting first. So they can get used to the idea while knowing it's only temporary.
With regards to the dog, I'd probably keep the chooks seperate. Another one of my concerns is chook poo everywhere... Don't want the kids covered in it constantly when out and about. Dog poo is pretty easy to pick up. Chook poo is a completely different issue. Yes, i know, it's a great fertiliser, but i just can't help my poo-phobia :-)
I was thinking if I keep them permanently, I will get one of those portable chicken tractors. That way I can take the whole thing kid and caboodle to a friend if we go on holidays...
lol I was going to suggest a chook tractor. We're looking at one of those.
For us rats/mice and snakes are a huge issue but we live in the desert where they're an everyday thing for us anyway.
Ok, this is going to sound really silly. With a chook tractor, seeing that they have some shelter and also some fresh ground to scratch on, do you need to let them out every morning? Or would the occasional run about be enough?
Also, what breed would you suggest? I want them for both, a pet for the kids AND for the eggs. I heard that Bantams and Silkies are best for pets, while other breeds are better for laying performance but not so good as pets. Or would a mixture be the right thing? Maybe a couple of Silkies for the kids and a hybrid or something like that for the eggs? Or even an ex-battery hen? What do you guys think.
I just love BellyBelly, no matter what you wanna know, there is someone here who can help. Such a wealth of information.
Oh, and there's a place in Brisbane, called City Chicks where you can rent or buy them. For rental they have either Pekin Bantams or Hybrids. They have many more varieties for purchase.
1) The kids would love it
Yep, no doubt about it. My DD2 reads to the chooks, gives them baths in buckets and tucks them into her bed
3) bug and weed control- like I said previously they got rid of our wandering jew issue
Now my concerns
1) rats and mice
We had rats come by now that we have chooks... but everything is sealed so they come and check it out and leave....they've never come inside the house.
2) rats and mice attracting snakes - eeeek
Yep, we have had one snake come by... a diamond python who took up in our roof for a little while. I loved it! We have diamond pythons around here near the bush and once the snake went into our roof, the rats disappeared and haven't returned. The snake left as well.
3) we have a lab, not sure how he'd go with them. He's pretty placid most of the time, though
We have 2 dogs and 2 cats, no issues what so ever wtih the chooks.
4) The Gold Coast City Council does not allow backyard chickens on blocks less than 800 square metres - grrr
Ours doesn't allow roosters but is okay with chooks...
5) Will I have the time to look after them?
Our chooks take around 30 minutes total a day to look after, we have a coop that is movable, so we don't necessarily clean it out much, we pick it up and move it. The nesting box gets replaced once a week or so. Our biggest job is sweeping the door step as well and cleaning off the chicken poo from the doorstep.
Thanks Christy,
I wouldn't worry about Diamond Snakes (they say 3 out of 4 homes here have one in their roof), but the thought of a Brown Snake or something like that being in my yard makes me queasy. I didn't grow up in Australia, so am scared to death of the not-so-friendly residents of this otherwise fantastic country.
And as mentioned in my OP, I just have to convince DH that they won't attract droves of rats.
ETA:
Also, what do you guys do with chickens that have stopped laying eggs?
Last edited by sunshine_sieben; February 17th, 2011 at 02:20 PM.
I go searching in the garden for where they're hiding them! When we got ours the farm lady said they will lay 6 days a week if there's enough protein in their diet. We have hybrids - ISA browns. They go on strike when we go away but that's probably the lack of leftover scraps.
Lol, Jennifer, I meant when they are too old t lay. From what i read, they will only lay for a few years, then live for another few (a bit like humans whose life goes on past Menopause I guess)...
Well you either just keep them, as most likely by that time they are pets. Find someone with a large property who is happy to take them. Of course the final thing is to um, get the axe out. No good for eating, well I suppose boil them up for a nice stock. Just keep on eye on them as they do get older. Some just look sad for awhile and you will find them dead one day. Remember to check their bums if they are looking quite sad incase they are fly blown (yes I know yucky, but a reality).
If they do go off the lay, make sure they are on good food, try a worming treatment and often they will come good. Garlic in their water, especially on the full moon is very good for them.
As for breeds. Well the bantams lay little eggs and go broody at the drop of a hat. The little eggs can be an issue with baking where you really want a certain size egg. Hybrids, well, good laying, but shorter life. The more traditional breeds will lay for a lot longer (more than a few years), you just wont get quite as many per week. I have a sheet somewhere that lists the better layers amongst the traditional breeds, will see if I can find it for you. I have a soft spot for Australorps, but they are a bigger chook so need more space and food.
Thanks Astrid,
To my surprise, my husband was actually quite into the idea of doing a chicken trial. When showed him some cheap coops/runs on ebay, he said: "We should just have a couple of chickens permanently" Wow, I never expected that response. Then we had a good chuckle about how his parents would think we have completely lost our marbles. Which I think is weird. No-one would think twice if we bought a couple of ****atoos. Well, actually, I think they'd still think we're crazy. Hell, they think that already... So nothing to lose on that front!
Anyway, as we kept talking, and especially when I told him about our council restrictions, he's now worried about the noise. Can anyone tell me how noisy they really are??? If you have 2-3 of them?
By the way, someone asked earlier about the size of our property. I think it's about 650sqm, so 150sqm short of the 800sqm restriction
Australorps can be quite noisy. I think Silkies are fine for noise, we had one for a short while and don't remember any sound coming from her. Our other bantams seem to be quiet as well (mixed lot, not sure what they are).
ISA browns can be noisy as well.
Noise tends to happen after they have laid, some really like to announce it to the world.
Just remember that bantam is not a breed of bird, it just dictates the size. (Just remembered this myself), So you can get Australorp in bantam form along with other breeds. Sometimes you don't have much choice with breed, just depends on what is around at the time and some of the rarer, prettier breeds can be quite expensive.
If you can, barnvelders are a great chook breed, they aren't loud, and they are really pretty to look at too. Very friendly - we have 4 of them. As for noise, well, some chooks are louder than others, just their personality! We have araucanas as well (lavender) and they seem to be louder, although smaller?
Barnvelders lay large chocolate coloured eggs with brown spots which look really funky, and the araucanas lay blue eggs which are a bit smaller.
The younger the chook, the easier to make them tame, but the longer to wait for them to get to point-of-lay. And during that time you're still paying for feed etc.
Keep in mind you get about 6 eggs / week per chook, so consider how many eggs you eat a week! We give our spare eggs to our labrador! BTW, the worst problem we have with the lab is her stealing eggs, we've caught her a few times with an egg in her mouth! And we keep our cats in the chook run during summer, the cats are scared of the chooks.
Our 3.5yr old has daily chores of feeding the chooks and collecting eggs. When he falls over in the yard, we have to give him a "chicken cuddle".
Mine can get a little noisy at random times, but only for a few minutes. Maybe one will get excited once a day. They used to get all happy about laying but that dropped off.
Ours will stay on as pets when they stop laying. I guess we'll just have to get more!
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