Not sure if I should be here or pet sections
We are planning on getting 3hens so we can have our own eggs.
We have built a vege garden too as we are trying to cut down food miles and try to be as self sufficient as possible.
We plan on either buying or building or Hen House have done lot's of research on that and also the type of Hens we want. Thinking either Isa Browns or Australorp as we want good layers.
We live outer suburb Melbourne.
Does anyone have any and how did you protect your garden from the scratching around? We thought about putting up a 'proper' border around the garden and fence off the vege patch and paved area.
Any tips or advice would be great.
We have had our two hens for a year now and we love them! I think three is a perfect number, our two are very attached and I wonder what will happen if one of them suffers a misadventure. The extra eggs would be handy too, we get one a day from each of ours.
Ours are a crossbreed, decent size, brown (they're from a free range egg farm, so good laying was in their genes). We got them as chickens (DD's pre-school egg hatching program outcome!) and although they didn't lay until about 20 wks it was worth having them early as DD loved them and they became very friendly.
We got them a coop from ebay, around $300 and quite fancy. I had to put it together myself and it's big enough for 5-6 chickens. I let our girls out every day and the days when I'm at home they have the whole day in the yard. They aren't neat in the garden and the one time I put them in the backyard with my vegie garden my rocket was demolished. So they aren't put with the vegie garden anymore! They eat lots of insects, especially spiders, so they are great in the general garden. I do have to sweep up the paths after them, but nothing too bad. Trees are worse than the chickens with all the falling leaves atm.
I give our girls heaps of our leftovers, which has made a real difference in what goes to waste here too. The whole neighbourhood loves them (they're in our front yard), and one of our neighbours went and got three chickens for Christmas! Ours will happily be patted, one likes being picked up and both will hop up on my arm/lap if I sit down outside. They follow me around if I'm in the garden.
Last edited by Jennifer13; April 14th, 2010 at 03:34 PM.
oh great thread hun,
were mooving out bush next thursday and im wanting to get some chooks,so im also interested in hearing all about chooks,we already have a big chook pen out there but thats about all i know lol and do i need to put anything around for them to lay eggs on or for them to sleep on ?im very clueless here.im also worried that maybe a snake will get them ?
so keep talking chooks ladies im listening.
We shut ours in every night (they'll put themselves to 'bed' but we secure the door). They have a nesting box as part of the coop that I put straw on. They lay in their nesting box. You can get away with any kind of box that has some straw in it, really. If they don't like it, you'll find eggs laid in various plants in the garden! Our yard is fenced, they chase away the cat from the neighbour, but I haven't seen any snakes yet, so can't comment on that. Big goannas are also a bit of a terror to chickens.
Definately try to get younger chooks, they will be more friendly. We have 9 chooks - 4 Barnvelders (gorgeous friendly birds), 4 Lavendar Aracunas (I think they are very pretty, they are rumpless) and an Isa Brown cross (from CC).
Chooks can fly, but they usually can't be bothered. We have a 1200mm fence around our veggie patch to keep the dogs & chooks out of it, and it's great - we have also put netting over the top to keep the possums & birds out.
With our chooks we have a 2400mm fence around a designated area, in that we have an old aviary we rescued from the kerbside collection and reclad in timber. With the actual chook run, we have wire angled in on the top (to keep foxes in if they get in) and we buried chook wire down about 600mm to stop foxes digging under. We don't bother locking up the chooks at night. We also rescued an old dog kennel from the kerbside collection and keep a bale of straw in there - the chooks will also roost / lay there.
DS is almost 3 and he loves his chooks, if he falls over in the yard we have to catch a chook for him to cuddle ... the benefit of getting young chooks.
We have 3 Isla Brown hens here. I'm in suburban Sydney in a rental! So it can be done anywhere. Our girls we aquired from a friend who moved overseas... Thanks Onyx! They love the occasional treat of ****roach or spider! Which is freaky, but awesome at the same time.
They can be messy in the garden, and they did eat all my strawberries and spinach... but that was because they ran through the house to the other yard and got to them! I personally would put some wire up around your vege patch if you want to free range your chickens near it. Also.... egg shells are a deterent to some aphids because your chooks will eat any little bug pests that are near your vege patch! Which can only be a good thing, and you will have awesome fertiliser...
yeh i also heard of egg shells to keep snails away as there to sharp for them to crawl over.
ans you girls have some great ideas on the chooks now i just have to find some one with chooks lol.
just thought id let you know i got chook now lol there red ones and are suppose to lay eggs BUT no eggs yet.ive made a beautiful pen for them with laying boxes with straw in them and there loving all my scraps,there still a bit silly though as they were cages before and are just learning to sctach around,very friendly but baby charlie loves them.
That is great smithy! DH is going away for 10days, when he get's back we are going to buy the coup and get us those chickens I'm pretty excited and DS1 is very excited too.
We went to where I grew up two weeks ago and they had on a chicken show and they showed the Rhode Island Reds and the Australorps and they also had a man who built the chicken coups. So it was great research.
oh yay hun,you will love your chooks im sure ,i could watch mine all day ,there very funny little things.
dh went to town the other day and i looked out the back ,only to find one of the chooks out of the cage running round the yard OMG i had to go catch it as i hadnt cut there wings,i was cracking myself up as i could get it,thank god it went into a corner and i grabbed him but geee what a laugh.
miss charlie loves looking at them she a bit amazed i think.
let me know how you go hun the kids are gonna luv them.
I have two commercial laying breed ones that the school was selling off as pullets. They're mostly rhode island red - great big things. The Toddler calls them "bok boks" and donates all her uneaten food as "bok bok food"
They will totally destroy your garden if you let them get into it. Ours have about 100 sqm of our spare block fenced off to scratch in and they have reduced it from a weed-infested mess to bare dirt, as well as eating off every single leaf from any shrubs overhanging their yard.
I'd be most worried about dogs - our chooks nest in a MASSIVE chook run that just happened to come with the house, but The Child's pet rabbit got shredded into a lot of small pieces by a big stray dog a few weeks ago - it actually dug under the rabbit hutch and got inside. I've had chooks killed by the neighbour's dogs at my last house a few times too, they dig into the hutch and rip through any mesh you have under the ground to keep the chooks in. Funny, the tenants in that house are now having issues with the neighbour's dogs killing their cats.
So yeah. Dogs. If you have ANY issues with stray dogs, fortify your chook yard!
Chickens
Reply With Quote
oh great thread hun,
I'm pretty excited and DS1 is very excited too.
Bookmarks