Do you keep Chickens?.....what do i need to get started???

[beckoes]

Not sure this is the right place to post as they wouldnt really be pets....but....we live in a house which would be perfect for keeping chickens in the garden, infact im sure im the only person in the village that doesnt have chickens....

Do you keep chickens? I just want to know what i need to set up for them and what i need to do....a realistic cost of getting a few chooks housed and healthy....we can get the actual chickens locally, its just setting up a home that is suitable....i.e .... snake/cat/wild dog proof. do they just roam free in the day?

Any advice/help would be awsome!!! Thanks.

[~Lashes~]

my dad has chickens, he lets them roam the back yard during the day, he has a basic cage/pen he made up the side of the shed for them, it has nesting boxes for them to lay there eggs, a ramp up to a seccond level and 2 things that have there food and water.
good luclk! its fun watching the kids chase them when we vist to, they love it.

Edit: we had 3 a few years ago (how could i forget!) we made the cage for them, id sugest buying one as we must have missed a bit, the neighbours cat got in and, well no more chooks! (df still thinks they put there cat in as one of the chooks turned out to be a rooster.

[CharlieBrownGirl]

I haven't got any chookens but would love some myself. However, I don't think they would mix well with a Greyhound at this present time.

I have been eyeing off a hutch on dealsdirect I would love to buy in the near future.

Interested in the replies and suggestions you receive.

[Floweryfields]

I do and this is what I recommend to get started:
Secure and sheltered housing - there are lots of types - depends on how many you want, if you want 2 or 3 a chicken tractor is great, any more than that and you need something larger. Chooks like to roost as it makes them feel safe - a nice thick square of timber or an old tree branch - something to curl their toes around and prevent foot issues.
Storage for feed and water - hanging is best as it prevents contamination from poop
Dust bathing area - so a nice sandy spot they are allowed to scratch and dust in - funniest thing you'll ever see, helps them keep clean and pest free.
Protection from the elements - heat is a big killer with chooks, so an area with shade in summer would be ideal and somewhere away from draughts in winter
For the home garden I would recommend bantams (great with kids and don't eat too much) - go for a good laying breed such as bantam sussex (which are actually fairly large and great layers) or you could go for commercial layers such as ISA browns, though I find these end up with a lot of health issues around the 3 to 4 years age as they are bread to lay, lay, lay then die ikywim.
And I would recommend a fenced off area to free range in or else you garden will be history.

Be prepared to worm them every 3 months like other pets and have the odd illness crop up, but in general, chooks are great fun!

Also, I have a great forum about chooks I highly recomend for the beginner as they have loads of info and friendly advice givers - MODS can I please have pemission to post - it is a not for profite site.....

[Glamourcide]

Good luck hun!! Just a not-so-sneaky sub, as DH and I do more renos around here, the more I think our backyard would be a suitable place for some cute little bawk-bawks, so there might be some handy tips in here for me in future, too!

[Teeki]

We have two chook chooks, they're hilarious! We actually got lucky when we moved here, it was already set up for chooks. There's a pretty big aviary down the back, with some good roosting 'planks' for them and a little box they love to get in to lay their eggs. Outside of the aviary it's fenced off, and we have a problem with them pooping under our verandah so if we don't want them in the back yard they've still got an outside area to play around in.

I agree with ausgirl - the dust bath is hilarious! They love it

They're pretty good at keeping the weeds down, but we've had to fence off the vegie patch pretty well. And they won't go near stinging nettles if you have them cos it hurts their eyes, so still need to get rid of them for them.

They can eat a fair bit, but water is the main thing, they can overheat quite easily

[littlemissmountain]

You've been given lots of good advice already We have 9 plump chooks and they are great, low maintenance 'pets'.

When you build/set up their shelter, just bear in mind that they only lay in the boxes... at night they roost and need rungs to do so on. Preferably something like a ladder, but on a slope, as their hierarchy is very important to them! The more dominant chooks roost at the top etc.
Ours have a really big enclosure (we're on acreage) with lots of plants which chooks like to eat. There's no grass left in there, so I let them out to free range during the day when we are at home. You will find that they take themselves off to bed when the sun starts to go down I give them all our food scraps as well as layer pellets/wheat/cracked corn, and I actually grow extra lettuce/silverbeet etc for them as they LOVE it. Their fresh water is always topped up by the water off the roof off the garage. Not 100% sure of initial cost as our chooks came with the place when we bought it and were already set up. But I am guessing that if you have another structure (existing fence) you can start to build off and you use recycled materials to make the nesting boxes etc, you could do it for a couple of hundred bucks. Wire fencing material is probably going to be the most expensive bit.
Hope this is helpful! Enjoy your chookies and your beautiful fresh eggs! (and I DON'T recommend getting a rooster... ours didn't last long because he was a NASTY piece of work!!)
LMM