Does anyone here keep chickens?

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

I've been scouring the net for chicken houses and chickens to get myself set up with free-range eggs from my back garden, but it's all a bit confusing and fairly expensive.

I think I want about 5 chickens and a hen house with a run, but there are so many different types and prices vary from ?80 to ?400 for a small 5 chicken hen house.

Any ideas or advice would be most welcome!

[Alan Dale]

Don't do it in London.. Guaranteed to be a rat den.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Don't you think my dogs would scare the rats off, or would I need a cat?

Would a cat try to eat the chickens?

I'm sure some people keep chickens in London successfully.

[Alan Dale]

And rats.

Free range organic eggs are really cheap. Free range organic chicken is really cheap.

Why make things hard for yourself and your neighbours?

Why don't you go the whole 9 yards and exercise your right to buy and then sell up and get a farm in Eastern Europe?

These half measures are just tokenism.. I'm sure your mates at the green party would give you a pat on the back but it's a huge imposition on your neighbours and you'll spend half your life shovelling chicken excrement when you should be studying for your LPC.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Haha,

but I want to keep chickens, (stamps feet!)

[Alan Dale]

Chickens aren't just for Christmas.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

I prefer mine at Easter

[Alan Dale]

If you really want soemthing to bang on about at Party meetings then why don't you get a solar panel or a wind turbine?

They'll never pay for themselves but they do give you an element of moral highground without the commitment, noise, and health risks associated with keeping chickens...

[Keef]

Rats aside, there are lots of foxes around.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

I want to pretend I'm a farmer.

I'm gona give them a go anyway, so naysay as much as you like old geezer!!

[Annasfield]

messageRe: Does anyone here keep chickens? new

Posted by: Alan Dale Today, 04:52PM

And rats.

Free range organic eggs are really cheap. Free range organic chicken is really cheap.

=======================================================================================

Ha ha - don't you mean cheep?! ;-)

[Alan Dale]

ChavWivaLawDegree Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I want to pretend I'm a farmer.

>

> I'm gona give them a go anyway, so naysay as much

> as you like old geezer!!

That's a shame.

[PeckhamRose]

Glad I don't live next to someone who keeps chickens.

What a racket.

In a town? What point are you trying to prove?

Who / what are you trying to impress?

Grow vegetables. Much quieter.

[clare]

Amanda- go and talk to Jane who works in the garden at Gumboots Nursery on Crystal Palace Road. They had chickens there for quite a while before foxes / bird flu scares/vandals took their toll. She knows a lot and talks a lot of sense.

Good luck !

[SeanMacGabhann]

I have, in the distant past, raised chickens

Amanda, the advice on here is sound - don't do it. For your sake and your neighbours'

[Shu.Kurimu.Sensei]

Chicken guano, yuck must hate your neighbours... :( I can see your intentions are good, but I wouldn't wish the smell of that on anyone

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

An acquaintance of mine keeps Indian Runner Ducks in Peckham. He has a large garden so is able to put up a relatively fox-free run. Foxes will be your main problem over cats. Also, vet in Highshore Road is good with birds.

[Brendan]

We tried to keep chickens once and our dog ate them all.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

I was a bit worried about my dog actually. I'd be mightily upset if he ate them!

[Brendan]

They make one hell of a mess when they bring them in the house. Chicken guts and feathers everywhere.

It is difficult to get angry at the dog because you have gone and plonked a great big smelly coup full of ready meals in the middle of their territory. Perhaps if you tried some way to get them used to the idea first.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

haha, maybe I'll wait till I get my farm then.

[char1ie]

Go for it! Chickens are great. Sure they're vulnerable and you'll have some incidents along the way but you have to start somewhere.

http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/

http://www.rickschicken.co.uk/

Charlie

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Thankyou Charlie, I was beginning to get weighed down by all the negaitvity!

[Keef]

Keep getting weighed down, it's a bad idea, good intentions or not. I'd agree with PeckhamRose that you'd be much better off growing veggies. It's more fun, it's less noise for the neighbours, and they don't absolutely stink when you're clearing them out!

When I've been helping on farms, I always thought cleaning out the chicken sh!t was a much more disgusting job than the cow equivalent!

[char1ie]

Someone comes on the forum asking about chickens and all you can suggest is that she grows vegetables? An onion is not a chicken. A broad bean is no substitute for poultry. You can't hear a marrow crowing at 5.00am can you?

Get a coop of some sort - you could probably start with a simple frame and some chicken wire. Chicken wire is called chicken wire because it is designed for keeping chickens safe. I reckon a trip to B&Q or a garden centre will get you something you could start with.

This is cheap:

http://i9.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/c3/8e/476f_1.JPG

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Traditional-Chicken-Coop-Hen-House-and-Run_W0QQitemZ250199950191

Then you just need some straw, chicks, grain, water. Easy. Get it all this weekend. Get onto it. New year, new hobby, new chickens.

Charlie