Another chicken question!

[Evie91]

Hi all,

Just wondering how much time it takes to care for chickens? would be doing them before and after work. Just trying to plan how long to factor in to my day, on days when I'm really busy ( with work), what's the quickest I could hope to sort them out? I won't be rushing every day but on the odd occasion I will!

Thank you

 

[Bestdogdash]

I have 6 lovely girls, completely free range. I have a feeder that takes two weeks worth of food, it is galvanised steel with a plate (when they stand on it the feeder opens, when they walk away it closes) that keeps the feed dry and safe from mice etc. I have a large automatic water dispenser, that takes upto 30 litres of water. I have a light sensitive door on the hen house (opens at dawn and closes at sunset. The girls put themselves to bed naturally about 30 mins before the door closes. I briefly check in the morning that the water isn't frozen or anything, and the food is plentiful. That takes about 2 mins. I also check that they are all safely in the house after dark (they are 98% of the time, but occasionally one is still out and I just let her in). Another two minutes. I clean the house out replace bedding, change water etc at the weekend and give them all a good check over. Takes about an hour.

They are such a rewarding bunch,amusing, friendly and fab eggs all for about 2 hours a week.

Never thought I would love my hens so much ! Enjoy yours.

Ps I recommend a book (amazon have it) called Chickens for Dummies - useful reference.

 

[GinaB]

Day to day, a few minutes to check for eggs and feed. I scatter the grain out on the grass so they scratch around and takes them longer to feed. Water checked daily.

Cleaned out at weekends, about half an hour?

They get themselves up and put themselves to bed

 

[Clodagh]

2 minutes in the morning, let them out of their coops and check food and water. 2 minutes when I get back from work - a wheat feed on the ground before bed. 30 seconds to shut them up when they are in bed!
10 minutes at weekend to muck out and a bit longer once a month for full on clean out, de mite etc.
BUt hours and hours just watching them and feeding them treats!!

 

[millsandboon]

They are very addictive though.

 

[Adopter]

I have three lovely girls who bring much pleasure and lovely eggs.

Just open door in morning on way through yard, they are free range all day, love the much heap and scattering all the horse droppings.

In the evening, I scrape muck from under night perch, collect eggs, top up feed and water, this takes less than 5 mins and I do it whilst ponies eat their feed, and I am waiting to brush them off etc.

I also as well as feeding layers pellets in the feeder, put a couple of handfuls of split corn down on floor of their shed and they love this so much it is easy to get them in when I want. Later in the year they will want locking in later so only problem is if I want to go out in the evening getting them in first.

I am interested in the automatic doors, I have read about them but never felt confident that they would work!

 

[Evie91]

Thanks for the replies - really useful.
Will definitely have a look for the book - sounds like just what I need!
Just out of interest- what treats do you give a chicken?

Going to pick up my chicken house at the weekend, just needs a few modifications, then I'll be looking into breeds.

Unsure whether to get some ex battery hens or go for a breed (really like the black and white speckled ones)......

 

[Honey08]

We feed ours pellets and change water in the morning, then skip out droppings with rubber gloves. Takes a few mins - usually while horse are eating or a water bucket is filling. Means we don't have to muck out much differently at weekends. We feed corn in the afternoon. For treats we give dried mealworms now and again. Ours also adore melon, tangerines, peas, sweetcorn and any cooked veg leftovers (they don't seem to like hard veg!) Officially you aren't meant to give any kitchen leftovers. Final job - shutting in at night. In summer we leave the doors open as they don't go to bed until really late, and anyway these smaller coops get pretty stuffy. They are in a secure run anyway.

 

[Moggy89]

I have 5 hens runs as I breed rare breeds and week days takes me a matter of minutes morning and evening. In the morning they get let out and feed and night shut in and check for eggs. They all have water containers that last a week or more so only need to do water at the weekends, when I have time and it is light! I clean them out every week to month, depending on how mucky they get. If it is muddy or my runs with more hens in then they get cleaned out more often.

Treats: Mine get all veg peelings, bread, cakes, fruit, pasta, rice, anything like that, that gets left over and not eaten.

How many hens are you planning on getting? I would say it might be good to get a mixer of both ex battery and rare breeds. As the rare breeds do not lay as many eggs and don't lay every well over the winter months. But they are so pretty. You can now get cross breed hybread hens which are pretty but still lay a lot of eggs, not as much a layers but more than rare breeds. You can even get ones which lay white eggs and the white eggs taste so much better than brown ones!

If you need any help or have more questions feel free to ask me (or need a cockeral I have some!)

 

[jodie3]

Get rescue hens! Really rewarding to see them blossom and learn to be real hens again and recover their feathers too.

www.bhwt.org.uk

 

[Evie91]

Ooh thank you. Thinking of getting three maybe four. Ideally I'd like a two hens with an egg each so they can raise a little chick each! This is probably not realistic.
Hadn't realised that fancy breeds don't lay as many eggs. Ideally I'd like up to six eggs a week/month (for baking purposes!). Currently I buy extra large free range eggs - I'd like the same as I don't like baking with small eggs, cakes are never as nice!
Could I get two ex battery and two of a breed? Would they all get on?
Do they need heat in winter?
No cockerels thank you although my neighbour has the laziest cockerel- he never crows before ten am

 

[Honey08]

Yes you can mix and match. We have ten ex batts (they are so friendly compared to the others) and two black hens we were given (can't remember the breed). We get 6-8 eggs a day (some of them are getting on now) and end up selling them to neighbours which pays for their feed etc. Ex batts seem to lay all year round. Other hens often stop laying in winter. They don't need heaters. They snuggle up in colder weather. They don't seem to mind cold at all, they don't like wet weather. We put a few empty dustbins on their side in their run and they shelter in those!

 

[Moggy89]

Your cakes will taste so much better with your own eggs! They have massive golden yokes. I would not worry about the size of eggs, all the yokes are the same size in my eggs even the smaller one. But dont get Bantams are they lay tiny eggs.
Different hens will get a long, maybe a little fighting in the beginning while they made a pecking order.
Just be carefull what breeds you get do a little research and make sure they are not flighty birds if you are keeping them free range and not in a run.

 

[Evie91]

Brilliant, thank you.
Just had a look at the link and battery hens sound like a good option - I would like friendly ones! Will contact them after I've collected the house at the weekend as need to see how much work it needs first. V excited now

 

[Clodagh]

Battery hens are not a good starter bird, tbh. They have no immunity to any diseases in the open air. They die as a hybrid that has been under pressure like them have a very short life, they are prone to egg peritonitis which is horrible and they are very depressing and will put you off chickens for ever. (Just my opinion).
Pure breeds lay less for longer, something like a leghorn lays really well. Utility strains lay better than show strains so do reseaarch (if you go for pure breeds).
You can get nice multi coloured hybrids at point of lay for £15 - £20 that will lay different coloured eggs.

 

[Nudibranch]

If you like black and white hens you can't go wrong with silver laced wyandottes. Absolutely stunning birds, easy to do and good temperaments. Four hens will give you plenty of eggs, yes pure breeds lay less but if you have a few then you'll never be short. They also lay for much longer throughout their lives, which is a bonus if they are going to be pets.

Time wise, hens are as demanding or easy as you want them to be. We have a completely covered run, so they can get themselves in and out of bed, I never close the pop hole. They get their layers pellets in a big feeder which only needs filling once a week, likewise their water container. I give them a corn scratch feed in the evening and any kitchen scraps in the morning, which takes less than a minute. I do a partial clean (remove dirty bedding) once a week and a full clean once a fortnight - maybe half an hour, max. Let the house dry out for the afternoon when you do the big clean.

However as others have pointed out they are completely addictive and I spend an awful lot of time just watching them, handling them, etc!

One thing to be aware of is that chickens don't look off colour until there's something seriously wrong, they are very good at hiding illness. So I try to handle them regularly as well as watch them. I had a cockerel with a punctured gizzard, he was eating and drinking normally but I hadn't picked him up for a couple of days so missed the huge gaping hole/rotting mass of food. Not that I'm trying to put you off!

 

[Honey08]

Battery hens are not a good starter bird, tbh. They have no immunity to any diseases in the open air. They die as a hybrid that has been under pressure like them have a very short life, they are prone to egg peritonitis which is horrible and they are very depressing and will put you off chickens for ever. (Just my opinion).
Pure breeds lay less for longer, something like a leghorn lays really well. Utility strains lay better than show strains so do reseaarch (if you go for pure breeds).
You can get nice multi coloured hybrids at point of lay for £15 - £20 that will lay different coloured eggs.

We have had 18 ex-batts over the last few years, and have had no problems whatsoever with lack of immunity. They were our first hens, and not different or difficult at all, as I said previously, they are friendly little things, whereas our non-ex batts are shyer. Battery hens are actually kept very up to date with injections and worming etc. The main issues people have are lack of feathers and them feeling the cold. Some of the hens that are coming out of the new "improved" cages are worse as they have room to really attack each other now.

I've had one die eggbound after six months, two died after about a year, one died after three years. Two were killed by a stoat. The others are all going strong. They have had stressful lives, so may not live quite as long as others (some of mine are 5 now and going strong) but you only donate about £5/hen and they pay you back with regular eggs. Its heartwarming seeing them feather up and become "real" freerange hens too. Thats why we get them as much as for the eggs.

 

[WelshD]

I would also advise against exbatts as first birds, they are already at an age where problems can kick in. There are lots of exbatts out there enjoying life of course.
Pure breeds are great and always my first choice, a really good utility Wyandotte, Sussex or Welsummer is hard to beat but they will take some sort of a break over winter
In your case if eggs are the main deciding factor I would go for point of lay hybrids, they will lay well after the initial practice egg stage and by the time any problems kick in you will have more experience
They don't lay for as many years though so I would get two now (you'll be amazed at how many eggs you get our if them) and two more in a year or so, this will mean they aren't all old and not laying at the same time
If you decide that eggs aren't the biggest priority then I'd get a nice little group of pure breed bantams

 

[millsandboon]

Ooh thank you. Thinking of getting three maybe four. Ideally I'd like a two hens with an egg each so they can raise a little chick each! This is probably not realistic.
Hadn't realised that fancy breeds don't lay as many eggs. Ideally I'd like up to six eggs a week/month (for baking purposes!). Currently I buy extra large free range eggs - I'd like the same as I don't like baking with small eggs, cakes are never as nice!
Could I get two ex battery and two of a breed? Would they all get on?
Do they need heat in winter?
No cockerels thank you although my neighbour has the laziest cockerel- he never crows before ten am

Without a cockerel you will get no chicks!! And they don't have one each.... a broody hen will sit on a clutch of eggs usually between 5 and 15. Battery hens are not natural mothers, they do sometimes brood chicks but not very often. Like with horses, don't breed lightly. Think what you will do with all the chicks - even if they are cockerels. Could you cull them if you could not home them? There are just as many unwanted chickens in the country as there are horses

 

[Evie91]

Thank you all for some fantastic advice and for sharing your experience.
Really stuck now between ex batt and pure breed! May well let my Dad decide ( he doesn't live with us but loves chickens and can't have any of his own!).

Going to pick up chicken house tomorrow, then need run, nest boxes, perches and feed stuff. Pleased they don't take too long to look after - some mornings can be a bit hectic so good to know they can be looked after quickly if necessary.

Don't just want them for eggs but for pets too

Surprised to hear there are many unwanted chickens. Realised I can't breed without a cockerel, I wondered if I could buy a chicken with a fertilised egg! Didn't realise they sat on up to 15 - think I just get point of lay chucks

 

[Evie91]

P.s no I couldn't kill anything - so breeding definitely not for me!