Janee
Well-Known Member
The nicest chickens we have had were the Isa Browns (Warrens) very friendly and good layers
Chickens - New Keeper Advice Please
- Thread starter AmyMay
- Start date
AmyMay
Situation normal
Thanks everyone. I can't wit to get some now.
We have creosote. So once we collect the house and I've given it a good clean I'll use it on the house.
How long after using it is it safe for the chickens to use?
We have creosote. So once we collect the house and I've given it a good clean I'll use it on the house.
How long after using it is it safe for the chickens to use?
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
creosote will take weeks and weeks to dry this time of year. I let houses dry out for 3 weeks in summer.
JillA
Well-Known Member
I got some diatomaceous earth for the mites on mine - completely harmless powder made from fossilised diatoms and the sharp edges destroy the mites outer shells. Mine made themselves a dust bath last year so I sprinkled some in.
When my hens are looking a bit under the weather (as in when they are moulting etc) I give them some cat or dog food to brighten them up, more protein as well as their beloved meal worms. I soak kibble for mine and they love it - just be careful not to choose chicken flavour!! Sounds wrong I know but think about it - they eat worms and invertebrates so not against a little meat and mine are now laying well when others round here are still getting over their moult. You can offer them all sorts of kitchen scraps, they love bacon rind.
I have an ambition (when I win the lottery lol) to get them an Eglu from Omlet - they look brilliant and easy to manage https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_classic/
When my hens are looking a bit under the weather (as in when they are moulting etc) I give them some cat or dog food to brighten them up, more protein as well as their beloved meal worms. I soak kibble for mine and they love it - just be careful not to choose chicken flavour!! Sounds wrong I know but think about it - they eat worms and invertebrates so not against a little meat and mine are now laying well when others round here are still getting over their moult. You can offer them all sorts of kitchen scraps, they love bacon rind.
I have an ambition (when I win the lottery lol) to get them an Eglu from Omlet - they look brilliant and easy to manage https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_classic/
Lucyad
Well-Known Member
We have had a few breeds now, but agree with the poster above that Orpingtons are special - beautiful, docile, fluffy and lovely big eggs! I loved our old English game bantam for tiny eggs (like mini eggs!) - lovely to float in soup, for example. We have 2 buff Orpingtons, 1 part Orpington, 1 white legbar cross (the scattiest one, who pecks, and goes broody), one barred Plymouth, and one hybrid 'orange chicken' just now. The only breed we really didn't get on with was a silver spotted Hamburg who was totally loopy.
They have a big coop, made from a shed, with perches and next boxes added. This is attached to a porch, which is useful for them to shelter out of the rain - this is where their feed lives too. This is all in a large run, which has perches and a dust bath in it. It is on compacted hardcore, as if on grass or earth they make a real mess. The chickenwire is dug into the hardcore and set in a concrete strip foundation that we had to put in when a fox dug a whole and stole our bantams. They are locked in at night, but out during the day to free range in the garden - we don't seem to have a fox problem during daylight hours. In the depths of winter when we leave for work in the dark and get home in the dark they only get out at weekends.
They eat layers pellets ad lib, treats of corn, and also kitchen scraps and meal worms. We collect egg shells, bake them in the oven, and crush them, which they also get ad lib for calcium.
They have a big coop, made from a shed, with perches and next boxes added. This is attached to a porch, which is useful for them to shelter out of the rain - this is where their feed lives too. This is all in a large run, which has perches and a dust bath in it. It is on compacted hardcore, as if on grass or earth they make a real mess. The chickenwire is dug into the hardcore and set in a concrete strip foundation that we had to put in when a fox dug a whole and stole our bantams. They are locked in at night, but out during the day to free range in the garden - we don't seem to have a fox problem during daylight hours. In the depths of winter when we leave for work in the dark and get home in the dark they only get out at weekends.
They eat layers pellets ad lib, treats of corn, and also kitchen scraps and meal worms. We collect egg shells, bake them in the oven, and crush them, which they also get ad lib for calcium.
Clodagh
Well-Known Member
In summer I cresote and leave for a week, make sure coop is opened right up so air can get through. This time of year it would take a month I sghould think. If you really scrub your house and use diatemous earth (spelling) that should see you through until it is drier and you can use cresote (assuming you have a back up house or stable for the weeks drying).
A good tip with redmite is don't use much bedding, it just makes a nice house for them. I put opened up feed bags on the floor of the hen house and roll them up and chuck them away weekly. In the nestboxes I use shavings but first line the nestbox with any red mite powder.
Tip - if your hens aren't laying where you want them to use hay in the nest boxes, it is not recommended normally but hens love it. In fact our farmyard hens lay every day in the hay bales.
A good tip with redmite is don't use much bedding, it just makes a nice house for them. I put opened up feed bags on the floor of the hen house and roll them up and chuck them away weekly. In the nestboxes I use shavings but first line the nestbox with any red mite powder.
Tip - if your hens aren't laying where you want them to use hay in the nest boxes, it is not recommended normally but hens love it. In fact our farmyard hens lay every day in the hay bales.
Honey08
Waffled a lot!
I put mite powder and louse powder in the straw in the nesting boxes once a month so they sit in it. I also put a pile of shavings down on dry days and add powder to that - they love rolling around in it - so they powder themselves! Touch wood we've never had mites so far. I also wipe mite powder on the perches, as they are meant to hide underneath perches, and make sure some of the powder goes on the walls too.
Re cleaning, I would try and powerwash it then use jeyes or something. I did my stables with creosote this year and it took weeks to properly dry. One of my white hens brushed on it weeks later and was piebald for a week!
Last edited:
AmyMay
Situation normal
Ok, so we'll leave the creosote for now. And will definitely use a jet wash on it.
Brain is addled over what breed to go for - but will take all your thoughts and advice on board. Thanks so much!!
Brain is addled over what breed to go for - but will take all your thoughts and advice on board. Thanks so much!!
Nettle123
Well-Known Member
I spent yesterday taking apart and creosoting a filthy donated hen house. Scraped it first then wire brushed ever nook and cranny. It hadn't had chickens in for over 12 months but had clearly had a serious redmite infestation in the past. You can tell by white powdery marks on the walls or under the perches etc. Its been thoroughly creosoted and the panels will be left outside to dry for a couple of weeks before being used. The same as Clodagh, I tend to use feed sacks to line the pen and sprinkle diatom ( off ebay) on the perches and in the corners. Its a natural product that kills the mites when it touches them. I burn the bedding every week when I clean them out. The nest box is just lined with newspaper.
As a starter I would have hybrids. I added three point of lay Speckledies a few weeks ago and they are all laying a lovely brown egg every day. Blubelles are lovely hybrids too, very pretty and widely available.
Practical Poultry is a great forum for advice. I love my hens, started with 4 and now have 20+
As a starter I would have hybrids. I added three point of lay Speckledies a few weeks ago and they are all laying a lovely brown egg every day. Blubelles are lovely hybrids too, very pretty and widely available.
Practical Poultry is a great forum for advice. I love my hens, started with 4 and now have 20+
Clodagh
Well-Known Member
Do a checklist for yourself - do you want pretty hens or lots of eggs? Would you rather they laid less for years or more for less time? Egg colour preference? Do you wnat to spend time and rtame them or would youl ike to watch them scratch around without you? (Not that those things are mutually exclusive but it is a starting point)
For instance in the farmyard we have exchequor leghorns large fowl. Fantastic layers of huge white eggs but mad as a box of frogs and insist, unless you have the wheat bucket, that they have NEVER seen a human before. With them is a ISA hybrid, quite tame, a good layer but only for a couple of years at her peak (but her peak is an egg nearly every day) and a black rock hybrid who is quite tame.
For instance in the farmyard we have exchequor leghorns large fowl. Fantastic layers of huge white eggs but mad as a box of frogs and insist, unless you have the wheat bucket, that they have NEVER seen a human before. With them is a ISA hybrid, quite tame, a good layer but only for a couple of years at her peak (but her peak is an egg nearly every day) and a black rock hybrid who is quite tame.
AmyMay
Situation normal
I want 'friendly' birds.
Eggs for us (2 of us).
No egg colour preference.
Easy maintenance birds (if they exist).
Eggs for us (2 of us).
No egg colour preference.
Easy maintenance birds (if they exist).
AmyMay
Situation normal
Ok, just discovered a reputable breeder 15 mins away. So next step is to go for a visit and chat.
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
if you have a wood burner, wood ash is fab on the droppings board and in the hens dustbath-seems to help keep the parasites at bay, although not a treatment for red mite.
Honey08
Waffled a lot!
That's really funny! We got six white leghorns last October, ex barn/battery hens and they are exactly like that, the most skitty hens I've ever seen that go into a full on panic every time I go in the run. The red ex-batts as in caged, are the friendliest bunch out of all ours, we have two big black things that are inbetween the two lots!
Clodagh
Well-Known Member
I would go hybrids then, 3 would be good then in a year or two, if you can wait that long, you can get two more so you keep getting eggs. You can keep retired non egg laying hens, I do with the bantams, but they fill up your hen houses. The LF are hens of work and once past it they get dispatched.
JLD
Well-Known Member
We keep a mix of hybrids and pure needs, the hybrids keep us in eggs through the winter, the purebreds lay longer and seem to have more personality. I love an old fashioned light Sussex and always have one or 2. Have also had speckled Sussex, and Welsummers are lovely too. We also have pekins for their comedy value and they are amazing childrens pets !
AmyMay
Situation normal
Well we attacked the donated chicken coop and we're now covered in bites. I decided that the house was too vile to be used, even after cleaning and disinfecting - so it's gone up in smoke.
However, has anyone ever experienced bites from red mites? Will we have brought them into the house????
However, has anyone ever experienced bites from red mites? Will we have brought them into the house????
JLD
Well-Known Member
Yes been bitten, but don't think you can bring them in. Although may now be itching just thinking about them !! Thanks ! Has brought back memories and reminded me that winter is not so bad - we had a bad go with them last summer. Horrid things.
Honey08
Waffled a lot!
This thread has been good - I dusted my coop for mites and lice the other day - prevention at this time of the year is better than cure, hopefully!
Evie91
Well-Known Member
Omg they bite humans too!!! - will try preventing them but also keeping fingers crossed I don't get red mites - they sound gross
AmyMay
Situation normal
So itchy Evie....
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
they'll bite but not live on you for long. they are quite fast as well for little things 
(I work with mites, but not red mite). Its good you torched the coop, a bad infestation is nigh on impossible to get rid of and can make the hens life miserable.
A lot of the commercial, cheaper coops are woefully inadequate in terms of space and quality of wood. Quite often sold as being adequate for 4-6 birds when they really are not. They simply don't last a year, unless you keep them under cover perhaps.
Its actually more cost effective to convert a shed-put in laying boxes (and you can use anything from covered cat litter trays to wooden ones), a pop door and some perches.
(I work with mites, but not red mite). Its good you torched the coop, a bad infestation is nigh on impossible to get rid of and can make the hens life miserable.A lot of the commercial, cheaper coops are woefully inadequate in terms of space and quality of wood. Quite often sold as being adequate for 4-6 birds when they really are not. They simply don't last a year, unless you keep them under cover perhaps.
Its actually more cost effective to convert a shed-put in laying boxes (and you can use anything from covered cat litter trays to wooden ones), a pop door and some perches.
Nettle123
Well-Known Member
The donated pen that I creosoted last week had no sign of live mites thank goodness. I would have been sorry to have burned it as it was only 6 months old.
It belonged to my Sisters neighbour. My Sister noticed that the hens were becoming more and more reluctant to go in at night so she went to have a look. The outside of the pen was crawling with mites so Lord knows what the inside was like. Despite spraying the pen both hens refused to use it. One hen roosted on a stool in my Sisters Kitchen next to the aga. Sadly the other one stayed outside and was taken by foxy.
Lots of diatomous earth keeps my other pens pretty clear but it is a constant battle, that's why I burn the newspaper bedding each week. The pen I mentioned had a thick wood shavings bed so killing the mites with a spray was a pretty futile attempt
It belonged to my Sisters neighbour. My Sister noticed that the hens were becoming more and more reluctant to go in at night so she went to have a look. The outside of the pen was crawling with mites so Lord knows what the inside was like. Despite spraying the pen both hens refused to use it. One hen roosted on a stool in my Sisters Kitchen next to the aga. Sadly the other one stayed outside and was taken by foxy.
Lots of diatomous earth keeps my other pens pretty clear but it is a constant battle, that's why I burn the newspaper bedding each week. The pen I mentioned had a thick wood shavings bed so killing the mites with a spray was a pretty futile attempt
heebiejeebies
Well-Known Member
How much room do they need? I've always wanted to keep chickens too and have been looking for house/run ideas online but they don't seem to have much run space? Or maybe that's more than enough and I'm being paranoid!
My neighbor has chickens in a run in his garden, and I always feel sorry for them with not much space, but it looks ideal because he moves it round the garden when the grass gets bare.
My neighbor has chickens in a run in his garden, and I always feel sorry for them with not much space, but it looks ideal because he moves it round the garden when the grass gets bare.
heebiejeebies
Well-Known Member
I also have these from when we had rabbits, the ramp of the hut goes through a hole in the enclosure so they can go in and out - would something like this be suitable? Although they do need to perch don't they?
Sorry for hijacking your thread OP!! Some really useful info on here
Sorry for hijacking your thread OP!! Some really useful info on here
Honey08
Waffled a lot!
As much as possible really. Given a choice they will roam quite a bit. I don't think that the pens that come with the houses have good space really - ok if you free range them generally but want somewhere to pop them in when you go out and avoid foxes etc.. We have 14 hens and they have an area about 10mx50. We built the run and dug the fences into the ground. I don't want them totally free range as they mess the muck heaps up, but they have a lot of room to wander and scratch in the run.
Fides
Well-Known Member
I'm with what Honey08 said. The runs are fine for bedtime but not for day to day use. There are minimum space requirements for free range chickens and a lot of these pens/runs do not meet those requirements...
heebiejeebies
Well-Known Member
Thank you, not just me being soft then! So do you need to shut them in the house part at night or is it OK to let them roam in the run through the night letting them do what they want?
Fides
Well-Known Member
It depends on how confident you are that foxes can't get in... I used to electrify the wire on mine to keep the foxes away
heebiejeebies
Well-Known Member
It depends on how confident you are that foxes can't get in... I used to electrify the wire on mine to keep the foxes away
Good plan, although I have lived in this village all my life and can honestly say I have never once seen a fox here, which I've always found very odd being in the country. They seem to prefer more suburban areas these days I think, though still wouldn't take the chance!