This is something new for me - I've had indoor pets before, but not outdoor pets. I've always wanted to have chickens, but thought we'd not be allowed to because of rules about keeping livestock.
However, chickens can be kept as pets, if you're not breeding them to sell or selling the eggs, so we looked into how to go about it.
It seems to be becoming quite popular at the moment - I have a few friends who already keep chickens, and a couple more who are starting out at the same time as us.
It all looked very expensive - chicken houses seemed very pricey and getting birds from a breeder was quite expensive too; they didn't seem to want to sell less than 4.
Then we heard about the British Hen Welfare Trust, who rescue ex-battery chickens once they've come to the end of their "commercial life span". They're still quite young, but they've been in intensive egg production all their lives and are deemed to be past their best, so off they go to the slaughterhouse - destined to be pet food. The rescue teams come in before the people from the slaughterhouse come to clear out the shed and buy as many as they can take away.
Ex-battery chickens still have a lot to give - they're still young, they recover, refeather and get used to their new home and family quickly. They're bred for docility, and become tame, even affectionate to their new owners - all this and eggs too!
We decided to adopt 3 rescued hens, and I decided to keep a diary of how we got on. Dave Snape gave me the idea, as he said adopting rescued hens was one of the hardest ways of starting out, because of the extra TLC they need when they first come home.
Next step was to make everything ready.
We decided to build our own chicken house and run as bought ones were expensive, and not very well made. Seán knew he'd be able to build one of far better quality for rather less than the likes of Pets at Home were selling them for. We went for a traditional "toblerone" shape - you can see from the photo below what it looks like. Seán had to build it between showers on our patio
Next was to prepare the location - dismantling the broken cold-frame, moving flagstones, and then carrying the finished chicken house to its proper place - it's heavy!
Seán had left a skirt of the mesh from the run overlapping the base of the run so that it could be dug into the ground or layed under paving slabs to prevent foxes digging under and into the run. Paving slabs are now all around the house and run, except on one side, where it's flush against the greenhouse wall.
We bought food and drink dispensers from Pets at Home and checked out their range of foods and grit etc. They didn't seem to do a dry mash food - just pellets and mixed corn. we've been told that ex-battery hens have been used to a diet of dry mash all their lives, and don't usually recognise pellets as food straightaway. They need to be weaned onto the pellets. We've been given other good tips, like hanging a head of cabbage or corn cob in their run for them to peck at - especially good for distracting them from pecking at each other excessively as they establish a hierarchy.
We still need to enclose the garden securely to keep them safe once they're able to come out of the run and forage round the garden, but we've got till the end of next week to get that done. It just needs a good gate to keep them in the garden and discourage foxes. Once we knew the house and run would be ready, we contacted the Hens Welfare Trust and got in touch with our local co-ordinator. We've arranged to collect our three chickies as soon as we come back from Silverdale. We've arranged a lift up to Haslingden to pick them up, but need something to bring them home in. We have a cat carrier, but that won't be big enough for all three, so we'll need a cardboard carrier or two as well.
Of course we also had to decide on names for our ladies. I really like old-fashioned names and had a big long list
Rosie (from "Rosie's Walk"
Daisy
Poppy
Penny (Henny-Penny from "Chicken Licken")
Daphne
Eggwina
(hen)Rietta
Brenda
Mavis
Rita
Edie
Deirdre
Myrtle
But I thought it would be nice if Rowan and Phoebe each chose a name as well.
Rowan liked Jenny
Phoebe wanted to call one Carmen
So our ladies are going to be Rosie, Jenny and Carmen (otherwise, I think it was going to be Rosie, Daphne and Rita)
Part 2 coming soon, once we have our chickens - they might look a bit sad and pathetic when they first arrive, but you'll hopefully get to see how they blossom
However, chickens can be kept as pets, if you're not breeding them to sell or selling the eggs, so we looked into how to go about it.
It seems to be becoming quite popular at the moment - I have a few friends who already keep chickens, and a couple more who are starting out at the same time as us.
It all looked very expensive - chicken houses seemed very pricey and getting birds from a breeder was quite expensive too; they didn't seem to want to sell less than 4.
Then we heard about the British Hen Welfare Trust, who rescue ex-battery chickens once they've come to the end of their "commercial life span". They're still quite young, but they've been in intensive egg production all their lives and are deemed to be past their best, so off they go to the slaughterhouse - destined to be pet food. The rescue teams come in before the people from the slaughterhouse come to clear out the shed and buy as many as they can take away.
Ex-battery chickens still have a lot to give - they're still young, they recover, refeather and get used to their new home and family quickly. They're bred for docility, and become tame, even affectionate to their new owners - all this and eggs too!
We decided to adopt 3 rescued hens, and I decided to keep a diary of how we got on. Dave Snape gave me the idea, as he said adopting rescued hens was one of the hardest ways of starting out, because of the extra TLC they need when they first come home.
Next step was to make everything ready.
We decided to build our own chicken house and run as bought ones were expensive, and not very well made. Seán knew he'd be able to build one of far better quality for rather less than the likes of Pets at Home were selling them for. We went for a traditional "toblerone" shape - you can see from the photo below what it looks like. Seán had to build it between showers on our patioNext was to prepare the location - dismantling the broken cold-frame, moving flagstones, and then carrying the finished chicken house to its proper place - it's heavy!
Seán had left a skirt of the mesh from the run overlapping the base of the run so that it could be dug into the ground or layed under paving slabs to prevent foxes digging under and into the run. Paving slabs are now all around the house and run, except on one side, where it's flush against the greenhouse wall.
We bought food and drink dispensers from Pets at Home and checked out their range of foods and grit etc. They didn't seem to do a dry mash food - just pellets and mixed corn. we've been told that ex-battery hens have been used to a diet of dry mash all their lives, and don't usually recognise pellets as food straightaway. They need to be weaned onto the pellets. We've been given other good tips, like hanging a head of cabbage or corn cob in their run for them to peck at - especially good for distracting them from pecking at each other excessively as they establish a hierarchy.
We still need to enclose the garden securely to keep them safe once they're able to come out of the run and forage round the garden, but we've got till the end of next week to get that done. It just needs a good gate to keep them in the garden and discourage foxes. Once we knew the house and run would be ready, we contacted the Hens Welfare Trust and got in touch with our local co-ordinator. We've arranged to collect our three chickies as soon as we come back from Silverdale. We've arranged a lift up to Haslingden to pick them up, but need something to bring them home in. We have a cat carrier, but that won't be big enough for all three, so we'll need a cardboard carrier or two as well.
Of course we also had to decide on names for our ladies. I really like old-fashioned names and had a big long list
Rosie (from "Rosie's Walk"
Daisy
Poppy
Penny (Henny-Penny from "Chicken Licken")
Daphne
Eggwina
(hen)Rietta
Brenda
Mavis
Rita
Edie
Deirdre
Myrtle
But I thought it would be nice if Rowan and Phoebe each chose a name as well.
Rowan liked Jenny
Phoebe wanted to call one Carmen
So our ladies are going to be Rosie, Jenny and Carmen (otherwise, I think it was going to be Rosie, Daphne and Rita)
Part 2 coming soon, once we have our chickens - they might look a bit sad and pathetic when they first arrive, but you'll hopefully get to see how they blossom
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