Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi every one, as a newbi to keeping hens (had mine since 26/7/09 3 ex batts BHWT and 1 Speckeldy pol) I checked on my deeds ,no reference of not keeping hens, but from what I understand , if the person who put the restriction on the deeds (usually one ofthe previous owners) has died then the codeceal goes as well.I did inform my local authority who said they had no objection to hens but they vetoed the idea of a cockerel under the noise nusance regs, was also allowed a hen house upto 10 cubic metres in size without planning permission (thats huge) back to the girls, 1 has laid evey day since we`ve had them ,the pol hasn`t started yet the other 2 are having a rest, they are now eating growers pellets (No we`re not going to eat them) but the extra protien and calcium is helping them to strengthen their bones regrow their feathers and build their poor little bodies up pre-laying hopfully we let them all out for about an hour a day to free range in the garden- they love it, our dog Barney ( a rescued border collie from Wales- remember the foot and mouthin 2001) thinks that they are his girls he is very protective of them, the local cats are in for a bad time now...alanm

I am similarly new - got ours on 23 July, 4 pol maran bantams. We also rang the council and were similarly told not to have a cockerel (apparently they get loads of noise complaints about them), and apart from that they only thing they said was to watch the hygenie as they only other chicken complaints they had were occasional ones relating to smell - apart from that they were really very positive and said they had no problem at all with us keeping them. Definately good to find out in advance though for peace of mind and I'd advise getting the neighbours on your side too (ours are promised eggs, though I think it'll be another 2 or 3 weeks before we can start expecting any yet).

Hi Alanm
I have had my girls and boy for a year...today in fact
Was the best thing we ever did.
I also have a rescue Collie, she gets....sorry no pun intended!!! Hen pecked
If there is anything you need to know about chickens, you are in the best hands here at The Grapevine
Hope all goes well
Dotty

Hey all,

Snap, we're new to keeping chickens too!

Our neighbours on either side have had chickens for a few years, so we thought we'd join the gang.

We've got 4 Isa Browns - hybrid birds, brown / gingerish looking. We got them at point of lay and so we've got a few weeks to go before they're due to start 'earning their keep'.

We took the plunge I suppose because of the recent tv programmes - 'chicken out' etc. Also we liked the idea of having a pet that 'gives something' back, and of course with the 'credit crunch' and rising food prices in the supermarkets, it got to be more economical... Hasn't it?! LOL!!

Our chickens basically have the free range of our garden when we're at home, and are kept in a makeshift home-made chicken run when we're out - bashed together from old pallets and the like.

Didn't realise how much chicken 'poo' there'd be... It's all going on the compost, so I suppose it's not a bad thing!

Also the garden pests now have a enemy. Slugs are having a torrid time of it in our garden at the moment.

We've just joined here as we're also on the local council's allotment waiting list. We grow as much in our garden as we can - but what with having two kids under four, they don't really realise that they can't play on the veggie patch yet...

Been told it'll be at least a year before a free allotment comes up, so we're doing a lot of planning and preparation. Got three compost heaps on the go, in a kind of rotation basis.

Any how, we're going to read the rest of the chicken posts on here and glean as much info as possible.

Speak soon.

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Keeping Chickens
Our chicken keeping photo blog!

Hi and welcome, Keeping Chickens. I'm not yet (keeping chickens, that is) but we are getting the garden ready and making a coop and run - hoping to rescue a few ex-battery hens in spring. This place is a mine of useful information.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)