Chickens by the sea...

[Hooky]

Hello lovely people

completely new to all this, so just wondering whether anyone has experience of keeping chooks, in a coastal environment?

I live on an exposed headland in Cornwall, which sounds idyllic, however generates its own problems... Strong winds and salty air being the major two.

So I was hoping to draw on the expertise of the vine to offer any practical tips on if it would be viable to keep a few girls, to supply us with some fresh eggs!!

TIA

Alan

[Bephlam]

We live in a seaside town, and despite the strong winds...don't have any problems with out girls. Although, none of them like Seagulls!

[Suechooks]

Why not search out some chook keepers in your area and draw on their local knowledge? You could look in local paper in livestock column or advertising papers (we have Loot and Quids In) or Practical Poultry mag has a list of breeders listed geographically.
It's worth going to a bit of trouble - they're wonderful to have and totally addictive!
Good luck!

[pipscariad]

My girls live at my veg plot, which is about quarter of a mile from the sea, if that, and it's nearly aways bloowing a hoolie down there - I sometimes wonder how they manage to stay on their feet and not get blown away, but they do it!

If you get local birds, they'll be used to the conditions anyway, or you could always tie little weights to their feet (only joking of course folks ). Go for it, keeping hens is wonderful.

[Nicos]

My baby chooks hatched early Feb- and we had some really blustery days mid month- and I watched one of the chics being blown across the field!!!

After that the moms( first time moms- so trial and error for them) kept them within the sheltered area!!!!

[OverWyreGrower]

We're about 500 yards from the sea, but in a fairly sheltered area (i.e. houses/trees between us and the sea)

Our birds are fine with the exceedingly heavy winds and when the air is quite salty, they don't seem to mind.

Saying that, any sign of bad weather and they all troop off back to the shed!!

[bluemoon]

Well, I'm about as landlocked as you can get, but my plot is at the top of a Northern hillside and was covered in a thick, harsh frost less than a week ago. We also get horrendous gales here, snow - I'd had my plot for nearly two weeks before I saw it because it was under several inches of snow - but I'm working on the premise that if I buy my chickens locally and give them the whole summer to 'harden off' then they should be OK. I also designed my coop with closeable ventilation on each side, so if there's a strong wind from any direction then I can close the ones on that side whilst still allowing the others to remain open for decent air-flow. The coop is raised off the ground, sited away from frost pockets and stands on paving to keep it out of the mud, there's a small area of paving between the grass of the run and the pop-hole door so that less mud is trailed into the house itself. I've gone for breeds that are known to be hardy. Your problems will obviously be different, but think them through carefully and solving them is actually quite fun. And always remember what a vet once told me... unbelievably, in this country you're far more likely to lose an animal to heat stroke than the cold.

[Hilary B]

I spent 15 years living in Orkney. We had a lovely view of the sea (would have been North Atlantic but for the one island in between) and keep chickens throughout that time. Much of that time they wandered freely over the farm (only predators there were seagulls) but eventually we decided to confine them to one area, because they kept getting in the feed store and causing nuisance. A few nights before we got round to shutting them in, their house blew away (a corrugated tin hut). Fortunately we had a spare, and the area we planned to shut them into was rather more sheltered than most. We did once (some years earlier) have a hen blown about so badly that she had a wing twisted into totally the wrong position (we were able to put it back and she recovered).
Sea and wind may make life difficult for chooks, but they cope OK!

[matthew2riches]

You might just need a good wind barrier to stop them being blown around the run :-)

[Hooky]

A huge thank you for everyone that has taken the time to reply.


Bepthlam - we do get a lot of seagulls around here and also some birds of prey; would the BOP's be a threat to any chooks?

Suechooks - thats a good idea, I will have a look at the local paper on Thursday. Thanks for the welcome

pipscariad - 'blowing a hoolie' just about sums it up LOL. My house is fully exposed to southerlies and south westerlies all winter. I was concerned the girls may freak out! Weights - now theres an idea......

Nicos - that must of been scary; watching the little ones being blown across a field Do you use a special type of shelter, or just the house?

OverWyreGrower - sounds like the girls have some common sense then LOL. What breed do you keep?

bluemoon - Thats really helpful advice, thankyou. The ventilation sounds like a good idea and I hope the vet you mention knows what he is talking about I just want to make sure that if we do take on some additions to the family, that they will be happy and not hiding away for months on end LOL

Hilary B - That is fantastic to hear, you have allayed some of my concerns - Thank You!

matthew2riches - I think I should have invested in shares for the wind barrier fabricators.....

[Hilary B]

British Birds of prey might conceivably be a danger to young chicks. They won't bother full grown hens. Most Raptors are reluctant to land in a small walled/fenced area anyway, because they like an easy take-off. Crows (and especially magpies) are a bigger worry. I have heard of a magpie which regularly landed in the hen run, walked up the ramp, and stole an egg if there was one awaiting collection. The hen keeper once decided to see what would happen if he left the eggs there. Magpie came back 3 times, taking an egg each visit. After that the run had a netting roof.....

[bluemoon]

Could you grow a wind break? I like to use a row of fruit bushes, they slow the wind, but don't actually stop it. However they do give me some lovely jams and wines, which is more than a length of plastic would! If you could plant a small hedge of whatever will grow there it would cut down the wind and give your hens shade in the summer months.