Orpingtons as a good first bird with a young family?

[Stan79]

Yey! Chickens!

(Sorry - 2 pics at 90*)

[bearded bloke]

Yay,chooks remember to add them to the forum tally Stan .. http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ave_25436.html

[Stan79]

Chooks added.

Thanks BB.

I think I'll add a sliding vent to the front at the top above the door. Sounds like a project for tomorrow afternoon!

[bearded bloke]

No prob's,pleasure to be of assistance for a change Enjoy your new extended family Stan

[Stan79]

I built our chooks an extension on Tuesday afternoon:


They seem to like it!


This is just a temporary run. Hopefully next week i will be taking down my neighbour's run which is made from metal-framed solid, welded mesh which comes in 7'x4' panels. We will then be putting that in above our garden shed(s) one a patch of ground i've just cleared.

[Stan79]

Well - 8 months on and an average of 3.86 eggs per day means my cholesterol is probably through the roof and my colleagues at work have bought a tonne of eggs whilst various family members can't leave our house without an egg box thrust into their hand!!! Brilliant!

Only one dose of red mite so far which i was able to quickly identify by the brilliant information on this forum. I thought Gingernut had sour crop at one point too but it was just that she had gorged herself on sweetcorn that i'd thrown on the compost heap! Bluebelle went broody as well but again, from the great info here i was able to spot it and knock up a broody breaker which changed her mind within 36hrs!!!

All in all they are a great addition to the family and are massively self sufficient. The trickiest part is remembering to get the eggs every day.

In the past week i found a rat hole in the fence near the run but don't think that's bad going for 8 months. One of the pesky little blighters is no more and it will be interesting to see how many more are lurking around. I need to figure out a system to stop the rats getting at the feed. Thinking about suspending the feed bucket from the roof so that it's high enough to stop rats jumping up onto it but low enough for the chooks to get at it. Any thoughts as to whether this will work?

[Glutton4...]

It won't work! Roland can jump higher than a Chicken.

My suggestion - yes, I'm having the same issue - is wire wire and more wire. Luckily we have a local Thatcher, and he sells his wire roll off-cuts for a couple of quid, so that gets used in the relevant areas, to slow down their tunnelling.

[Scarlet]

It's that time of year we have them too. We use little rat houses with rat poison in with tubes to gain access (I'm paranoid about the chickens eating it when the rats drag the poison out) I use rat traps too.
I keep those metal wire washing up pads when they have retired from scrubbing pans and stuff those down any holes near the chicken sheds. They work well.

[bearded bloke]

The rats went elsewhere soon after I got a treadle feeder like this ......




It was quite a revelation, just how much they were eating

[Scarlet]

How much was that BB, did they understand how to use it straight away?

[Scarlet]

I just found it
Indoor Feeders For Chicks, Poultry & Game | Solway Feeders

Is it water proof? Does the feed get damp?

# should read it first indoor feeder /semi waterproof. Ok outside in a sheltered area.

Where do you have yours BB

[Stan79]

Ah - i thought i'd heard of something like that but didn't know what they were called so it was hard to google it!

Thank you BB. Any particular reason you chose that version? There seem to be a few similar ones on the market.

[bearded bloke]

How much was that BB, did they understand how to use it straight away?

For the first week I left a brick on the footplate, then there was a short period while they got use to the "clap" as they steeped off the plate after that all has been good

Is it water proof? Does the feed get damp?

# should read it first indoor feeder /semi waterproof. Ok outside in a sheltered area.

Where do you have yours BB

Food to date has not suffered from damp at all

Mine is on a "pallet based structure" in the corner of the run nearest to the coop, close boarded floor, staggered pallet wind breaks on tree sides (open on the normally lee side) with a plywood roof.
Same area is used to store excess feeders & drinkers, bag of grit (in an old swing-top bin), layers pellets & wheat grain (in galvanised dustbin with lid) & the poo picking bucket.
The structure is raised off the ground by approx 2ft in the area below is where the chooks take their dust bat
Will take some pic's this afternoon

[bearded bloke]

Thank you BB. Any particular reason you chose that version? There seem to be a few similar ones on the market.

It seemed the best compromise between needs, cost & effectiveness Stan, while it is not sold as vermin proof it certainly stopped my unwanted visitors
I chose the larger of the two models because it holds easily enough food to last my three birds for 6 weeks (one less job for the chook sitter when I'm away)

[bearded bloke]

The only downside is that the "songbirds" can no longer nip in for a beak-full while the chooks aren't looking, so I throw a few pellets on the raised beds in the morning