[GrannieAnnie]

Chickens are not really time consuming Shaun, depends what you have to fit into your day.  Brian was lucky, as I went to work and he did what he wanted, but you can't beat your own eggs.  Its nearly 5 years since I was supplying my best friend and her Mum with eggs regularly, but her Mum still says, they haven't yet been beaten, not even by the supermarkets supposedly free range eggs.  (Hey, been beaten get it? lol)

[John]

I don't think they take a huge amount of time but they do tie you down to having to check on them, preferably twice a day - although I.m assured you can set it up so you can go away for the weekend without worries.

Confused? Yes, so am I!

[twysted1]

it seems that acording to the rules of my allotment i am not allowed to keep any livestock what so ever. is this unusual as it seems most places allow it if not encourage it. i would like to keep a few chucks and i would quite like a couple of ferrets.

[John]

Which brings us to the Revolutionary Party for the Keeping of Chooks on the Allotment (Provisional Wing)

Is it in the rules that you can't keep chooks? Who said no?

First, ask the bureaucrat for the basis of the decision. That scares the pants off them.

Next - get on the council web site and find out which committee is responsible for allotments, Get your local councillor too. Then write them a letter - not email, half of them don't know how to open one!

Ask why and quote the office of the deputy prime minister - see government links on this site.

Don't forget  your MP and the Off. Dep Prime Minister

I guarantee they will cave before you get round to phase 3, which is writing letters ot local papers, radio etc. If you know anyone in the BBC you're home and dry.

[GrannieAnnie]

Some people say that chickens are noisy, but the only noisy ones we had were the cockerels. the chickens just clucked, and I think that's a lovely sound!  And if all you want is eggs, then you don't need a cockerel.

Also some people complain that chickens smell, well that truck load of horse manure, smells far worse than a few chooks, so I don't know why they won't allow keeping of livestock.  Pehaps they think you'll encourage rats?  But the rats will only come in search of food, then they'll go back to wherever they are living.  Not that I'm an expert on chooks, but we have kept poultry for the past 10 years, and yes, we have been away over night, but not wanted to leave them any longer.  Be okay if you had automatic drinkers and feeders, but then we are getting into money!!

[twysted1]

WOW cheers john i didn't realise that the odds were stacked in my favour. that is brilliant i shall get on to it tomorrow. i have just checked my tenancy agreement and point r) says.
  r) the tenant must not keep any animals or livestock of any kind on the plot.
this did seem strange to me as surely keeping chickens and rabbits and growing vegetables all go merrilly hand in hand.
the funniest part of this though is i am allowed to have a bonfire if i like so long as it isn't windy enough to blow smoke into the surrounding houses.
now i would have thought keeping chickens would have scored a lot less on the councils risk assesments than being able to light fires at will.

[John]

Hi
I've dropped you an email with a letter attached - should help your cause

Good luck and keep us informed!

[twysted1]

many thanks.

[shaun]

yes its the once or twice a day that puts me off as work as to come 1st
i will have to put up with eggs from the spar and keep my eyes on you guys.my sister has 4 chickens and they keep her in eggs nearly all year round apart from when the weather getsrealy cold and they stop laying,we work on allotments from time to time  for various councils and this one site in St helens is just for chickens alone .if i'm ever that way again i will take some pics as its quite impressive it was just a mass of home made sheds chain link fencing and a lot of mud.

[cede]

we have 2 cats & 4 hens - used to be more but the boys had to go in the pot... we had fertile eggs which we hatched in an incubator - the kids loved it and our house was very popular with all their friends! when the flu threat isn't hanging over us i hope to restock. they aren't time consuming but they aren't economical either

[John]

I did some calculations on the economics of poultry keeping - well laying hens - and I think it's a bit like vegetable growing.

If you cost in your labour, it isn't economic but you do need to consider that you are comparing additive free and cruelty free shop eggs with your own. It's absolutely firghtening the residue levels being found in eggs and chicken meat.

I eat a lot of eggs (unless you're my doctor, in which case I don't) and like most people in the UK we eat a fair amount of chicken. Now we have been buying free-range thinking it was safe and good animal welfare standards. The facts may well be a lot different as the commercial suppliers obey letters of the law and use every loophole they can find.

I'm not concerned about avian flu but I'm concerned about peoples hysterical reactions to chickens at the moment. Our government plans seem crazy to me - exclusion and culling in areas for a disease that is in the wild just can not make sense. Unless they want to kill off all the wild birds? I don't think they'd dare to even try.

[ejc-free]

We have a dozen chickens - mostly sussex - a pair of light sussex, 2 reds and 2 browns, 3 cream legbars for their blue eggs and then 3 others 1 is white the other 2 look like marans and lay rich red-brown eggs.

We also have an extremely spoilt maine coon cat called Bilbo - who will turn his nose up at expensive cat food to go and catch a rabbit to disembowel and eat on the cream mat if he can manage it. He's learnt not to parade anything he catches past the chickens though - they mu him for mice!

I also have an "extra cockerel" - we agreed last year that if we hatched eggs any males would be for the put - well Slerms McKenzie is ready for the pot - but the entire family have  revolted and as we are still free ranging the chooks in the garden, have agreed that as long as we don't have to confine I won't neck him - but if bird 'flu hits - it wouldn't be fare to keep 2 males cooped together in the run...

[John]

That's a backyard zoo you've got there

Cats.. wonderful creatures. I caught on of ours eating my seedling peppers last night. As if I haven't enough troubles with the slugs, snails and the weather!!!

We can't keep chickens in our back garden as the cats (3 now) are getting on a bit and pretty paranoid about large birds after their seaside adventures with the seagulls. Since they've slowed down even the pigeons just laugh at them now so the hunt down tins of Felix.

[cede]

john you're right re the economics, i don't sell excess eggs, in fact at the mo. egg output is so slow it's barely sufficient for us. probably time to get new, younger hens

[kooringa]

i have often wondered about keeping chickens as one bloke across from me has a few(seen him once) but the time it  consumes always puts me off,may be when i retire i might have 1 or 2 ,you can keep rabbits acording to our council rules but i think my jackrussel might enjoy them.

They don't actually take a lot of time - I happen to spend a lot of time with mine in the winter as they are such fun.

But you can let them out and provide feed and water to last the day.  The  go to roost at dusk and need locking up safely at night.  Cleaning out once a week.  Job done