[bastonjock]

Well ive built my coop and run,ive gone out and bought fluvenval,Growers mash,Corn,feeder and drinker bowls,poultry guard disenfectant and red mite powder.I will be using aubiose,do i need any other bedding?

I went round to look at the chickens last night,they are 6 weeks old,unsexed so i dont know what im getting they all look pretty much the same at that age.i had resigned myself to keeping only hens but upon seeing the cockrell,well what a magnificent bird,he was leading his familly around the garden and according to the owner,he will attack cats,kill rats and mice etc so ive decided to keep a cockrell as well.The chap has asked me to wait another two weeks before picking up the chicks.

there are some things that im not sure about,is it wise to keep a cockrell that would be a brother to the hens?.Ive warned the neighbours and they are willing to give the noise a try,im hoping that a 70 foot gap from the neighbours will do the trick.My home is a registered smallholding.

When should i dose the chicks with fluvenval?and do i need to add grit to their food? they will be allowed to roam freely most of the time but on the odd ocasion they will be locked up in their run.

My wife is already talking about a second coup as she loves frizzles and silkies.

[alancane]

Hello Bastonjack,

It's good that you are talking to your neighbour about the cockerel - they sure can be noisy, but if they seem free eggs, that might persuade them  :-)

Aubiose should be enough - will you be keeping the run/coop static or moving it around the garden? That will help to determine how you look after the ground in the run. Have a scroll through this forum as there has been plenty of talk about bedding for coops and runs.

You keep the grit in a seperate bowl (drill some holes in the bottom of it and if it rains, the water drains away) from the food and the chooks will just help themselves to it.

One thing I had to get which I forgot was a bench to sit there for hours just watching them.

[bastonjock]

yes the bench is a good idea,last night i was looking at the chicks i realised just how addictive watching them can be.

The coup/run is quite moveable,but i intend to keep them close to my house as i had problems with foxes before,im hoping that my dogs will alert me to any inquisitive fox.

[Jeanette]

Dont rely on dogs to let you know if a fox is around, I have got 3 terriers and a fox still came in the middle of the day and got my girls.
Cockerals can be heard for half a mile away, i wish i could have one but the neighbours would object.
Dont forget the oyster shell as it helps with strengthening the egg shells.
Pleas send pics.

[Aidy]

As regards worming, are they free ranging now?
How much room have they got to free range as this will determine the time lapse between worming in the future. The smaller the area the more frequent the time.
I would say at the moment they probably would not need to be wormed as they would not really come into contact with anything around, perhaps in a few months time.

[bastonjock]

The birds are free ranging at the moment,they probably have about 1 acre of back garden to roam freely,they will have an even larger area at my place.