[penance]

At the moment i am only considering the idea of keeping chickens.
I would want them for egg production.

Few questions:

How many chickens would be needed to supply eggs for 2 people?
How much space is required for the above amount of chickens?

Whats a rough cost of chicken upkeep, say per month.

Sure i'll have many other questions, but those will help me in deciding whether to do this or not.

[poultrygeist]

How many chickens would be needed to supply eggs for 2 people?

That depends how many eggs you eat  
Depends on breed but we get an egg pretty much every day from our amberlinks. Some breeds only average every other day and some even less. Are you selecting purely on egg-laying or any other criteria ??

How much space is required for the above amount of chickens?

The house needs to be minimum 1sq.ft. per hen. 2 would be better.
Run needs to be minimum 1sq.metre per hen. Much more is better.
If you can free range it's better for the hens and your eggs.

Whats a rough cost of chicken upkeep, say per month.

Without medication, feed is average £7-£11 per 20kg. That lasts about 6 months or more for 1 hen I would think. Pro rata for more hens.
Corn (£7ish) lasts much much longer because it's a treat. Grit/oyster shell is about £11/20kg and lasts forever.
Greens you can obviously grow for most of the year. Otherwise, very little in shops for cabbage/greens.
You can give tonics, vitamins, garlic, yoghurt, treats, etc which is very variable.

Can't think of any other direct costs.

Rob

[penance]

Hi Rob,

Good point there, probably 1 per day would be good. I am the main egg eater as my wife doesn't do well with them.
Egg laying at the moment, unless people with more experience/ideas suggest other criteria.

They would be able to free range, but only when we are there to keep an eye on them. Garden is around 50 ' x 60' at a guess. I have an unused hard standing that is 4' x 6' and was thinking of using that for the house, with the run on the soft ground in front of it.

What medications are needed?

[poultrygeist]

Only needed if somethign goes wrong but some worm them every 6 months or so.

Biggest enemy seems to be red mite. Red mite powder (£7) is a deterrant but won't get rid if they arrive.
Diatom (£?) will kill them and the eggs.
Poultry Shield (£11) is for cleaning the house and will kill redmites and eggs.
Other mites and lice may appear and treatment depends on what sort. Don't know costs.
If anti-biotics are needed, prescription from vet is needed. Look at £20-£30 for consultation plus prescription cost.

How often you administer or replenish stocks depends on how often you clean out, etc.
Forgot to cost in straw which lasts us about 3 or 4 months for a bale at £2-£3).
Wood shavings about £7 every 3 months for 6 chooks. Maybe more or less depending on routine.

You need to look at 2 hens as a minimum but some say 3 in case 1 doesn't make it. Easier than introducing a new hen later.
You could pick a less prolific layer to average 1 or 2 eggs/day I suppose. Some are hardier or more friendly or just more ornamental.

You'll get a good consensus in the next couple of days !  

Rob

[penance]

Thanks again.

I've been out and measured up, could give them a 4' by 8' run next to their house. That ok for 2 or 3 chicks?
The hard standing has enough room for their house and a lockable food store behind.

Just have to persuade the wife that it is a good idea....

[poultrygeist]

4x8 = 1.2 x 2.4 = 2.88 sq.m.

That would be just enough for a couple of small hens IMO but maybe someone else would advise different. If you could increase by a couple of feet, it would be better still.  

That would certainly give you a fair chance of 1 or 2 per day for most of the year.

Good luck with persuading your OH.  

Rob

[penance]

Reckon i can squeeze in 4' x 10', just have to move the compost heap a bit.

T'other half seems persuaded more or less.

[poultrygeist]

Thunderbirds are go !!

The run area becomes more critical as time goes on. Ours could do with another few sq. metres and they've got about 20 as it is.

As the space becomes familiar to them, it gets boring and you have to fight hard to keep changing things round. Logs, branches, bits of shelter. They don;t get the variety they'd have free-ranging.

Well done for planning ahead. Always easier than changing things afterwards.

Rob

[penance]

How can you tell when they are getting bored?

Where i plan to put the run does'nt give any room for changing later on, so is addition of logs etc a good way of keeping them occupied?

Quite happy to let them run around the garden, but could only be when we are home to keep an eye on them.

So, I guess now I need to ask what breeds I should be looking at. Have decided on 2 or 3 hens.

It will be a while before things are ready, need to chop the end off one of the veg raised beds and build the hen hous and run. Quite busy for the next 8 weeks so I think that will be a winter project. Hope to be ready for hens by late winter/early spring.

[poultrygeist]

If they get too bored they can turn on each other. Pecking, etc. Ours squabble now and then but I'm going to revamp everything.

Only know our Amberlinks. There's a few members down your way who could advise on local suppliers I should think.
Foxy is in the vicinity and a few others in and around Bristol itself.

I'll have to hand over to someone more experienced for the breeds.

Rob

[penance]

Rob, many thanks for the help so far.
Getting quite excited about this now, been wanting to do it for a couple of years and now have the oppertunity.

[WoodyK]

Hello Penance

I am also a complete novice and had my girls a couple of weeks now. I also thought about getting chickens for a couple of years and the thing that made me actually go for it was the very friendly and helpul advice i received from the people on this forum.

I can't possibly offer you any advice other than 'go for it' if you have the time and the space. Keeping chickens is so rewarding and then there is the bonus of the eggs!

There is always someone on here happy to share their knowledge for free which i think is brilliant.

Good Luck

[penance]

Hi WoodyK,

Thats encouraging to hear!
Where abouts in the South West are you, incase you know of any where close i can get chicks from

[FCG]

Penance i would advise you to get three. That'll keep you in eggs and you'll be able to give away the odd half dozen or dozen every so often. If you are only aiming to keep 2 people in eggs i would advise against 3 'hybrid layers' and get some that lay every other day. You should get one at least (ISA brown, Amberlink etc) that'll get your one egg a day nearly for sure. The other two can be whatever you would like! Rob is right with trying to keep their space varied. If it is on grass with such a small area they are likely to turn it bald in a week or so. If that happens you probably will have 2 choices.

1. Put bark/wood chip down
2. Try to grow some hardy grass i.e. rye grass and KEEP THEM OFF IT while it's growing.

I would say having perches (logs, rocks, 'parrot style') are good as they can hop on them and preen. Getting a rotting log and drilling holes into it all over it and stuffing in goodies will make you very popular with them.. i'm planning to do this next for my girls so would you like me to keep you updated on that point? If you put bark/wood chip down spreading out a few goodies like sunflower hearts etc on it and mixing them in each morning will definately keep them interested digging them out of the bark layer plus they will get the bonus of any bugs in there.

My biggest discovery is putting a small boulder in there and chucking in any snails i find. They love grabbing them and have already learnt to smash the shells on the rocks.

I see you don't intend to get the hens till spring - can i suggest you put in your rye grass seed if you are intending to go down that route as early as you can in the run area to give it a chance to grow in?

[Kate and her Ducks]

I agree, this is the best forum going. Wish I had found it earlier but always been a bit slow :oops: