[bibbyuk]

Hi All, I have just started out with 3 chickens (dutch white leghorn, rhode island red & a maran) all getting along okay at the moment. With being new to it i was wondering if and what do i need to buy, disinfectant/wormer and such like? I bought them at 22 weeks old and the farmer said they have been vaccinated, but wondered what else i need to do. I bought them on Thursday and have had 4 eggs already and 2 have been cooked and enjoyed lol. They do seem to be a bit fussy with the pellets, the leghorn loves them, the other 2 not so, and the maran loves corn, and then again the other 2 dont seem to bother with it. Another question is, does all veg have to be cooked or is it better raw?
Thanks for any information.
Paul

[poultrygeist]

Hi Paul. Welcome to the forums.

Regardign pellets. They may be used to mash which is the same thing in a different form. If they refuse to eat teh pellets, you may be able to get a small bag of layers mash and start mixing 50/50, gradually reducing the mash until they accept the pellets.
You should only feed the corn as a treat in the evenings. Just a small handful each or they'll get overweight and become ill.
It would be worth getting something to clean out your hen house with. You can use Poultry Shield or similar.
You can worm them if you want but in the absence of symptoms it's not essential. You can read loads of advice HERE which should help you out.
Hope to see plenty of you on here and feel free to ask any other questions.

Rob

ps. photos please 

[chooknewbie]

yes yes, photos are a must!! its in the rules.....  _somewhere

[Sadgit]

you should try and do what Rob says as I did a lab experiment, ok ok was just a daft experiment.. but mash was such a waste and pellets are 100% the way to go, in my tight walleted opinion.

had mine a while now and never wormed them. I give mine corn maybe once a week  if that and only if I remember... poor girls.

I use a cat litter tray scooper to pick up the girls poo each day and stick it into t a cat litter tray and empty that once a week into a compost bin.

Veg - mine love it cooked or raw but won't touch broc or carrots

[bibbyuk]

Thanks for the infoeveryone. Just a couple more questions to set my mind at rest;
1. Do they need any grassed area, because my back yard is flagged apart fron a 12x4 ft soil patch?
2. Can dogs catch anything off chickens and their poo?
3. Can i feed them my budgie waste seed?
Thanks again for any advice, Paul

[poultrygeist]

1. Ours haven't seen grass since about week 3. As long as they have something to scratch in ie. chippings, etc that won't hurt their feet. They will need greens of some sort hung up. cabbage, greens, etc

2. If so, every dog would have it. They LOVE to eat chicken poo. Don't know why.  :blink:

3. I'd give it to the wild birds and stick with pellets and corn, etc.

Rob

[shiatsusu]

Hi Paul,
 Our chooks are in a run which is pretty bare  and as they refuse to eat green scraps hung up or otherwise I let them in the garden everyday. They will eat grapes but only if cut in half (my other half despairs of me!). Our pup LIVES off chook droppings and as Rob says I've seen no adverse effects yet!
Their coop is bedded with shavings and they have straw in the nest box as they weren't happy laying on shavings!  The shavings are a lot easier to clean out than the straw so the whole thing is more hygenic. I use saline solution to disinfect (prefer absence of chemicals) and give them apple cidar vinegar in the water once a week at weekends to keep worms at bay and boost general health. 

[bibbyuk]

Hi All, Thanks for the advice, i wondered what cider vinegar was for shiatsusu.
One other thing i have found, i think it is the Maran, is laying eggs half the size of the other 2 hens. Is this normal for her breed? I have had large white eggs, large light brown eggs, and small dark brown eggs.
I am trying to add pics but it keeps saying file size too big, so i will keep trying.
Thanks again
Paul

[bibbyuk]

At last its worked, but have had to send this picture seperate.
Paul

[shiatsusu]

Beautiful girls 
Smaller eggs could be because she's starting out laying. Ours are POL and the one who is laying varies her egg size daily sometimes quite considerably. Once you get to know them well you'll spot if there are any problems- I've recently got my girls after a gap of 15 years in hen keeping and it's all coming flooding back with the odd lapse! 

[nicchick]

If you have trouble getting mash  (we did) then you can whizz the pellets in a food processor. this is good as you can gradually make it coarser this is how we did our ex-bats.  Nic

[bibbyuk]

Thanks for the info. Now found that if you throw pellets on the ground the rhode island will eat them. In the pen i think it is because the maran chases her off the food and she is only allowed to eat greens  at least ive seen her eating now  :happy:

Paul