Chicken question

[Helen Dempster]

Hi all - hope you're enjoying the lovely sunshine this week - about time eh? :jump for joy:

For those of you who keep chickens, how do you section them off in your garden? All I have at the mo is a chicken coop (3 chickens), and they are given free run of the garden, which is half patio, half lawn. It's not been too bad due to the awful weather, but now that's improving, I want to let the mindees and own ds out there as much as possible, which proves difficult with all the chicken poo everywhere (yuck). Gave it a good hosing down at the weekend and the chickens haven't been out this week, so the kiddies have been able to use the garden, but is there a happy medium, so the chickens AND the children are happy??

Hope some of you can help - thanks in advance.

[mufftie]

Never gave chicken poop a thought before , is it really that bad as I briefly considered chickens a while ago but if the poops a problem then maybe I won't

I have a very old dog and after 16 yrs of picking up his poop I'm getting fed up of it id like a pet (when he finally kicks the bucket) that didn't creat too much poop on the garden :p

[Helen Dempster]

They do produce quite a lot of poop, yes. They also dig ALOT, so an area in the garden especially for them would be best. I'd never had chickens before I got these last year (ex-battery) and am surprised at the amount of digging they do!! I have no more flowers in my borders :laughing: The plus side is we don't have to buy eggs anymore, and they taste so much more delicious (plus the kids love collecting the eggs). I would say if you're thinking about getting chickens, go for it - there are more advantages than disadvantages I think. I really want a pig, but my hubby has put his foot down on that one!

[aly]

day 7 of our hatching process here :thumbsup:

anyway i would buy some mess and wood and maybe knock up anther fence like thing {very prefessional wording there :cool:} so they still have their area and the kids have theirs.....Once mine are in their coop ill be doign this too....our dog died last week and after picking up after him I was fed up.....I dont want to have to do it again or at least have to pick up at a certain time cos of the kids etc.....so this would be perfect for me etc....

[Dragonfly]

Chickens do produce a lot of mess and dig for england exspecially to dust bath (lovely to watch). Mine are sectioned off in a long run bout 15-20foot long and 5-6 ft wide but come out to the whole garden weekends.You really dont want to have children running around in chicken poo!

[Ripeberry]

I built a run for them at the bottom of the garden out of 'Met posts' and 6 foot wooden posts, then attached trellis with some plastic netting from halfway up and extending one foot into the ground (to stop them digging out!).
I left the top of the posts on and glad I did as one chicken thought it was a good idea to stand on the coop and fly over!
Put some more netting up around the coop so she can't do her escaping trick :D
But yes, they do dig a LOT!
One day when I don't keep chickens anymore, the bottom of the garden will have lovely soil :laughing:

[Ripeberry]

Chickens do produce a lot of mess and dig for england exspecially to dust bath (lovely to watch). Mine are sectioned off in a long run bout 15-20foot long and 5-6 ft wide but come out to the whole garden weekends.You really dont want to have children running around in chicken poo!

How do you get them back in? Or are they very good and go all the way back to their coop? If I let mine out, they would go in the bushes and never be seen again.

[Dragonfly]

mine go where the corn pot goes :laughing: only have to shake it and they come running at top speed!! started using corn as a treat from the start and shaking it in the pot with lid on.well trained are these chickens and very very greedy:)

[debratina]

Hi
I have five chickens and they have ruined my lawn and I have stone everywhere lol however I am in the fortunate position that I can keep the chicken in the back yard when I re-turf the garden. I have come up with a good solution for the poo in the back yard. I have a window squeeze scrap thing I have on a broomstick. I spray the yard with water then scrap the poo up loads easier.
Debra xxx

[anthea jane]

We have a couple of chooks, I too was getting fed up with them ruining the grass and pooping everywhere, we bought a 6ft x 9ft avairy which is on concrete and has the coop inside.