Hens

[smurfette]

Hi guys

I know some of you have chickens and they have rescued some battery ones near me.. They are only €5 each and I am tempted cos I wanna help. We have a large garden and lots of other pets and we have some old rabbit hutches dh can change into a hen house but I have a few questions

Do they cost much to feed , I know they eat scraps etc?
My main concern is keeping them safe .. We have a German shepherd who lives outside a lot of the time .. She can escape her part of the garden if she wants and we have plenty of space there we could give some to the chickens but I would need to be able to keep her and cats out.. Chicken wire doesn't look strong enough

If it gets really cold or snows what do you do? Would they be ok shut in for a few days and just let out for a bit?

Thanks in advance .. And If you wanna share your hen enclosure pics I would be grateful!!

[*daisychain*]

I'm a newbie at keeping hens, we have had ours for about a month now, the children and parents love them . I found it really helpful reading the previous threads on here about chickens and it convinced me to get them and so glad we did.
It's not costing us much to feed them and they are giving us an egg a day in return . We know we can't feed the eggs to the children because they don't have a lion mark on them , but the parents are looking forward to taking some home . We have sweetened up the neighbours first with fresh eggs :-)
We got everything we needed including the coop off gumtree at a very reasonable cost . We do let them have free range of the garden if we are out with them so we can keep on top of pooh duty, everything is obviously risk assessed .
Hth x

[smurfette]

Thanks! Just picked 4 up! Excited and nervous!!

[*daisychain*]

Oh fantastic !! I've just got in from chasing one of mine around my avenue !!! My neighbours cockatoo was chirping like mad at the window because it could see a chicken ! A very fun 5 mins chasing a Chicken with my neighbour , the children found it very funny :-) we thanked them with a fresh egg ! Note to self : double check the gate is locked .
Enjoy your hens :-)

[smurfette]

Lol sounds fun!

Are you all
Meat eaters who keep hens?! I used to be vegetarian now feeling terrible about eating chicken and keeping them!

[*daisychain*]

I was a veggie for over twenty years , only started eating meat again four years ago when I craved lamb whilst pregnant !
I did feel a little guilt whilst tucking into my chicken dinner last week but I soon overcome it :-/

[hectors house]

I give my eggs to the children to eat in cakes, quiches etc - my hens are ex battery hens and I know they would have been inoculated for salmonella. We have 5 hens they get through a bag or layers pellets and bag of corn every couple of months costing about £15 for the 2 bags - I cook veg scraps up for them in the microwave to bulk out their food and my mum brings me all her veg scraps too. We are still getting 3 or 4 eggs a day from 5 hens, I sell the surplus to neighbours for £1 for 6 (which is a good price) and it helps towards the food costs.

We live near fields and was very worried about foxes so my husband made our run out of weldmesh rather than chicken wire, my brother gave me his old chicken coop as he was moving abroad, mine do have access to the run each day (in the winter we have the top mesh covered with tarpaulins to stop the run being so muddy and they don't really like the rain. Our neighbours will keep an eye on them if we are away for a few days - they get to keep the eggs.

[smurfette]

I give my eggs to the children to eat in cakes, quiches etc - my hens are ex battery hens and I know they would have been inoculated for salmonella. We have 5 hens they get through a bag or layers pellets and bag of corn every couple of months costing about £15 for the 2 bags - I cook veg scraps up for them in the microwave to bulk out their food and my mum brings me all her veg scraps too. We are still getting 3 or 4 eggs a day from 5 hens, I sell the surplus to neighbours for £1 for 6 (which is a good price) and it helps towards the food costs. We live near fields and was very worried about foxes so my husband made our run out of weldmesh rather than chicken wire, my brother gave me his old chicken coop as he was moving abroad, mine do have access to the run each day (in the winter we have the top mesh covered with tarpaulins to stop the run being so muddy and they don't really like the rain. Our neighbours will keep an eye on them if we are away for a few days - they get to keep the eggs.

Does the salmonella vaccine last them for life or need to be done
Every year? Mine are xe battery too

[smurfette]

I was a veggie for over twenty years , only started eating meat again four years ago when I craved lamb whilst pregnant ! I did feel a little guilt whilst tucking into my chicken dinner last week but I soon overcome it :-/

I was veggie for ten Til I got pregnant and also craved meat! Decided baby needed the protein but never went back after she was born!

[hectors house]

Found this info on a website Poultry Vaccinations Credited For UK's Big Drop in Salmonella | Food Safety News (http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/01/poultry-vaccinations-credited-for-uks-big-drop-in-salmonella/#.VIHfNNKsU1I)

"Initially, UK legislation required compulsory slaughter of poultry infected with Salmonella. While that requirement has been revoked, mass vaccination of poultry has continued by those breeders subscribing to the Lion Quality Code of Practice and using the Lion Mark on eggs.

The code of practice requires mandatory vaccination of all young hens destined to lay Lion eggs against Salmonella, as well as traceability of hens, eggs and feed, a best-before date stamped on shells and hygiene controls at packing stations."

I did assume that the vaccine lasted for the life of the hen and I can't see anything in the article to suggest that they have to be re-done.