Chickens = Eggsellent Pets! (Chickens)

Member Name: Gladallover

Product:	Chickens
Date:	17/07/09 (359 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty fresh eggs, Lovely pets

Disadvantages: Expensive, Can ruin your garden

I have now officially been a chicken keeper for a little over 3 months and it's safe to say I am the proud owner of 4 of the most spoilt, pampered little hens in Dorset!
The main reason for my decision to adopt some chickens was of course for tasty fresh eggs every day, but my girls have become great pets (so much so that the dog has become jealous of them!) and eggs are just a tasty bonus.
There are some things to consider before getting chickens. As with any animal they need looking after, but overall they are simple to care for and they don't need as much space as you might think.
Here is a list of the main things a chicken needs to be happy and healthy;

1. Housing
Obviously chickens need somewhere to shelter overnight from weather and predators. There are lots of different specialist hen houses on the market that are perfect, however they can be an expensive option.
To save money it is common for old garden sheds to be converted into lovely chicken coops and I've even heard of old cars being recycled into luxurious chicken houses! As long as the chickens have somewhere warm and dry with a bar or two to roost on and a nesting box to lay their eggs in they are happy. J

2. Bedding
I find the best type of bedding for my chickens is hay which I scatter all over the hen house floor and inside the nesting boxes. You can buy hay at any pet shop for around £2 per small bag but luckily for me my granddad is a generous farmer and lets me pick the loose hay up off his barn floor! I have read that to save money other chicken keepers use dried leaves or shredded paper as bedding.

3. Feeder & Drinker
These are not really essential to chicken keeping as an old margarine tub would do but many keepers find proper feeders/drinkers are helpful to stop waste and make sure they chickens never run out of water. There are lots of different types available, the cheapest being plastic 'mushroom' feeders/drinkers which are only a few pounds each. They can either stand alone or can be hung up for the chickens to peck at without being able to scratch over. One of the cons of keeping chickens is that their food can attract vermin if left out so to combat this there are some more sturdy, metal feeders on the market which claim to be rat proof however, they are a lot more expensive.

4. Food
The most popular standard food for chickens is called 'layers Pellets' or 'Layers Mash' and it contains all the necessary nutrients a chicken needs to be healthy and produce healthy eggs. It is available from most countryside stores and some pet shops in large 20Kg sacks for around £7/£8. I also feed my chickens vegetable scraps and mixed corn as a treat which they go mad for!

5. Grit
Chickens need to eat grit to be able to digest food and while they find a lot while raoming around the garden I also make sure there is always plenty available. I give them Oyster shell as it also contains a lot of calcium to help strengthen their eggshells. It is only pence to buy and usually lasts a long time. Another good way to provide calcium is to feed eggshells back to the chickens however, it is important to make sure the shells are crunched up and not recognisable as eggs otherwise the chickens get a taste for their own eggs and you'll be beaten to them!


6. Space
Although it's nice chickens don't really need a huge area to roam around in. They can be happy in a small run as long as they are not 'cooped' up inside all day! When I first got my chickens I had a little run fenced off to protect them from badgers and foxes but it has gradually got bigger and bigger as they have become more spoilt and now they practically go where they want. It is lovely to have them wandering around the garden but they do cause a bit of havoc and will eventually turn your garden into a moonscape! A good way to stop them from compeltely ruining your garden is to have them in a moveable run which allows the grass to recover while the chickens enjoy some fresh foliage.
7. Dust Bath
One thing I've learnt since I've had my chickens is that chickens LOVE to roll around in soil! If they have the chance they will dig a little hole in some nice loose earth and have a good wiggle in it. It is lovely to watch but more importantly it is the hens way of cleaning themselves. An old plastic tray filled with soil is heaven to them and quite often all 4 of my hens will bundle in together.

8. Electric Fence
This isn't essential to chicken keeping however I decided to invest in one after finding a big hole under my chicken run where a badger had attempted to dig in. Luckily it gave up but I have become too attached to my chickens to let a badger or fox eat them.

Obviously everything I've mentioned can add to up to quite a lot of money which is one of the major cons to keeping chickens. My dad has pointed out several times that we must eat some of the most expensive eggs in the country! On the plus side, all of the big expense is one-off payments (such as buying a hen house).

Another point to consider is that while the hens don't take up a lot of my time, I have to take a head count and make sure they are secured every night, and be up early to let them out every day (if I'm late they get noisy!).
I wasn't expecting my chickens to become such good pets but I quickly discovered they all have personalities of their own and have very quickly become tame enough to follow me around the garden and wander into the house when they're hungry. They come running and flapping when I call them and love to be patted and stroked. I would recommend chickens as good pets for anyone, especially for children but as chickens are flock birds it is important to keep them with at least 1 other bird.

To sum up, here are the pro's and con's to keeping chickens I can think of:~

Pros's
Delicious eggs (I normally get 1 egg per bird each day)
Great pets
Poo is excellent fertilizer!
They eat all the slugs/snails/pests in your garden

Cons
Can ruin your garden if left
Expensive at first...and ongoing cost of food, bedding ect...
Can attract vermin (if food is left)
Takes time and effort to look after


I hope I have convinced some of you to consider living the 'Good Life' and keeping some chickens in your garden, or if chicken keeping isn't for you, to buy free range eggs and help stop the growth of battery farms.
I'm still learning a lot about chicken keeping as I go along, but hopefully this has been helpful to other novices out there!
For anybody that is interested in poultry care (especially ex-battery hens) this website is very helpful:
www.bhwt.org.uk

Summary: Pets with the bonus of fresh eggs :)