Hello from Birmingham, UK!

[marius_chicken]

Hi everyone!


For the first time ever I'm moving to a house that has a nice garden (it's in Solihull, Birmingham) and I've been having this idea for a while now that when I'll havcea garden I'll really like to raise my own chicks.

I'm really keen to see if I can actually make it work and if now is the right time to get some chickens in my life.

I feel like I have hundreds of questions and would be really keen to see if there are any other members nearby that I could learn from.

I'm thinking of starting with just two chickens and get a small copp and then let them run around the garden durign the day as well. But curious about what kind of predators I need to be mindful of in this area and are they okay in the winter here? And really importantly, how much maintanance would doing this actually require, does it mean you can't really go away at the weekends or on longer holidays?


If there anyone nearby that would be willing to share some wisdom and . . . take me under their wing . . . it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chrismahon]

Hello and welcome. I know the Midlands area quite well and there is no problem with the environment. Summers are the biggest problem because chickens need shade and good ventilation to keep cool, but you won't reach their limit of 37C, as we do here. Two important points. Always start with three, because unfortunately it is possible one will be lost early and you can't have one on its own- they need company. Secondly, they need someone there twice a day at an absolute minimum EVERY day, so forget holidays and weekends away unless your neighbours will look after them. Foxes will be a big problem for you. I've seen them out in the day and turban foxes don't fear humans.

Hens can be surprisingly noisy with alarm calls and disputes, so if you have neighbours on shifts or that sleep with their windows open in Summer. Ours used to want to be out of the coop at 4.00am and would complain loudly if not let out. On the subject of coops there are some dreadful items being marketed of Chinese origin which are unsuitable because they are too small and lack sufficient ventilation. We were given one (they paid £200 for it) which had no ventilation at all and the attached run wasn't even big enough for one chicken (1m2 each minimum).

I can't emphasise enough how valuable reading up on the subject of keeping chickens is, before you take any steps to start. I bought a lot of my books from charity shops and some of those books should be avoided because the advice given in them is poor or even completely wrong. 'Starting with Chickens- a beginners guide' by Katie Thear is inexpensive and worth reading ISBN 0-906137-27-6 and was £6.95 when I bought it.

 

[marius_chicken]

Hi Chris!

Thank you so much for this. This is great advice. I was hoping I could create a system where they would be able to leave the coop on their own with an automated gate and also provide food and water so that could go away weekends. If that's not an option probably this is not the right time.

 

[Icemaiden]

Hi Marius.
If your flock are to free range, you or another responsible person need to be there while they're out, to defend them from predators. When I first started researching, as you're wisely doing, I mentioned on this forum that I planned to adopt some ex-battery hens. The last thing that I wanted to do was to confine them to a run after their life in cages.

Some wise forum members pointed out that it was kinder to let the birds be culled in the egg factory (my phrasing, not theirs) rather than to die a terrifying death in the jaws of a fox in my garden. I thus built a large fox-resistant run around the coop before getting my first flock.

If you want your hens to be happy & safe and to have a run that they can stay in while you go on holiday, you'll need to allow them at least 2 square metres each in their run. 1m square is enough if there'll be someone prepared to watch them while they scratch around the garden each day.

You only have to nip indoors to go to the loo & a fox will be there, in broad daylight, in the hope of a chicken dinner

I have a friend who looks after our flock on the rare occasions that my husband & I go away together. She spends time with them twice a day, giving them food, water & the occasional cauliflower crown and receiving "conversation ", entertainment & eggs in return. I think she rather looks forward to it!

 

[Icemaiden]

Oh, and provided that your coop is in a fox-proof run, there's no harm in having an automatic pop-hole opener to let them out into the run in the mornings. It'll only take a few evenings of training before they learn to put themselves to bed before the door closes again.