New to Chickens.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

Guest
Hi all!
New to the forum & new to chickens. Have kept & bred Red leg partridge for release in the past but that is my only knowlege of fowl.
Have had a good read of the forum & am sure that i have come to the best place for info.

I have a few questions i hope you can help me with!
I have a 4' x 4' house, connected to a fully enclosed 20' x 12' x 6' high run, left over from breeding Red leg Partridges, to which i have installed 2 x 4'- 3"x 2"perch's.
It has a pop hole that is opened every morning & shut every night, although still within the fenced run.
I have just bought myself 4 x hybrid POL hens(would like more) that seem happy in the house & are going up to perch but seem very reluctant to come out of their house ( 3 days).
Is this normal?
Should i feed them in the house or make them come out to look for food? (They have both water & feed in the house at the moment).
How many hens could i keep comfortably in a 4'x4'x4' house with this size run? ( They can also free range around the garden after a while).
Internaly,i have a 4' wide x 18" deep x 18"high nestbox 14" off the ground, does this need to be divided into 3 or 4 boxes?
Perches are 4' x 4"x2", 6" in from the back left to right & then 2" higher 4' x4"x2"front to back,6" in from the right hand side(hope this makes sense, L shape perch, left to right & front to back, 2" higher).
Not had problems with red mite before, should i dust the house out before putting the wood shavings down?
Feeding them Layers pellet with a handfull of mixed corn.
Anything else you could suggest would be welcome.
Cheers,
Terry.
 
hi Terry,
keeping chickens is very addictive,you'll soon have more i'm sure.
As to your hens coming out of their house,they can be very cautious to start with,although after 3 days I would expect them to start exploring their run.Personally,I would put their food and water outside their house,but where they can clearly see them,this should entice them out.Also,don't leave their food or water in their house overnight,if you have been,they have probably filled themselves up with food before you're up,so don't feel the need to come out in the damp to feed.
As regards the house,I would have given it a good scrub with disinfectant before housing the hens in it,but mite shouldn't be a problem yet,still very cold for them.
As to speace,for hens I think the R.S.P.C.A. state a square foot per bird,this is a bit of a tight squeeze,it is better for more space.So,you could easily have some more hens.
As to the run,I'm hopeless at visualising area/size,it's a woman thing,but I'm sure someone else will help.
 
hi and welcome to the forum, definitely only feed them outside, and they will tumble out in the mornings looking for food and a scratch about
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. Feed outside, but keep the feed dry preferably in a covered area so the feed doesn;t get wet. New birds can take a while to get used to their new surroundings as the smells and sounds are different especially if the hybrids have been barn reared they won't know what the big outside world is and will feel quite daunted by the experience. Hybrids adapt very quickly.
Saying that I have around 30 hybrids now for eggs and when it snows they make me laugh, the 1st pokes its head out and wont come down the ladder as the ground is covered in snow yet the girls behind are pushng to get out not knowing what is up, alot of squarking goes on!!

good luck,poultry rearing is a rewarding and happy time

Sue
 
Thanks for the replies,
the hens have ventured out into the open today although not going far from the house. Thinking of getting another 2 or 3 as 1/2 Doz eggs a day would be nice.
They are not laying yet but would divided nest boxes be better than a 4'wide one?
Cheers,
Terry.
 
tbeagley said:
Thanks for the replies,
the hens have ventured out into the open today although not going far from the house. Thinking of getting another 2 or 3 as 1/2 Doz eggs a day would be nice.
They are not laying yet but would divided nest boxes be better than a 4'wide one?
Cheers,
Terry.
Click to expand...

Yes, have seperate nest boxes, but the girls will choose where they want to lay. Keep the nest boxes clean and they like it to be a dark area.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top