feemcg Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Started off with this Then this Then added 1st small run Then added another And a cube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodle Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Wow....you have been busy!!! How fab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I love the way the little 'uns outfit matches the pink Eglu exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CockADoodleDoo Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 In the first pic is that hemcore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 Yes, it's Hemcore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovemychooks Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Wow, love those runs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol U Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Gosh, having seen your fabulous run, I think my hens are quite deprived! Perhaps I should go to carpentry classes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 Thank you . The big run was a work-shop my dad had built onto the back of the garage (just before he passed away ) so it made sense to put it to good use and OH took away one wall and replaced with weld mesh. Thankfully OH is very 'handy' so was able to add more framework, mesh, doors etc. for each of the smaller runs - each one took a day to build. The small runs are nice and sheltered which has enabled me to put the chicks and ducklings out quite early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet81 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Phew! What energy. I am jealous.... of the energy and the runs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 gosh, they must take a lot of looking after! Can I be nosey and ask, is this what you do for a living? Breeding chicks/chickens etc? Also, I saw some houses in the background, do you live in quite an urbanised area? do you have tons of land? have any of the neighbours complained? I'm intrigued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 I'm a retired Practice Nurse, Poet (was working again briefly in Residential Child Care but restraining young people was getting too physical for me!). The chooks are just a hobby really but I do sell a few (not for profit, £10 doesn't cover the cost of the hatching eggs, running the incubator, bedding and feed!). I live in a residential area but the gardens are quite large so the chooks have plenty room (to poo ). I haven't had any complaints (yet) and give away a lot of eggs to neighbours so I don't think I've upset anyone. In the summer, when the egg announcements were getting earlier and earlier I fully expected a knock on the door, and next summer I'll have a lot more layers so will just have to wait and see. I'm hoping to have moved to my small-holding by then . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I'm a retired Practice Nurse, Poet (was working again briefly in Residential Child Care but restraining young people was getting too physical for me!). The chooks are just a hobby really but I do sell a few (not for profit, £10 doesn't cover the cost of the hatching eggs, running the incubator, bedding and feed!).I live in a residential area but the gardens are quite large so the chooks have plenty room (to poo ). I haven't had any complaints (yet) and give away a lot of eggs to neighbours so I don't think I've upset anyone. In the summer, when the egg announcements were getting earlier and earlier I fully expected a knock on the door, and next summer I'll have a lot more layers so will just have to wait and see. I'm hoping to have moved to my small-holding by then . do you breed your own chickens for the table too or are they just for eggs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 No, just for eggs although the girl that takes all my cockerels (they roam the hills in Wanlockhead, the highest village in Scotland until they go in the pot), has offered me some back to eat - I haven't had one yet though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I could go on asking you questions all day, fascinating, but I won't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 Feel free, I'm not shy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 cool- so you have 14 girls at the moment and you started with just 4? what made you decide to dramatically increase your flock size and did you do it all in one go or gradually? are you going to get any more chicks or is this it now, or will you replace them as you sell them? when you get your small holding, how many do you think you'll have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 I started off with the 3 hybrids in the 1st pic last August and although OH had spent a lot of time planning and building the platform we both agreed that we didn't like them being confined to the eglu run when we were out, so decided to convert the workshop and the eglu went on a platform in the new run......then of course I had loads more room and added another 2 hybrids in October - 5 sleep fine in an eglu. Over the winter I read up loads on hatching and rearing, bought the incubator in February and started hatching straight away - I did a hatch in February, March, April, May, August and September, the plan always being to keep one or two from each hatch and sell/give away the rest. I plan to do a few more hatches next year but not so many (everyone on here that knows me is saying "yeah right!", 3 times it was 'definitely my last hatch' ). There are a few more breeds I would really like so we'll see . I don't know if I'm buying a small-holding but definitely a house with some land, more rural, hopefully then I'll hopefully do a bit more breeding and selling, have a pen of ex-batts etc. It's strange as I've never had a 'serious' hobby before, or been an animal/pet kind of person yet I am completely hooked on chicken-keeping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 good on you, I'd love to do it but we don't have the time or the room, or anyone to give the extra chicks to. With a house, the other half and a daughter, where do you find the time!??? Do you keep a blog? Stupid question, bet you don't have the time, but it would be fascinating reading (in detail) about your humble beginnings (the 3 girls) to where you are now and how you cope. It can't all be a bed of roses. Fascinating stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
