Lone Ranger Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi, I've been reading through many of thre threads here, and am on the brink of taking the plunge and getting a couple of chickens for the first time ... but .... what is the real story with the amount of mess and destruction a pair of chickens will create ? I would plan to let them out of the run at weekends and evenings, but the only thing holding me back is the thought of piles of chicken poop all over the place - can anyone advise what this is really like to live with / how bad it gets ? Also, I have a small pond in the garden - would I need to fence it off or are they smart enough not to jump in ? Thanks, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Well, chickens poo a lot, but it's not that bad, it's not like dog or cat poo, not very smelly if you do happen to get some on your shoes When I had a lawn I used to use the hose on the poo in Summer, but in Winter I just ignore it, and the rain washes it away. They do eat very tender plants, but they also clear the weeds The lawn will take a bashing from their scratching, so if you can, fence them off an area all their own. I have a pond in my garden and they have never taken any notice of it, I thought they would drink out of it, but they steer clear. Go on......get some, you won't regret it Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Flint Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi Dave, Just asked the same question near enough but it was to show my mum that they're not that messy at all, and they dont smell if you take actions, lol Check out the link below to see what people had to say: http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18286 As for a pond i would't have a clue whether it would need to be fenced off, i'm sure someone will be along to advise you. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 our girls are right outside the back door and i don't notice any smell. I had the same concerns as you before we got ours but once you get them and fall in love with them (and you will ) then you won't mind a bit of poop. the 4 of ours free range for about an hour a day, if the weather is good, and they haven't destroyed the place yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 To put it bluntly, they are mini landscape gardeners, so a restricted area for there own use is advisable if you are at all garden proud! The poo is manageable - it either gets washed away by rain or if dry, turns to dust and can be swept away. I poo pick in summer and put it in the compost, or just hose it onto (whats left of) the flower borders. It's up to you about the pond, but do be warned, if they do fall in they will drown as their feathers get waterlogged. It has happened to a few on the forum. Mine is fenced off, but that was for the childrens sake and done pre-chickens anyway. It's just some green, plasticky wire on a roll from Wilkinsons - about a tenner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Ranger Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks All - .... looks like the Garlic powder is the winner for the smell .... re the Hemcore, how do you keep it dry ? does the winter shade give enough protection or do you need to cover the run with something else to stop a soggy mess ? I was planning on siting the run on bark chips, but this hemcore is getting a lot of support... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 mine havent really touched my plants in the garden - they are very good! If you are fond of your lawn - you might want to fence/screen it off as my chooks have destroyed the lawn we turfed in september they havent really scratched it - just eaten it! poo - they do poo a lot but its very manageable - just spray it up with the hosepipe, or in the summer leave it till it dries and brush it up. I dont think chickens smell, ours are regularly cleaned out and I put hemcore in their run so i think they smell more "woodchippy" than anything else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Lots of folk use a shower curtain to cover the run in the winter - it keeps the hemcore dry. They are just very nosey and wherer they nose they scratch. They have such characters that it makes up for th escratching and poop. If you feed them a bit of bokashi bran (it is an effective Microrganism ??? Ems - speeds up composting) then it reduces the size of their poop and it compost super well (must add to food tomorrow!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waders Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi Dave, I let my girls out for an hour (at the moment) every day and the weekends but only when I'm home. They love scratching around under the shrubs and in the beds but so far not that much damage, although I did catch Minnie scratching in my cyclamens! To be honest they like scratching in the beds because there are a lot of leaves in them from the tree and therefore delicious creepy crawlies! They do eat the grass and the lawn is a bit of a mess at the moment but that has a lot to do with the weather and that the eglu was put there so that I could see them from the window. They are now on their own bit of the garden and it's not so muddy. As for the poop, There did seem a lot of it to begin with but again I think it was difficult to tell where the mud began and the poop ended! On the few occasions it has been dry I have gone round and swept paths and patio with a yard broom and that has been enough. The rain takes care of the rest. I've only had mine since mid December so can't speak for being able to poo pick or raking the grass but as Chelsea says it is manageable. I use Hemcore in and out of the eglu now and things definitely smell sweeter. I haven't tried the garlic powder yet. I have a small raised pond on 2 levels - top half on patio (1'6" x 3') with a waterfall into lower half (1' x 3') in the garden. So far no accidents but I do keep a close eye on them - it's like having small children again. They all wander on to the patio and drink from the top pond. They refuse to drink fresh water and much prefer the pond water! I don't know if they still will when the pump is on in the summer. I find them fascinating and like to sit with a cup of tea watching them. Beats hamsters anyday!! I'm rambling again! Perhaps I should change my name to Rambler! That's what comes of spending days with a class of 6 year olds! I crave adult conversation! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Ranger Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks Lisa, appreciate all the comments - and notice you are just down the road from me (Fareham) ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 The only real damage my girls do is to flower pots. They just can't resist all that soft easy to rake compost, little bugs and tender salad leaves (I think they were pansies but hey ho!). They developed a technique of jumping onto the rim of the plant pots to tip them over then ransacking the contents. They also seem to think larger plant post are dust baths. generally though it depends on how garden proud you are and if you really are then you could supervise and free ranging activities, squirts from a super soaker about a foot from their fluffy bums seems to put them off plant pots. On a serious note never aim straight at a bird with one of those things (that would be very ouch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChicken Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hi Dave, We got our 1st chickens 7 weeks ago and like you were worried about the amount of destruction they would cause. So far they haven't been anywhere near as bad as we feared. On average they spend 3hrs a day out of their run usually in an area thats fenced off with the Omlet netting but sometimes I take down the netting and allow them into the whole garden. They haven't dug up any grass and the only plants they have destroyed are the strawberry plants we have growing in the area where they free range. They like pecking and scratchng around in loose soil which suits our garden because there are lots of areas like this under the bushes. As for the poo... I've found people on the forum are exagerating when they say it doesn't smell. It STINKS! I have to hold my breath when i clean out the droppings tray. Garlic powder in their food is supposed to help control the smell (I can't tell any difference). An absorbant bedding in their nest box and dropping tray does help. Rain washes the poo away in your garden but if its dry for a few days you will need to get the trowl out and scoop it up. On the plus side it makes very good compost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Try adding bokashi bran to their feed iChicken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffie Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Just to add, ours have their own run area for the winter and once the grass is growing, we seed in the spring, they are fine out on the lawn. It's when the lawn gets bare they will dig for victory . You can combine the 2, loving the garden and hens. Perhaps we all get used to it, we wouldn't be without them as the garden is 'dull' with just flowers and plants. I do love the garden by the way Hope this helps BBx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Until I banned my girls from the patio, it got very messy and had to be hosed down regularly. Also, they were systematically destroying my flower beds, so now they are restricted to an area I don't care about much, where they can scratch about to their heart's content. Don't let it put you off though. They more than reward you with entertainment value!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I don't find the poo a problem at all. I leave a stick on the patio and just flick odd ones to the edge where they just dry up & disappear. You'll get in on your shoes if you walk on the lawn but I have a pair of "chicken shoes" (old slippers ) so it doesn't matter. iChicken, not sure why your chickens' poo stinks . I only notice it's occasionally slightly whiffy if I don't touch the tray for a whole week. Try more garlic and bokashi bran. You could also sprinkle a few drops of citronella and/or eucalyptus oils under the roosting bars when you clean the tray out. Re keeping hemcore dry, I've been through a few different methods. I find the Omlet covers too dark so tried shower curtains and plastic sheeting. Both ripped off in high winds. I've now got corrugated plastic sheeting from B&Q (2 @ £6) held on with bungee ropes. Fingers crossed . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I think damage to your garden is affected by a number of things. One size of the garden, then damage will be spaced out, my garden is tiny so it didnt take a lot, but I know my mums garden is huge so two chickens you would hardly notice and the garden has a lot more time to recover. Also the breed of chicken you have. Their is no denying my hybrids are awfull for scratching up the gardne and trying to eat everything in sight. They will dig and dust bath like crazy. My Miniture Buff Orpington and Brahma on the other hand dont really scratch at all, the Orp doesnt even try to eat any plants. Generally chickens with feathered legs or short legs dont ravage the garden to the same extent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirl Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 That's exactly what I was going to say. I have 2 pekins and being bantams with feathered feet they struggle to make any impact on the ground even when they do scratch. My girls do however manage to make little craters wll over the garden borders so they can have a dust bath. Again bantams have tiny poos compared with my ex batts. I have 7 chickens in a garden about 100 x 40 ft and there has been very little impact so far. We've had them about 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozkate Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Have to agree witrh CatsCube but we have the opposite size of garden and I can confirm that the 'damage' is not really noticeable. There are a lot more informal pathways forming where me, significant OH and the kids constantly wander back and forth to watch the hens - feed, clean and collectet eggs. I'm now going to put formal pathways where the desire lines are which will create yet more veg beds in the process. Bonus. We let ours free-range whenever we're in with little supervison. That said we have the luxury of solid 2m fencing and 1m cattle fencing topped with an electric webbing which surrounds the whole plot - keeps chook in and deters small red b******s (you'd hope). They 'live' in the veg patch most of the time which you might think would be a disaster and if I leave the greenhouse doors open frankly IT IS! I had lots of flat leaf p"Ooops, word censored!"ly up to this sunday - notice the tense! Its actually a small price to pay for the slug/snail removal, the fantasic compost and the fact that EVERY weed on EVERY veg Bed has been reduced to ground level stalks and truned into delicious eggs. I even noticed them picking black fly off some old broad beens I'd left in the ground at the end of last season. Once the growing season gets into full swing I intend to fence off each raised bed with netting. We got the chooks at the back end of the growing season last year and they didn't touch many of the remaining plants. I reckon you just need to be careful with where they can get. You certainly can't blame the chooks for displaying their natural behaviour - that's what (I hope) you'd want them to do. As far as the pond goes, I'm a great believer in an animal's sense of self preservation and the ability to learn. I agree its a slightly higher risk strategy but it works for me and makes life soooo much easier. It works with hens, dogs, kids, wife etc. My hens seem to prefer slimey, smelly water to the tap water in the drinker. I think they must like the algea and extra 'protein' in it. Just get some. Loz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waders Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hi Dave, If you would like and as you're only in Fareham you can come over and see mine in the flesh so to speak! You can come and have a sniff and see for yourself the amount of poo there is! PM me and we can sort out dates and times. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy64 Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 lets just say put a fence around your flower/veggie patch but chickens are well worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Ranger Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 Well, after a lot of deliberating I've only gone and done it !! Have just placed an order for a brand new Eglu and my first ever chickens !! What have I let myself in for I wonder ?? Will definitely be reading through as much info on these forums as possible - wish me luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy64 Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 congrats and GOOD LUCK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Well done, you won't regret it! (although your garden might ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Excellent news. You definitely wont regret it. Once they arrive you will wonder how you ever lived without them!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
