Bychook Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Hi there - I am new to this forum, and eager to get some hens. However, hubbie is being a little hesitant about getting some from BHWT, so please help me to change his mind! I would love some - we have a lovely garden, with gravelled areas, a woody area and grass. We back onto a wood and have neighbours not too close. However, he is worried they (the chickens, not the neighbours!!) will smell and make a mess of the plants/borders. Can you persuade him otherwise????? I would love to give some ex-batts a deserving home!! And house them in a shiny red eglu!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 chickens dont smell if their house/run is kept clean which is really easy with the eglu. We live on a modern housing cul-de-sac and have had no complaints, so your location sounds perfect for chooks. Chickens will make some mess of your garden but this is very easily overcome as you can net/fence off areas that you want to keep pristine and give the chooks a little area of their own to destroy! Chooks love to dustbathe (especially in borders). Mine dont really touch my plants apart from summer patio tubs where they peck off the flowers, some people's chooks like plants and some dont. You should definitely get some chickens, they are a great addition to the garden, really easy to keep and once you get some you will be addicted! go for it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina C Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Hi and welcome. I have 4 big girls in one of my eglus (including 2 ex-batts ) At my hen parties (omlet's chicken keeping courses) I invite my guests to check out the smell - I do not empty the poo tray all week and tell them its a 'worst-case' scenario'. I do have something called aubiose in there to soak up the poos - you can read about this elsewhere on the forum. One of my latest group was concerned about the smell but he said he couldn't really smell anything like he remembered from the chicken farm nearby when he was young - which is what he was afraid of. The others also said they could not really smell anything untoward. The eglu is so easy to clean its easy to prevent smells. In the run, the main problem is spilt food and treats - rotting cabbage etc. Unfortunately, if your girls were allowed to free-range all over the garden all day, every day they would probabaly trash it - depending on how much space you have of course. You can get around that by restricting the area they can free-range in - or by making sure they can't get into any parts of the garden that you want to preserve. I use omlet netting to restrict my girls and only let them out into the rest of garden for short periods. Most people kep their girls in a run most of the time - you do have to be careful about foxes - so that would of course minimise the impact on the garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 They won't smell as long as you keep up with the cleaning regime which is dead easy with an eglu or cube. We us dilute citronella in the summer as part of the clean up. It smells nice and helps keep flies away. As for your garden I'm afraid you OH is right to be concerned. They will indeed trash it. It might not be too bad if you have a large garden. You can always fence an area off for them to play in so they don't wreck everything. We are going to fence of a plot at the end of the garden for them and it will save me having to strim the long grass all the time and the lawn might grow back without their attention. Hope this helps. Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chookle brother Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 It all depends if you let them free-range. Mine free-range and eat everything in sight. You could keep them in an eglu and make a permanent base to house it on using all sorts of base this sight will give you more help in that dept. Youi can also extend your eglu run in a number of ways too. I am sure that the BHWT girls will be thankful of any room at all. Let me know you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina C Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Ha! Three replies all along the same lines in a matter of minutes - how's that for service! EDIT - make that 4! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Hello Bychook and welcome to the forum! I agree with what the others have said, fence off an area and you can have a lovely garden and chickens! The rewards outweigh everything in my humble opinion. Check out the **Courses page** and see if there is a course near you All the best with whatever you decide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Easy-go for it! A small bit of untidyness is more than made up for their pure cheekyness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bychook Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 Thanks so much for your replies - and so quickly too!!! I am reading up on chooks and hope to win him round with my womanly ways!! Thanks for letting me know about how you manage your messes/smells. I don't plan to let them wander unless I am in the garden, as I am worried about foxes first and foremost really. So if I limit the amount of time they have in the garden free range - that should cut the risk of them messing up his borders!!!!! I am sure I will think of loads more questions soon...thanks again!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Ditto to what everyone has said. They will only smell if you let them. A good regime will prevent it....and the occasional sprinkle of garden lime will instantly get rid of any slight whiffs in the summer. Go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 They will only trash the garden if you let them. Mainly because of foxes, I keep mine in the run most of the time, and this really reduces the damage to the garden. In fact, they have done a fantastic job clearing some areas which were a bit overgrown - someone else on here said their chickens have got rid of ground elder! Obviously they don't discriminate between weeds and your favourite plants, but if you direct the areas where they can go, using Omlet netting, chickens can actually be a useful garden assistant. And think of all the lovely, lovely compost for the plants! Agree with everything else on here about smell, but I don't think anyone has mentioned feeding them garlic powder. This really reduces the smell of chicken-poo, and I feed it to mine every day. That and a bit of aubiose in the run, and there's no problem. Go on - you know you really want chickens! It's almost guaranteed that your OH will become obsessed with them once they arrive, it has happened to lots of others on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 Bokashi Bran is also useful for reducing the aroma of chicken poo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Webmuppet Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 You could try pointing out that chickens would put an end to snails and slugs in the garden I let the chickens onto the veg patch for a few days before netting it of & planting it up. The lettuces are still in one piece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slip and pitch Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 I spent about 3 years trying to gradually talk my hubby around for the same reasons. Everyone else has said pretty much it. My 3 hens scratch around the borders nearly all day but because we have mainly shrubs instead of bedding plants,they have almost no impact at all. All that's needed is a quick shimmy around with a broom to sweep the gravel off the paths and maybe rake some bits of leaves up off the grass. they've made themselves a natural dustbath under one of the trees and don't use anywhere else. I've been suprised by how little notice they've taken of the spring plants in the pots,I've seen a few nibbles happen here and there but I'm not expecting to have a pot of stalks left in the summer (which I was worried about a bit). Another plus point is that since having the hens out in the garden I've had a drastic reduction in my neighbours cats using the borders as toilet which was a serious problem here. They actually seem too frightened to venture in now,and lets face it,nothing could smell worse than cat poo!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckov Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 My girls freerange for a reasonable part of most days, and haven't trashed the garden. It is admittedly less tidy than it was - we have to hose down the patio'ed areas a couple of times a week and rake the poo out over the lawn, however I would not say trashed. They've eaten the leaves off a few plants, but have been sparing and then moved onto the next one, and they did eat the flowers off my daffodils. But otherwise, if you are not especially garden proud, it shouldn't be a problem! We do only have 2 girls though. I am sure if we had more it might be different - I think when you get to 3 it's more likely - but generally that's what people seem to go for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 Welcome to the forum, Bychook . YS and I were sniffing the run the other day (well, there was nothing much on TV ) and both agreed we couldn't smell a thing. It's not been cleared out for a couple of months either . I give the girls garlic powder and bokashi bran and sprinkle citronella in the poop deck. I also use hemcore which stays nice and dry and fresh (if you cover the run). I think your OH should be convinced by now, surely . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bychook Posted April 24, 2008 Author Share Posted April 24, 2008 thanks so much - it is getting clearer every day!!!!!!! I really want them. I want to have an Eglu too - but will have to save a little first!!!! Have been looking on Ebay and the prices are ridiculous!!! People pay the same as a new one!!!! Outrageous!! Over the last day we have had one major cat poo accident, one dog wee and two piles of doggie sick..........I have no idea what has got into them, they are always so good, however, I did mention to hubbie that Chickens would be a whole lot cleaner than this lot!!!!!! He had to agree on that!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirkwood Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 i dont want mine messing up my garden so they have a large run and are let out "SUPERVISED". They are only allowed in certain ares. smell no as long as you keep them clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...