Solitary chicken - need advice

[drliz]

Hello!

Well, have decided that life with a 3month old baby isn't busy enough, so am going to use the rest of my maternity leave to fulfill a long held ambition to start keeping chickens! Hoorah!

But I have a few questions, and although i've browsed through the FAQ sections of this friendly forum, i can't find the answers specifically.

 

So, question 1:

I would ideally like 3 chicks, and plan to let them free range our 100ftx30ft garden during the day when i'm around. However, realistically, they are going to be shut into the run some of the time most days, and all of the time for some days, especially when I go back to work in january. So is 3 too many, or would a run extension solve any over crowding, or should i stick to 2? Other people's experience would be very helpful.

I have been noting all the tips for keeping them occupied when confined to barracks, thanks!

 

question 2 -

we live on the edge of the chilterns, and have a large population of Red Kites living nearby - these over fly our garden very frequently, and although i am certain they pose no threat to the chicks, do the chickens know this, or will they be freaked out by these enormous birds of prey? or will they get used to them?

 

question 3

we haven't yet aquired the eglu - we are considering a second hand one - i understand the differences between the mk1 and mk2 are slight, but does anyone have any experience as to whether the chickens notice the difference?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Liz

[jomaxsmith]

Hi Liz, welcome to the Forum!

 

Q1 - 3 is the lowest number really as there is always a boss hen and having 2 underlings will mean they share any punishment between them plus if one dies you don't have a lone chicken. I've got 3 in a run +convertor and that seems fine to me. Some people on here have 4 in the same set up.

 

Q2 - There have been some tales on here of Buzzards taking hens but not sure about kites. Someone will know though!

 

Q3 - I think the main differences between the mk1 and mk2 are the ease of use for the owner, I doubt chooks would notice. For example, mk1 roosting bars are single bars (IIRC) rather than 2 sets of joined bars. Also mk1 has a mesh or no base under the poo tray while in the mk2 it is solid (making it more rodent proof).

 

Jo

[Tessa the Duchess]

Hi, and welcome to the forum Question 1. Unless they freerange a lot every day, I think 3 is too crowded in an Eglu with the regular run, an extension would solve this problem if you want to get 3 chickens. I think 3 is a good number in case one chicken dies and you are left with 1 lonely hen

Question 2. I can't help here I am afraid.

Question 3. As I understand it the Eglu MkI has a smaller door than the Mk2 and the run is a slightly different shape, I think Ebay is a good place to look for 2nd hand, also look on the Eglus for Sale in the Market Place section of this forum. Good luck, and I do hope you get some chickens, your baby will grow to love them

 

Tessa

[Happybunny]

We live on the edge of the chilterns as well and have kites overhead much of the time. Ocassionally the chickens will have a freak out moment but most of the time they seem unconcerned. Having said that, there are 2 large trees in my garden and I think this makes them feel safer.