Sarah M Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 I have had my two new hens, Ginger and Babs, for 8 days now. I was on the verge on sending them back yesterday, had booked a slot with Omlet and everything was set, 2 hours before they were due to go I changed my mind. Since I'd made the decision to send them back I'd been so miserable, now I've changed my mind I feel so much happier. The thing is, it's the amount of droppings they produce that I'm finding hard to keep on top of. They have also dug one whole in my lawn, that problem doesn't seen to be getting any worse but after reading lots of comments from people who have lost their entire gardens I'm starting to worry that in a years time I'll have no garden left !!!!! I really don't want to let them go and I can't find it in myself to never let them out of the run, am I just gonna have to come to terms with the garden getting worse over the years or is it not as bad as some people make out ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 We ended up building them a permanent run at the bottom of the garden, Sarah. Our garden isn't big enough for them to free range in all the time without doing any damage but with them in their run, they come out for an hour or two a day and the damage is minimal. There is a photo of their new run here and they are quite happy in there. It's more spacious than the Eglu run and the Eglu itself is safely inside on a platform which makes cleaning a doddle. The area we chose was shady and nothing grew particularly well down there so the position suits us all nicely. They have a door on the side which leads into a little area where they can rootle around under the fruit bushes and dustbathe in the loose soil. We have 3 hens and the droppings aren't really a problem. We scoop them up every couple of days and put them on the compost heap. They don't smell at all even if we leave them on the ground for a day or two. Look at my manners ! Sorry! Welcome to the forum !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Sarah the hole is probably an attempt to make a dust bath get them a dish (cat litter tray is ideal) and put in some soil/compost/sand whatever you have to hand the chooks don't care and this will hopefully stop them mine only do this when their tray is getting low To stop them trashing the garden why not build a bark base using log roll to keep the bark in I haven't doen this but there are good instructions on the omlet site and some people have posted pictures of runs and things they have built Keeping them on bark will also help get rid of the poo as they naturally scratch and turn it and the poo kind of disappears like magic The bark will need to be changed regularly and some people are experimenting with hemp bedding instead of bark Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah M Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 Thank you so much for the advise. Kate, I love the little area you've built for your chooks, might consider that Lousie, I'm definitely gonna try the dust bath tray, sound like a very good idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Mine have an extended run filled with Aubiose (hemp bedding), with the Eglu being there permanently. They freerange all day, but don't make too much mess. Having said that, we're talking about banties here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parmaviolet Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 I will admit that we lost our entire lawn to the girls within the 1st year of having them. But the lawn only covers 15ftX25ft as the other bits have decking and path/shed etc. We probably let them free range too much in the first year (they were out in the garden all day). We put our house on the market last Sept, so we re-turfed the lawn (about £60.00) and it looked superb. We also moved them onto bark chips within a set area. While on the market the girls only had limited acccess during the eves. Anyway, we changed our minds about the move, but the but the lawn is still there! They now only have access in the afternoons, it seems to work well. We've also built raised beds from timber/decking. We are not usually good at DIY, but these were very easy to make and really do look very professional (I'm quite fussy about how my garden looks). Are you in/nr London. You'd be welcome to pop round and see my solutions which we've come to through trial and error! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah M Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 Thank you ever so much, that's very kind of you. I don't think I can bring myself to be parted from them now, so maybe we will just re-turf if we ever need to. I think we'll just play it by ear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 We lost our entire lawn the first winter like Parmaviolet and reseeded it during the spring. It took a while to take but it's absolutely fine now two years on (if only it would rain!!) so all's not lost. If you can just keep them off the lawn long enough for it to recover and don't let them on it over winter when its dormant, you can keep both the hens and a garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffymuppet Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Hi Kate, Your chicken run looks lovely and very similar to what my hubby and are planning on making for our chickens (although plans take a long time to come to anything in our house ). When you put your eglu on the stand and gave them the ladder up to it, did it take long for your chickens to get used to climbing up to go bed? I saw a River Cottage episode where Hugh F-W had to train his chickens to go up to their coops, but they were much higher up on account of the foxes.... Muppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley-Jean Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Welcome Sarah I keep my hens out of the areas of the garden I don't want them in with some Omlet netting. It's very u"Ooops, word censored!"trusive You can find it Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannie Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Hi Sarah! I posted several times earlier on this year about the affect of the chooks on our garden, and most specifically our lawn. Maybe I should do an update on that thread, as its all much better now! Problem was that the chickens were the last straw on top of long term neglect, and I have a much better understanding of how to keep the lawn grassy now. We raked out all the moss (90% of the lawn!) and reseeded in the late spring, and its much better now - in fact better than its been for years! We did still have one rather bare patch in the centre which had been under the garden bird feeder. It probably needed more lime to neutralise the bird droppings. Anyway, as we'd put sand down to improve the drainage, the chickens found the barer, dry and sandy patch just too tempting as a potential dust bath and moved in, making a big hole just like you describe! I've now filled this up and reseeded it, putting horticultural fleece on top to protect it. I'm sure it'll be fine in a couple of weeks. The rest of our garden has coped well. It was lush and herbacious a month ago, now its getting a bit dryer and more sp"Ooops, word censored!", just like in other years. The chickens have only really eaten one plant to my knowledge, and that was a so-called weed (though I rather liked it!) They do occasionally dig something up, and I've had to put a piece chicken wire down over the earth in one place that they frequently scratched - this worked. We keep the eglu and run on concrete topped with bark and hemcore (aubiose). There are obviously poos, but to be honest, even in this hot weather its not smelling - amazingly! I think that this particular brand of organic food (same as in Omlet shop) has helped with that. On the plus side we've already had loads of wonderful compost to put down on the garden, which over time will have a really positive effect. One year on, and our garden really doesnt look any worse: and I think that, on balance, we're on our way to having a better garden. Its certainly more lively and interesting with chickens in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Hi Sarah, welcome, I am new to the forum as well, and have had my Omlet chickens for over 2 months now. I am so glad you decided to keep them , and you will be too! I hit 'the wall' at about 3 weeks when I literally had no garden left , but have persevered and now I wouldn't be without them, they are so cheeky . In fact, this afternoon I held Bossy up to the Loganberry so she could pick off all the old berries which had gone over . If Kate is around maybe she could let us know the floor size of her lovely run as I have just measured up a 2 metre by 3 metre space in my garden for my four chickens, as I feel this is the way forward with reclaiming most of my garden for me C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 They are little characters, aren't they? This evening, when I tried to herd them back into the run, Morag hid under my folding garden chair and wouldn't come out! Actually I'm looking forward to a regular supply of pooey bark - there's a big patch of raspberries on our allotment, in dire need of nutritious mulch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cute-chickens Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Hi Sarah and welcome to the Forum. We've had our three girls for just over four weeks and I have to admit that I started to get cold feet after a couple of weeks. One of our girls had a bad eye which needed attention at the vet just two days after we had her (she is fine now - and caused great interest at the vets!). They have all continued to wreck the grass area we have them cordoned into and it doesn't look like it will ever recover! I also couldn't believe that three little chickens could produce so much poo. However, if anyone had told me a month ago that 3 little chooks could capture my heart, I wouldn't have believed it. But I adore them and their silly little antics and the way they race to see you as soon as they hear your footsteps. The OH is worse than me - filling the shopping trolley with sweetcorn! Two of the girls are laying (Matilda and Maisie) so just Penny to go. I am beginning to think that she is in the "too posh to push" brigade and a bit above all that egg-laying stuff. Anyway Sarah, I see that there are lots of posts from others who have gone some way to solving the lawn problem - hope it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 If I spot any poo ours do when they are free ranging, I water it into the grass (lawn is not a word you could use to describe our garden ) even stuff that has dried seems to disappear by the next day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah M Posted July 24, 2006 Author Share Posted July 24, 2006 Thank you all so much for your advice. My two hens have also captured mine and Gary's hearts, they are little madams sometimes but I don't think either of us could bare to let them go now. I've already started using bits of everyones advise, so with a bit of luck we might have some garden left. Thank you all for being so helpful and I'll keep you posted on the first egg !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 My bantams don't really seem to wreck the garden as much as the full sized hens do. My garden is typical for a Victorian terraced houe - long and narrow. I have kept the Eglu (with run converter) on a permanent site at the bottom of the garden with Aubiose in the run. my girls freerange during the day, and the grass is as fine as it can be in this hot summer. They only seem to eat a few plants, and these are now protected by chicken wire. I find that once plants are past the 1 foot tall mark, they don't seem to bother with them. The Rablu is moved around the lawn once a week,and there seems to be more damage from this than from the chickens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
