Luvachicken Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 My eglu arrives in nearly 2 wks time but other than some marmite on toast for the chickens is there anything else I need to do. We have rabbits already - can the chickens use the same wood shavings and hay or straw as them? Also does it matter if the chickens find bits of the fat balls that I put out for the garden birds. Will I have to stop feeding the garden birds altogether? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janty Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Chickens can't have hay due to the spores it releases when it gets wet but they can have straw. Are your chickens point of lay? If so you will need to buy layers pellets or layers mash. They are exactly the same thing but the mash is a sort of powdered form of the pellets. If they are not yet point of lay, you will need growers pellets. I line the poop trays with newspaper and then put some aubiose on top to absorb as much as it can. This makes emptying the poop trays a lot easier. I also put aubiose in the run and cover the run with plastic sheeting from the garden centre. You shouldn't stop feeding the garden birds as it won't harm the chickens to pick up the odd bit of fat ball from time to time. It's never done my monsters any harm. However, it isn't recommended that you give fat balls to the chickens as they don't need the extra padding for the Winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Get in some of the chicken essentials - I think there is a sticky somewhere. Mine would include Hmmmm, poultry spice (helps them feel good and full of useful minerals), Bokashi (mix with pellets to reduce the size and smell of poo), mixed corn (for treats), Mixed grit (for digestion and shell making) and of course hemcore (same stuff ish as aubiose and great for the eglu and run), cheap shower curtain and some bungees (to cover the run in the winter and grotty weather) and I reckon that would do well. Yoi don't have to buy it all at once, but I think that within a year you will have probably ended up with all of this anyway Other healthy things that I have now are louse and mite powder, purple spray, flubenvet (wormer) I think the list could go on and on, Just pace yourself, get used to your girls, find a place that sells chickeny stuff for when you do need it and relax and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Forever the practical but have you planned where the eglu is going to be sited? I set up a seperate area for my eglu with edging and bark around the Eglu. They have woodchips in the run. I also added some paving slabs to create a path from the existing path to the Eglu area as I am trying to keep off the grass. The bark area is great in this wet weather as I can nip up to the eglu quickly in my trainers rather than having to get my wellies on and there is no mud. The edging is good as the bark stays with the eglu. I moved my compost bin this weekend away from the eglu and to the other side of the garden as I read somewhere (defra i think) that composters shouldn`t be near the chooks. Rats and contamination i think. However my chicken poop all goes in the composter so you might want to get one if you haven`t already got one. I have just ordered another composter for £17 inc delivery from www.recyclenow.co.uk I would also recommend thinking about how you will be cleaning the eglu. I invested in some Ecover washing up liquid, a scrub brush and two rather attractive orange B&Q buckets! Total cost about a fiver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thanks for all the replies so far... This chicken lark is new to me and I'm puzzled by how you would clean the grass and the bark chippings if the run stays on that area permanently. Only 2 and a bit weeks to go till they arrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I rake the grass lightly where they free range and pop rakings into composter. The woodships inside the run get poo picked every couple of days and the bark around the eglu gets poo picked every so often too but they don`t really hang about on the bark, they prefer my flower beds . Then the wood chips and bark get raked over. Every 6 weeks the wood chips in the run get changed. Raked out, gound in run gets raked and stalosan F chucked about and then new wood chipc. They can be pressured washed i think but for the sake of a fiver a just chuck the old in my green bin and add a new bag. Hope this makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Hi, welcome to the forum from me. My 4 top basics would be: - Food obviously. - Mixed Poultry Grit (a little pot in their run) - Dustbath - ie. an old underbed plastic storage box and some dry earth. Chickens use dry earth to clean their feathers and in summer they will do this in the garden but in winter they need some help. I keep it in the run at all times and a cover on the eglu run so the rain doesn't get in. - Run cover I did recently post loads more stuff that I have accumulated in this post below but I think of the absolute essentials it would be those above. viewtopic.php?f=11&t=37818&p=582907#p582907 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Oh yes and a bucket and trowel for poop collecting...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks for all the tips so far, everyone has been really helpful. I've been a bit busy so haven't been on for a while. There is only a week to go until my chickens arrive and whilst reading up on things I read just a snippet about squirrels but all the book said was something similar to "watch out for squirrels" - we get quite a few squirrels in our garden, will they actually do anything to the chickens or spread any diseases? coming soon with x2 x1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
