mags Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I got to cuddle Savonista's chicken Nella today when i picked up the converter from her. Lovely birds she has and I got to see her cube too going to get chickens next weekend can't wait ES happy to look after them Mags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 (edited) I got to cuddle Savonista's chicken Nella today when i picked up the converter from her.Lovely birds she has and I got to see her cube too going to get chickens next weekend can't wait ES happy to look after them Mags Cubes look AMAZING!!! I can't wait to cuddle chickens lol Good luck on the chickens try not to lay an egg yourself in anticipation lol I just purchased approx 150/200kg of woodchips and i decided not to go for coloured as these are quite local and £80 cheaper than place i found before only £49 for all them more than enough to redo the area if it gets too mucky and uncleanable I also built my eglu and run up in back garden (removed a fence and few other garden decorations in the way) and am counting down the days to chick collection (42) or week earlier if i know me lol soooo excited its unbelievable i dream about chickens i think about them all day it is turning into an obsession!!!! CHEAP WOODCHIPS APPROX 150/200KG FOR £49 FREE DELIVERY WITHIN 5 MILES OF LINLITHGOW SCOTLAND AND 50P PER MILE THEREAFTER UPTO 25 MILES, AFTER THAT IT IS £55 COURIER DELIVERY HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE ELSE I AM SO HAPPY I FOUND THIS PLACE WAS EVEN HAPPIER WHEN I WAS LEAVING PAGE THINKING IT WAS ENGLAND AND FOUND IT IS 7.6 MILES FROM MY HOUSE WOOHOO http://www.champfleurieestate.co.uk/acatalog/Woodchips_and_Bark.html if anyone knows where to buy cheap feed for poultry?, let me know i need growers/rearers pellets layers pellets super mixed corn and chick grit only prob is i keep finding cheap feed and delivery hits the £45 mark and i refuse to pay it!!!! so reasonably priced feed and cheap delivery would be great. Edited February 21, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 btw idk wtf abb mean lol what is ES? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Eldest son YS youngest son YD youngest daughter etc etc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Eldest son YS youngest son YD youngest daughter etc etc! MAN I CANNOT GET THE HANG OF ABBREVIATIONS OR TEXT TALK took me ages to work out OH lol Where do you buy your feed from? I have been searching web like mad and found farmers gate pellets and other feed stuff for pretty cheap but delivery always by weight and i was gonna buy in years supply at once lol so pretty expensive! Sooo confused!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I get mine from Drum Feeds which is just off the City Bypass at the Sheriffhall Roundabout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*mummy_hen* Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 It looks liek you have had lots of useful advice already and settled on wood chips but thought i would give my feedback to. We have our girls in a covered run and they have bark in their run - this does however still wet and mulchy and need changing very regularly. It also needs turning everyday as otherwise begins to become a solid mass!! Not a problem....but probably not the easiest of things to keep lovely all the time, which of course it must be as their floor covering is one of the worst places for bacterias or germs to harper which can lead to crop infections, etc. Good luck!! Can't wait to see pictures of your girls. x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mags Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 layers pellets at pets at home 8.99 for i think for 20kgs you can get them delivered as well take internet oders one not far from me so I get them this so far ordered grit,chicken spice ,cider vingar, red mite powder so far it's the garlic power just normal garlic power ? Mags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 It's equine garlic powder you want, not supermarket stuff. It's fairly cheap - about £5-6 (from memory) for a large tub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 layers pellets at pets at home 8.99 for i think for 20kgsyou can get them delivered as well take internet oders one not far from me so I get them this so far ordered grit,chicken spice ,cider vingar, red mite powder so far it's the garlic power just normal garlic power ? Mags Must be just at pets at home instore coz i can only find 5kg bags online working out at about £16 per 20kg i'll have a check instore cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 It looks liek you have had lots of useful advice already and settled on wood chips but thought i would give my feedback to. We have our girls in a covered run and they have bark in their run - this does however still wet and mulchy and need changing very regularly. It also needs turning everyday as otherwise begins to become a solid mass!! Not a problem....but probably not the easiest of things to keep lovely all the time, which of course it must be as their floor covering is one of the worst places for bacterias or germs to harper which can lead to crop infections, etc. Good luck!! Can't wait to see pictures of your girls. x yeah with a large family of 4 children 6 guinea pigs a husband and soon to be 4 hens i think woodchips are best choice for me i can hose them down as i am buying a power washer for the job and rake them out every so often and put some new ones in. I'll keep my eye on them, nothing worst than yukky bedding and runs! I am still indecisive as to which hens to get not sure how many hens the small holding i am buying from will have i am hoping for 4 white star babies as not sure pol pullets and 9 week old chicks will be okay together worried older ones might give a fatal peck I am a worrier but she has only about 6 chicks i think she said known my luck they will ALL be boys lol I am sure I will be snap happy with the camera when they arrive! i take so many pictures you will be able to see them walking like a film if you put it on a quick moving slide show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*mummy_hen* Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Sounds lovely!! You will have to let us know how you get on with them, as i may consider changing the floor in our run, espcially in the winter as i'm not convinced it's the best flooring for them. When you go to have a look - you'll end up with all of them! That's the sort of thing we do. Looking forward to it! I take hundreds of photos of our girls, especially when we first had them as they were changing so much. Just thought i would mention that you come from a lovely part of the world. We honeymooned in Scotland and stayed near West Calder which wasn't too far from Livingston. We ventured to the massive shopping complex you have there one day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Sounds lovely!! You will have to let us know how you get on with them, as i may consider changing the floor in our run, espcially in the winter as i'm not convinced it's the best flooring for them. When you go to have a look - you'll end up with all of them! That's the sort of thing we do. Looking forward to it! I take hundreds of photos of our girls, especially when we first had them as they were changing so much. Just thought i would mention that you come from a lovely part of the world. We honeymooned in Scotland and stayed near West Calder which wasn't too far from Livingston. We ventured to the massive shopping complex you have there one day! just wondering why on earth when so close to beautiful edinburgh you chose "WEST CALDER" of all places (also known as drug calder to us that know it) How long ago where you here? because now our massive shopping centre EVEN MORE massive than before i never go to it i hate the hussle and bussle unless it is unavoidable, i avoid it I think scotland has a lot of beautiful scenic places but it's mainly spoiled by the people and that comes from a glasweigen You should visit Edinburgh!, a day sitting in the beautiful gardens on a warm day ok they are few and far between here but it is lovely looking up at the castle and picnicking. I already take lots of pictures of wild birds i have some stoaters and other wild life they are brilliant for photographing actually get nests in our bay tree every year with black birds so got baby bird pictures and pics of mummy blackbird bringing in worms so horrible to see close up of that pic but still amazing picture. My dad was an ornithologist (died when i was 2 mths old)! My mother said last night he was a country man so i must get it from him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*mummy_hen* Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I could be getting where we stayed wrong, it came under the blanket of 'Edinburgh' but was about a 20-25 min drive from the town centre. It was in the middle of nowhere and very beautiful so i think i must have got confused with where we were! There were lots of mountains and sheep but i am assuming there is a lot of them anywhere in Scotland! We spent a lot of our time in Edinburgh and the husband even treated me to a meal at The Witchery.....was very very lovely!! We are all expecting some very impressive photos of your girls then!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 I know exactly where the witchery is!!!! there are witchery tours also with some mad guy in a cape I am from glasgow but i know more of edinburgh than glasgow lol Well there may be a few places just on outskirts of west calder i myself am about 20/25 mins from edinburgh by car unfortunately i have no car so hours of waiting around getting a train or bus and trailing way through streets for me there are sheep everywhere and hills yep I cannot wait to take photos got itchy trigger finger already lol It's like waiting for pregnancy to become a birth you don't know what they will look like until you meet them hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moggie Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 We've found the best places to get chicken food are those big places that sell horsey stuff! We used to keep our chickens on bark, but we found rats tunnelled underneath. Now we have laid patio stones underneath and then covered the floor with Hemcore (like aubiose, but with citronella to deter bugs and flies) - this stops the rats and also means that to clean the run all you need to do is sweep it out or s"Ooops, word censored!" out with a spade. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 We've found the best places to get chicken food are those big places that sell horsey stuff! We used to keep our chickens on bark, but we found rats tunnelled underneath. Now we have laid patio stones underneath and then covered the floor with Hemcore (like aubiose, but with citronella to deter bugs and flies) - this stops the rats and also means that to clean the run all you need to do is sweep it out or s"Ooops, word censored!" out with a spade. Hope that helps! I do have quite a large area that is slabbed but i figured if for any reason i had to keep them in it all day they wouldn't be able to peck through to ground to get worms slugs etc... they aren't always passing through so gonna just keep them on woodchipped area. I saw the hemcore and aubiose stuff yesterday actually i wasn't sure what type of bedding it was there was another one aswell can't remember the name but it looked quite good also. I found Millbry Hill is very cheap on actual food and supplies but the delivery is very expensive at £41 odd but I eventually panned out the odds and getting it here even with the vast delivery charge was still £50 cheaper per year so i bought 10 bags of layers pellets 4 bags of mixed corn 1 mixed grit and poultry spice and garlic powder although i am gonna need advice on what to do with the garlic powder, sounds more like ingredients for recipe When I worked with horses or should i say a horse my mate and I used to use horse wipes to stop the bugs attacking us coz we where working all day out in stable or fields worked a treat I cleared out my cool cupboard (which is quite large) i have near back door so will keep food fresh and plenty room to store it all. It is now the pet store shelf up top for all the guinea pig stuff and everywhere else chickens. 39 days till I pick up the girls: 2 x white stars 9 weeks old named: OPHELIA & LEELOO 2 x hi - lines 18 weeks old named:KELDA & MURGHANA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Just got my feed delivered only to find out they have shelf life of 3 months tops so 9 bags of pellets no good to me i was dreading they where going to get me to pay £40 delivery back but eventually they came to agreement of collecting it free of charge and then refunding the 9 bags so fingers crossed they keep to that, I couldnt believe it when it all arrived and they all had date of may 13th aargh well i now know for the future!buy 2 bags of feed every 12 weeks lol well i am stocked up on corn which doesnt have best before dates so i assume they are fine as long as kept in cool place and covered appropriately and a huge bag of grit and a lovely purple glittery stable bucket just for lol The garlic stinks to high heaven and isnt resealable so that will need a container that seals "VERY TIGHT" right better get some shelving built in the store room then x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moggie Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Oh no! I was thinking that when you said but thought maybe the ones you were getting had a longer shelf life! We've tried ndez bedz (rubbish and stank, actually started to rot), aubiose (OK), hemcore was the one that didn't break down as quickly. Do you live in a built up area? If not then keeping on bark should be fine. I did find cleaning it out a pain in the neck though that was the reason for putting stones down. They still scratch about in the hemcore and we let them out at the weekends for a run about and a dust bath etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Oh no! I was thinking that when you said but thought maybe the ones you were getting had a longer shelf life! We've tried ndez bedz (rubbish and stank, actually started to rot), aubiose (OK), hemcore was the one that didn't break down as quickly. Do you live in a built up area? If not then keeping on bark should be fine. I did find cleaning it out a pain in the neck though that was the reason for putting stones down. They still scratch about in the hemcore and we let them out at the weekends for a run about and a dust bath etc. I live in a semi detached but i am behind a bowling club and pitch and putt which is very rarely used and garden is pretty big. How do you go about dust bathing them not sure wether to dig a hole or use a cat litter tray lol suggestions would be lovely x I have a photo of my "chicken area" but i don't know how to add it either i will have a look after i pick kids up from school no rest for the wicked lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenLdn Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Do you live in a built up area? If not then keeping on bark should be fine. Hi there! I wondered if you would have recommended anything else for people who lived in a built up area? Thanks Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mags Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Hi Run is build , very big - took 2 teenagers 2 plus hours to put the run together extentions etc and 1 phone call to Omlet chickens tomorrow I am thinking now 4 Mags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 Hi Run is build , very big - took 2 teenagers 2 plus hours to put the run together extentions etc and 1 phone call to Omlet chickens tomorrow I am thinking now 4 Mags Took me and my daughter maybe 30 minutes the clips really hurt my thumbs especially trying to attach them in akward positions ouch! how many extensions did you add? I am getting four chickens even with the 2 metre run coz mine will be allowed out to roam garden all day it's just the first few days i will keep them in so they know where the roost is once that is established god help the neighbours lol the excitement is killing me you must be the same i have 36 days to go and it just isn't coming quick enough i have everything ready for them aswell but my babies are only 4 weeks old just now so i really do need to wait Cant wait to see some pictures of your new girls x good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChickenJo Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Hi - I might have missed something, but whats this about a shiny eglu vs a non shiny one? Ive had a look in the shop, but cant see any difference on line. Also ... thanks for highlighting the plastic bar thing RosemarysBaby ... I'm due to order my eglu in the next few weeks and would have gone for an extra set of the plastic ones as well (wood and mites etc). Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 There was a batch of "shiny" green eglus (a production glitch, I think) on offer, slightly cheaper than the normal ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
