Clare L Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi there We are excited soon to be chicken owners . I am trying to get everything organised and brought before we get the chickens, and wanted to know if anybody knows of suppliers of food pellets, garlic/bran, wormer etc. in the Berkshire area. We live in Woodley. A few other questions: Do you think it is best to keep moving the Eglu around the grass or set up a permanent area to keep the Eglu and run - they would be free ranging during the day. And the burning question is 3 or 4 chickens??? We have a reasonable sized garden but have kids stuff everywhere and two guinea pigs in a run. I am not sure how much difference 1 more chicken is going to make.... Thanks Clare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-sarahjayne Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 we got everything we have from Scats. There's probably a scats near you. If not, I'm in newbury so a bit of a way from you but its worth it, scats has everything - pellets, wormer, lice powder, corn, grit bedding feeders etc etc the list goes on and on. To your question, whatever suits you really. If they are free ranging most of the time i doubt you will need to move it around it might look nicer if it has a permanent area. I have 4 chooks and I would never have less, it's the perfect number :] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hello Clare and welcome to chicken keeping. I live in Woodley too so it's lovely to see another dweller here. Feel free to pop round. The closest place I know for all your hen needs is Countrywide at Hare Hatch (opposite Wyevale Garden Centre). They stock pellets, mash, Red Mite powder, bedding, garlic powder....the lot. If they don't have it they're usually happy to order it in for you. What they don't do is Aubiose which is useful for floor litter, if you are going for a permanent site, and also in the nest box and poo tray. I get my Aubiose from Millwheel Tack Shop in Wokingham. They also do feeds (I get the special BHWT ex-batt feed from them) and all the other stuff you need. Your grass will be fine in the summer but you may find it a problem in the winter. After the hens completely stripped our lawn the first year, we found it best to permanently site our eglus and use Aubiose for the hens to scratch around in. They were perfectly happy. These days we have a walk in run (and a lot more hens!). As regards how many, I don't know if you've ordered an extension for your eglu run but I you'll definitely need one (or 2) if you are getting more than 2 hens. You may find you'll have bullying problems because of lack of the space and the hens will trash the 2m space. Personally I didn't find having more hens any greater work than having 2 of them. Plus they are very addictive and lots of people (including us) find they soon want more. Good luck with you new hens when they come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egg Lou Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi There is also Eileen Douglas horse supplies in Wokingham who will supply poultry feed and bedding.. I've also been to Countrywide in Twyford near you who have a smallish poultry section for equipment and also supply feed.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Countrywide in hare hatch is good, opposite the big Wyevale garden centre . There is a super new farm shop over the road too, well worth a visit. I have got food,purplespray,mite powder etc from there, but I use local suppliers in Sonning Common for my day to day needs of marriages mash & Aubiose I feel a local get together coming on.................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egg Lou Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I feel a local get together coming on.................... Oooh.. I'm not really local but work in Bracknell and partner lives in Winnesh so I spend a lot of time in the area hence knowing the 'chicken' places to shop.. Can I still be included in a 'local' get together pleease! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 What they don't do is Aubiose which is useful for floor litter, if you are going for a permanent site, and also in the nest box and poo tray. I get my Aubiose from Millwheel Tack Shop in Wokingham. Right you can all laugh at me now. I live 500 yards away from Millwheel Tack Shop and never thought to go in there for Auboise..... I've always got everything from the Eileen Douglas Tack Shop (over by the level crossing) and until Millwheel put a sign out on the road recently I didn't even know it was there....... Clare, welcome to the forum. All the local suppliers have been mentioned already. But here is where I get my stuff from. Eileen Douglas Tack Shop, Wokingham http://www.tackshop.co.uk/index.php Dodson & Horrel Layers pellets or Layers meal (aka mash), Aubiose bedding , ACV (apple cider vinegar), Garlic powder, Mixed corn, Limestone Flour, Gentian Violet Spray and Tea Tree Mist (anticeptic spray). Countrywide Farmers, Twyford http://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/ 25kg bags of Mixed Poultry Grit (will last years), Poultry Spice, Red Mite Powder, Louse Powder. They also do their own brand layers pellets which are much cheaper than Dodson & Horrell (but it's a bit of a trek for me to get there). Also I use The Vetenary Centre, Hurst Road, Twyford (right next to the train station). 0118 934 0259. Not chicken specialists but they do see quite a few. I feel a local get together coming on.................... Me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare L Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 Thank you all so much for replying. Great to know there are places to get supplies and fellow chicken keepers nearby! As regards how many, I don't know if you've ordered an extension for your eglu run but I you'll definitely need one (or 2) if you are getting more than 2 hens. You may find you'll have bullying problems because of lack of the space and the hens will trash the 2m space. I had assumed that I would have the hens free ranging most of the time, so had not really thought about needing an extension (thanks Lydia for pointing that out), but since scaring myself stupid reading all about fox attacks (I did not think they would come around during the day ) we figured that we would need the extra run space just in case a fox takes a liking to our free-rangers! We have an alley-way along the side of our garden and sometimes we smell fox, so assume he will notice at some point we have chickens. The Eglu sounds like it could get a bit huge with an extension or two! So are now thinking that perhaps a Cube sounds better both size and space wise (although hugely expensive!!) and that if we get a cube we should not need to buy anything else so long as we keep to four chickens..... I feel a local get together coming on.................... A local get together sounds good to me and Lydia I would love to pop over and meet your chickens Clare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Hi I'm not too far away from you in Abingdon so good to hear about some more chicken places in striking distance. The cube run is still quite small for 4 chickens so you may need to add an extension to that if you are thinking of keeping them in a lot. Have you thought of electrified Omlet netting to make a secure free range area? The consensus seems to be that electric netting is the safest form of security from foxes if they free range - and/or a fox watch. Or A walk in run - then you don't need either the eglu run or a cube run. Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henhathnofury Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Another vote here for supplies in Sonning Common. Also a big vote for Bruce Maclean in Reading, who is avian specialist. Lovely to see another Berkshire belle. Welcome and good henkeeping. Ask away...it took me quite a while to find things, when I should have been smart and just asked, like you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooties Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 So let me know if theres a local get together!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojrtio Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hello, just wanted to introduce myself also. I am based in Aldermaston so very near by and am the proud owner of 3 chickens and an eglu, a white star, bluebell and ranger who I have now had for a week. Am interested in seeing how everyone else has their runs set up, right now I have a garden that is covered in an awful lot of runny poos - which I am hoping is temporary - well the runny bit anyway. I have just put newspaper down under the droppings tray, and nothing else, so what is this aubiose? I have just ordered some bran from Omlet so will see if that helps. Am a little concerned that I will have no lawn at all shortly, is the bark chippings or equivalent option better? I also have a very traumatised cat who is very scared of 3 chickens (possibly because they keep trying to come through the patio doors into her domain!) thanks : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Hello ojrtio and welcome. You're very welcome to view my set up, just drop me a PM. We now have a walk in run with cube attached rather than the eglu. However, the hens used the eglus quite happily for many years. First the poo question. Yes it is quite astonishing how much poo a single chicken can do in one day! The runny poos might be due to your hens getting used to their new surroundings and, if so, that will settle in time. If you're feeding them a lot of treats, that might be a reason too. You might also want to think about worming them possibly. I'm guessing the bran you've ordered is bokashi? It will help to keep the smell of the poos and might help the runniness. Personally I only feed this to mine as and when as a treat and I have been advised by my vet that you shouldn't feed it to hens regularly as it affects their calcium levels. Newspaper is fine in the poo tray but Aubiose is better. It is a horse bedding a bit like sawdust. You put it in the poo tray and it soaks up a lot of the poo and makes it less smelly. I use it in my cube poo trays as well as in the nestbox and also on the floor of the run. You can get it in bales from most equestrian shops for about £8-12. Millwheel Tack Shop or Eileen Douglas do it (both in Wokingham) and there links further up the thread. There are other similar products - flexibed, easibed, jopax and hemcore (if you can still get hemcore). What I do is poo pick the trays and nestbox every day or 2 days and then change the whole lot every week. Now the lawn question. There's no getting away from it - hens can be destructive. Having the eglu directly on the lawn also doesn't help. We got our first 2 hens one summer and the lawn recovered pretty much each time we moved the eglu around. However, come the autumn and winter when the grass did not grow, the lawn was gone. The second year we sited the girls eglu permanently, initially on bark chips but now I would use Aubiose or similar. The eglu was placed on concrete which made cleaning the flooring matter much easier too. We then relaid the lawn and, with no eglu on it and the girls only freeranging part time, the lawn survived. Other people get on fine with an eglu on the lawn but, for us, it was much easier to site it permanently. As long as the flooring is changed regularly and poo picked the hens are fine. And finally your cat. We have 2 cats who were initially very curious about these 2 big birds in the garden. However, one peck and the chickens have ruled the roost ever since. It works for us because neither were particularly outside type cats so, while they still go out, they don't particularly miss the garden. We do maintain chicken free zones - the back steps in particular because one of our hens soon discovered that a great way to attract attention was to bang the cat flap with her beak! Our cats soon learnt which ways were safe to navigate the garden. Hope all this helps. Enjoy your new girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare L Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 Am interested in seeing how everyone else has their runs set up, Hello there I cannot say how well it works as our hens and cube dont arrive until next week, but we are having a permanent area which is concerete slabbed around the edges with a grassy (at the moment) area in the middle so we have a bit of drainage. We are then putting Auboise down on the floor and maybe wood chips for the winter - we are worried about the auboise getting really wet as we only have a winter cover, not a roof and dont as yet know how good a cover it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helenx Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Hi, I live in Theale, so close to all of you, and we have our cube in one place for a week and then move it somewhere else, also my ladies free range from morning till dusk (or whenever they've had enough and go to bed). The only problem I have is with my little girl who's about to be 3 in just over a month, who thinks the 'big green house' is her personal 'wendyhouse' and not just for the ladies. Helenx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 You are welcome to come & see mine,as in the piccy below,too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojrtio Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Thanks all - I feel a little bit normal now!! I will wait for another week or so and see how things bed down, hopefully it is because its all new. Cotswold chickens have suggested live yogurt and bran to settle their stomachs which I am giving them and I have the omlet bran stuff. I am not giving much in the way of treats and Cots Chickens thought it might also be becuase they are now having opportunity to munch lots of grass and slugs etc. and this would be their first time. I am getting a dab hand with the hose and power washer setting to clean the lawn!! Am also going to check they have been wormed. If I am still having probs in another week I may place the eglu permanently on the patio with chipping/horse bedding. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilco Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hallo Berkshire lovelies! Am also in Berkshire (Sandhurst) and new to the world of eglus and omletting (got my second-hand eglu on 9 July and three lovely ex-batts on 10 July ), so just wanted to say 'hi' and add that if you're passing by Sunny Sandhurst Dee's Pet Shop (on Yorktown Road) also stocks food, grit and a few other bits as well. Useful to know re Eileen Douglas too as often pass there, thanks! Wilco x Hanble Shurtug Dizzent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
