Nacktschnecken omlet Cube

[auntielizzie]

I am new to chicken keeping - my two new girls Betty and Bessie are settling in nicely having arrived on Tuesday. They are both laying - Bettie every day so far and Bessie every other.

 

Unfortunately their nice big walk-in run is not ready until the end of the month so my supplier has lent me a small house/run in the interim. I am fnding this gets messy very quickly (not so much the house, but the run part). It is on the patio at the moment and difficult to keep the floor clean I find.

 

I am hoping to find chicken keeping friends in Welwyn Garden City. Is there anyone there?

 

I am also finding that my girls are always on the scrounge for more interesting food than the expensive organic pellets I am giving them. I don't want to over-feed them but I want to offer them a varied diet. The question is, can you spoil a chicken? Every time I go outside they start clucking very excitedly. They love cabbage, sunflower seeds, raisins and mealworms - but I don't want to make them too fat! They don't seem to be bothered about the mixed corn (also organic) and so far, they do not like cauliflower leaves, apple or sprouts. I pick grass for them at the moment while they are on the patio, but when their bigger run arrives it will be on the grass (which I don's suppose will last long).

 

Grateful for any advice re chicken-keeping. PS: They are hilarious!

[Patricia W]

Hi, and welcome! I don't live in WGC(but my (chickenless) SIL does so I know what a lovely place it is. Yes, you can over do the treats, and they are quite happy to let you! I give a couple of handfuls of mixed corn later in the afternoon and that's about it. Too many treats and they stop laying. So don't believe them, when they say they're starving!

[BarbaraJ]

Sorry don't live in WGC but just down the A1 from you in Stevenage. I used to feed mine all sorts but now they get greens/cabbage usually once twice a week and mixed corn about every other day. They still lay lovely eggs especially orangey/yellow yolks from the greens as mine rarely get grass now as they were destroying it

[DoctorDoLittle]

Hi Lizzie,

I live in Bragbury End, Stevenage. We just started keeping 4 hens in November with a cube , then in Feb got 4 more chickens. I get my feed from The Farm shop on the road from Welwyn to Codicote. Very good prices and he stocks Auboise as well as other useful things.

[luggage16]

wow lots of you in sunny stevenage!! Im in stevenage too - have yet to get my first chooks but the coop ( ) is arriving tomorrow

[DoctorDoLittle]

We got our first 4 hens from Omlet, then morehens disease struck and we got 4 more from a local supplier in Letchworth, Thornes Poultry centre SG6 4JR, they were very helpful and had quite a few to choose from, we got a sussex, white star, spekledy and magpie as POL, I think they were around £13 each. Worth a visit just to see what they have.

[Old Speckled Hen]

I was brought up in WGC and my mum still lives there.

We had chickens and geese in our council house We ate the geese