scoobs_jne Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Hi, Advice needed please. We lost one of our chickens a few weeks ago and decided that with our first baby due soon we should rehome our remaining chicken. She went to live with 4 chickens looked after by a lady on our allotments but all did not go well. Rather than being a timid and settling into the middle of the pecking order, she went straight in at the top and proceeded to pick on one hen rather strongly, refusing to let her feed. In the end she was asked to leave (poor thing I think given a few more days and some separation things would have settled down, but it wasn't our coop or our rules) so we've taken her back home. Now we've made a few enquires with other chicken keepers we know, but either they're not keen or we're not too keen with their setup. So now we're back to the orginal dilema... should we keep her and get her a friend? Baby is now due in 4 weeks time!!!! Do any of you have chickens and a young baby? We've always been happy to share the garden with the chooks, and much as I'd love a WIR the garden isn't really big enough for a bigger run than we've already got and I'd hate to leave them shut up in their run all the time. Will health visitors have a problem with chicken poo? The stupid thing is we hadn't even really considered getting rid of the chickens before our first one was PTS, but now it feels like by getting a new hen we're renewing our commitment to looking after them. Any advice welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Tea Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I don't think the chickens would be a problem as far as health visitors are concerned. As far as the poo in the garden - your baby isn't likely to be on the ground in the garden until he/she is crawling and by then it will be winter so chances are you won't be out in the garden with the baby anyway. So, although in the future you might want to change the situation and keep the chickens confined to an area I wouldn't be worrying about it too much at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 First time mum to a 4 week old baby here. And we have 3 chickens. Certainly no issues with the health visitors - most are intrigued and show an interest - but no concern. As others have said, it will be a while before your new arrival will be crawling out in the garden, and we are planning to divide the garden when that happens - chooks one half, baby the other! I would say don't worry - if you want chooks, then it will work itself out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleTree Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 We still had ours when baby was born & all my midwives & health visitors liked the chickens, although they didn't know we had them unless I mentioned them. I decided to rehome them as I wanted the garden back for the older boys & baby once he was on the move. It has been lovely in the garden in this nice weather we've been having. I've been able to allow Ben to crawl around the grass without worrying about him finding the bit of chicken poo I'd missed. Although I do miss having the chickens now & then, I definitely don't regret rehoming them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum-2-olly Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 i have chooks and a little boy who is 2 and he ab loves them! also we are planning a baby in the next year and looking forward to having a big brood of my own! cherry, pixie, violet and baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
