Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Oldclucker]

Hello, first of all, I've been lurking and realised what a lovely, friendly, helpful forum this is and so have decided to join. Also, I'm here partly because my family is using subtle pester power to try to persuade me to get some chickens.

 

Actually, they are pushing at an open door. I have always found chickens fascinating. And the idea that food goes in one end and is converted to something as lovely as an egg at the other end only adds to the attraction. I do have my eye on an Omlet Cube which seems to combine manoeuvrability, ease of cleaning, with plenty of space.

 

There are, however, one or two niggling doubts. The main one is: what happens when we go away? Our neighbours are too old to cope with the daily routine of looking after chickens, and frankly I wouldn't ask them. We have no chicken minded friends nearby. So I'd be interested to hear how others cope with holidays.

 

Second: Do chickens attract vermin? Mrs Clucker is not a big rat fan. Nor is Miss Clucker, who goes into scaredy mode if she sees so much as a money spider. You can guess who would have to deal with any vermin infestation. Yep, Old Clucker would be suckered.

 

Third: What are chickens like with plants? The area we would have the Cube would be part of the garden at the back of the house which is already sealed off with a 6 foot solid wooden fence, and has a lawn (where the cube would go) and large patio. Ideal for letting the chickens roam about, and I wouldn't even mind if they wandered in through the patio doors to say hello now and then. But we have a lot of flowers, herbs etc in containers.

 

So will they try to eat/destroy them? I'd be interested to hear views.

[Saronne]

First of all, a big welcome to the forum!

 

You're sensible to ask these questions. If you're going away overnight or the weekend, you can leave them enough food and water to see them through. It would be good, however, if a neighbour or friend could come and collect any eggs and just make sure everything's okay. Obviously, if you're going away for longer, you will need someone to come and feed, water, collect eggs, etc. I found that friends are happy to look after them - especially if they get any eggs that are laid. Apart from that, some lovely 'Omleteers' run a holiday service, e.g. you can take your hens to them and they'll look after them for a fee.

 

Next, is vermin. That is a possibility, but there are things you can do to minimize the risk; first of all, bring their food in at night. Second, if you are planning to store feed outside, then keep it in gnaw-proof containers (a metal bin, etc.). I have 3 cats who keep a respectful distance from the hens, but are happy to keep the rodent population down, too. I have not seen any evidence of mice or rats since I've kept hens for almost 5 years. As for the garden...

well, yes, chickens can strip your flowers and herbs bare in no time! I have an L shaped garden and have fenced off the bottom leg of the L for the hens and put the cube in there. At night, they are shut up in the cube. In the day, they can wander in their fenced off area = quite separate from the rest of the garden where my flowers and herbs are. The ground that they are kept on is slabbed (it was before I had hens) and on top of the slabs is woodchip which is changed every 6-8 weeks, or depending on the weather. In the autumn and winter, I often let the hens have a mooch around the rest of the garden. I'm sure you'll get more ideas and opinions shortly. But for now, best wishes and happy planning!

 

Saronne

[gavclojak]

Hi there and welcome, this forum is great and I ask questions on a daily basis.

I am fairly new but had the same worried as you. I am sending my girls to henidorm when I go away, a holiday home for chickens

I bring the food in nightly but have just realised some of the scatter corn put down does not always get eaten so will have to be aware of that.

I have a cube which is inside a massive enclosure, I have let them into my garden a few times but they are becoming a little spoilt so am confining them to Barracks. They do decimate the plants/flowers and poo literally everywhere but are the greatest little things, I could watch them all day, each one is full of personality.

Good luck

[chickchock]

Hi there

 

I am new too, we have no chickens yet as we're still in preparation mode (talking endlessly about it with no discernible action).

 

For holidays you may have a hen hotel near you. We are also near to Henidorm so will use them if the inlaws can't help out while away.

 

I was also worried about rats, but have heard that as long as you keep on top of cleaning/egg collection and keep the food in a container with a tight fitting lid you should keep rats at bay. But as I said I am new so have no practical experience of that. Also putting your hen house on concrete slabs so no unwelcome visitors can dig underneath it helps apparently.

 

Good luck! Let us know how you progress.

[Oldclucker]

Already some great replies, I thank you all sincerely. The line about preparation, loads of talking about it but little action made me snigger. That's exactly the same here! In the end I got fed up with inertia and have ordered a book on chicken keeping, to try to help us arrive at some sort of decision. 9 yr old daughter started wavering when we talked about rats, chicken diarrhoea, red mites and other sundry vermin and parasites, but she was quickly re-enthused when she saw some cute chicken keeping videos online.

 

I didn't mention it earlier, but I have already had to "discourage" some rats which have been coming into the garden and feeding on the blue tit's peanuts. So I know just how tenacious they can be (by the way they are incredible climbers. I saw one hanging from the peanut feeder, 6 foot off the ground, madly bucking and swaying about like a demented, hairy acrobat suffering from a bad case of labyrinthitis) and I know that one whiff of stray chicken feed and our garden will be like the Hamelin Travelodge during a Pied Piper's convention. I can almost hear the shouts now. "Dad! Rats!"

 

Still, we are currently in the "researching chicken-sitters" phase, having done diseases, vermin and of course, "can we afford it?"

 

My plan is to try to come up with every reason I can why we should *not* do this, and then when each one has been countered by sound research, pester power, and logic, to go ahead and do it anyway!

[jackian]

We were thinking about it for ages (10 years ) knowing exactly where they were going to go .Then the place where we were considering at the bottom of our small garden the council took the wall down which was where our WIR was going to be against so it was put to the back of our minds ... Move on 2 and a half years ago and a few wines and beers (well more than a few ) on a Sunday evening and my OH came in to the living room where I was sat and said .."Come with me I know the very place for your chickens " (My chickens because I do the cleaning out ) So there we were in the dark with torches down by our small pear tree.

Back in doors I sat at the computer and ordered a coup ..I did not even know where to get chickens from !

The next day ..What had we done? So I looked on line and ordered 3 lovely girls from Omlet .

We spent the next few weeks making a WIR and then a lovely man from Omlet delivered our girls.

2 years later we still have one of our original girls the lovely Clover and another 3 Rosie, Bonnie and Annie from a farm near us . We are besotted by these lovely creatures and love them to bits and they are spoilt rotten .

That drunken evening changed our lives for ever . It is one of the best decisions we ever made .

... So my advice to you is ,get a few beers ,a bottle of wine ,don't dilly dally and get your chickens .Don't let any one tell you that getting drunk is bad for you .We love them all.

[Chortle Chook]

Hello and big Welcome

Rats: You will certainly not find them more of a problem than they are already if you or a neighbour leaves out food for the wild birds. Make sure you bring in their left over food when they go to bed (i.e. before dusk) and keep any spare food in metal bins with rat proof lids. Also put any scratch food / treats in dishes (we use the little saucers that go under plant pots) so you can see if it has all been eaten up.

 

Persading your 9 year old: she / he might like Silkies : very cute chooks indeed - see picture

or

 

Nasties like mites and lice: keep on top of the cleaning (not a problem with Omlet housing), have a good worming regime (about every 6 months with Flubenvet) and don't get too many hens for the space you have available and all will be well.

 

Plants: you can keep your chickens away from your herbs, herbacious perennials and annuals with netting or similar and then only put chicken proof plants in their area: to mention a few: bamboo, lillies, climbing roses or clamatis or honey suckle, peonies, aqualegia, asters.

 

Holidays: Like someone else has said, you can leave enough food and water for a weekend away. For longer, most dog sitters will look after chickens quite happily and for less money

 

Hope that helps. I love my chickens and can't imagine life without them now.

[Oldclucker]

Another potentially more serious problem has arisen. Neighbours. I was reading our local council's advice sheet on keeping "backyard chickens" and it mentions the position of the "coop" and says you should not place it too close to a neighbour's house. Though our back garden is quite big the only place suitable for a cube is up against a 6 foot solid fence.

 

Trouble is, about eight feet away over the other side of the fence is our neighbour's place, and her kitchen door. She wouldn't be able to see them - the fence is solid and no windows overlook as it is a bungalow. But she would undoubtably hear them. She's a lovely - but very matter-of-fact - pensioner and I am not sure she'd be happy at clucking chickens even with the offer of a few eggs.

 

Plus I think we'd get blamed for every rat who puts in an appearance. And every neighbourhood noxious niff even though I plan to keep the cube scrupulously clean. (one of its many attractions is ease of cleaning) We own our property and it has no covenants etc, so we can legally keep a few birds. How noisy are hens? Do they make a racket once they are in bed? Do they make noises early in the morning when they want to be let out?

 

Should I discuss it with her before hand, or just go ahead and take a chance that she'll be fine with it?

[gavclojak]

You have had the exact same worried as me..i live in a rented terraced house with a garden of about 35 foot long, i have the cube at the end with a large walk in enclosure.

i spoke to the neighbors either side before getting them and said they may hear them occasionally and the neighbors were fine with that.

I wake up and let them out at about 6am-6.15am, they don't make any noise apart from a bit of wing fluttering and the odd bok bok noise but i don't think anyone else can hear that.

 

They do make a noise when they egg announce....i think only one of my girls does it at about 10.30am every day for what feels like half an hour but in reality is only 2-3 minutes....one of my neighbors came over for a coffee yesterday and said her daughter heard them Saturday morning while she was in bed....i was mortified but then again it was 10.45 at this point. I did point out that i hear her dog at 11pm most nights when he goes out for his last wee and i think i hear every god in the neighborhood too but chickens are a different noise and i hope they will just learn to live with it.

All my neighbors seem ok with it so far...4 weeeks in...

When they go in to the cube at dusk, they dont make a sound all night. i poke my head out during the night sometimes too just to see if i can hear them or spot a fox but so far nothing...

[Olly]

In six + years of keeping hens I have never had a rat problem, despite living on the borders of London where there are (urban myth) as many rats as humans. As you've already discovered, rats are just as likely to be around because of a compost heap, bird feeder or similar. The best thing to do is to put down poison in safe bait containers (so other animals can't access it), I'd be doing that anyway in your shoes, chickens or not!

 

As said above, you can leave hens for 48 hours with enough food and water, I have used a cat-sitting company, the lady was only too happy to feed the hens and take eggs in return; mostly I use friends, I have to get someone to feed the cats anyway, but you might find a local teenager or a neighbour who's interested enough to do it; or there are various 'hen hotels', see the 'Chicken Sitters' list in the FAQs.

 

Hens are generally fairly quiet - and the good thing is that they are quiet after dark, unless disturbed by something - but they can squawk a bit during the day, on laying an egg for example, on spotting you in the garden when they expect a treat, or if scared by a cat/predator. Mine will clamour to be let out for five minutes or so, and then go back to pottering/snoozing while I am out in the garden. They do shout a bit when they hear me in the kitchen first thing in the morning, but all my neighbours have double glazing. I've had no complaints.

 

If you tell your neighbour first, and she objects, what will you do? I'd be inclined to present her with a fait accompli - get them, and then invite her round to see them/offer some eggs. You might be surprised - many older people grew up with hens in the garden, and I've had positive responses from most people.

 

Oh - and yes, they will eat tender plants although established shrubs are usually ok, however the worst problem is the scratching up of the ground. I'd keep them fenced off mostly, it sounds like a good site for them.

[Chortle Chook]

Regarding neighbours - people seem to fall into two camps

 

Those who worry terribly about annoying the neighbours even if their neighbours say nothing at all - if you fall into this camp then don't get chickens because yes they do make some noise other than gentle clucking. This noise making seems to be down to the individual hen rather than the breed. You may get ones who are totally quiet, or you may get the odd one who likes to announce her egg, claim space in the nest box, object to garden strimmers or visitors. You don't really have any means of knowing this in advance, though it is often a high ranking hen.

 

Those who believe in 'live and let live' and think that as they would not ask their neighbour's permission to get a dog then why ask their permission to get chickens. Those in this camp tend to think that their neighbour has a right to object if they feel an annoyance and they will then deal with that objection as and when it comes up.

 

As you seem to rather like your neighbour and are concerned about disturbing her, why not let her know in advance about your plans. However bear in mind that she may say 'all fine' before the chickens arrive but could still object later on.