England UK

[crazymaisey]

Hi everyone! I'm in sunny greater manchester. New to to chicken keeping. Not got any yet

 

[rebrascora]

Hi crazymaisey and welcome.

You will find lots of good, helpful info on this forum to get you started and lots of knowledgeable people who will be able to give you advice when you have questions/problems.

Are you building a coup or buying one? Chicken keeping is very addictive, so get a coup that is as big as you can afford and have space for. It's pretty much guaranteed that once you have some chickens, you will want more! They call it Chicken Maths on this forum..... I started out with 3 just over a year ago and now I have 41!! And I'm already planning what I want to breed this year and can't wait for one of my broodies to start setting.

Do you know what breed of chickens you want and how many? Are you going to start with eggs in an incubator, or young chicks or adult hens?

Hope you don't mind all the questions.

Regards

Barbara

 

[colinb]

Hi everyone! I'm in sunny greater manchester. New to to chicken keeping. Not got any yet

 

[colinb]

Hi Barbara is so right take care is more addictive than you might think. Have you considered rescue hens? Its not a bad place to start I'm thinking of adding to my flock this year with some hope you have plenty of room for your coop think long and hard about position.its not much fun in the winter walking miles to feed and water your girls .but its very rewarding when you get your first egg I almost envy you starting out. Col.

 

[colinb]

O well its happened I've spent a week researching how to dispatch my cocks.I found the courage after watching one roughly bully one of my fave girls it can't go on I told myself so steeling myself I separated the 3 roosters I took one and was quite surprised how quickly he was dealt with.I was over keen and used the broom stick method .pulling hard long after the deed was done.but I'm certain it was as painless as I could have made it! Did not sleep well that night! Dispatched the other 2 next day with no problems.1more to do but struggling.I will do it!

 

[rebrascora]

Well done! I still have mine to do and I have just heard today that one of the neighbours is starting to grumble about their sleep being disturbed, so it needs to be sooner than later. I separated by boys into a bachelor pad when they started raping my hens, but I know it would have been easier to do in the heat of the moment, than 2 months later when I don't have any gripe with them.
Like you I have done lots of research on how to do "it". I used the broomstick method on the pullet that I had to cull. I knew it had to be a sharp tug and it was better to over do it than hesitate or be too gentle, so I erred on the strong side and was a bit stronger than I intended and actually pulled her head off. It was very quick though.

Since then I have seen a really good you tube video where a lady lays them in her lap head facing away and strokes them until they relax and then cuts their carotid artery with a really sharp knife and they slowly just pass out whilst she strokes them. She catches the blood in a bucket between her legs and she holds them firmly between her thighs held in an apron so that there is no flapping about afterwards. I really liked that method as it seemed a very caring way to do it and not as "callus" as putting them in a killing cone.

How did you find the plucking and dressing? Have you eaten any yet and what did they taste like? How old were they? I should have done mine 2 months ago. They have got no bigger and I'm just been feeding them for nothing and of course they will be getting tougher all the time. Needs to be done soon..... like this week. I have 10 to do, so it will be a few sleepless nights for me as I won't manage to do them all at once.

Really interested in any feedback/tips you have to offer.

Regards

Barbara

 

[KittyKat3756]

If I remember correctly, killing by cutting an artery is illegal in UK unless the animal has already been stunned (note, not in shock) which leaves neck breaking as the only easy legal way to dispatch your birds.

If anyone is interested, I'm expecting some Cream Legbars, Light Sussex and White Leghorns to hatch in a few weeks. Collection from Norwich starting from mid-April. They will be fed only on organic feed and will be living indoors so will be completely disease free!

 

[rebrascora]

Thanks for that info KittyKat..... Just when I thought I had got my head round the whole thing and found the most humane and caring way to do it, I now find it's not legal here and I have to go back to the drawing board.... or most likely the broom shank!

Good luck selling your chicks.

 

[colinb]

Thanks for your support I need it interesting about cutting artery sounds like a good way to go but if its illegal we can't do it so looks like my last cock is going over the broom.on a different topic how is your egg production I haven't had a thing since the clocks changed last autumn??? Was expecting some now the nights are pulling out.had them on corn and wheat over winter and garlic supliments cider in water and warm mash when we had bitter cold I lost 4 girls over the cold snap no signs of trauma they just died.put them back on leyers pellet this week as the bullies are now out of the picture.hears hopeing

 

[rebrascora]

I've kept mine on layers pellets all winter with a good ration of fermented mixed corn. They have free access to the layers pellets but I ferment some of that too and they really love it.

My 6 young pullets from last June came into lay in late October/early November just as the older birds knocked off to moult. My main broody joined them ... what a trooper!! She raised 2 large broods through the summer and then has laid right through the winter with her daughters, whilst her peers have been skiving! My August hatch pullets are just starting to lay now and I'm thrilled because one of them is giving me beautiful olive coloured eggs. I'm still waiting for most of the older birds to come back into lay. One of my exchequer leghorns is just starting and my poor sex link, Molly, who has taken forever to get through her moult and caught a chill with having hardly any feathers in the depths of winter. She started sneezing in Nov and had a frothy swollen eye. She has sneezed ever since. I've tried keeping her in sick bay, but she breaks out at every opportunity and at long last her feathers are almost back in and she has started laying again. They are really big eggs but thin shelled at the moment. I would prefer her not to lay until she's better but she is determined work for her keep. My RIR is looking really well, so she can't be far off starting again too.

Between Christmas and New Year I found a secret nest with 43 pale blue/green and pink eggs in it from my broody and her daughters and that was in addition to the ones I was happily finding in the nest boxes and then 15 in another hidden nest and 6 in another. They were all still edible too! We had eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the first couple of weeks of the year to get through them all!

Actually I guess I've done pretty well for eggs right through winter and I'm giving them away left, right and centre at the moment! I got a record 11 today!

Sorry, didn't mean to make you jealous!