I have kept bantams, hens, and bantam cockerels for a few years. Live in the UK high on the Pennine Range of hills, gets pretty cold in Winter. I have got a real serious problem, and it is not just my problem it is a problem I believe for the birds. Can anyone help initially re thoughts on keeping birds without adequate housing?
Hello Everyone - Is it acceptable to leave hens and cockerels without housing, forcing them to find a roost in trees?
- Thread starter KittyO
- Start date
How hardy are bantam? my friend had mini chickens and some of them froze in the coop, they had one of those a frame coops.
Chickens live wild in the jungle, not sure about places that far north though.
Chickens live wild in the jungle, not sure about places that far north though.
Hello, and welcome to BYC. At one time I had a large flock of free range bantams. They had a coop but preferred to roost in the pines. They handled the weather with no problem for years. Then the Great Horned Owls arrived. They decimated the flock, and the survivors took to living in the coop.
Am I right in guessing that you have a neighbor or neighbors who keep chickens without shelter and that you want to report them for cruelty and force them to provide shelter for their birds?
We do have individuals in the U.S. in diverse climates who keep birds outside without shelter, letting them roost in trees overnight. Most of them tend to be in the warmer, more southern areas, though. Some of them are members of BYC, but not many.
I had to look up the Pennine Range to find out more about your climate. Wikipedia says that the climate "...is generally temperate like that of the rest of England, but the hills have more precipitation, stronger winds and colder weather than the surrounding areas." It does tend to depend which side of the Pennines in terms of precipitation, since there is a rain shadow on the eastern side. However, it was clear that winters are harsher there, and it provided the following average temperatures over a 30 year span:
There are two aspects, both the weather and the exposure to predators. I don't know what your local RSPCA would consider about it, but most folks here would think it was poor judgement, and poor care of the chickens. I am not sure that a scatter of opinions from a social network of chicken lovers will move your local authorities, but... good luck!
Welcome to Back Yard Chickens, in case you are sticking around.
We do have individuals in the U.S. in diverse climates who keep birds outside without shelter, letting them roost in trees overnight. Most of them tend to be in the warmer, more southern areas, though. Some of them are members of BYC, but not many.
I had to look up the Pennine Range to find out more about your climate. Wikipedia says that the climate "...is generally temperate like that of the rest of England, but the hills have more precipitation, stronger winds and colder weather than the surrounding areas." It does tend to depend which side of the Pennines in terms of precipitation, since there is a rain shadow on the eastern side. However, it was clear that winters are harsher there, and it provided the following average temperatures over a 30 year span:
There are two aspects, both the weather and the exposure to predators. I don't know what your local RSPCA would consider about it, but most folks here would think it was poor judgement, and poor care of the chickens. I am not sure that a scatter of opinions from a social network of chicken lovers will move your local authorities, but... good luck!
Welcome to Back Yard Chickens, in case you are sticking around.
Welcome to BYC! I'd make sure they had options for getting out of the weather and away from predators.
Hello KittyO.
Welcome to BYC.
The Pennines don't get that cold. What you do get is wind and rain.
The best option is to provide a shelter for the worst of the winter months.
Welcome to BYC.
The Pennines don't get that cold. What you do get is wind and rain.
The best option is to provide a shelter for the worst of the winter months.
- Thread starter
- #8
Thank you for all your replies and so promptly really appreciated.
Our two bantam boys are kept separately with their own girls - mainly bantams, plus four hens not overly big. Both have a toasty indoor run with room to move around. Both have separate outdoor runs with covered roof, and both have a further outdoor run with netted roof covering. No predators getting close to my babies, spoilt rotten.
Unfortunately, cannot say the same next door, their surroundings are pretty dire. We struggle with vermin because their food is not put away...
We have placed our poultry well away from our bedroom windows and four times as far from their bedroom windows. They have placed their 3 cockerels and 7 hens within 10 feet of our bedroom windows. Two of the cockerels became adults this year. Three cockerels with too few hens competing all day and early morning need I say more.
They are all roosting in the pine trees and start crowing from 2.20am, presumably when they see a predator as it stops ten minutes later. Picks up again at 3.20am and lasts 10/20 minutes. Then all hell breaks loose around 4.10am and it never stops. We have suggested they should be housed. Provided neighbour with Council website information. They have ignored our request, ignored the council request, and now we have no choice but to take it further. It could take months.
Monday we gave him three days Notice in writing that we would take it further if not addressed. We mentioned cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 that turns out to be nothing more than lip service. That evening he placed a ladder against one of the trees. We thought he was going to attempt to remove the cockerels that roost early because it is dark in the enclosed space.
Three plus sides are trees and the only place where there are no trees is directly outside our bedroom window. The hens were still there come the morning. I thought he would attempt to move them last night, but no, it seems the ladder is for the poultry to climb to make it easier for them to get into the trees and negate the claim of cruelty. Now as we all know they are not going to literally climb a ladder and if they do by some miracle it will make a good YouTube video. If they did get to the top they would still be left with their half-fly attempts to find a perch and needless to say every night they panic and squawk. I could say more but I have probably bored everyone rigid. We I will add we held off for quite a while for the sake of the birds but now lack of sleep is seriously taking its toll.
Our two bantam boys are kept separately with their own girls - mainly bantams, plus four hens not overly big. Both have a toasty indoor run with room to move around. Both have separate outdoor runs with covered roof, and both have a further outdoor run with netted roof covering. No predators getting close to my babies, spoilt rotten.
Unfortunately, cannot say the same next door, their surroundings are pretty dire. We struggle with vermin because their food is not put away...
We have placed our poultry well away from our bedroom windows and four times as far from their bedroom windows. They have placed their 3 cockerels and 7 hens within 10 feet of our bedroom windows. Two of the cockerels became adults this year. Three cockerels with too few hens competing all day and early morning need I say more.
They are all roosting in the pine trees and start crowing from 2.20am, presumably when they see a predator as it stops ten minutes later. Picks up again at 3.20am and lasts 10/20 minutes. Then all hell breaks loose around 4.10am and it never stops. We have suggested they should be housed. Provided neighbour with Council website information. They have ignored our request, ignored the council request, and now we have no choice but to take it further. It could take months.
Monday we gave him three days Notice in writing that we would take it further if not addressed. We mentioned cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 that turns out to be nothing more than lip service. That evening he placed a ladder against one of the trees. We thought he was going to attempt to remove the cockerels that roost early because it is dark in the enclosed space.
Three plus sides are trees and the only place where there are no trees is directly outside our bedroom window. The hens were still there come the morning. I thought he would attempt to move them last night, but no, it seems the ladder is for the poultry to climb to make it easier for them to get into the trees and negate the claim of cruelty. Now as we all know they are not going to literally climb a ladder and if they do by some miracle it will make a good YouTube video. If they did get to the top they would still be left with their half-fly attempts to find a perch and needless to say every night they panic and squawk. I could say more but I have probably bored everyone rigid. We I will add we held off for quite a while for the sake of the birds but now lack of sleep is seriously taking its toll.
Hello and welcome to BYC 
So happy you have joined our flock.
So happy you have joined our flock.- Thread starter
- #10
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