- Jul 22, 2012
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I just joined this amazing group as I have some chooks (as we call them here, hens to most of you) and I need build them a coop soon as I will be getting more chooks and three roosters soon.
Currently I have five hens - a lovely Rhode Island Red, a Gold Spangled Hamburg, a Minorca and two that I dont' know what breed they are but I think are Game Hen, and a Polish Bantam cross.
A local couple who have a ten acre block are having to move and I am able to buy their flock of about 11 hens and the 3 roosters, and their flock consists of an Araucana, 3 brown shavers, 3 or 4 Austrolorp or Orpingtons, 2 Sussex hens, plus there is a hen that is almost completely white. The roosters are a Rhode Island Red and a Sussex, and the third looks to be a mixture, possibly Rhode Island Red and Brown Shaver judging by his colours.
Anyway, where I live roosters are only allowed if nobody complains about them, and I know very well that at least one person in the village has made complaints and people have had to get rid of their roosters - including us. I am hoping that this group will help me figure out ways that this time I can keep my roosters (and having read a couple of forum threads I think I have some ideas on how to do that, and I will be passing that information on to a neighbour who is about to get rid of his roosters because someone has complained about their noise).
The thing that annoys me about the neighbours, is that I live in a rural village, and every single house backs onto farms. And some of the people who have moved here have complained about other farming activity (such as harvesting crops in the middle of the night). We have had some chooks and roosters in the past, and our biggest flock was poisoned, so while my current five hens aren't a problem with the increase in flock size I am going to have to confine them so that it can't happen again. And we have twice had to get rid of roosters we have had in the past, and in one case that was reasonable as the blasted bird would crow every 15 minutes from 4 am til 1am. Where we live, there is no one close to us, but that isn't enough for one particular busy body (who has hens of her own..grrrrrr)
Anyway, about me, I am married, live in the South Island of New Zealand, have three sons (aged 11, 13 and 15), three male cats, a small lapdog and a husband. I drive a school bus for the local primary school, and I keep kidding myself I am going to have a garden/yard that will supply a lot of the food my family and I need (and the animals too for that matter). I keep trying with gardening, but I am not very good at it, and some of what slows me down is that we rent and have a very low income (my husband is on the Invalid's Benefit (Social Security) which makes it hard to buy the things we need, let alone the things we want).
I am an avid reader, and at the moment am reading up on how to build a chook house and run. As I also like various crafts, this would be a good reason to get woodworking added to the list and while I haven't used power tools before, I am hoping to be able to make my coop and run with supervision from my dad (and help from my brother who lives closer to me than Dad does, in getting my coop home once it is made as I plan on making my coop able to be pulled apart to be taken with us when we next move house).
Annette
Currently I have five hens - a lovely Rhode Island Red, a Gold Spangled Hamburg, a Minorca and two that I dont' know what breed they are but I think are Game Hen, and a Polish Bantam cross.
A local couple who have a ten acre block are having to move and I am able to buy their flock of about 11 hens and the 3 roosters, and their flock consists of an Araucana, 3 brown shavers, 3 or 4 Austrolorp or Orpingtons, 2 Sussex hens, plus there is a hen that is almost completely white. The roosters are a Rhode Island Red and a Sussex, and the third looks to be a mixture, possibly Rhode Island Red and Brown Shaver judging by his colours.
Anyway, where I live roosters are only allowed if nobody complains about them, and I know very well that at least one person in the village has made complaints and people have had to get rid of their roosters - including us. I am hoping that this group will help me figure out ways that this time I can keep my roosters (and having read a couple of forum threads I think I have some ideas on how to do that, and I will be passing that information on to a neighbour who is about to get rid of his roosters because someone has complained about their noise).
The thing that annoys me about the neighbours, is that I live in a rural village, and every single house backs onto farms. And some of the people who have moved here have complained about other farming activity (such as harvesting crops in the middle of the night). We have had some chooks and roosters in the past, and our biggest flock was poisoned, so while my current five hens aren't a problem with the increase in flock size I am going to have to confine them so that it can't happen again. And we have twice had to get rid of roosters we have had in the past, and in one case that was reasonable as the blasted bird would crow every 15 minutes from 4 am til 1am. Where we live, there is no one close to us, but that isn't enough for one particular busy body (who has hens of her own..grrrrrr)
Anyway, about me, I am married, live in the South Island of New Zealand, have three sons (aged 11, 13 and 15), three male cats, a small lapdog and a husband. I drive a school bus for the local primary school, and I keep kidding myself I am going to have a garden/yard that will supply a lot of the food my family and I need (and the animals too for that matter). I keep trying with gardening, but I am not very good at it, and some of what slows me down is that we rent and have a very low income (my husband is on the Invalid's Benefit (Social Security) which makes it hard to buy the things we need, let alone the things we want).
I am an avid reader, and at the moment am reading up on how to build a chook house and run. As I also like various crafts, this would be a good reason to get woodworking added to the list and while I haven't used power tools before, I am hoping to be able to make my coop and run with supervision from my dad (and help from my brother who lives closer to me than Dad does, in getting my coop home once it is made as I plan on making my coop able to be pulled apart to be taken with us when we next move house).
Annette
from Ohio. So glad to have you aboard. 
I hope you can keep your roos. I've never had any experience with them, so I'm not sure about anything to do with keeping the noise down, but hopefully someone else will. 
