Hello from Scotland

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debassed

debassed

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Sep 17, 2015
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Hello from Scotland,
My wife saw a notice on the bulletin board of our local market for a free young Belgian Bantam Rooster. Need I say more? We were captivated. He lived for a week or two perched in our living room on the bottom rung of a side table, or on our chandelier. He was brought to us in a small wire cage with a food and water dish. He came and went as he desired. We kept a news paper under the chair rung. Our two cats and our rough collie came and went as well, but there was mostly harmony. Glances were flashed when he fluttered around but gradually subsided.

My wife ordered one of those cheap chicken coops on line and Percy, as he was called, had a new home, but he seemed lonely so we ordered two Belgian hens of a slightly different breed.
In due time, one of the hens hatched 3 chicks. A few months later the other hen hatched 11 chicks, so now we have 17 chickens. The chicks are small enough that they all still fit in the little coop but not for long.

We have a large walled garden. We lock them in the coop at night but they have free range the rest of the time. We eat chicken but not our chickens. We tried a few eggs but decided to just let them remain as free as possible. They are lawn ornaments with personality. Our garden will probably hold 40 to 50 but we would like to keep the count down to 25-30.

We definitely need some advice. We don't want to put them in a run but we would like for them to have a place to roost and nesting boxes available for them. The garden has all sizes of trees and shrubs for them to flock in or shelter under. We have an old dilapidated sun house that has one whole wall without windows. I am thinking that that wall would be a perfect place to build roosts and nesting boxes off the ground. Any thoughts along those lines would be appreciated.

We know that the time will come when we will have to cull the flock, probably find new homes for some. What are the best ways of doing that. Also, being chicken novices, we don't know what to expect socially within the flock. Will the Roosters fight, or will the flock separate?

We are delighted to find this new addition to our lives but a little apprehensive so please give us your guidance.

Thank you

I am a retired bass player. I use the screen name:
debassed
 
Hi and welcome to BYC!!

Sounds like you are going to have your hands full - problems of "chicken maths" affects us all!

Chickens do not need elaborate mansions to keep them happy. By all means, convert your sun house (in Scotland - really?
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) - i converted my garden shed into a coop. I just constructed roosting poles (with branches from trees in the garden), and put some large plastic basins (with sand inside) on an existing shelf and that did the job. Somewhere safe and out of the elements to sleep on a night and "nesting boxes".

You may need to think about how many cockerels you are prepared to keep.If you plan on keeping no more than 25-30 hens then maybe 3 cockerels should be your max. Otherwise it may cause stress to your hens (too much fruitiness from the cockerels) and a bit of squabbling between the cockerels.

As for culling, a very sharp knife and lop the head off is my method - takes less than a second so no suffering.

Being a musician, I'm not sure if you are a sports fan, but all the best to Scotland in the Rugby world cup either way (I'm from south of the border, so i'll be routing for a different team
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).

All the best and i hope you enjoy your chicken empire and BYC!

CT
 
Thanks for the advice Ken,
that is a start. Actually, i am thinking about building onto the outside wall of the summer house. Up off the ground and predator proof. (wood working is my hobby). If you live in the north you probably have the same predators there. I am dealing with rats at the moment. They haven't attacked the chickens yet but I am sure its just a matter of time. As for the sharp knife, I am a hypocrit, I eat animals but let others do the killing. I will find a way. though :).

All the best
Bebassed
 
welcome-byc.gif


It was fun to read how your chickens multiplied from just 1 rooster to a total of 17, that's chicken math at work for you!

Your sun house should work fine for a coop as long as it's large enough for all the birds. The Learning Center will be a useful resource for information on how much size they need and how to predator proof it. And the coop forum is a good place to ask questions that might crop up.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance

Good luck to you with your flock and thanks for joining us!
 
debassed said:
Thanks for the advice Ken,
that is a start. Actually, i am thinking about building onto the outside wall of the summer house. Up off the ground and predator proof. (wood working is my hobby). If you live in the north you probably have the same predators there. I am dealing with rats at the moment. They haven't attacked the chickens yet but I am sure its just a matter of time. As for the sharp knife, I am a hypocrit, I eat animals but let others do the killing. I will find a way. though :).

All the best
Bebassed
Click to expand...

Ah, now i get you. Well, if woodwork is your hobby you are sorted then. There are many, many ideas for coops - type coop designs in the search bar and you are laughing. Whilst i do hail from Yorkshire, I live in Kenya so our predators are a somewhat different kettle of fish!

Good luck with your coop design!

CT
 

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