Total Newbie looking for some basic advice

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Lybsterharbour

Chirping
Apr 20, 2020
3
16
56
Hi,
My wife and I have just retired and moved to a most beautiful house in the far north of Scotland. We have decided to keep chickens for pets/eggs.
I have an area in our garden that was originally used for ponies. I have cleared an area approx 10 yards by 4 yards that was basically covered in weeds.
The ground is very good , plenty of worms etc but it is now just soil. I want to sow grass if that is the best for the chickens. I have just purchased an Omlet Chicken Coop that's states it can house up to 10 Chickens. With the size of the land I would like to keep max 6 free range chickens.
We are not total newbies to bird keeping as we kept parrots and ran a parrot boarding service for 10 years. However I understand that keeping Chickens is different.

What I would like to know is:

We are in Scotland so

1. What is the best grass/ground for Chickens
2. What is the best quality premium food we can give them
3. We want good egg layers but without sounding shallow , we want GOOD looking Chickens as well :) What types would you recommend.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and hopefully it won't be my last.
 
Lybsterharbour said:
Hi,
My wife and I have just retired and moved to a most beautiful house in the far north of Scotland. We have decided to keep chickens for pets/eggs.
I have an area in our garden that was originally used for ponies. I have cleared an area approx 10 yards by 4 yards that was basically covered in weeds.
The ground is very good , plenty of worms etc but it is now just soil. I want to sow grass if that is the best for the chickens. I have just purchased an Omlet Chicken Coop that's states it can house up to 10 Chickens. With the size of the land I would like to keep max 6 free range chickens.
We are not total newbies to bird keeping as we kept parrots and ran a parrot boarding service for 10 years. However I understand that keeping Chickens is different.

What I would like to know is:

We are in Scotland so

1. What is the best grass/ground for Chickens
2. What is the best quality premium food we can give them
3. We want good egg layers but without sounding shallow , we want GOOD looking Chickens as well :) What types would you recommend.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and hopefully it won't be my last.
Click to expand...
Well I can tell you that raising chickens is a lot easier than parrots. Chickens love eating grass so that is a must have. Layer feed is good for chickens. I personally use Purina brand. Scratch layer is good for them. The corn and wheat helps them get fat. Wheat germ oil is good to mix in with their food. So I just mix everything together, the layer feed, scratch grain, and a just a little bit of oil. Chickens love tomatoes so that’s a good treat for them. Black Sunflower seeds you could probably mix in with there food and see If they like them. They love eating fruit, and vegetable scraps. meal worms are also something that they’ll eat. I would also make sure that their coop, or at least their roosting area is secure at night. During the day if they forage around in a large open area I would take into consideration hawks and eagles. As for breeds that I suggest my personal favorite is Cochins. They are cold hardy, and are a relatively friendly breed of bird. Unfortunately they get pretty dirty so you’ll probably need to give them baths every once and a while. They aren’t big on flying around because they are a pretty heavy bodied bird. they are pretty good layers in my experience. Easter egg birds are also fun to have Road island reds are good egg producers. So are barred rocks. You could really just have fun and get several types. I personally like having a friendly breed because they tolerate being handled. Oh and another tip is to always make sure your chickens have access to clean water, oyster shell, and grit. they need the calcium From oyster shell, and they use grit to grind up food in their craw. A good thing to have on hand always is yogurt with live cultures. For you and your chickens. When their craws are all mushy that is called sour craw. Feeding them yogurt will cure it. you also need to clean out their coop so that they aren’t standing on their waste. This will cause bumble foot which are sours that develop on their feet from ammonia acid in their waste. Trying to think what else. Oh and sometimes they get scratched and cut and what not so having a Vetericyn spray on hand helps. it just prevents infection. Another useful spray to have is a external parasite spray. Yeah. theres a lot more I just can’t remember it right now. Have fun!
 
Lamontelle4 said:
Well I can tell you that raising chickens is a lot easier than parrots. Chickens love eating grass so that is a must have. Layer feed is good for chickens. I personally use Purina brand. Scratch layer is good for them. The corn and wheat helps them get fat. Wheat germ oil is good to mix in with their food. So I just mix everything together, the layer feed, scratch grain, and a just a little bit of oil. Chickens love tomatoes so that’s a good treat for them. Black Sunflower seeds you could probably mix in with there food and see If they like them. They love eating fruit, and vegetable scraps. meal worms are also something that they’ll eat. I would also make sure that their coop, or at least their roosting area is secure at night. During the day if they forage around in a large open area I would take into consideration hawks and eagles. As for breeds that I suggest my personal favorite is Cochins. They are cold hardy, and are a relatively friendly breed of bird. Unfortunately they get pretty dirty so you’ll probably need to give them baths every once and a while. They aren’t big on flying around because they are a pretty heavy bodied bird. they are pretty good layers in my experience. Easter egg birds are also fun to have Road island reds are good egg producers. So are barred rocks. You could really just have fun and get several types. I personally like having a friendly breed because they tolerate being handled. Oh and another tip is to always make sure your chickens have access to clean water, oyster shell, and grit. they need the calcium From oyster shell, and they use grit to grind up food in their craw. A good thing to have on hand always is yogurt with live cultures. For you and your chickens. When their craws are all mushy that is called sour craw. Feeding them yogurt will cure it. you also need to clean out their coop so that they aren’t standing on their waste. This will cause bumble foot which are sours that develop on their feet from ammonia acid in their waste. Trying to think what else. Oh and sometimes they get scratched and cut and what not so having a Vetericyn spray on hand helps. it just prevents infection. Another useful spray to have is a external parasite spray. Yeah. theres a lot more I just can’t remember it right now. Have fun!
Click to expand...
Thank You for replying so soon ! My Coop isn't being delivered until June so gives me time to put the grass seed down. Thanks for the great advice
 

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