A little poultry advice

[Grommit]

Jean absolutely loves sitting and watching the birds through the patio door in the kitchen.

It ocurred to me that she may also enjoy watching chickens. Our garden is big enough to hold a couple of birds.

Apart from the fact i have never kept chickens in my life am I about to start up something that maynot work?

Does anyone have experience of AD patients and chickens?

I might add that i am doing what appears to be sensible and taking Jean on holiday to a crarvan on a workinhg farm in May this year and intend introducing her to chickens and watching the reaction.

Doesn't it sound awful?? As though I am conducting experiments without my wifes knowledge or consent.

 

[Grannie G]

No Grommit it doesn`t sound awful.
You are trying to stimulate Jean`s interest. There`s nothing awful about that. Chickens might be a bit more interesting than shoes.

 

[connie]

One of the therapists at Lionel's care home took in some baby goats (kids) and baby chicks for the residents to see.

They put two of the baby chicks into Lionels hands as he lay in his chair. Experimental, I don't think so. Anything to stimulate cannot be bad.

Best of luck with the new venture should you go ahead.

 

[Vonny]

Hi Grommit,

I started chicken keeping a couple of months ago a) because I wanted to and b) because my dad used to have a chicken farm and I thought it would be good therapy for him (as a carer) to take time out and come and chill with my chooks.

He does love them, and so do I. The funny thing is that mum, who has never liked chickens, and who has AD, enjoys hearing about them and seeing pictures of them.

Plus we have fresh eggs I can highly recommend them. They need cleaning once a week, they are easy to keep and use up all the leftover greens and stalks and they are hilarious to watch.

(If you want any advice, dont hesitate to PM me and I'll be happy to give you more info. Scottie45 should be able to give you loads more advice too as she has lots more chickens than I have and has been really helpful to me.)

Despite getting them as therapy for dad, they've actually provided me with some much needed therapy

Vonny xxx

 

[TinaT]

Keep them for yourself as well Gromm. They are wonderful therapy for any problems. I kept them for a few years when we lived in Spain.

The laughs we had making that chicken coop!! We made it out of breeze blocks. I passed each block to Ken and he then laid them in place. A real joint effort. Then we put corregated iron on the roof, plastic on the window, surrounded the place with wire and walla!!! a real chicken coop of our very own, with shelving for the birds to roost at night.

Then we went into the nearby village to buy our chickens from the hardwear shop. When I saw the poor creatures all squashed up together in that heat, I just had to buy 12, about 4 times too many for our needs!

Within days they had settled in and were such fun!! They followed us everywhere. I even was visited by one or two when I left the front door open and I was on the loo! They loved it when I watered the garden. Because of the lack of water in Spain I had made e bowls of earth round the roots of the lemon/orange treesto keep the water in. The hens loved bathing in the water and scratching around in the mud.

Ken also built a 4 story nest box affair with a ladder going up to the boxes. It was so steep that the poor birds fell off it!! So we made mark II version which was less slopey and put in strips of wood so they could get their claws to grip. This one was a great success!!

We were then given a bantom hen and two peacocks by a neighbour! Every day we had 14 eggs without fail, 7 days a week. I was giving away eggs, feeding the dogs eggs, we were, as Grommit would say, quite egg bound!! Even the peacocks laid 4 eggs under a bush in the garden!

Happy days Grommit and I hope that you do keep a few chickens. They are so rewarding.

xxTinaT

 

[Kayla]

Keeping chickens

We used to keep chickens, ducks and geese in our back garden.

All types of poultry make fantastic pets, as well as providing a good supply of really fresh eggs. Just check that there aren't any local restrictions on poultry keeping if you live in a built up area and also cockerels can be annoying to very close neighbours!

We stopped keeping our free range chickens, because foxes kept taking and killing them during the day. Even our neighbours who kept their hens shut up in a chicken run all the time lost their birds, because foxes can easily bite through wood and thick wire netting.

Although we live in the country, nearly everyone in the village has had to give up keeping chickens, because of the large number of foxes around. Unfortunately there are some people who feed them and foxes are now quite unafraid of humans.

I think there is a company which sells strong plastic hen coops, which would probably be easy to keep clean. The hens and food are also supplied, as well as instructions for looking after the birds.

Wooden hen houses and runs can be bought or home made. Hens are cheap to feed and easy to care for and quickly become very tame. Ours got on well with the dogs and horses, even eating from their food bowls at the same time!

If you can protect hens from the local foxes, then they make super pets.

Kayla

 

[jenniferpa]

When I was a child one of my fathers money making schemes (not very successful) was to raise turkeys and some how, in a batch of turkey chicks we got a chicken who became a pet. This chicken would wander into the kitchen and the dogs got on fine with it. I would love to have chicken's over here since they, at least, wouldn't be eaten by the deer, unlike everything else in the garden but 1) there are too many predators and 2) we're in an area where chicken's aren't allowed (I could have a goat though )

 

[Brucie]

Funny this should come up...

Before Christmas, Jan's care home bought some eggs and an incubator - the eggs soon hatched



very soon there were lovely chicks and the residents loved to hold them - and they didn't damage them



mind you, they soon grew a bit

 

[gigi]

Bravo Grommit...

I've often "toyed" with the idea of keeping chickens....

Eric's dad used to keep banties...and I loved walking up the garden to talk to them in "bantie speak"...we used to have some good chats...

No solid advice from me...but I think it's a brilliant idea for you and Jean.

taking Jean on holiday to a crarvan on a workinhg farm in May this year and intend introducing her to chickens and watching the reaction.

Hope you both enjoy the time away...you'll probably come back with a few chickens, some ducks, a lamb or two..the odd pig...

You never know...

Love xx

 

[julieann15]

Sorry Grommit but possibly need to throw the dampers on this- when I signed for my house in 2005 there was a clause in my contract or possibly deeds that I could not keep livestock and that included chickens. Sometimes I feel as though I should keep a cow as the amount of milk my children drink is costing me a fortune and it would keep the grass short!!


Love Julie xx

 

[Grommit]

Thanks for all the help and good wishes everyone.

Regarding checking with the Local Authority for permission to keep chickens I look at it this way;

I have sent somewhere in the region of 14 letters asking for Direct Payments, visits from Occupational therapists and for a change in carers. So far nothing has happened.

In my reckoning, if Doncaster Council cannot respond when asked over a period of 15 months, I ask myself what are the chances that they will get off their collective bottoms to, unrequested, see if I have a couple of chickens in my backyard.

It sounds to me very much like this venture is on so I will give it a go.

Thanks again.

 

[Grannie G]

It might even be a roundabout way to get your Direct Payments Grommit.

 

[Vonny]

Hi Grommitt,

If you only want a couple of chickens, check out

http://www.omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php

Easy clean and fox-proof in a range of funky colours. Too expensive for me because I'd have needed the cube not the eglu, as I've started with 3 with the intention of getting more.

Good luck and happy chick hunting

Vonny xx

 

[jenniferpa]

You may well be right Grommit - mind you these people always seems to respond like lightening to some curtain twitcher who decides to "inform" on a neighbour.

 

[Clive]

Hi Grommit

A friend of mine started keeping hens last year. His story, which I believe, is that he went to a local Battery Hen farm and bought, very cheaply, two “rescued hens”.

These were hens that had passed their optimum egg laying life and were about to have their necks rung by the farmer.

He bought two hens, which now live happily in their back garden producing quite sufficient eggs for their family.

Best of luck with your plans.

Clive

 

[gigi]

Oh...I really want some chickens now....

I can't have a dog...too intrusive for Eric..

I can't have a cat..we have too many "pet" birds..blackbirds and robins...

But chickens may fit in well.........

Thanks Grommit...

Love xx

 

[jenniferpa]

Having looked at the website Vonny posted I really, REALLY wish I could swing this. As far as I'm aware, there is nothing like this available over here. To be honest, I very much doubt that anyone would notice if I had a couple of chickens so I may see what I can swing. When the children were younger we always used to go to the local county fair and my favorite part was the massive variety of chickens (and the pigs, but I don't think I could get away with a pig).

 

[wendyb]

HI there

its funny you should mention it because I was given a couple of chickens 2 months ago folllowing a conversation a friend had with my dad. my dad used to keep chickens when he was young and following the discusssion 2 chickens and a chicken house turned up! .really does bring back some good memories for him. he might not be able to string two words together but he can do a real good laying cluck noise!

if he remembers nothing else he always asks about the chickens and spends time feeding them. they can be tamed with tit bits and will sit for ages being fed asda smart price sweetcorn!

All I can say is he really enjoys them, we love them, it has given him a fun thing to focus on and something he can acheive for a change.

highly reccomended- but you'll have to do the cleaning out!

regards

wendy

 

[wendyb]

Hi there

i just noticed you are from doncaster. me too. Just noticed you said you were having some issues with direct payments etc. I have set this arrangement up for may dad without too much trouble. not sure if i can be of any help but happy to share how and who with you if you would like me to.

regards

wendy

 

[jenniferpa]

Wendy - that thudding noise you can hear may well be Grommit beating his head against his computer. He has had awful troubles with this.