Chickens

The Doctor's site of geek stuff and general shite.

Baaaaarrrrrk boc boc etc etc.

Chicken page.

What website would be complete without a chicken page?

Official Member of the World Chicken Ring.

The Chucks are back to full egg production (fortunately for them).

3 hungry beaks.

You can't beat digging in for a good dust bath. Ask a chicken.

Keeping Chucks.

I decided we needed chickens, so here are Nora, Mabel and Hilda. Hens are funny creatures and are very therapeutic to watch, and you get free eggs as well. They're always pleased to see you, even if it is only because they want to see what you've brought them to eat!
Hens are omnivores and will eat almost anything. Seeds, plants, insects, worms and even small mammals if they get the chance.
Our local fox is quite partial to Chicken and Rabbit (and steak pie oddly). Foxes will always try to dig under the wire so we have an electric fence to make him change his mind and eat something else.
Hilda (front) the boss, with Nora (hidden) and Mabel (left).
Day/night IR camera for monitoring.
Ahhh, Chicken ovulations!

What you need to keep your own hens.

A good sized run, the bigger the better. 6ft high fence, dug in 6 inches.

A secure hen house with private nest box and suitable perches.

Water and food containers.

Feed.

I recommend Organic Layers Mash available from farm stores.

Corn or wild bird seed for 'scratch food'.

Leftovers like pasta, veggies, bread and rice are always welcome.

constant supply of fresh water.

Food and water should be available all the time. Hens like to scratch for food as well, so make sure you have some corn to throw down. They are especially fond of worms. Unfortunately for our hens, our worms are sensible enough to stay down out of the their reach so if you have a compost heap, a shovel full of this to scratch through for worms makes a great treat and often results in some entertaining chases.