Thinking of Keeping a couple of battery rescue chickens

[mew]

My Husband and I have wanted to keep a fews chickens for ages now but have said we would wait until we moved to the country as we currently live in suburbia but when we last spoke about it we wondered if it would be a better idea to have a couple now and learn how to look after them, feed them, care for them etc etc etc before hopefully moving to the country in a few years where we hope to be in a position to keep more.

We also have two cats. One lives mostly indoors but the other one likes to go out and catches pigeons, ducks, squirrels so again ive always wondered if my cat would attempt to try and kill the chickens. We have been looking at the Egg-lu's with the chicken runs so if we did decide to have a couple they would have to spend a lot of their time in the run for the fear of the cat but again I would hate the thought of the chickens being stressed out by the cat constantly trying to stalk them.

I was just wondering if anyone else who has chickens now (particularly if you also live in surbubia with a relatively modest garden and other pets) and how you found it.

Any suggestions or help would be most appreciated.

Many thanks
MEW

[Esther.R]

Our chickens chase the cats! Have never had a problem with full grown chickens and cats, they were very interested in our 12wk olds but didn't touch them, just stalked which didn't seem to bother the chickens? Then gave up after a while. And these are cats who bring in a rabbit a day and a good variety of birds (preferably rare ones ) never ducks though I must admit.

Before we moved up here we had a couple of chickens in a fairly small garden and they were fine.

[red]

in town your biggerst worry is probably dogs. You have to protect from foxes too. So yes, would look at a run to keep them in, if I were you.
Some of the runs that are sold seem very very small to me.. I figure a chicken should be able to run, scratch the grown and flap her wings. she should be able to get away from the other hens if they are sorting out pecking order.

[red]

oh and bear in mind that ex batts have already done their best laying years, so you might end up either being practical and bumping them off when they stop laying, or accepting you have non layiers and no room for more just yet. might be worth deciding before you name them....

[Esther.R]

My two chickens lived in an 8 x 8 dog run (with a house attached) and came out to scratch in the garden if I was about, they gained the ripe old age of 9 Age/laying is an issue to consider, I took mine on as pets aged about 4 or 5 and so eggs were one every few days over summer (between them) and none in the winter but if you are looking for serious layers then this might not be ideal!

[Stonehead]

..........

[Millymollymandy]

My hybrid hens laid for precisely 2 years and that was it! But hey, I'm sick to death of eggs anyway.

[mew]

Thanks everyone for your comments, really very much appreciated and lots of food for thought.

Stoneheads idea of getting the chooks before the intensive farm process as opposed to the end is a really excellent idea and something we will definitely consider when the time comes.

Thanks guys n gals :0)

[BonnieT]

Hi,

I can appreciate your concerns - Bruno, my cat is a horrendous catcher, we have anything and everything, often bigger than he is.

I kept mine cooped up for ages because I was scared he would catch them (he kept pouncing at the chicken wire and trying to get in). However one day I felt brave and let them out. He did pounce at them but stopped short by about a foot. They soon started chasing him and after he had been pecked a couple of times while being chased out of the run he never went back.

So don't worry - they can be quite aggressive when they want to and I am sure your cat won't risk it - not wanting to engage in cat one-upmanship, but if mine didn't, yours wont!

Good luck, I am sure you have already but if not, don't forget to check out the BHWT: www.bhwt.co.uk.

Bonnie

[Thomzo]

I can certainly echo everyone else's comments about cats. The chooks will soon scare the cat off. If either of my cats goes near the hens then the hens will take a peck at them and gain a beak-full of fur. In fact the cats now run away when the chooks are out and take cover indoors.

Zoe

[FEEBZ1]

Hi, just saw your question and dilema on whether to have chickens in the back garden or not in suburbia/ I would say definately yes. We had six ex-battery hens in our 80 foot garden semi in a town. It was great to give these ladies a loving home and the freedom of a garden to scratch dig and roam. they arrrived bald and confused, lethargic and pale, but with a bit of tender loving care and the chance to be a real chicken they were as good as new in a couple of weeks. They rewarded us with fresh eggs which we ended up selling as we couldnt eat that many. We couldnt keep up with demand. This was nearly two years ago. Fortunately we did manage to move to the country ( Kent ) in July 2007 with lots of land and paddocks, so we got 30 ex- battery hens, again arriving in a sorry state, but they soon pick up and have such a lovely life, its great to see them, and they are very tame. Our neighbours cats used to run away from them as they used to gang up on her, so your hens may be ok. Be prepared for your lawn and borders to be dug up for worms and sunbathing, but they do go back into their run on their own at dusk, and beware of foxes!!
Hope this helps,
Fee