getting started with chickens - advise please

evenin all,

Me and the Diddy clan have been thinking of getting some chickens for a few years now (and bee's but I digress)

Thinking perhaps this year, is the year to get some, but there are so many different coops, not sure what to go for ....yes, I could make one, but you know how long it takes me to get any thing done!!

I know there's a few of you on here that keep chickens, so any advice on what sort of coop to get? ...there's loads on flea bay for a reasonable price.

We were thinking of about 3-4 chickens, and I quite like the idea of a couple of quails as well - can you keep quails with chickens, or will they get hen pecked

 

@lost-en-france is an expert.

 

get the biggest one as it makes it easier to clean out don't go for one of those small plastic ones or you will be cleaning it out every day
ours i made out of a wendy house the school was throwing out

 

How many girls you got?

 

dont get cocks , bludee noisy things .

 

Save your money and buy eggs from the shop!

 

We had one of the original Eggloo things, it was a bit small but oK for a couple of chickens, they do a bigger one now like a small caravan on wheels that we'd have if I was having them again.

 

Point to laylay girls.
Sack of pellets
Sack of corn ( occasionally give a handful)
Kitchen waste, cooked spud peelings are loved.
I prefar staw in the hen house over wood shavings.
For a treat i use to dig their pen over and what joy they had getting the worms.

philistine.

 

The hatch on the side by the bin opens to the back of the nest boxes inside has a ramp and a perch
we have 12 silky bantams this is 2 of our new chicks nearly fully grown

 

I was thinking of getting something like these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LARGE-8FT...d=100338&rk=9&rkt=29&mehot=pp&sd=261461640240

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LARGE-CHI...=100338&rk=20&rkt=29&mehot=pp&sd=261461640240

and probably extending the run....although the garden is pretty secure so they could probably have the run of the garden now and then

 

Make the biggest fence you can, and dig into the ground at least 2ft. Believe me you don't want to wake up with half chickens strewn across the garden.

 

we some times give them cooked spaghetti hours of fun watching them
we use rape seed straw in ours its a bit softer than straw and is cheaper buy your food and straw from a farm suppler much cheeper

 

we add um when i was little remember a moosive rat trying to pull one thru the hole it had made n my dad chopping its head off with a spade .

 

How high is your boundary as chickens can fly, we built a pen using those security fencing and still had to clip a wing per bird.

Edit

We had real birds is full size .

 

The spaghetti is hours of fun.

 

They LOVE cooked























Chicken.