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Little cluckers

 
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Blue Sky



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 12:02 pm    Post subject: Little cluckers Reply with quote
    

Not so little now. We've had the four just over a month and getting four steady eggs a day. I'd been paying 3 euros a dozen in SuperU (not super at all) so decided to return to the good old days and get hens. Sure it costs me a couple of quid in corn here and there but other than that we are good. And they clear all the rubbish in the garden by scattering it around so it blows away. On a list of what to have and not to have the hens are high on my wanted list.

* and we don't have DEFRA so I can give them all the left-overs*

Happy cluckers!



 
Shan



Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

When we had chickens, I read them the DEFRA riot act but they still spent hours on the compost heap.

 
sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I do like hens, they make me smile.

Why can't you give them left-overs?

 
Shan



Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The short answer is if you pick an apple off your tree, you may feed it directly to your chickens. if you take said apple and walk into the house passing through the kitchen, you may not feed it to your chickens as it may have been contaminated by meat.

I did explain this to the chickens but they told me to flock off as they made their way to the compost heap.

 
Ty Gwyn



Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4613
Location: Lampeter
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sgt.colon wrote:
I do like hens, they make me smile.

Why can't you give them left-overs?


Because some people are so thick the law was made to cover everybody.

No meat products,so kitchen waste was banned because of thick people putting meat in the waste,its common sense really,but so many have lost that trait these days.

So as long as you peel your veg outside,you can feed the peelings,javascript:emoticon('')

 
dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

if it has been in the human food chain it may be contaminated with a variety of pathogens which may harm livestock or human health.
not just chucks iirc all farm stock have a similar rule to curb the spread of fam , swine flu etc etc etc

if you trim it outside they can have the bit you dont want but if you do it in a kitchen they cant.

overall it does make good sense to have biosafe fodder.

chooks have a vegetarian * rule as well, good job defra never saw mine eat a hedgehog or steal my breakfast or use a pig as a digger to eat baby rats in the nest.

* there might be a few exceptions for fish meal etc .

if they free range and help themselves to critters that is ok by defra it is the human food chain waste which is the problem.

hope that helps and is broadly accurate, tis a bit complex even with the regs to hand.

 
Shan



Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

You should see what mine used to do with shrews and mice! Definitely mini dinosaurs!

 
dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 19 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

nice happy looking chooks mr sky, it is good to see young little brown hens outside doing hen things rather than having to learn in retirement if they are very lucky

 
Blue Sky



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 19 7:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes, they are and they don't spend much time in that pen, it's just to keep the fox off 'em at night. Having said that one of the little rascals stayed out last night. Don't know where it went but it was back this morning.

 
sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 19 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks for the answers peeps. I think common sense has vanished from the UK these days.

 
buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 19 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I remember years ago seeing our neighbour's hens fighting vigorously over a mouse that one of them had caught.

I may be wrong, but I don't think wild mice are the most pathogen free creatures around.

Henry

 
gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 19 8:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Some friends of mine had to built a special "hen food preparation kitchen" in order to keep the local inspectorate of chucks happy! and it had to be so far from the household kitchen and approved! All so that they could sell the surplus eggs. Luckily they were rich!

On our regular holiday in Cornwall, the hens went into the farm house, we collected eggs from all the crannies, barns with our arms in the hay and straw, even a nest or 2 in a cow shed feed passage there was no hen house there or nest boxes and the biggest cockerel ruled the roots but the smaller ones seemed to do ok too! This was, after all, the 1950's, when we knew nothing, and probably had the best eggs of my era.

 
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