A few questions about keeping chickens please help:)

Question

ok here are the questions

1- if i keep two chikens in my backyrad will they destroy it?

i dnt have any vegetables, only small fruit trees and a lawn

will my grass dissapear or something? my yard is about 13 metersX8 meters

2- do u think that one australorp and one isa brown is a good choice(both females of course) are there any other breeds that are also good at being pets?

3- are those two choices flighty?

the fence that goes around my backyard is about 1.8 metres

do you think theyll run away?

and finally what should the place they be locked up at night be...give examples

thakns alot

Answer 1

I think the "Backyard Poultry" web site is the best I've seen for small scale poultry owners, link below.

It says:

i) If you want to keep your grass you should allow 80 sq ft per bird,

ii) make sure the birds have shade,

iii) wings can be clipped if you fear hens flying away

Also, unless you want to provide a meal for foxes or badgers, keep poultry in at night in your poultry pen!

Good Luck!  

Answer 2

Congrats on deciding to keep some chickens - they are lovely animals :-)

You just cannot get any egg better than one freshly laid in your own back garden.

1 - They won't destroy your garden but be warned that they do peck at everything.  Especially fruit!  Although your fruit trees should be fine.  All in all, your garden won't be ruined but they will peck at things you don't want them too.

2 - They seem a good choice, I have two bantams, which are lovely and they would probably make excellent pets if I had handled them more from when they were smaller.

3 - Most of the chickens are quite flighty, you will need to clip their wings every year, once they have developed new feathers.  This is very easily done, as long as there's two of you, and would be even easier if the birds are used to being handled regularly.

I got my chickens from a company called omlet.co.uk.  You should have a look at their website before you get any chickens as it's an excellent source of information.  The "eglu's" and fox proof runs are quite pricey - but they last.  I got my birds and the eglu from them in October 2005 and it's still in excellent condition now.

Thinking about it, I think you can probably look in the forum area on omlet and there's members selling them more cheaply - or you could even try ebay.

If you don't fancy an eglu - anything will be fine as long as they're secure at night and they have an area which is totally foxproof to run about it if you're going out during the day.

Good luck!!!

Answer 3

they wont destroy your garden

japeanese bantams are the best very friendly

get a hen house or a rabbit hutch