Image by Good magazine
Get yourself some laying hens and set up a run in the garden. You can feed them food scraps and garden weeds. They'll lay you lovely organic, free-range eggs and provide lots of droppings to kick start your compost. A great way to turn city kids a little bit country!
Hey those are chickens. Yum.
in August 2009
We just adopted 5 new rhode island reds from a sanctuary in Warkworth. The birds had been rescued from a battery farm and originally had virtually no feathers. They'd been cramped 4 to a cage so they couldn't sit or turn. They stand on the cage wires constantly and tend to stand on one food until they can't stand the pain any longer then switch to the other foot. The happy news is that these ones have been rehabilitated, they have all their feathers back and they're now starting to lay. Yep, they eat all food scaps and they've made a great addition to the 3 chooks we already had. Of course these ones have names now so they will never see the inside of an oven!
in August 2009
I would love to have hens again! One more reason I'm over renting!!
Sheryl, we also rescued some battery hens when we lived on a farm many years ago. Once they got used to the idea of being out and about, scratching for their food, they became great layers and gave us many, many eggs over the next few years.
in August 2009
Just collected eight eggs from our hens this morning. Very productive at the moment.
We sourced ours from someone who had fertillised eggs. We took them home and put them under a broody hen, who took to them like, er, mother hen.
The chicks have now grown and two are laying hens, and two were roosters which we cooked up.
in August 2009
Hey Vincent and Lindis, our rescued hens are very very happy but only one of them is laying! Do you think its because of the trauma they've been through? I'm feeding them chook chow which I get from the local farm shop. Its got all the goodies including grit in it. Their little house is a brightly painted kids playhouse with plenty of nesting boxes. Any ideas? Maybe its just too early in the season although by all accounts yours haven't gone off the lay at all Vincent.
By the way there's a really good distribution group called chicken rescue (do a google and you'll find it) where you often find hens that need a home. I haven't paid for one chicken yet ... mind you I'm still waiting for them to PAY ME BACK with eggs!
in August 2009
If you have a lawn, you can have chickens. Acquire a rabbit hutch and two to four bantams (depending on the size of the hutch). Install a perch just off the ground and they will be happy with daily greens and a handful of pellets with fresh water and whole maize always available. The maize fills their gullets so they aren't hungry - they can overeat on pellets in my experience and this can put them off the lay. Maybe the pellets are too processed? Two bantam eggs equals one normal for baking and they are delicious hardboiled - you don't get a mouthful of just white or yolk.
in October 2009
I'd love a few chickens!! But I'm renting so I'd need to build a movable hen house - perhaps something like a chook tractor. Anyone got any good henhouse designs for happy dry chooks?
in April 2010
Be careful what you feed them. Not all hen pellets are created equal. We are using Bio-Grain NZ organic feed. The hens eat less than half the amount of the Peck "n Lay which has palm oil & colouring added. The organic feed is twice the price so it all evens out.
in August 2010
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