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I live in the north of England and the winters can get pretty nasty. If I kept chickens in a nice, dry coop, it'd keep the snow off them, but would they manage in the cold? Are some breeds better at coping with cold than others? edit: I just remembered the British Hen Welfare Trust - they rehome battery hens as pets. They can't guarantee how long they'll live or if they'll lay eggs but they've all had their vaccinations when they were in the battery farm, and lots of ex-battery hens get healthy again and live for a good few years. I thought it might be interesting for chicken fans.  It's really heartwarming to see the pictures of the poor scraggy hens being taken in as pets, and then growing their feathers back and their combs turning nice and red again. 
Stottie Kyek fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Jun 14, 2011 |
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Jun 14, 2011 17:43
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Thanks, that link has tons of information and help! Once I have my own decent-sized garden I might be able to do both - get one of the breeds you suggested and have three ex-bat hens to keep them company, as long as they got along and the healthy one didn't try to fight and establish itself as the alpha while the ex-bats were supposed to be getting healthier. Good luck getting Viking chickens!
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Jun 14, 2011 21:02
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Mr_Biggs posted:Ok thanks man, I'll keep that in mind. How much damage are 2 or 3 chickens likely to do to a lawn of 25m square if they are left to roam free every day? Sorry I have no idea what that is in feet. Apologies also for what might be inane questions, I just keep thinking of new ones... :/ Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (awesome TV chef who started his own farm project and started the Chicken Out campaign - watch his River Cottage shows if you want to see nice treatment of beasts, good advice and some tasty recipes) said on his site somewhere that it's usually not much of a problem, but if the chickens are scratching up the lawn too much, you can put a short fence down the middle of their area, so that when the grass on one side is looking a bit bare, you can put the chickens over onto the other side to let the grass grow again.
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Jun 23, 2011 12:58
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