topic Re: DDU / klarry in Community Spirit

DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:32:26 GMT

DDU can I ask you about your chooks? You do have chooks don't you?
Roughly what sort of cage do you have i.e. wooden? How many chooks & what/how much do you feed them? I searched chook houses on ebay, do you suggest a good one?

Klarry what is needed to fox proof a chook house? We were thinking wire underneath and perhaps sleepers too? Are snakes & rats a problem?

Any information would be good 🙂

Re: DDU / klarry

azureline** — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:34:01 GMT

Hi Clairdelune, you have been missed.... you even had a thread dedicated to looking for you 🙂

Re: DDU / klarry

twinkles**stars — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:34:51 GMT

And I called you Clare:8}

Re: DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:46:37 GMT

Yes but do you have chooks?

Re: DDU / klarry

vintage-star — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:48:04 GMT

Don't forget the birds of prey!!

Re: DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:48:51 GMT

Well vintage I thought of that too.. plenty of hawks around here

Re: DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:49:31 GMT

I don't know who to ask? Pets shops? wildlife carers?

Re: DDU / klarry

fluffy.bum.dog — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:49:54 GMT

You need to use cyclone wire not chicken wire . Foxes bite through chicken wire. The wire needs to be buried at least 12 inches underground all the way around your chook house and run. Foxes dig as well. You need the whole of the outside part of the run top wired as well to stop preditory birds killing the chooks.

Timber is not a good option as it encourages mites in the woodwork which suck the chooks blood.

Re: DDU / klarry

joz*garage — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:50:47 GMT

clair, you may need to get in contact with your local council.
there rules you need to abide by.

Re: DDU / klarry

fluffy.bum.dog — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:53:00 GMT

And snakes and rats and mice are a huge problem when you have chooks. The mice and rats come to eat the chook food and the snakes come to eat the mice and rats. Bestif you can remove the containers of chook laying pellets at night to prevent the rodents comming in during the night when the chooks are roosting and most vunerable to attack. But they will still come induring the day, but the chooks will be more alert at this time.

Re: DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:55:58 GMT

Oh thanks for all this info fluffy & jo. I was hoping the chooks could run free during the day, we have an area sectioned off but no wire covering over head and it's near the main house so concerned about snakes, rats etc

Re: DDU / klarry

joz*garage — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:57:08 GMT

I used let mine scratch around the back yard, a fox snavelled two of them, easy targets.

Re: DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:57:54 GMT

Even in the day time Joz? I mean I have seen foxes here in the day..

Re: DDU / klarry

vintage-star — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:02:39 GMT

I had chooks that were picked off one by one, during the day, by hawks!!.......I even found a hawk in the chook pen one day!!....Do you have a dog??..I lost a chook to my dog as well!!

A friend of mine also had chooks and fed them snails and weeds etc from her garden!!...they also love kitchen scraps!!

Re: DDU / klarry

catsnknots — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:04:49 GMT

Mine roamed the yard all day.. my goose was the day time guard dog.. no problems at all.

My chooks ate rats and mice...

Snakes can be a problem but the less mice and rats the less snakes...

They need a secure place to lay their eggs and roost at night. It only needs to be small because all they do is sit while they are in there.

Re: DDU / klarry

joz*garage — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:07:08 GMT

Both times at night clair, the chooks used to choose different spots in my back yard to sleep, rather than in the pen, i'm on half acre. One night i heard a chook going crazy while i was still up, raced out and saw two beedy eyes at the rear of my yard lol, because i've seen foxes around, i can only imagine it was a fox.

Re: DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:07:27 GMT

Yeah I have 2 small dogs but they would be very interested in chikkens! Was hoping we could dog proof the chook area we have in mind but can't really completely cover the top in wire

Thanks mad cats

Re: DDU / klarry

clair.de.lune — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:08:30 GMT

There's also feral cats here or just long roaming neighbours cats

Re: DDU / klarry

freddie*rooster — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:13:48 GMT

OMG there's Clair FA, I missed you. 😮

Re: DDU / klarry

catsnknots — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:18:57 GMT

Clair.. get a goose or a I think I had a Gander.. thats the boy right???

Nothing would come near them during the day as the gander was so territorial. We lived next door to a pub and he would run up to the fence and scare people as they got out of their cars. Very funny to watch..

lock them up tight at night and give them shrubs to scratch under and hide under...