The Poultry Keeper

HelenP · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 144 Location: GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Completely new to this - have just bought myself a Forsham 606 ark which says it's suitable for 6-7 medium size chickens. I intend to keep the chickens in this and not allow free roaming round garden (because of cats/dogs/being at work etc) - I'm confused as to whether this is actually big enough for the number of birds it says. The dimensions are: run area 2200 x 1200 (head height 1040) and house area 900 x 1200. Within the house area are 3 next boxes and 3 (I think) separate perches. Will this be big enough for 5-6 birds? Many thanks, Helen

mojo · Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:15 pm Post subject:

personally i would run 5 birds in this max...3 would be perfect ...why? so you get the hang of it and when you see the must have bird you have space..best of luck.......mojo...

Dixie Chicks · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 309 Location: South West Cumbria

I agree with Mojo - start with three and see how you get on.

Will you be able to move the ark to fresh ground every day or two or do you intend to keep it in the same place? The former is preferable as they have constant access to grass, but if not you could use woodchip in the run to give them something to scratch in rather than a dustbowl / mudbath (depending on the time of year)!

You could also go for bantams instead of medium size hens as they will take longer to destroy the grass!! If it's eggs you're after, you can get bantam Sussex, Marans, Rhode Island Red etc quite easily and they are generally good layers, although nothing will be as prolific as a hyrbrid!

Also have a think about how you will cover the mesh sides of the ark incase we are ordered to keep our poultry inside - clear plastic is probably best as it still lets the light through, but you don't want roast chicken in the summer Rolling Eyes

!

Good luck and welcoming to Chicken Addicts Not So Annonymous!!

HelenP · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 144 Location: GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Yes we will be moving the arc every day or two. When time/money allows we hope to be able to build a larger enclosure which the arc can be moved into and then the chicks allowed out.

Can you keep laying chickens with younger chicks without problems?

Thanks for answers so far - great stuff!

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I have always had laying girls with growers (those that are between being a chick and being pol (18-20wks).. but the little ones were with broody mums who would look after them. The youngest with my pols was 8 weeks and I got 3 of them together so they had friends. You wouldn't want to just have one small bantam type in with lots of larger girls. Having said that I did get a gold laced orpington from a lady who had raised her with pekins (that I also bought) ~ so they stayed together all the time and it wasn't a problem.
Are you asking about adding new young ones or about buying chicks and pols at the same time? The first girls I got were growers ~8 weeks so I had the pleasure of watching them grow up and then come into lay.
Have lots of fun choosing your girls and like everyone says get fewer than you think so you can expand .... because its almost a certainty that you will want more once you have a few!

HelenP · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 144 Location: GLOUCESTERSHIRE

we've decided to go for 4 - one for each of the children and one for me!! Hubby isn't that bothered (at the moment).

I had been wondering about whether you could put 'chicks' with pols but have been advised against doing that - I'm happy now that we go for pols and look forward to starting to get the eggs.

CP · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:24 am Post subject:

Good luck. Smile

Have you decided which breed(s) you'll be getting? Wink

HelenP · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 144 Location: GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Oldest daughter wants a gingery looking black rock, youngest fell in love with an unidentified white bird, I want a bluebelle and I'm not sure what middle daughter will go for - she wasn't with us yesterday when we went to have a look.

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

Is the unidentified white bird a meadowsweet ~ it sounds like you went to see meadowsweets? If it is, it's possible a white star. These are more flighty than the others having descended from leghorns. If it has gingery flashes on the white then it's possibly an amber star and they are supposed to be fairly placid. I've not had either of these ~ the amber star I've never seen except in pictures and the others were roosting about 7' off the floor in the cage and I'd read they were flighty ~ but they do lay loely white eggs!
Just something to think about

HelenP · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 144 Location: GLOUCESTERSHIRE

went to a domestic fowl place quite near us. they had quite a variety of birds - Buff Orpington, Ancona, Welsummer, Rosecomb, Black Rock, Bluebelle and buttercup - I have a feeling we may have been told the white one was a cross between bluebelle and something else but obviously wasn't giving the lady my full concentration! There were some smaller birds as well - marans I think but I felt we might be best to go for something all of a similar size.