Advice on keeping chicken please

[sunflowers]

Thanks so much everyone for your advice
As soon as we can find a chicken"house" we are ready!We don't have to worry about neighbours Hawkeye 1 as we have 36,000 sq meters of land and no one for miles!

[hujamton]

thepoultrykeeper.co.uk

[Hawkeye1]

What do the people next door think about the idea?

[awaywiththefairies]

The aptly named 'Hens' in Albox always sold chickens and presume they still do.  Saliente road just along from the doctors.  They also sell feed.

[spanish sheep]

Hi

Awaywiththefairies is spot on very sound advice, i wouldn't recommend the dog kennels as chickens can get very hot for our 8 chickens we have built a small building out of blocks with a tiled roof, they then have an outside run fenced in with chicken wire there are a lot of foxes in our area but we have never had a problem with them they have a perch outside to sit on and one inside for sleeping at night also a nest box off the floor for the eggs we have tow sets of chickens born different times of the year so we get eggs all year as four will go on moult and then the other four. we feed them on a bought mix for laying hens, and also give them scraps of veggies we will also give them grass from the surrounding area. we also let ours out and about but with one of us with them this gives them a chance to dust bath this in turn keeps the mites at bay. they will follow us where we go and again back into their little house.

I hope this has helped and good luck.

[trishtrosh]

You can buy chickens at the Ramblizo at Antas (ask for point of lay chickens, and food for point of lay chickens). Go into the shop, past the tills, down the ramp into the pet section, through the door into the gardening section, then through a door on the right. The chickens are kept the other side of the car park. They also sell feeders and water holders. Not sure about a hen house.
Another place to buy hens etc is in Huercal Overa. Turn left at the bus station roundabout, straight over the next island, turn right at the next island and there's a row of shops there.
Or
Olula del Rio. I think its called Carmona.

The plastic dog kennels may be a little hot for them in the summer?

[just do it]

allways keep it in the fridge

[sunflowers]

Hi,  Thank you for that. It was very informative. Do you have any idea as to where we could buy a chicken house and some chickens?
Also,do you think that a couple of large plastic dog kennels would provide them (maximum of 4 birds) with sufficient shade?
                                       

[awaywiththefairies]

Chickens are quite easy to keep.  They need an nice secure house with a perch to live in (they like to sleep off the ground).  A supply of clean drinking water and a mixed diet of corn/pellets/scraps, and perhaps some grit if your egg shells are too soft. Some people feed ground up shells as grit but be careful this does not encourage them to peck their own eggs. They will eat veg peeling etc but prefer them boiled first.

Make sure they can get into a shady area in the summer and they particularly like a dusty area to have a 'bath'.   They should lay eggs for about 9 months of the year and then will go into moult - which looks horrendous as they can lose quite a lot of feathers!.  You may find one gets picked on by the others 'hen pecked'!    Health wise they may at some point need dusting for mites/fleas  and the house will need doing as well.  A sick chicken will often have a 'floppy comb' and go and sit on its own, sometimes this is because they are egg bound.....finally they need a nesting box for all those lovely eggs ;D

[olly]

There's plenty of advice on the i/net, just type in "advice on keeping chickens.

[sunflowers]

We are thinking about keeping chickens, can anyone give us any advice please? We are complete novices!