Keeping Chickens Newsletter

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Stephen Underwood : We live in Wellington, New Zealand, and have a small lawn that I am looking to convert to a series of raised gardens. My son and I made our first one late last year and the tomatoes are doing well, for first timers. I am also looking at keeping a couple of chooks. Our neighbours are quite close and my wife is worried about the issues of smell and noise. Are these issues a problem and if so what can we do about them? We do not propose to have a rooster as it is not permitted to keep them in the city.

My Reply : Hens don't tend to be particularly noisy - they do like to announce when they've laid an egg but most of the time it is just a gentle clucking. There can be a certain aroma to a coop, but if they are cleaned out regularly it should not build into anything too overwhelming.

Shann Nix : I've just ordered some buff orpington eggs and an incubator, looking forward to hatching. We live in southwest wales, quite cold and wet. I've been told that the orpingtons do quite well in terms of hardiness - is that your opinion? Or do you think I should get a hybrid like black rock? Also, the breeder told me that orpingtons don't like perches, prefer to sleep on the ground and cuddle together. That sounds weird to me - seems like birds would need to perch! What think?

My Reply : Orpingtons are a quite hardy breed. Some chickens, particularly when they are young prefer to huddle together to sleep, as far as I know that usually changes as they get older and they get the hang of using the roosts (sometimes it helps to 'encourage' them by manually putting them on the roosts after dark). It would not necessarily be a problem for them to sleep on the floor though unless there is a safety issue. I have previously never heard of any specific issues with Orpingtons roosting but if the breeder has found that to be the case then I guess there must be something in it. As they are quite a large bird maybe any potential issue is mainly with high roosts (?)

Bill VanSickle : I started reading the newsletter last night, and was surprised and happy to see the size of it! My wife April and I live in Gainesville, Florida with our son, 2 dogs and 2 parrots. We started our first raised-bed garden (salad greens, mostly) this season, and have been delighted with our ability to step outside and pick dinner (at least the salad course anyway).

April and I keep bringing up and discussing the idea of having 2 chickens and a chicken tractor in the back yard. Although I think I was the first one to bring it up, recently she has been the one to mention it first, so I know we're making progress in that direction. She would like a Barnevelder and I'm partial to some sort of Easter-egg chicken.

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