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I've had chickens my whole life so I've seen and dealt with most chickeny problems. At the moment space is tight so I've only got 3 Sussex Whites, a very good all round breed and heavy layers to boot. They never miss a lay, bless em. For some reason Sussex Whites are the broodiest chickens I've ever had. Damned broodie!  Stottie Kyek posted: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? Eyup. My last batch of chickens were ex-bats (I love that name) from the Hen Welfare Trust. I paid 50p per chicken and I got 7 and they were in a really lovely way. Totally bald, unable to stand up - basicly the saddest little motherfuckers I ever saw. It was really heartwarming to see them turn into lovely, happy, feathery girls and despite expectations they were really productive layers. Sadly though they had really lame immune systems and I lost a few to disease. Worth it though. Don't worry about the cold. All my hens lived happily through the lovely winter we just had. The only problem was their water, I had to defrost their water butt 3-4 times a day. Shut them in at night, make sure they have lots of warm bedding and they'll snuggle up and stay alive no worries. I should be moving soon and I've got my heart set on a flock of white bantams. There is something I love about bantams, I think it's because they rock. When I was a girl I had a pet bantam called 'Banty'.  I'm starting to think this place needs a barnyard subforum.
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Jun 14, 2011 22:03
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GrauFrau posted:
Now that is something I've been considering for a while, also keeping pigs (like only 2 of them, not commercially) is something I'm interested in learning about and knowing this place there are bound to be experts out there. Plus, I noticed in the hobbies subforum a beekeeping thread which would fit in better to some kind of self sufficiency/barnyard subforum. Is this the kind of thing I should be taking to the questions and queries subforum? I'm a bit hesitant as it's sometimes a bit of a shooting gallery in there. OK, /derail 
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Jun 15, 2011 07:50
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That would be awesome. I want to see a dairy goat megathread. 
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Very cool thread. I’m in Boston, and its my understanding that chickens are still illegal here, although they are fine across the river in Cambridge. My sister’s coworker lives in Cambridge and has a small flock, and they really enjoy it. Why are chickens illegal? If you don't have a rooster they are not that noisy (unless you really piss them off) - apart from noise trouble I can't think of any real reason to ban em. Oh, and whilst I'm thinking about my poultry wishlist, along with bantams I'm pretty keen on getting a few Indian running ducks too. Just look at them, and duck eggs make amazing cakes.  Any duck keepers?
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Jun 15, 2011 18:19
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Watch out though because sometimes chickens who eat nowt but grass can become crop bound. My chickens love playing on the lawn, but I make sure they spend a good amount of time in a non grassy area too so they hoover up lots of other crap to break up all that stodgy grass.
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Jun 15, 2011 19:39
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