31 December 2012, 11:39
(31 December 2012, 10:25)bigpaul Wrote: [ -> ]http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/animals/movements/ dosent seem to mention chickens or poultry or rabbits??
BP check this
http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/animals/poultry/
31 December 2012, 11:39
31 December 2012, 11:45
OK thanks for that, as BDG said for UNDER 50 birds you dont have to register and i think most preppers wouldn't have anything near this number.
2 January 2013, 23:20
Keep numbers low I reckon.... Key is an animal that you can use readily but nothng goes to waste without refrigeration. Chickens, ducks, rabbits work for a family/small group. Small holding is easy enough to get. Obviously harder in built up areas. Roadkill is a good food source too. Keep a sealable plastic container in the boot to pick up pheasants and rabbits. Get you in the mood for non-supermarket fresh meat.
Pigeons are plentiful too.
Pigeons are plentiful too.
3 January 2013, 00:11
I have chickens and rabbits. Really easy to look after. Let the chickens out in the morning, make sure they have food and clean water, check the birds over with a glance to make sure they have not been attacked / injured.
Check the rabbits, make sure they have clean food and water.
Later on in the day I will spend a bit more time around them, make sure chicken house is good, have a look at what the chickens have been up to - mine free range all day in my garden - they have ate my spring greens - I am in the process of creating a run they cannot get out of, have to clear a bit of ground of what is on it.
Rabbits I give any spare veg to and handle them. If they are not handled, they will not want to be handled.
As for pests and diseases, worst would be rats, don't have a problem though as I store the food in secure bins away from the stock. Unless I had a notifiable poultry disease, I would likely separate a sick bird and nurse it. If it did not look like it was getting better I would break its neck. Same with the rabbits.
Food - well, the rabbit gets rabbit mix, I pay £8 for 15kg, could get pellets cheaper I think. The chickens are on pellets - £6 20kg and corn £7 20kg. They also get stuff out of the garden - rabbits and chickens love any greens and as the chickens range they eat insects and god knows what else in the compost.
Post SHTF the chickens would have to range for everything - would need a lot more land for them than I have at the moment, but there is plenty of land around me doing nothing. Rabbits can survive on very poor foodstuffs. I would try bringing in if they kept condition and it was not too time consuming, otherwise I would seek to warren them.
Check the rabbits, make sure they have clean food and water.
Later on in the day I will spend a bit more time around them, make sure chicken house is good, have a look at what the chickens have been up to - mine free range all day in my garden - they have ate my spring greens - I am in the process of creating a run they cannot get out of, have to clear a bit of ground of what is on it.
Rabbits I give any spare veg to and handle them. If they are not handled, they will not want to be handled.
As for pests and diseases, worst would be rats, don't have a problem though as I store the food in secure bins away from the stock. Unless I had a notifiable poultry disease, I would likely separate a sick bird and nurse it. If it did not look like it was getting better I would break its neck. Same with the rabbits.
Food - well, the rabbit gets rabbit mix, I pay £8 for 15kg, could get pellets cheaper I think. The chickens are on pellets - £6 20kg and corn £7 20kg. They also get stuff out of the garden - rabbits and chickens love any greens and as the chickens range they eat insects and god knows what else in the compost.
Post SHTF the chickens would have to range for everything - would need a lot more land for them than I have at the moment, but there is plenty of land around me doing nothing. Rabbits can survive on very poor foodstuffs. I would try bringing in if they kept condition and it was not too time consuming, otherwise I would seek to warren them.
3 January 2013, 02:56
Chickens will eat mice if they have the chance
3 January 2013, 08:45
Lots of people try to keep chickens around here, including me a few years back,... but none last for long, we have a huge Polecat problem, he usually catches up with them sooner or later, and he kills worse than a fox, and can get into a place where a fox cant too,.... and if it wasnt the Polecat it would be the Minx
3 January 2013, 09:39
There is a fox den within a couple of hundred feet from me, but being nearer the edge of town it is probably a lot easier for the fox to rummage bins and eat rubbish than to get in the chicken house.
Polecat and mink - you could try trapping but it could be a never ending task. You could build a house that they cannot get in, but the one night you forget to close it fully you will lose your chickens. Especially with the mink.
Polecat and mink - you could try trapping but it could be a never ending task. You could build a house that they cannot get in, but the one night you forget to close it fully you will lose your chickens. Especially with the mink.
3 January 2013, 16:11
One of the problems is that the Polecat is protected,.. it was brought in when they were not so numerous of course,.. these days there are a lot more of them, and they are flipping pests.
We can get them caught and released into another area,... some people have had that done,.. but they either returned shortly after, or new ones moved in
We can get them caught and released into another area,... some people have had that done,.. but they either returned shortly after, or new ones moved in
3 January 2013, 17:49
3 January 2013, 22:09
now keep hens with which we sell their eggs which cover feed cost 9.30 a bag 25kg
rabbits in hutches in henshed easy to clean out and hen rake over litter and find food grow kale spinach beet comfley to fed them rabbit pellets 10.00 for 25kg
got few ducks used to keep quial cheap to kept breed quickly to easy to kill and clean would also keep guinea pigs for food
had pigs to many rule now and food to dear used to get waste
rabbits in hutches in henshed easy to clean out and hen rake over litter and find food grow kale spinach beet comfley to fed them rabbit pellets 10.00 for 25kg
got few ducks used to keep quial cheap to kept breed quickly to easy to kill and clean would also keep guinea pigs for food
had pigs to many rule now and food to dear used to get waste