# Garden Hens



## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

Just posted this at the end of the livestock thread by mistake. :blush:

Here we go:

Hello all. I've not been on this bit before. Bit of a newbie when it comes to feathery things. I keep reps, a chinchilla and my kids (humans not goats) at the moment and as with all my other pets I want to get it right first time.
I'm waiting to get permission from the landlord to have a coop in our back garden so got a few questions:

a) What breed lays the tastiest eggs?

b) What breed is the friendliest/least nervous? My kids play in the back garden and I don't want the hens getting freaked out by the noise.

c) What size floor area would you recommend for 3 hens in a coop/run combo set-up? They would be let out when we are in the garden, weather permitting.

and

d) Are there any websites that deal with obtaining rescued battery hens?

Cheers

Paul


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

I cant answer any of the questions myself as I dont keep chooks but this will help for most of what you want:
Battery Hen Welfare Trust


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## paggsy503 (Feb 26, 2009)

You will find some useful info on my site: http://www.henfeed.com
Click on "taking care of your chickens" top left of main page.

Cheers
George


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## farmercoope (Aug 19, 2008)

Hi Paul,

Ive replied on the livestock thread/


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

paggsy503 said:


> You will find some useful info on my site: http://www.henfeed.com
> Click on "taking care of your chickens" top left of main page.
> 
> Cheers
> George


Nice site. Thank you :2thumb:. I'm thinking of feeding them the corn mix. Is there any truth in the story that it makes the eggs taste better?


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## farmercoope (Aug 19, 2008)

I wouldnt say that feeding corn mix makes them taste better, mine get layers pellets and mixed corn but hardly any mixed corn, i no some people do feed full mixed corn but i prefer not to, layers pellets have everything they need and i feed it ad lib to them, a good book to get is the katie thear keeping chickens one.


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

It's not good advice on that site at all. Advising that it's ok to illegally abandon your chickens for days on end is down right Irresponsible.

Paul hun, I have answered your post in the livestock thread  Hope it's of help. It's better to get advice from people who genuinely know Chickens and their care as then you'll have the healthiest Chickens.


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## annsimpson1 (Mar 23, 2008)

we have 3 hens and a cockerill and feed layers mash as I can add all the table scraps ie veg/mashed potatoes etc we put all the leftovers in a bowl for the morning then they'll have those plus a handfull of porridge oats(they like that) a slice of wholemeal bread all covered with warm water in the winter cold in summer then I add layers mash and mix it all together untill its like moist crumbs not to soggy. I suppose you can just feed hen food but we don't beleive in throwing anything edible away and they will eat it if its mixed together but not always if separate, my mums hens like cooked rice and sultanas plus the best treat is getting a fork and digging for worms, mine are all trying to get in the hole before I've lifted the fork and they'll eat ants and their eggs and anything else that moves or wriggles, I get an egg a day from all the hens usually but they're having a rest from laying at the moment, sorry if i sound daft but they are pets and get looked after accordingly, parsley, leggy, sage and rocky the cockerill. As for amount of space they will destroy any garden/grass very quickly mums garden is stripped bare of anything green and the lawn is non exhistence ours have a large wired in area so its not so bad.


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

Would one of these be any good for a trio of ex-battery hens?


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

Chicken Coop by Hutch Company-Homes-Pets at Home: Buy Pet Supplies from our Online UK Pet Shop

Oops! Forgot to put the link on :blush:.


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

any books by katie thear are good,

the flighty birds seem to be ones like the leghorns and in the hybrids `white star` 

if you want them mainly for eggs, get hybrids

i like black rocks, they lay big eggs and keep laying throughout their lifetime, not like some that start having soft shelled eggs etc


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## annsimpson1 (Mar 23, 2008)

parsley my big red rhode Island is a good layer and doesn't try to fly much Leggy my white leghorn is built like road runner, my mum has 2 really lovely almost orand hens called golden something or other they are about as big as thr rhode islands but lay the really beautifull almost dark orange eggs, she paid £20 each for her two, they aren't flyers and are very tame, the house in the picture looks ok but theres not really much room in the run area and you'd have to keep moving it or keep it very clean, they do like to eat grass and will soon scrape away a surface, if you are goind to let them out then it will be fine. (I don't like to see birds or animals in small enclosures so I'm a bit biased in that way)we don't bother clipping wings it doesn't stop them clearing a low fence if they want to, but I find that if they are happy and well fed they don't want to leave, mums come in the house and love to sit on my dads lap.


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

Any of you ever used Chalk Hill Poultry?

Home Page

I think the Large Orpington Buffs are the favourites with my kids at the moment. I'm thinking two of them, give them time to settle and then two Ex-Batts. Was thinking the Orps could show the Ex-Batts how to be chickens again. Good idea or bad?


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

Not sure if that would work but you could put orpingtons with pekins as I do and they get on well. Pekins are great with children as my younger brother(9) bond's with them and has never been pecked, well maybe he has but it didn't hurt him one bit! (and he is abit of a wimp!!)


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## vonnie (Aug 20, 2007)

Orpingtons were my first hens and they've got on fine with every size and breed I've added to the mixed flock. They're also probably the friendliest of all the birds I've had, but one of the broodiest too!

They are big birds though so you need to consider that when picking a house and run. Mine have never been flighty. Quite the opposite, they've so heavy and clumsy they can't even be bothered with high perches!


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i love pekins too, i`ve got a few and they are sooo friendly and lay very well for pure-bred banties.

trouble is they come in too many colours...............

:whistling2:


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

> a) What breed lays the tastiest eggs?


 eggs all taste the same depending on what diet the chickens have



> b) What breed is the friendliest/least nervous? My kids play in the back garden and I don't want the hens getting freaked out by the noise.


 Loud noises, kids running about, footballs etc will all freak them out and make them nervous and put them off laying.



> c) What size floor area would you recommend for 3 hens in a coop/run combo set-up? They would be let out when we are in the garden, weather permitting.


 3 will ideally have a 6X4 foot shed with a similar sized run attached. You won't mind the kids getting covered in chicken poo? They poo loads wherever they walk. They'll scratch up the lawn and eat any plants. They won't much like kids chasing them or grabbing or carrying them about.
Have you thought about what you will do with all the soiled and stinky straw and shavings you'll get? How will you clean the run properly bearing in mind that chickens peck around to find food and if the run is bare earth, they'll be pecking about in mud and poo. You really want to eat those eggs?
How much experience have you go to ensure you don't cause harm and suffering? You do know about worming, delousing and how to check for redmites in the house?
and



> d) Are there any websites that deal with obtaining rescued battery hens?


 Yes, google for 'the battery hen welfare trust'.


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

paggsy503 said:


> You will find some useful info on my site: http://www.henfeed.com
> Click on "taking care of your chickens" top left of main page.
> 
> Cheers
> George



But ignore the so called advice as it is bad advice, tells you to do illegal stuff and advocates things which are cruel.
Take proper advice from people like myself or Pimperella who have a lot of years experience in keeping poultry (around 30 in my case) and not from someone who sells handfuls of chicken food and hasnb't kept chickens for very long at all.


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

Paulusworm said:


> Nice site. Thank you :2thumb:. I'm thinking of feeding them the corn mix. Is there any truth in the story that it makes the eggs taste better?


 no. not only that, they will be deficient in nutrients and prone to egg binding.


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

Paulusworm said:


> Chicken Coop by Hutch Company-Homes-Pets at Home: Buy Pet Supplies from our Online UK Pet Shop
> 
> Oops! Forgot to put the link on :blush:.


 Nice coop to keep 2 small guinea pigs in. Not anywhere near big enough for the number they say and I wouldn't cram 3 battery hens into that.:bash:


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## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

iv been told when keeping chicken u need 5 or 6 at least in order 2 keep each other warm? i know people that have 3 with no problems so not sure if its true or not?


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

Paulusworm said:


> Any of you ever used Chalk Hill Poultry?
> 
> Home Page
> 
> I think the Large Orpington Buffs are the favourites with my kids at the moment. I'm thinking two of them, give them time to settle and then two Ex-Batts. Was thinking the Orps could show the Ex-Batts how to be chickens again. Good idea or bad?


 Orpingtons are massive fowl and you certainly couoldn't put them in that little coop you showed . Ideally, you'll get all the birds at the same time from the same place. It avoids the awful bullying which goes on with new birds, sometimes even getting pecked to death!. It also means that because you got them from the same place, they will be used to each others germs and not get sick.Orpingtons come in a range of colours too, not just buff. p.s. They are buff Orpingtons. Not Orpington buffs


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## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

Paulusworm said:


> Chicken Coop by Hutch Company-Homes-Pets at Home: Buy Pet Supplies from our Online UK Pet Shop
> 
> Oops! Forgot to put the link on :blush:.


thats what iv just bought 2 put a couple of my ferrets in, thats a good price as well we paid quite a bit more for ours. its goes 2geva really easy n its very well made. but i would say u needed sumet bigger for chickens there are quite active, plus i dont think its fox proof, u would defo need somet fox proof? we have made ours more secure so 110% the ferrets can not get out.

edit - just put the ferrets back n ours is made by select cages SC i dont think the ones from pets at home are, i had a look at them n thye didnt look as well made


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

fenwoman said:


> But ignore the so called advice as it is bad advice, tells you to do illegal stuff and advocates things which are cruel.
> Take proper advice from people like myself or Pimperella who have a lot of years experience in keeping poultry (around 30 in my case) and not from someone who sells handfuls of chicken food and hasnb't kept chickens for very long at all.


I've been having a pm conversation with Pimperella about that. All is now clearly understood :2thumb:.



fenwoman said:


> no. not only that, they will be deficient in nutrients and prone to egg binding.


Been thinking about that too since posting. That was based on the advice I was getting from the above mentioned website. Just to reassure you I have no intention of feeding grain alone. They will definately recieve a balanced, healthy diet.



fenwoman said:


> Nice coop to keep 2 small guinea pigs in. Not anywhere near big enough for the number they say and I wouldn't cram 3 battery hens into that.:bash:


I have since been looking into the 6 x 4 shed conversion idea. Measured out the dimensions of that run/coop combo in the garden and thought nah. No where near big enough. I want my hens to be happy.



fenwoman said:


> Orpingtons are massive fowl and you certainly couoldn't put them in that little coop you showed . Ideally, you'll get all the birds at the same time from the same place. It avoids the awful bullying which goes on with new birds, sometimes even getting pecked to death!. It also means that because you got them from the same place, they will be used to each others germs and not get sick.Orpingtons come in a range of colours too, not just buff. p.s. They are buff Orpingtons. Not Orpington buffs


I see your point. We were looking at the buffs or gold laced ones. I'll get the hang of the names one day. I'm writing up my final year project for my degree at the moment and there's only so much my brain can hold :blush:

My kids are very animal friendly. They're not into chasing animals around and scaring them. Even my 2yr old if he finds a worm will pick it up and move it to the flowerbed rather than stamping on it. The waste can go in the composter and I have a fair few relatives that are into gardening and will be happy to take some off our hands. Any excess we can take to our local tip for composting. My kids aren't your typical 'towny' children. They're not afraid of a bit of dirt and we can always clean them up.

I understand your concerns but don't worry because I will not go ahead until I am happy that I am competant enough to ensure that my hens will have a good life. I have Pimperella's msn and I know that you guys will answer any questions that I may have. I was always brought up to ask questions no matter how silly the questions may seem. Probably why I'm a scientist : victory:.


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## ferretlad (Mar 6, 2008)

I feed all my hens on Dodson&Horrell layers pellets, and they all get some Mixed poultry corn in the afternoon and plenty fresh greens, clean fresh water with a few drops of Codliver oil and Oyster shell grit at all times. I keep my hen houses clean and have plenty hay in the nest boxes and i think my hens enjoy how i keep them and look happy and content, and in return they lay very well for me.


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i`ve got mine on fine chopped straw thats eucalyptus scented to help deter the nasty bugs`n`mites.

i was always told never to use hay because the spores in it might affect their breathing?

i`d love to keep mine in a shed, think how easy the cleaning out would be with no bending down..............heaven!


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

ferretlad said:


> a few drops of Codliver oil and Oyster shell grit at all times.quote]
> 
> I take it the cod liver oil is for healthy joints, etc. Is the oyster shell grit for calcium? Just asking because we live in a hard water area, our water supply comes from a bloody great big lump of chalk and flint called Portsdown Hill. Would I just reduce the amout of added calcium or can they pass the excess through ok?


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## ferretlad (Mar 6, 2008)

pigglywiggly said:


> i`ve got mine on fine chopped straw thats eucalyptus scented to help deter the nasty bugs`n`mites.
> 
> i was always told never to use hay because the spores in it might affect their breathing?
> 
> i`d love to keep mine in a shed, think how easy the cleaning out would be with no bending down..............heaven!


Yes you are right about hay spores, but if the hay is clean and dry and you change it regular its fine, on the other hand if it gets damp and moldy its dangerous, as the fungal spores will cause damage to the bronchial tubes and cause respiratory problems. I have used clean dry hay for over 30 years in my hens nest boxes without any ill efect. I have tried other nesting material such as straw.. paper.. and shavings but found the hens never really layed well on them and they looked for other places to lay rather than in the hen house.


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## jerryb (Mar 1, 2009)

*garden hens*

hi we have 5 hens in our garden 2 are a bit nervous but our 3 year old daughter and our 1 yr old long leg staff do not bother them at all even when being chased we have eggs every day. taste and colour is about what you feed them ours have layers mash not pellets as this make's them work for the feed aswell as table scraps they love rice and pasta i have a 70 ft garden and sectioned about a 30ft x 20ft area but they also have run off the whole garden at weekends nervous are light sussex and mendlesham blue


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## ferretlad (Mar 6, 2008)

Paulusworm said:


> ferretlad said:
> 
> 
> > a few drops of Codliver oil and Oyster shell grit at all times.quote]
> ...


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

Paulusworm said:


> I've been having a pm conversation with Pimperella about that. All is now clearly understood :2thumb:.
> 
> 
> Been thinking about that too since posting. That was based on the advice I was getting from the above mentioned website. Just to reassure you I have no intention of feeding grain alone. They will definately recieve a balanced, healthy diet.
> ...


 I'm relieved. Pimps and I both breed and show poultry, although I am a lot lot older than she is so have been keeping then since the neolithic age hehe.
I have done a few rescues as, apparently, I am on the RSPCA's 'people to contact' list. I have seen some shocking plights, borne out of ignorance and not thinking ahead, especially on the waste litter aspect.
Hopefully Pimps recommended you the chicken bible (starting with chickens, by Katie Thear) The woman who wrote it is a flipping chicken guru and at only £6.95 new, it is worth every penny.
Why not get a selection of breeds, each laying a different coloured egg? I'm sure the kids would like that, plus they look lovely on the dresser top, plus you can tell who is 'off lay' by seeing who is laying or who isn't.
So for example. Legbar for bluey green eggs, Araucana for blue, Welsummer for teracotta with 'red oxide' splashes or speckles, copper black maran for deep chocolate coloured eggs, Hamburgh (white with black spots) for pure white eggs, or leghorn for the same. Marans dark brown eggs, Wyandotte (come in a lovelly range of colours, have a look for gold laced and silver laced.....stunning, lay a 'tinted' egg.
As for the names, the colour comes first, then the breed so , gold laced orpington, silver laced wyandotte, buff cochin. Think dog. Like black labrador, red setter etc.
I adore chickens and have rather a lot. However, the thought of weating an egg makes me rather queasy. I just don't like them.:blush:
However, after 30 plus years keeping chickens, I still get a buzz when I go to the nest boxes and find several fresh warm eggs there. I feel like someone gave me a present every day. Now of course, I feel no dismay when cockerels hatch either. I keep whan I need, plus run some on for show, then eat the rest.


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i eat my male japanese quails and keep the females for eggs, i`m useless at plucking tough, i couldnt face doing a whole chicken

:lol2:


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

fenwoman said:


> I'm relieved. Pimps and I both breed and show poultry, although I am a lot lot older than she is so have been keeping then since the neolithic age hehe.
> I have done a few rescues as, apparently, I am on the RSPCA's 'people to contact' list. I have seen some shocking plights, borne out of ignorance and not thinking ahead, especially on the waste litter aspect.
> Hopefully Pimps recommended you the chicken bible (starting with chickens, by Katie Thear) The woman who wrote it is a flipping chicken guru and at only £6.95 new, it is worth every penny.
> Why not get a selection of breeds, each laying a different coloured egg? I'm sure the kids would like that, plus they look lovely on the dresser top, plus you can tell who is 'off lay' by seeing who is laying or who isn't.
> ...


 
I do the same, no stressing when Cockerals are hatched lol We run on for either fattening up or hopefully for show. Apart from the legbars cause my 5 yr old son has really put his foot down on eating any of them lol We can find them homes he said not eat them. Yet he's quite happy to eat any of mine lol
He spent half of the afternoon sat on the bench under the willow tree with the chucks all milling around him. Some of the chickens who won't let us pick them up, are happy for him to. Very odd. I even caught him once with his fave legbar sat on the seat of his bike, as he slowly pushed her round the garden, she could have hopped off at anytime but she sat there happily, she's even followed him through the house to his bedroom where she has been sat on the head of his bed while he was playing on the playstation.

I agree, nice little mixed flock of different coloured egg layers, it really is nice having a basket of multi coloured eggs, only in this house, no one but my son is allowed the legbar eggs, he's very strict on that. Apparently they only lay for him.

Just got a lovely trio of White Crested Blue polands, they are so tame. I really love them as a breed. Dianne was round yesterday having a tour of the poultry pens. She was as chuffed as I am at the different breeds and the stunning colours of the cockerals. 
But we both agreed that my new pair of Priscilla Middleton line Lavender Orpingtons are just jaw dropping gorgeous. And my Blue Laced Barnevelders are absolutely stunning, the way the the lacing on the feathers is so clear. I'm hoping to show either Arrow or Archer, both of whom I got from Chris Millward.

If only you were closer Paul. I'd have sorted you out with a few layers later in the year and Plenty of Plywood to build a super huge coop.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

Pimperella said:


> I do the same, no stressing when Cockerals are hatched lol We run on for either fattening up or hopefully for show. Apart from the legbars cause my 5 yr old son has really put his foot down on eating any of them lol We can find them homes he said not eat them. Yet he's quite happy to eat any of mine lol
> He spent half of the afternoon sat on the bench under the willow tree with the chucks all milling around him. Some of the chickens who won't let us pick them up, are happy for him to. Very odd. I even caught him once with his fave legbar sat on the seat of his bike, as he slowly pushed her round the garden, she could have hopped off at anytime but she sat there happily, she's even followed him through the house to his bedroom where she has been sat on the head of his bed while he was playing on the playstation.
> 
> I agree, nice little mixed flock of different coloured egg layers, it really is nice having a basket of multi coloured eggs, only in this house, no one but my son is allowed the legbar eggs, he's very strict on that. Apparently they only lay for him.
> ...


Beren is the Chicken Whisperer! I love my CC trio the cockrel was inside waiting to go in his pen last night second I opened the shed door he's chowing at me for been late! 

I am bringing My sultans Home can't wait there bantam sultans and gorgeous and friendly birds


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

pigglywiggly said:


> i eat my male japanese quails and keep the females for eggs, i`m useless at plucking tough, i couldnt face doing a whole chicken
> 
> :lol2:


 I couldn't be bothered mucking about with a tiny jap quail. All bones and no meat.
If you don't like plucking a chicken, why not just skin it then? Personally I find plucking rather relaxing. Are you plucking a warm chicken or a cold one?


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

fenwoman said:


> I couldn't be bothered mucking about with a tiny jap quail. All bones and no meat.
> If you don't like plucking a chicken, why not just skin it then? Personally I find plucking rather relaxing. Are you plucking a warm chicken or a cold one?


I love plucking :lol2: lucky really as in winter I never seem to stop with pheasants, partridge, duck, woodcock!


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

fenwoman said:


> I couldn't be bothered mucking about with a tiny jap quail. All bones and no meat.
> If you don't like plucking a chicken, why not just skin it then? Personally I find plucking rather relaxing. Are you plucking a warm chicken or a cold one?


 
I know just what you mean! lol
I sit in the chicken doing ours. Alex (she's 7) has now started helping me to pluck them. She loves her chucks, but being so well rounded in mind, she also loves eating them aswell.
Cause we will not buy any chicken, the only time she gets any is when we do our own. Last one I was plucking, she was stood behind me, leaning on the washing machine. I asked if she wanted to help, straight away she was plucking, and she's really rather good at it aswell.
Then when Ste came home she was proudly saying how she had helped.


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

I find it relaxing the same way that you see a bit of wallpaper and start picking at it, the next thing, you are ripping big swathes of it off the wall. Or popping bubble wrap. Plucking chickens is relaxing. And good on you Pimps for teaching your children that meat comes form dead animals, not cellophane wrapped on a polystyrene tray from Tesco...<spit>
I always find that children are interested in producing their own food, be it growing spuds in a car tyre, to preparing meat. Most kids want to see the insides and ask where the heart is, where the lungs are etc. Have you shown them how the feet curl and uncurl if they pull the tendons? When I was a little girl way back in the stone age, my parents would pluck and dress a chicken and give the feet to us kids to play with. We'd try picking up stones and sticks with them by curling the toes around the object. Ahhh the things which used to amuse kids back then :lol2:


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

fenwoman said:


> ....teaching your children that meat comes form dead animals


Too right. Mine learn that from a very early age. I did a show and tell session a while back about dinosaurs, cos I've got a little collection of teeth, and the staff stopped me mid-way through explaining why a herbivore's tooth is different to a carnivore's. They thought it would upset the kiddies! They should know about these things and then if they grow up and still can't handle the reality become veggie.



fenwoman said:


> Have you shown them how the feet curl and uncurl if they pull the tendons?


Haha! I did that when I was a kid too. I used to go around the corner to the butcher's shop and buy one for 5p just so I could scare my little sister. That and a handful of pigs' eyeballs to throw at her. Oh the fun we had. I was such a lovely child :devil:.


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## Paulusworm (Jan 26, 2009)

My landlords suck. They've said no!!!

Thanks anyway for all the advice and offers of help.

Paul : victory:


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