Provider of Courses for Chicken Keeping and Poultry Supplies
Provider of Courses for Chicken Keeping and Poultry Supplies
Chicken keeping in the garden has become extremely popular ever since Covid 19 started. People have been discovering the unexpected joys of keeping chickens and have embraced the chicken world. Most have found them a complete joy to own. However, as with any new pet, they can come with a side which is not that easy to explain. They get illnesses like the rest of us, and they also need specific feed and care to thrive. Chicken care is sometimes a chore depending on what equipment you bought. After having dipped their toes in the water of chicken life, you may find that they have a complexity which you did not perhaps appreciate. They actually have a personality too – who knew!!
The best way to start keeping chickens in the garden is to do a course first before getting any equipment – forewarned is forearmed – right?
If you have come here because you have already started with hen keeping, then that is also a good move.
There is always much to learn about chickens and there are always improvements you can make to make the job of keeping them clean and healthy that much easier. Keeping chickens needn’t be a chore, but the key is to get your equipment right. Getting your routines right is also a great way to focus on the joys of these wonderful birds. No-one needs to get bogged down when you get things right. That is where our courses for keeping chickens come in.
Well actually lots of things matter. In isolation, they won’t do much harm, but chicken keeping can take up loads of time. Admittedly a lot of the time that you can’t account for is spent just gazing at your chickens. They are great “time-wasters” but in a good way. Chickens have the capacity to relax and soothe in a strange sort of way. This is why they make excellent therapy animals. Anyway I am digressing. Enjoying this “wasted” time is important. If it ceases to become enjoyable interacting with your chickens because you have cleaning to do, or illness to contend with, then the “therapy” benefits go out of the window. Cost implications are a biggie. The single most expensive item will be your coop. Choosing one is a minefield. How many chickens will it fit? Does it look good? Can I clean it easily? Lots of questions…. but not many answers to be found. Choosing one on cost alone is a bad move. Buy cheap, buy twice is very applicable to coop designs. Getting the wrong coop will result in unhappy chickens and very UNHAPPY YOU. It will hurt your pocket and your time.
If you don’t buy the right equipment you are setting yourself up for an uphill struggle. Some equipment makes more work giving you less time to enjoy your hobby. Using the right securing methods will keep your hens safe from predators.
Chickens require the right feed in order to thrive. Feeding is not just about how many eggs they produce. It’s about making sure they have the correct nutrition to survive the egg-laying. It is also about what NOT to feed.
Chickens need to be kept in a clean environment to ensure they remain healthy. However if you pick the wrong coop for example cleaning is going to become a chore. The ground your chickens live on also needs to be disease free.
If you don’t get the basics right you will find yourself buying stuff over an over in order to reduce the workload. It is so much better to make wise choices firstly or your eggs will become the most expensive on the planet.
Hobbies are meant to be enjoyable but finding the time in busy lives is not always easy. The weather is a factor in fitting the chicken chores in. Getting the job done quickly and efficiently is a boon.
Chickens can be a host to a number of pests. The chicken coop is also a source of pests. Some can make yours and your chickens lives miserable. Red mite for instance is absolutely a pest that has deserved its fearsome reputation.
Predators just love chickens. Unfortunately they love them too much and can decimate a flock in the twinkling of an eye. Keeping ahead of these animals is essential if you want to avoid being the latest take-away location.
There are a number of legalities you need to be aware of if you want to keep chickens. It matters not whether they are only pets, the rules are there and they must be followed. DEFRA and APHA are the watchdogs for chicken keepers.
Our online foundation course is now getting some very appreciative comments from our students. These are what we have enjoyed doing the course for.
I bought this course online as I want to get some chickens for the garden. I’m so glad I did this before buying anything, it completely change my mind and perspective on equipment and it has saved me a lot of bad decisions! So useful.
I have read several books on basic chicken keeping, but I have found this course to be the most comprehensive. I have changed my plans and moved away from an Eglu coop due to the advice given on the course. I also found the day-to-day sections useful to help work out how much time I would need to spend on daily/weekly cleaning etc. The advice on the different types of bedding was especially useful. I have made a note to purchase hemp or Probed bedding with some bio-dry to make cleaning easier.
The online Hedgerow Henporium chicken keeping course is an absolute must for anyone like me who just weeks ago had no idea how to keep chickens or knew anything about them. Hedgerow have changed all that with this course. If you are serious about keeping chickens, spend your first money on this course. The information gained will set you up and give you confidence to begin looking after your chickens in an informed and enjoyable way. The course is a mini encyclopaedia of information, which is easy to follow through text, diagram, sound and video with a quiz at the end of each section to check your learning.
I have been considering keeping chickens for some time. I have read books, googled information and watched loads of YouTube but this course has been a revelation. Really well structured, all the right information you need on health, housing, feeding, anatomy, breeds etc etc. I have really enjoyed it and recommend to anyone considering doing the same. Now I am setting up and ready to take in my first girls in a couple of weeks. I would not have had the confidence to do this without this brilliant course.
Really useful
I have learned a great deal from this course and have already recommended it to a friend. Anyone thinking of keeping chickens should take this course.
I decided to take this course before taking the plunge and rehoming some rescue hens. I have completely changed my mind on the coop and run size after completing the course and I am now looking forward to getting some rescue hens. There is so much more to keeping chickens than I thought and this course provides you with that knowledge. Definitely worth taking.
Well worth the money! I have learnt so much from this interactive course which I’d never have been able to do by reading books. I feel much more confident and prepared to start my chicken keeping journey. Highly recommend.
Really useful, enjoyable and very interesting. Cannot wait to put my knowledge to use with keeping our chickens at work.
I thoroughly enjoyed taking this course. Once I started the course, I couldn’t stop until I finished! I highly recommend taking it!
Our aim for our courses has been to give terrific value for money. Giving loads of precisely targeted information which is difficult to source elsewhere. We wanted to be a one stop shop and to give you plenty of “AHA” moments along the way.
Reading a book or browsing the internet is hellishly time consuming. We know because we have done it. Books leave you with huge gaps or they don’t cover what you need in sufficient detail. Browsing the internet is also confusing because there is so much hearsay and clap-trap. How do you know which is fact and which is downright dangerous? The short answer is – you don’t – until it is too late of course. Beloved Henrietta hen is the poor victim who pays the price of such poor unsubstantiated advice.
If your hen gets sick then the obvious course of action is a vet. However, vets are not generally clued up on chicken care. They try, but some just throw some antibiotics at it and hope for the best, it’s “only a chicken” after all. By choosing the wrong vet you risk a one way trip that deeply hurts your pocket. Thankfully, more vets are now becoming more knowledgeable, but they are still the exception, rather than the rule. Vets are expensive and your chicken deserves the best chance of effective care. Giving your chicken the best chance of a happy outcome if they are ill is a major part of what we teach.
Watch video to give you a brief idea of what the aims of the course are.
Sue Woodhead
We simply adore chickens to the point where they are quite an obsession. Learning about these fascinating creatures has been a constant treasure trove.
Reading a book or browsing the internet is hellish time consuming. We know because we have done it. Books leave you with huge knowledge gaps or they don’t cover what you need in sufficient detail.
You then buy another book and another, none of which comes close to what we have in our chicken classes
Our aim for our courses has been to give value for money. Giving loads of targeted information which is difficult to source elsewhere. We wanted to be a one stop shop.
Grab yourself a leisurely cup of coffee and you can cover one lesson during that time. There are 17 lessons in the Foundation Course all laid out in bite-sized chunks. It’s easy to stop wherever and whenever you like. You are in the driving seat and are completely in control.
Bite-sized each section may be but they are crammed with golden nuggets of information. We tried very hard not to overwhelm but we strived to be completely accurate.