Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink · 30 January 2016 at 11:33PM

Hi Skipton

No I wasn't thinking that at all. The guy is a friend of my hubbies and I think he knew we would take more home. I asked my hubbie how the conversation went when he went to collect them and he said that he (my hubbie) said "looks as though there is more than 8 in there" and the guy said I think there is about 8". But, when they were counted there was 15:eek:.

This guy rents a cottage on a farm so the farm would of taken the rest but we have seen how they are kept on the farm. They are not cruelly treated or anything but our housing or should I say hen hotel is much more comfy for them and they have lots of interesting things to do and lots of places to explore in our garden unlike the large pen some are kept in at the farm.

None of them were bald thankfully just a few feathers missing here and there so no woolly sweaters needed this time around. This is their second rehoming so they gained their feathers back at the guys place. A couple are quite timid but they will soon relax after a while. Most of my hens are the same colour now it is proving pretty difficult naming them all. I have one Lohman who is ginger, one grey Bluebell, one White Star and the other 23 are all the same colour:eek:. Wish me luck in trying to name them.

If you have snow again you must be way up north. It is lovely seeing them play in the snow once they get used to it. If we are out in the snow whilst they are sheltering it keeps them amused watching us I am sure. :rotfl:Of course they think we are mad humans why else would we be working out in it? They are lucky because they have everything done for them. For our wages today we got 5 eggs!!

Edwink x

skipton · 31 January 2016 at 1:26AM

LOL Edwink.

When I got my 5 white leghorns I couldn't tell them apart so I painted spots on them, with Gentain Violet. The different marks wore off by which time I had a rough idea who was who. I'm sure their characters will differentiate them in the end and you'll have fun finding them out.:rotfl:

Dizzy_Ditzy · 5 February 2016 at 6:18PM

Edwink how are your new ladies settling in?

My girls are doing ok - three days this week we've had 5/5 eggs and last two days we've had 3/5.

Two of them now are showing baldie bottoms :rotfl: the one whose bum went bald first has a lovely fluffy bottom now :rotfl: one has a bald head and bottom and the other has just half a baldie bum

Sorry for those who've lost little ladies

How is everyone doing?

skipton · 6 February 2016 at 12:31AM

My girls were drinking tea tonight! I tipped a little into one of their dishes and most loved it. They had water at the side so it was their choice, some came back for several sips. They make me laugh when they have something new. One tries it and the others stand with heads slightly on one side watching. The suspious ones wait to see the outcome.
5/8 eggs today 6/8 yesterday.

Dizzy_Ditzy · 6 February 2016 at 9:48AM

skipton wrote: »

My girls were drinking tea tonight! I tipped a little into one of their dishes and most loved it. They had water at the side so it was their choice, some came back for several sips. They make me laugh when they have something new. One tries it and the others stand with heads slightly on one side watching. The suspious ones wait to see the outcome.
5/8 eggs today 6/8 yesterday.

I might try mine on some tea

Last year when it was 30 degrees (oh, to be back there again :rotfl:) I gave mine grapes in ice. Chickens with brain freeze are the funniest creatures ever :rotfl::rotfl:

Dizzy_Ditzy · 6 February 2016 at 12:13PM

My girls weren't happy bunnies this morning with the weather :eek:

I did a full, change everything clean, put new straw down and as quick as I was getting the straw down it was getting blown everywhere. It is so much drier in there now though

Someone else at the allotment also has hens. Her run is much smaller than ours, she has a huge house in the middle and very little space around the outside of it. Her run is akin to the Somme :eek: We saw her a couple of weeks ago and suggested she needed to get straw down for them to help out, but she hasn't done anything. She's having a pretty rough time at the mo so I don't want to push the issue but at the same time, I don't want to end up having responsibility for her girls as well as my own. What the hell do I do?!

Poor little things have never even had a dustbath :eek:

Horseygirl123 · 7 February 2016 at 4:50PM

Its difficult isn't it. It must be very upsetting to see them every day.

Whenever I've tried to help with animals, I've usually ended up taking them in, which is why I've now got 14 chickens. Over the years I've ended up with countless rabbits, Guinea pigs, hamsters, cats, ponies - usually on a temporary basis that ended up permanent. In most cases it's nearly always the case that animals were purchased on a whim without any thought to proper housing, management, the sheer time and effort and expense of looking after them.

The straw idea suggested on here has been a huge success. Although my chickens free range, they are confined to their electrified run overnight and it's been sodden. I've almost covered the entire 150 square metres with straw and it's made a big difference in soaking up all the standing water.

The water has shorted out the electric fence again so I do worry about that even though I'm assured by the gamekeeper that there aren't any foxes around.

We have one big dust bath (also known as a sand school that my daughter rides in). She frequently complains that there are mini craters everywhere where the chickens bury themselves up to their necks.

skipton · 8 February 2016 at 11:18PM

We have one big dust bath (also known as a sand school that my daughter rides in). She frequently complains that there are mini craters everywhere where the chickens bury themselves up to their necks.

Don't you just love seeing them have a bath! My first chickens used to purr while they bathed.
I have mini craters in the covered pen which are fine in daylight but if I go to shut the girls up in the pitch dark it's a bit of a nightmare.

Better_Days · 9 February 2016 at 8:25AM

I love watching the hens dust bath, especially in the summer when they trill with contentment. I also love the way they duck the heads under, and flick the dust bath everywhere with their legs.

Hennys were not very happy yesterday with all the wind, as it ruffles the feathers and it is hard for a girl to keep looking good.

For the last week or so we have been getting 3/5 eggs but yesterday we got 5/5. Spring must be coming.:j

Dizzy_Ditzy · 9 February 2016 at 3:26PM

I caught mine dustbathing just now, first time I've seen them do it for a few months. Their usual spot got flooded out, so they've now chosen the little run underneath their bedroom in the coop. Their coop has a teeny run attached to it which goes under their bedroom. So that's now called affectionately the bathroom :rotfl:

Such a lovely, lovely thing to watch them doing

Keeping hens and ducks chat.

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