ooops i've done it again.....more chickens...

catewithers

Hello everyone - just had to tell you that for the first time ever I got 4 eggs today which means that all 4 of my girls are now laying!!!!

And Guinevere's getting much tamer these days too and even came when I called her by name this morning!

Loving my hens. Would really love some more but DH won't hear anything of it! :rolleyes:

cam8

catewithers wrote: »

Hi cam8 - welcome to the chicken thread! Nice to have you with us.

I think the standard reccomendation when hens aren't roosting, is to go out at night and put them onto the perch yourself. Apparently, after a while they'll get the idea and just put themselves up there.

I'm not sure what you should do about the water. I guess some of it depends what time you let them out in the mornings. Obviously, overnight they won't need the water because they're asleep and don't eat or drink anything. But this time of year they're up very early so I don't know whether they would need it before you let them out or not. This is something I don't have to deal with because I have a fox proof run attached to the house mine are in so I don't shut their pophole at night. The drinker is in the corner of this run so they can access it first thing before I get up to let them out into their bigger enclosure.

Hopefully someone else will be along shortly with a more helpful answer! You might also want to try this site - they're exceptionally friendly and very very helpful - and far more knowledgeable than me!! http://www.kelseyinfo.co.uk/yabb/YaBB.pl

So tell us more about your hens! What kind have you got? Have you named them?!

I have to say that mine initially started off sometimes sleeping in the nest boxes and on the floor but now they all perch. I didn't bother lifting them onto the perch though, I just left them to get on with it!

Thanks for the help. They are ordinary brown hens, didn't want to get too extravagant straight away, anyway They are called "Poppy and the other three". My 6yo son named Poppy, still working on names for the others.
I tuck them up at 10:30pm ish and let them out at around 7.30am. They seem happy enough with the arrangement.
Checked on them last night and 3 of them were perched.
Will keep you posted on the egg front when the time comes.

V_Chic_Chick

steady__eddie wrote: »

Many many many years ago there was a story doing the rounds concerning a woman who had allegedly hatched an egg by incubating it in her bra !
I did a search on Snopes the other day but I could find no reference to it so I suppose it could be true. Probably not advisable for multiple births but it could cut down on energy costs.

I can assure you that it did happen! On a different, chicken board, there was a bet, which ended up with two women and one man hatching out eggs using their body heat. I'll try and find the thread (I can't find it instantly, but it was somewhere on http://p072.ezboard.com/bbackyardchickens and was called something like boobie hatch). The women used their bras, and the man used a pouch in his pants :rotfl:

V_Chic_Chick

Now I have more time, I thought I should introduce me and my chickens.

I have two, on the outskirts of Bristol - Long Ashton to be more precise. One is a bantam araucana cross named Lily (someone told me she was 6 weeks old, standard and pure araucana, but she's a bantam and lays white eggs, but looks like an araucana. She's a sweetie though). The other is a large black orpington named Molly. Surprisingly enough, they get on fine, despite Molly being three times the size of Lily.

I have had chickens for three years, and have thoroughly enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. They've got me into self sufficiency, and I now have a half-decent veggie plot, which is sort of in three areas - two in the garden and one on the patio.

I also volunteer once a week at Windmill Hill City Farm, which has chickens, ducks, geese, sheep, goats and a sow. It's been great experience in looking after larger livestock, and I would love to keep goats as and when I have the opportunity. Working on a city farm is great for anyone who would love to keep poultry / larger livestock, but can't, it's free (had to get in the MSE bit there) apart from the bus fare, and it gives back to the community, not to mention being great fun!

For those who have been asking about size requirements, Storeys Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow (brilliant book) states the following:

Large chickens (e.g. Sussex, Wyandotte)
Sq ft inside, per chicken: 2
Sq ft outside, per chicken: 10

Light chickens (e.g. Leghorns, egg hybrids)
Sq ft inside, per chicken: 1.5
Sq ft outside, per chicken: 8

Bantams (e.g. Serama, Dutch, Japanese, and the smaller versions of light breeds)
Sq ft inside, per chicken: 1
Sq ft outside, per chicken: 4

I also have my own website, on the topic of keeping chickens. It has so much information on it, it's now hosted over about 8 different freewebs sites (more MSEing!), all linked together fairly seamlessly.
http://www.allaboutchickens.tk

CW - there is a pet shop just off whiteladies road (Worrall Road actually) that sells chicken food, and the owner said that they sell it to about 10 people, who all live fairly close by. I think that there must be quite a few of us in Brizzle who keep chickens . . . it's tempting to try and set up a local poultry group, to swap advice, care for each other's poultry whilst we're away, sell unwanted birds / equipment and so on.

My coop and run:

catewithers

V_Chic_Chick wrote: »

CW - there is a pet shop just off whiteladies road (Worrall Road actually) that sells chicken food, and the owner said that they sell it to about 10 people, who all live fairly close by. I think that there must be quite a few of us in Brizzle who keep chickens . . . it's tempting to try and set up a local poultry group, to swap advice, care for each other's poultry whilst we're away, sell unwanted birds / equipment and so on.

I'm trying to do this!!! But finding it difficult to find others who are interested! Perhaps you and I should get together and take it from there?

Thanks for the tip about the shop on Worrall Road - I know it. My father in Law used to own and run the cheese shop next door, which is now a sandwich shop called "the old cheese shop"! However, we're in Westbury on Trym and there's a shop in the village that sells layers pellets so I think we're ok.

Must tell you all, that after 2 months, my hens have finally worked out that if they stand in the greenhouse when it's raining, they don't get wet! :rolleyes: :T

V_Chic_Chick

catewithers wrote: »

I'm trying to do this!!! But finding it difficult to find others who are interested! Perhaps you and I should get together and take it from there?

Thanks for the tip about the shop on Worrall Road - I know it. My father in Law used to own and run the cheese shop next door, which is now a sandwich shop called "the old cheese shop"! However, we're in Westbury on Trym and there's a shop in the village that sells layers pellets so I think we're ok.

Must tell you all, that after 2 months, my hens have finally worked out that if they stand in the greenhouse when it's raining, they don't get wet! :rolleyes: :T

Is that the one by Nationwide, which is also a hardware shop? The one on Worrall Road sells Smallholder layers pellets, growers pellets and chick crumbs, as well as organic layers pellets . . .

The owner has little ads up in the shop (kittens for sale, french tuition etc) so that would be one way to advertise. However, I tend to keep quiet around where I live for fear of some idiot that is scared of bird flu stirring up trouble. I did once have a problem with disappearing eggs, which stopped when a padlock was fitted :mad:.

The power of the internet is a brilliant thing . . . a "Bristol Chicken Keepers" Yahoo group (or something like that) could work well, with meetings every month / two months / whatever.

Perhaps we could get a little notice put up in Practical Poultry?

countrylover_2

Noozan wrote: »

Talking of nest boxes, we have 3 in our hen house and for some reason, they ALL want to use the end one! It's not so bad now that we have 3 girls but even when we had 21 girls, they all wanted to use the end box! I'd sometimes find several of the hens pacing about the house clucking away whilst one was hogging the box, lol.

Hi Noozan
Just read your predicament did you find a solution to this problem I have 12 chooks and they all want to use the same box also.

Cheers Countrylover

poohbear59

I got my beautiful new girls on Wednesday and after one night in the hutch I put them on the roosts next night and they spent three days in hen house not venturing out of the runa at all. today I opened the run up and all 9 hens are happily scratching around in my garden. We got three eggs yesterday in the nesting boxes but 6 laid today were all under a garden chair which was covered up. I do despair when I read of people having hens laying in nest boxes. Now the new hens after a few days are also laying elsewhere!

cam8

Yippeee!! :j

Got my first egg on Saturday morning and another this morning (Sunday). Both laid in nesting box. Not sure which of my ladies laid first but Poppy produced the second one.

All four now have names, Poppy, Henrietta, Daisy and Lolly.

Tasty egg banjo for lunch today.

Wonder when the next two girls will start.

catewithers

V_Chic_Chick wrote: »

Is that the one by Nationwide, which is also a hardware shop?

Yes that's the one - Mogford's. It's like something out of a Two Ronnies' sketch!

V_Chic_Chick wrote: »

The power of the internet is a brilliant thing . . . a "Bristol Chicken Keepers" Yahoo group (or something like that) could work well, with meetings every month / two months / whatever.

Perhaps we could get a little notice put up in Practical Poultry?

I think that's a great idea. There's someone on Practical Poultry Forum who's also interested.