Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

diluvsdiscounts

Gigervamp wrote: »

Woohoo! I picked up my first 3 chickens today! I have a speckledy, a sussex star and a black rock.
They're settling in nicely, although I don't think they're used to roosting on bars as when I checked them before shutting them up for the night, one was in a nesting box and one was sitting in a corner. Only the speckledy was on a perch. The place I got them from had them freeranging in the garden and yard, and they had a stable to live in.

Got to think of names for them now.

I'll post some pics tomorrow because I've got friends coming round for the evening shortly.

I got my 4 Warrens 5 weeks ago and they didn't go automatically onto the roosting bars either so the first night I put 2 up there thinking the other 2 would follow but they didn't they just huddled up together in the corner,so the next 2 nights I put them up aswell and now they have organised their pecking order and happily go in at night and go up to roost.
I have called mine Geraldine, Gabriella, Georgina and Gertrude.
They are so lovely even though DH doesn't quite agree at the moment as they are destroying our garden but he will and he does admit that they are the nicest eggs he's ever tasted.
Mine are quite happy being stroked and run around the garden after us. I was sat on the bench the other day and one hopped up beside me.
I just need to encourage them now that when they dig in the borders they need to keep the soil in the border and not all over the lawn then everyone will be happy.

jexygirl

woohoo! Grats to all new mommys and daddys!
I laughed about the soil and the borders diluvsdiscounts!

Camelot - believe it or not, they are not ex bats.... they were from my "freerange" egg supplier... It wasnt until I went to Defra website to find out about conditions for "free range" because I was so unhappy with the state of them, that I realised how disillusioned I was with the term freerange.
I am not sure whether there is any re homing centres up here, but i guess there must be. I will ask around and see what I can find out. If you come across one let me know too!

looking forward to some piccies of all new girls! (and ofc any others!)

Jex

angelavdavis

Well, I have got my four new ex-batts to pick up next weekend. I need to get another coop to keep them in quarantine temporarily until I have established they are OK. I was looking yesterday but I am really at a loss which type to choose. Not sure whether to got for a triangular ark or a larger type. They will eventually join my other four in the eglu cube, so I don't want to spend a fortune. I am going to keep them in the lean to at the side of the house for the short term to give them a bit more shelter, but it will depend what sort of state they are in.

My hen that I have been nursing back to health is almost ready to go back with the other girls. She has been living in our conservatory but I am going to work towards getting her back in the cube by next weekend. She is much stronger now and free ranged in the garden with the others. Boss hen started bullying her, but she stuck up for herself! So, she went over to the other two and took out her frustration on them - poor things! She is an awful bully.

ginnyknit

My 3 ex batts are well settled in
after a week, sleeping on the roost and delivering at least an egg a day. We are slowly extending their diets and have a bowl of veg bits and the odd cabbage leaf to nibble on. Think my wheely bin will be almost empty soon what with 3 compost bins, rescue guinea pigs, rabbits and the chooks. And they all cost so little to keep. Dh wants to know what animals I want next but think I have enough responsibilities at the mo - he says an alpaca wont fit in our garden:(

Mumof2_2

Just to let you know I'm a very proud Mummy because Betsy, our Warren laid an egg just after lunch :j - good girl Betsy! I thought she'd be first because her comb or whatever it's called is a lot bigger and redder than on the other girls, and she was very unsettled this morning; kept going upstairs into the perch then do then up and there was a lot of clucking going on. Now we know why!

diluvsdiscounts

Jexygirl I wish my husband laughed at the soil border thing I can't resist letting them out!!

blushingbride_3

hi everyone,

so i couldnt part with my girls at the weekend, partly due to weather but because i dont want to!

Now i have some questions.

Firstly i have a omlet cube with run extension.

Does anyone keep there chickens in the coop all the time?

What do you have as a base for your coops?

on the omlet forum most people recomend a solid base & then using auboise horse bedding, ensuring that the run is covered with tauapulin, to help keep smells & mess at bay.

Now i am considering doing this, laying patio for my coop & run, what would i use to stop the auboise being kicked out? was thinking concrete edging around the patio but then the auboise would get wet between the tarpaulin & the fox proof trim.

I have also thought that i could make a railway sleeper base & then sit the cube & run ontop of it?

Mumof2_2

I've got a Cube too with 4 chickens in, they're in it all the time at the moment as we only got them on Saturday, but I will be letting them out, probably at the weekend (when DH is around to help me!) I don't intend to let them out all day every day; just when I'm around and can keep an eye on them.

The base of my coop is part patio and part grass but, when we have cleared out some rubble (don't ask) then they'll definitely go onto a concrete base. I've put some B&Q soft woodchips down but next time I think I'll go for Aubiose. For edging we got some green plastic edging from B&Q and cable tied it to the fencing; not very pretty but will stop bedding going everywhere.

Sorry I can't be a huge help as I'm so new to all of this, but that's what I'm doing so far. Good luck with your chickens; I think I saw your post on the Omlet board and you got loads of really good advice (which I've taken on board too!)

blushingbride_3

thanks mum of 2!:)

would be fab to see some piccies of your cube when you get a chance

enjoy your girls, they are such fun

Gigervamp

Well, my girls have been named and they've sorted out their pecking order. The bossy one is Daisy, she's the speckledy. Second in command is the sussex, Amelia and the shy hen pecked one (black rock) is Gracie. They're starting to use their roosting bars now, although the night before last, when I peeked in at them, Amelia was sitting in one of the nest boxes with Gracie squashed up half underneath her, poor thing!

It's lovely sitting outside watching them whilst having a cuppa.