Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Mumof2_2

jexygirl wrote: »

Mumof2 - what is that green stuff under their feet???? now i remember, its grass!!!! They look fabulous
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I can tell you that green stuff has gone now - they cleared that in no time with all their scratching, little monkeys!

Mummyknowsbest, there's so much to learn isn't there! Let's hope they soon settle down. One of ours, Peckish (DD named her!) goes for Mabel and chases her off everything but they all snuggle up together at bed time so can't be anything too bad I don't think.

ginnyknit

:TTry the practical poultry website guys, loads of useful stuff there including what you can and can't feed them health wise or legally!! Apparently a little cod liver oil mixed in their feed helps laying and condition tho by some of the pics on here your hens are far more beautiful than mine - but the girls are getting better everyday. Ex batts soon revert to normal habits and often seem amazed by life

diluvsdiscounts

mutantk-I use saw dust on the floor of the shed,shredded paper in the nest box and under the roost bar I lay about four sheets of newspaper which I change every morning when I go and let them out,thankfully they all huddle up together so its quite easy. Then once a week I brush the whole shed out and change the paper in the nest box which is still like new because they only hop in to lay their egg and hop out again.
Today is the first day we have had four eggs so that means at last they are all laying

Mutantk

Wow thanks everyone for your great tips and ideas on housing/bedding - am guessing it may just be a case of seeing what works best for us and the hens! Think I'll start with straw in the nest box and shredded paper in the main house bit with the perches and change that daily - wasn't going to put anything down in the run area cos it will be on the grass - does that sound OK? Obviously will sweep whole thing out/clean it well at least once a week.

diluvsdiscounts

wasn't going to put anything down in the run area cos it will be on the grass - does that sound OK? Obviously will sweep whole thing out/clean it well at least once a week
This sounds ok in principle but the problem is that once they've been in there for a few weeks there won't be much grass left anyway.
We got ours in January because they were my birthday present and DH converted the shed and built a run.Well because it was so wet from all the snow the grass just turned to mud so much so that when they moved in and it snowed again it got so muddy there feet were full of it and consequently the coop was filthy. So I got some wood chippings from a local farm were they had cut lots of trees down and put that in the run which has helped to dry it out nicely ands gives the hens a bit of interest to dig through.

About the mirror I don't know if its been as good an idea as I originally thought because they are spending so much time looking at themselves I'm not sure it's a good thing.
Take now for example its glorious sunshine outside and they are all stood in a row in front of the mirror!!

Gigervamp

We have an egg! :j

Daisy the speckledy was acting a bit funny this morning. She kept going back into the coop and I could hear lots of scuffling and banging. Took a peek and she was clambering over the dividers in the nesting box (that was the banging sound) and she'd cleared some of the woodchip from the floor of the coop. She kept coming and going for about half an hour, then when I checked her again, she was picking up woodchips and putting them on her back.
So, I gave her a stroke and then she got up and there was the egg! Woohoo!

Had to ring hubby to tell him. He said they should have run a sweepstake at work! :rotfl:

Hehe, it's like watching your child take it's first steps!

Mumof2_2

Well done Daisy and you must be a very proud Mum Gigervamp! It sounds like she behaved just like Betsy did when she laid her first - very restless, kept going up to the coop and back and just looked unsettled.

We're very [STRIKE]sad[/STRIKE] conscientious and write the date on the egg, who laid it (all Betsy so far!) and the weight - do you think we need to get out more?

poohbear59

Yesterday morning I went out to give my three girls fresh warm water and I had four heads in the water bowl. One of them was the cat! She seems to have taken up residence with them at night.

At the moment the four of them are basking in the sun together.

poohbear59

Mumof2 wrote: »

We're very [STRIKE]sad[/STRIKE] conscientious and write the date on the egg, who laid it (all Betsy so far!) and the weight - do you think we need to get out more?

I have kept a record of how many eggs I get each day/week since Feb 2007. I never know who has laid mine or I am sure I would go to such detail too.

mummy_knows_best

Hi everyone, ive separated my chickens again today as she is still pecking her, my anti peck spray should be here tomorrow, but im still worried as she is just stood there occasionally having a peck at the grass but i found her stood there wiv her head under her wing asleep earlier is this normal if shes stressed? im also beginning to think if they would be betta off else where where there are other chickens and can free roam all day, i dont know what to do and all i get off my OH is " there chickens".

sorry to moan!