Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Penelope_Penguin

Are they ex-battery? They are often reluctant to venture out. I wouldn't worry, though. They'll come out when they're ready.

Do they know where the food and water are? They may need you to show them.

We keep food for ours inside their house (otherwise the starlings have it all :rolleyes: ).

Keep us informed, Penny. x

Penelope_Penguin

There's an older thread here - Hey ...... let's keep chickens! I'll merge this thread with that one later, to keep all replies together.

Penny. x

cuffie

Hey - thanks for your replies.

We got 3 more tonight (had planned on doing that anyway - we wanted all different breeds so the kids could tell them apart so had to get them from different suppliers!), and the 2 that had been lazing in the house suddenly jumped off their roosting perches and came outside! Hubby had lifted the 2 out and put them outside while I was at work this morning. They ate a bit and then went back inside for the rest of the day, but tonight they are all happily getting on with their new friends - I'm so pleased! I was so worried! They are so funny aren't they??

Thanks guys!

xxxx

Penelope_Penguin

Great stuff! Which breeds do you have? Any photos? Which reminds me, I must get some more pics of mine on here!

Penny. x

Triker

Yey for chickens.

Welcome to the fantastic world of chicken keeping.

Your chicks will no doubt be fine, they'll just need a few few days to settle in and then it'll be like they've always been there.

I love chickens, can you tell?:D

cuffie

OK - I think I've got the breeds right - I will put some piccies on here when I can get them uploaded, but we have:-
a black rock
a bovan goldline
a pied suffolk
a warren something!
a plain white one - not sure of the breed.
I'll phone the farmer tomorrow, coz I wouldn't mind knowing the last 2. He did say, but I forgot! No names yet. The children want to think of names for them.
They are all hybrids, point of lay (around 16/18wks).
They are just so funny!! They have all gone indoors for the night now.
They haven't drunk much...should I be worried? Actually, I haven't seen them drink anything at all!
I can't get over what characters they are already.....this is gonna be fun:D !!!!

Thanks! xx

cuffie

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Great stuff! Which breeds do you have? Any photos? Which reminds me, I must get some more pics of mine on here!

Penny. x

Do post some piccies. I'd love to see them. x

Penelope_Penguin

cuffie wrote: »

Do post some piccies. I'd love to see them. x

Mine are here. Post 139 on for this year's brood.

Penny. x

cuffie

Ahh. How gorgeous!! Do keep us posted!

Does it matter that all my chooks are squashed in the egg-laying part of their hen-house? I went out to pull the front door shut, and I could not see them on the perches, so I assume they are all sitting on top of each other on the nest of shredded paper!! Will they suffocate each other??

Sorry - I'm just a bit of a worrier!!

Hens have been named......
Bovan Goldline is called "Lucky the Fluffy" (my daughters.....she is 5! I tried insisting she keep to the "Lucky" but "The Fluffy" bit has to go on it too!)
Black Rock is called "Summer"
Pied Sussex is called "Daisy"
The other one which looks like the Goldline, but has big white blobs over its back is called "Buttons"
The white one is called "Darcy"

Any tips?? How do I get them to sleep on their perches rather than each other? How do I get them to drink their water? What treats are best??

Thanks again - you have all been so helpful! xx

Magentasue

Hello cuffie,

You're really making me miss my hens. They had to be rehomed when we moved house. Yours won't suffocate or harm each other huddled up but t'is to be discouraged because you'll get mucky nest boxes and then mucky eggs.

They should be perching but maybe it's the stress of moving house and new coup-mates that's making them forgetful. We had pullets and ex-batteries and found the pullets perched from the start. The ex-batteries had to be taught once their toes uncurled.

Leave them tonight and then decide whether you can be bothered to perch them every night. You have to go out out lift them on to the perches until they get the idea. We did it for ours but some people leave them be.

They'll drink when they need to. Worry if you don't see them drink tomorrow - maybe you have a different sort of drinker that they need to get used to. Chickens aren't stupid but they take a little while to learn new ways. They're easily stressed but yours will be fine as they were healthy to start with.

We fed ours layers pellets most of the time but gave them porridge in the winter every morning. Favourite treats were grapes, cooked pasta leftovers, greens, cheese (occasional and small quantities) and bread. I remember being disappointed that they weren't interested in treats when we got them but it didn't take them long to get the idea!

Enjoy!