Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

princess_skint_a_lot_2

hi all

just thought id give you a quick update with my chickens dying problem. We went all CSI on it and have set traps but to no avail but did find weasel tracks around the back of the hen house. Amy our last remaining girl is living it up with us in the evenings, she is in a cardboard box in the kitchen, and probably will be for a few more days till we can afford some more hens, think she might die of loneliness out there. She is back on lay which is lovely and is a happy bird but is wary of being without us in the garden, although i think this may be a company reason. Does anyone think getting a cockerel would deter pests?
Hope all of you are ok.

Kind Regards

Princess

mardatha

Any hawk would take wee chicks, and a hungry desperate hawl would attempt a chicken. Hawks have to eat like everybody else Watch out for them in springtime, because then they have wives & families to feed. I love hawks with a passion.

stormchaos

I had this happen last year, lost about 5 hens, all with holes in the neck, then I saw a ferret under one of our hen huts, it came out towards me but i didn't dare pick it up so i threw a raw egg in a basket and it went in there.
When i took it home, my daughter got it out and it was extremley tame, so that weekend we took it to our local chicken auction and it went for the top price of £12 because it was so easy to handle, we used the money to buy more hens

mardatha

I absolutely love ferrets. they are such wee cuddles. We had 2 gorgeous lady ferrets & one used to lie at the fire when she was poorly, and lick raw egg off my finger.

rachie_2011

Morning all... my partner and I have kept chickens for a couple of years now at the bottom of our garden. We only ever have 3-4 hens at a time but it's always been enough for us. We've had a couple of run-ins with the local Fox who managed to rip a hole in the roof one night - he was one hungry fox!!! Since then, we've now fox-proofed the hen house as best as we can, and (touch wood) we haven't had any incidents happen since! (Comment's like that are just asking for trouble aren't they??)

We have raised our own hens too by hatching them, which is amazing and I'm hoping to do this again later in the year. The only problem with this is that you'll always have more males than females. We've been lucky with this so far too where we've always managed to re-home the boys, who have all grown up into very handsome birds!

I've just got one to re-home now, though I do like him a lot. I've named him (big mistake) Rooster Cogburn!

I'd tell anyone to have a couple of hens with a run. Although they can make a bit of a mess, it really depends on how much space they have to wonder around in. So long as you keep them fed, watered, hen house clean and lots of scrap/treats you'll have happy hens who will lay you the perfect egg every time! Do it people!! :cool:

Money_maker

princess_skint_a_lot wrote: »

hi all

just thought id give you a quick update with my chickens dying problem. We went all CSI on it and have set traps but to no avail but did find weasel tracks around the back of the hen house. Amy our last remaining girl is living it up with us in the evenings, she is in a cardboard box in the kitchen, and probably will be for a few more days

So sorry to hear of your troubles - have no experience with weasels but they sound as though they are difficult to clear. Would it be easier to rehome your hen until they have left the area? Hope you have had some advice from specialised forums. We have a plastic Keter we use for our house but then you can't really stop them getting in the run.

Moving off topic, I lost one of my ex batts last week, she was a bit light so have rushed to re-worm (all but one of mine are in a static run). Found www.petsensedirect.co.uk to be cheap and quite quick. Their flubenvet 60g is £13.95 delivered 2nd class although I did pay an extra £1.20 for 1st class. Much better than the £20+ I paid at scats! I do also use the verm-x in conjuction but would not rely on it as mine are fixed run and prone to re-infection.

HTH someone.

Feel quite bad if that is the reason I lost my girl. She was freed from battery last august. Last morning she managed to get through the covered run, into the outdoor run, over the mud (bit soggy here) and up onto a small wire 'box' in the run (used to use it to keep food off the ground). Then she laid out with the little bit of sun that day shining on her and passed away. As a Free Hen.

Money_maker

rachie_2011 wrote: »

We have raised our own hens too by hatching them, which is amazing and I'm hoping to do this again later in the year.

I hatched a few broods a few years ago. First couple were sat on by my brown hybrid Ethel who was so laid back she would let me inspect the eggs under her and draw back her feathers so I could see them hatching. Second broody was a bantam and wouldn't let us anywhere near her :eek:

mardatha

MM, are worms a problem in a fixed run ? Mine will be in a strip up top of the garden, fence doff but fixed. If that makes sense lol!

princess_skint_a_lot_2

hi all

just thought id give you a quick update with my chickens dying problem. We went all CSI on it and have set traps but to no avail but did find weasel tracks around the back of the hen house. Amy our last remaining girl is living it up with us in the evenings, she is in a cardboard box in the kitchen, and probably will be for a few more days till we can afford some more hens, think she might die of loneliness out there. She is back on lay which is lovely and is a happy bird but is wary of being without us in the garden, although i think this may be a company reason. Does anyone think getting a cockerel would deter pests?
Hope all of you are ok.

Kind Regards

Princess

Penelope_Penguin

princess_skint_a_lot wrote: »

Does anyone think getting a cockerel would deter pests?

so sorry to hear about your hens, but glad your last girl is thriving :T

I think a cockerel might help, but our beautiful Buff Orpington was killed with 4 hens, by foxes