Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

ionahenor2

Yes Daisy had a big moult this year too. She will be 3 in July and I thought her egg laying would start to taper off.

They are also in a new pyramid shaped pen. Could this account for the renewed egg laying? (pyramid power affects plant growth)

.

Gigervamp

Lol, well, it might keep their beaks sharp!

mardatha

Got my coop now, but am having terrible problems re sorting out a run. No foxes seen here in 30 years - big shooting estates all round me with loads of gamekeepers, plus I am always here so will shoo them inside at dusk. So we dont need Fort Knox. But what kind of run to make ? What kind of wire? posts? height? HELP! :mad:

steady__eddie

"What kind of wire? "

I recall that there is some type of wire netting known as chicken wire.
The mesh of this is just too small for the silly begars to poke their heads through. Being a skinflint recycler, I have used anything that was available as long as the mesh wasn't too big or was rusty.

"(pyramid power affects plant growth)"

It is also alleged that placing a blunt razor blade under a pyramid will sharpen it, I must mention this to the mother in law.

wammy77

Halo2010 wrote: »

You need to cage the 2 bullies and leave the cage in the run (with a cover on the roof for shelter, and leave Lily in the run to herself for at least a week. Make sure they have access to food and water in the cage. Lily will approach the cage and the bullies wont be able to get at her and will be humiliated that they're caged.

At night time put the cage inside the hen house.

This reverts the pecking order, and when the bullies are let out again Lily will be top hen.

It's always best to have more than 3 hens, to avoid bullying. 4 at least, then you won't get the problem. You don't get the problem with just 2 either for some reason.

The pecking has stopped now, thank heavens!!!!

I have 4 chickens, not 3... think I forgot to mention the 4th one!!!!

wammy77

Mojisola wrote: »

Chickens sometimes feather-peck because they're short of minerals. Are you giving them a balanced feed with mineral additives?

I give them layers everyday so their food is well balanced. Also give them corn/scraps/mealworm/veggies.

They seem happy enough in general, just the pecking 'phases' they go through!!!

mardatha wrote: »

I never thought of checking ebay for Eglus. I'd love one but far too dear for me. Will keep an eye open for them now ty

Ebay is expensive for Eglus - I found several cheap-ish ones on forums for grown your own & chicken keeping... some as shceap as £80!!!

jumblejack

poohbear59 wrote: »

I am thinking of buying a shed LED light to go in my hen house to encourage the chooks to lay again. Has anyone else tried using one? I have found a few for around £20. I had to buy eggs this week and last. I have 9 hens but some days am not getting any eggs.

I had the same problem with my 7 girls and found that the problem was RED MITE! They stop laying when an infestation takes hold. Check the coop for 'moving dust' which is what the mites look like. After they feast on the girls they look like red dots. Pick up the perches and look in the corners and underneath. That's a favourite place where they gather. The best thing I've found is diatomaceous earth. It is totally natural but 100% effective. Clean the coop out with strong jeyes and put some in a squirty bottle to spray the interior of the coop daily.
HTH

mardatha

Is anybody in here keeping hens in an open run without an enclosed roof ? I cant put a roof on, needs be just an open enclosure with mesh fencing. I will put mesh over the top because we have a lot of buzzards here, but cant give them cover. Just looking out at the back garden and its always lashing rain or strong winds... sometimes wonder if I should get hens at all. Might be cruel.

Yategirl

mardatha wrote: »

Is anybody in here keeping hens in an open run without an enclosed roof ? I cant put a roof on, needs be just an open enclosure with mesh fencing. I will put mesh over the top because we have a lot of buzzards here, but cant give them cover. Just looking out at the back garden and its always lashing rain or strong winds... sometimes wonder if I should get hens at all. Might be cruel.

We have hens in a run with a mesh roof - firstly they had a house and smaller run but access to garden whenever we were home (which is most of the day) so the run provided shelter. We have now moved them and have them in a large fixed run with house attached.

The intention was to roof the run properly (and collect rain water as on an allotment) but we were looking at around £400 just for the panels (not including wood supports and fixings) :eek: so we decided instead that we would use galvanised mesh across the roof (fairly wobbly so not to provide an area for foxes/cats etc) but secure and stops any large birds/birds of prey (smaller ones such as sparrows/robins can get through and do). We then made a shelter with perches at the pophole entrance - the hens have a choice then to shelter if the rain is heavy. Our shelter is (for want of a better description) like a huge table, protected on one side by the henhouse, a fence panel provides the shelter on the other side. So 2 sides are open but turned away from the main direction of the wind and it seems to stay pretty dry. Hens seem happy and are usually out in the main area of the run.

So I would say that as long as you have some sort of sheltered area then the open run would be fine.

skipton

Hi Yategirl

You still have noisy clucks?