Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

helen01234

We have our first 3 hens :0)

We got 3 ex battery hens on Wednesday. We have converted an old rabbit hutch and put a couple of perches in it. We need to extend it some more so they have the extra box bit (not sure of the technical term)
They are living a large run area (we cant let them roam free in the garden due to the other animals we have and a very large pond)
The run are is flagged but they have a large area of soil to scratch around in and a large tray (I say tray but is the base to a large rabbit indoor cage) of sand to bathe in.
So far we are feeding them layers pellets, they have the soil changed regularly for bugs and things, they get grass and dandelions, left over veg and salad things. What else could we try for them?

One of them is laying everyday but the others are yet to lay anything.
All the farmer said is they are the 'older' birds. Does that mean they may be past laying?
They are as much pets as needing to lay. It doesnt really matter to be honest, just wanted to give them another chance.

Anything else we should consider for them?

Thank you- we love our Mildred, Harris and Talulah :rotfl:

ionahenor2

Hi Helen

Congratulations on your hens. My lot like most things except salad and raisins.

The treats they have are plain cooked pasta, cold cooked potato especially mash, cooked rice,dry jumbo oats , peas, chopped grapes, carrots/cabbage raw shredded, cauliflower leaves and corn on the cob.

Just try them with anything except citrus fruits and pineapple. Mine always have their treats at bedtime

gillian62

If they are older birds they probably won't lay every day, and being ex-battery and new they will take a few days or so to settle in and start laying.

Make sure you give them treats later in the day so that they eat enough layer pellets to keep them laying eggs. I don't give mine extras until mid afternoon, so they have all morning to eat what they need.

freudianslip

Hey all. I;m a complete newbie to keeping chickens and don't forsee being any where near the stage of actually aquiring any for a good while yet.

I'm very early in the planning stage and want to construct my own house and run.

If is sow grass inside the run will it just be scraped up pretty quickly? What would you line a run with that has to be on concrete?

Also is this a complete no go - as a concrete space is all I have available. Thanks in advance

Mojisola

freudianslip wrote: »

If is sow grass inside the run will it just be scraped up pretty quickly? What would you line a run with that has to be on concrete?

Also is this a complete no go - as a concrete space is all I have available. Thanks in advance

You can use a deep straw bed in the run. You need a roof on the run so that the straw doesn't get soaked. Give the chooks a good deep layer of straw - they will scratch about, poo in it and break it up. When it needs it, clear it out to the compost heap and start again with fresh straw.

rachbc

backyard chickens forum has various suggestions for a surface ion concrete - sand, woodchip, or sawdust all seem popular - they also have lots of fab ideas for homemade coops - wish I'd discovered it before I bought ours

youngmummy

hi all, im after some advice,
OH has agred to allow us to have chickens next year when the garden is done, but the garden isnt very big and i still want our LO to have room to play, does anyone know a type of coop that is reasonably priced but not too big, i looked at the omlet ones, love them but would be abit to expensive for us, a run is essential as we have a puppy.
thanks in advance x

ideal coop i just found ... anyone got one similar?

RebekahR

Oh I love the little bridge! lol ... http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=47585

youngmummy

RebekahR wrote: »

Oh I love the little bridge! lol ... http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=47585

oh thats cute, x

Steel_2

Well..got back from holiday on Friday after two weeks to find the red mite situation so bad that two chickens noticeably thinner and off colour. I felt like crying. I've never seen so many colonies in the coop before over such a short space of time.

I cleaned it the day before we went and sprayed every nook and cranny with Poultry Shield, inside and out using a pressure sprayer. I even laid the coop on it's side to make sure I could see to cover everything in the roof space. Two weeks before we went I did its annual maintenance and used a creosote alternative inside and out, again in every crevice.

I've been cleaning this coop religiously every week since early spring because I know there are some there and the warm weather will have them breeding fast. Over the last two years since they appeared I've used creosote, creosote-free alternatives, Poultry Shield, Jeyes fluid, a blow torch, diatomaceous earth as well as sealing any gaps between the various pieces of wood.

Our next door neighbour said two days after we went he was holding the nest box lid up and felt them crawling all over his hand. How can this be? Where the hell were they and how did so many of them escape? All I can think of is they were deep inside the very fabric of the wood??

In desperation I used some of my savings yesterday to buy a new chicken coop, a Green Frog plastic one. It won't get rid of the red mite completely but at least there are no inaccessible places they can hide and I can't scrub down. I can quickly disassemble it when I need to.

Anyway, sorry for the rant but I'm still really quite upset about the bloody horrible things that are eating my girls alive.