Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

3v3

RacyRed wrote: »

Does anyone elses chooks grab hold of your jeans and hang on with their beaks while you are trying to walk? ...

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Pics?

3v3

QueenieB wrote: »

....
We also don't ad-lib feed, ever. The birds get about as much feed as they can hoover up in 20 minutes in the morning, and scratch corn as a treat in the afternoon, plus the occasional cabbage hung from a post somewhere in their field. We've found this minimises costs as well as being less attractive to rodents and seagulls, and none of my birds has ever been accused of being too thin!

:money: Good tip!

Chickenopolis

RacyRed:rotfl:

I think it must just be yours:) Mine peck my jeans when I am sitting down- especially my bum they like the studs on the jeans.


Pics please too:)

RacyRed

If you think I'm going to post pics of the 5:30AM me, :eek: in wellies and dressing gown, even with the decorative chooks hanging from the hem, you are all mad

I will try to get some picks of them grabbing and hanging on to my jeans though.

Chickenopolis, they peck your bum! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Hell these little critters are so much fun

smileyt_2

Mine peck my bum too :rotfl:but they don't hang off my jeans. I love them, they are so funny. Does anyone get the BHWT newsletter? There was a link in it to the funniest video, advertising a book (the literary merit of which I know nothing about) but featuring chickens running .... here it is ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9BlfuJVpTI Enjoy!

Still working on the mouse thing and thinking about what to do. Sigh.

JillS_2

smileyt wrote: »

Mine peck my bum too :rotfl:but they don't hang off my jeans. I love them, they are so funny. Does anyone get the BHWT newsletter? There was a link in it to the funniest video, advertising a book (the literary merit of which I know nothing about) but featuring chickens running .... here it is ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9BlfuJVpTI Enjoy!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

rachbc

is my hen going broody? This last week ginger my black rock has been taking longer and longer to come down after laying - on fri I needed the eggs so went and turfed her off her nest at 11.30 (she'd been up there since 8) today I have been so busy that after a letting them out, feeding and poo pick up first thing I hadn't really checked - she was on the nest then and just been out and she was still on the nest - she fluffed up and 'barked' (for wont of a better word) at me when I lifted the lid on the nest box and didn't budge when I shooed her off - I picked her up, took the eggs and she sat straight back down. Never had a problem with either of the others but this one was sick, then didn't lay for weeks, had a few weeks of everything being fine now this!!! Can I nip it in the bud or is she likely to be like this forever - if so does anyone in Yorkshire want a broody hen????

Chickenopolis

rachb- yes it sounds like she is broody. Its supposed to last about 21 days. My hen was like this for a lot longer - I had to turf her out frequently as the other 8 were beside themselves trying to get in the nesting box to lay their eggs. We then put her in another coop and she was pacing and getting too distressed being apart from the others. Even when there weren't any eggs in the nesting box she was still in there rooted to her spot.

When we looked in the nesting box she woud puff up like a pine cone and make "hands off my kids" noises. Eventually she snapped out of it and had to learn how to be a chicken again.

Good luck

rachbc

just put them to bed and she is in the nest not on the perch - have read to put them in a separate 'broody cage' but that sounds a bit mean. Will shut her out of the house bit tomorrow when I go to work I think

3v3

Yes, rachbc, she definately sounds like she is going broody (bless her!).

Some people approach this in different ways: for some, the solution is to get the hen out of broody mode (I think I read somewhere they dunk the hen in water? I could be wrong); for others it is to let nature take its course but to seperate the hen, so she can sit her broody time out, but not totally seperate her from the flock - this is achieved by putting the hen in a broody box (a small dog crate) within the chicken run so that they can still all see one another, but she isn't hassled at all. That wouldn't work for me because I know I have foxes visiting my pond during the night time and I just feel a broody box would be too vulnerable.

The main issue isn't the seperation though; broody hens can sometimes go hours and hours without eating or drinking and that is the main cause for concern. If you could seperate her and give her access to water and food within a short distance of where she is brooding, that would be the very best thing.

Of course, you can also leave her as she is - just so long as your other hens have somewhere else they can lay their eggs without crossing their legs because a broody is dominating the nesting box

If you fancy increasing your stock, you could harness her broodiness and buy some fertilised eggs for her to hatch :whistle: