Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

HeatherintheHills

British Hen Welfare Trust

Ex Battery Hens forum lists rescue organsations and release dates.

I'm sure there will be a rehoming day somewhere near you soon.

Gigervamp

What a day it's been. It was day 21 for some of the eggs that we put under Petal, so when I let the girls out this morning, I had a quick look but didn't see anything.
A couple of hours later I checked again and saw what I at first thought was a big poo in the corner of the box. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a chick. It was breathing, but all curled up and didn't look good.

Then, I heard a cheeping, and a little head poked out from under Petal!

Well, we had to go out as we'd arranged to drive down to a friend in Somerset to pick up her 2 cayuga ducks that she was selling, so we had to leave and hope for the best.

When we got back, I checked in the box and the first chick had sadly not made it, but now there were two chicks cheeping away!

We've moved the chicks and Petal into a coop on their own as the broodiness seems to be catching and we now have 4 other girls broody and 3 of them all squeezing into the same box that Petal and the chicks were in.

Also, my friend gave us some Indian Runner eggs to see if they'll hatch, as her broody is no longer broody!

So, we now have our first ducks and our first chicks. Hoping the chicks do ok, because as far as I know, Petal has never raised chicks before.

ionahenor2

I'm so sorry for everyones losses. It is heartbreaking when we lose them.

ionahenor2

What good news Giger. Any photos of the ducks? Do you have a pond?

spirit

Syman wrote: »

so, if i was looking into battery rehoming, do you have any pointers in the SE England/Surrey areas where i should start looking?

Yes, there is one coming up soon. This is where I get mine from http://www.freshstartforhens.co.uk/

Gigervamp

ionahenor2 wrote: »

What good news Giger. Any photos of the ducks? Do you have a pond?

Hubby uploaded a video here. We don't have a pond yet, but we picked up a cheap paddling pool from Tescos. They just need enough water to dip their heads into. We found (as you'll see in the video) that they had trouble getting out of the water, so we've popped a couple of small paving slabs in as ramps, which seems to have helped.

It was *fun* trying to get them into their house last night, as they'd decided to sleep on the ground in the middle of the pen. Lots of chasing them around the pen before finally catching them and popping them in. <rolls eyes>

The chickens aren't sure what to make of them! :rotfl: They were hanging around outside the pen just staring at them!

Syman

spirit wrote: »

Yes, there is one coming up soon. This is where I get mine from http://www.freshstartforhens.co.uk/

I looked at that site yesterday, will give it some thought. I still have the new batch of chicks in the school to look after and our rescued collie/Labrador cross is keeping us busy at the moment.

So, it may not happen for a while at home, may use the run and coop for a school chicken holiday home for during breaks. We will see.

great clips Gigervamp. the chook waiting for somewhere to lay is brill.

Gigervamp

Here's a video of one of the new chicks trying to escape from mum's embrace!

HeatherintheHills

Gigervamp wrote: »

Here's a video of one of the new chicks trying to escape from mum's embrace!

How sweet is that! Thanks for posting the link Gigervamp :T

Gigervamp

They are so sweet! And mum is being very protective of them. So much so, that she hasn't left the coop to poo and has only eaten the boiled eggs that I put in this morning. Not even sure if she's had a drink.

The other chick is lavender colour. The dad is a bantam araucana, but there were a mix of eggs, so we're not sure if the chicks are from the legbars, or araucana x's. Looking at the chick in the video, I think that one may be a legbar.