Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

never_too_old

HeatherintheHills wrote: »

How are the chicks today Valwoire?

Lemon is so gorgeous daisy_darling

never to old, I have 2 old window blinds stretched from the coop roofs to the ground and held in place with stones. It is a great shelter for showers but this torrential rain is too much for it and it is getting nasty under there.

I've got mine a largish 2 person pop up tent because they are dirt cheap at the moment (I got it for less than £10). I'll put it up in the big run, tie it down really tight, weigh it down inside with bricks and do anything else that occurs to me to keep it from blowing away. Then I'll put a good layer of shavings inside and see what happens. I've a feeling they will take to it as they are used to being under the blind awning. We shall see! And yes, I do know I'm completely bonkers :rotfl:

A few months ago i would have said you were bonkers....but then i got my hens,i talk to them at every opportunity.I look forward to 3 pm coming so i can give them treats.I tried to tie an umbrella ( a big one over part of the run but the wind took care of that.I just want them to lay now and everything will be perfect:D

HeatherintheHills

The tent is a resounding success! They are all in there snug and dry, scratching around in the wood shavings while I was out in the tipping rain, watching. As I was putting it up the heavens opened so I dived into it myself and 2 of the girls ran straight in there with me.

I found what I can best describe as a couple of big chunks of greek column that have been sliced down the middle, flat side down. These are now inside the tent to make sure it doesn't go anywhere with the hens in it. They are jumping up and down on their new "mountains" and really seem to be enjoying it. The ground sheet won't last but I'll just cut that out when it is too far gone.

Result!

Valwoire

Love the tent idea lol. I know this is probably a daft question but won't they just head for home if the weather turns really carp? Mine are all huddled in there now peering out of the door :-)

They've been out scratching about since about 8am so would think they're all exhausted now lol

HeatherintheHills

Yes, they do run home, but their covered runs are quite small and after a few days of rain are getting pretty manky. The tent gives them an alternative place to shelter.

I've just been up to check again and they look quite happy in there.

sammyroser

Hello everyone, after some chicken advice.

For years I've dreamt of keeping chickens but have always been a cat person, I have seven at the moment, except for the kitten they are all 8 years +

Do you think it would be possible to have a couple of chickens with so many cats? I always thought not but recently a chicken ended up in our garden and when we finally found the house she belonged too discovered a women who looks after cats and chickens and seems to have no problems.

Another question, whilst I have a largish garden where I would want to put the chickens quite often floods in the winter. I'm guessing that's a big no having the chickens in a constantly wet area. In which case is there something I can put down for them to live on such as wooden slats or there is the possibility of moving the chickens next to my veggie patch during the winter which doesn't have a problem with flooding.

Thanks for your help

Valwoire

HeatherintheHills wrote: »

Yes, they do run home, but their covered runs are quite small and after a few days of rain are getting pretty manky. The tent gives them an alternative place to shelter.

I've just been up to check again and they look quite happy in there.

I was thinking about my lot sorry! They've had such a Lovely day today I don't want to keep them locked in tomorrow so think I'll let them out and hope they've got the sense to go inside if they get cold or wet - obviously I'll keep an eye on them and put them in if I have to :-)

Valwoire

Just been to see if they'd gone to bed and they were all lined up along the roof of the hen house lol!

crimson.addict

Hey, I hope it's ok that i post here. My friend has some pheasants (which i know aren't chickens lol) that he is wanting rid of. They are babies that he hatched from his pairs. As far as i am aware he doesn't want paying for them, just to go to a good home. I though i would ask here if anyone is interested as i know how spoilt your chickens are haha.

He has some lady amherst and some reeves

If i'm not allowed to post let me know and i will delete it

Thank you

Ruth

happymum2010

Hello all,

I have been so busy lately I haven’t had time for posting. I am such a slow typer it takes me ages to construct a post.

Ljonski so sorry to hear what happened to stoogy.

Gigervamp - your chicks are adorable. Sorry to hear that you lost a little one. How are the ducks doing.

HeatherintheHills – Loving the tent idea.

We have been up to our eyes lately. We have constructed a skirt for the hen house out of timber and galvanised steel mesh, and have pinned it into place with tent pegs. We are hoping we are now fox proof. I read in my book that you are supposed to handle the birds regularly so you get used to what they normally feel like and so they get used to it. So there I was chasing chickens round the garden, myself and the children in hysterics. Is there an easier way to catch them? I can’t believe how fast they can run. Anyway thought to check the chickens out because snowy had been scratching below her ear and found the poor thing crawling with tiny bugs. At first we thought it was red mite – ‘cos some of them were red so we dusted them and disinfected their house and dusted it in mite powder. Left them a week and checked them again and they were still full of bugs. We have now treated them for lice, but a week later they are still crawling with bugs. We are assuming that they arrived with them and we just didn’t know to check them out when they arrived. The chickens haven’t been in contact with other birds or animals. We have used Barrier animal welfare livestock louse powder. It says it lasts for upto 6 weeks, but I can see egg clusters on the chickens necks. Do you just keep treating them? or is there another product out there that will sort out my poor chickens? They are 13 weeks now.
Oh I just keep scratching at the thought of them. Sorry for the massive ramble - once I start I can't stop.



Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Toomuchdebt

I want chickens!!!!