Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

daisy_darling

happymum2010 wrote: »

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.

Morning

The easiest way to catch them is when you open the bob hole to let them out in the morning. Just stand to one side and scoop up a bird as it comes out.

With regard to the bugs; wrap some sticky tape [ sticky side out ] around the edge of their perch and check it the day after. Red mite live in the cabin so you have to treat the birds AND the cabin. The hen house will need treating with creosote if there are mites there. If it's lice, you usually get eggs clustered round the vent [ it's warmest there, i think ] I generally use ivermec, just a drop or two on the back of the neck. It isn't licenced for birds but it is effective. You do have to bin the eggs though, if birds are laying. Check with your vet on this.

redpete

Seems the door on the inner-run blew shut yesterday so when I shut the coop there were no hens inside. Seems we do have foxes in the garden. Result - two corpses and two missing in action.

Oh well, means I don't have to worry about how to introduce any new ones into the flock.

HeatherintheHills

Redpete, I'm really sorry to hear about your flock. That is horrible thing to have happen. Foxes are such opportunists, unfortunately for us.

HeatherintheHills

Happymum, I think I read somewhere that red mite can re-establish themselves in 3 days :mad:

I spray my coops with Smite or Poultry Shield when I clean them and use powder in the nest boxes, on the perches, in the roof cracks and round the pop hole every other day.

Have to admit I'm switching to plastic housing soon as it is much easier to keep mites under control with them.

daisy_darling

redpete wrote: »

Seems the door on the inner-run blew shut yesterday so when I shut the coop there were no hens inside. Seems we do have foxes in the garden. Result - two corpses and two missing in action.

Oh well, means I don't have to worry about how to introduce any new ones into the flock.

I'm gutted for you

ionahenor2

So sorry Redpete.

Shortie

Hi all, I've bee away in the rainy British weather - oh the fun! So catching up on posts now. My folks fed and locked up the chooks for me while we were away and are drowning under a barrage of fresh eggs, lol

Sorry for the loses

Ionahenor2, thanks for asking about Hopalong, she seems to be back to hopping badly again and does seem quieter. However, she's not dropped any weight and is eating and drinking. Seems happy to be picked up as per usual.

The kitten needs another set of jabs soon so we'l take Hopalong with us to be given another once over

ljonski

Sorry about your losses Redpete. it is such a shock especially when they were in the finest of health. One little slip and its all over. Id advise you if you can to get some more straight away. I wish i could. The garden which used to be my favourite place is now somewhere i try to avoid as it is so silent without the girls. Its now starting to get overgrown and full of ghosts and i do miss that chirpiness and the anticipatory waiting as i approach the door.:(

ionahenor2

ljonski sounds like you need to take your own advice and get some new hens too.( don't mean to be rude) Go and enjoy the garden again with a few new girls.

We are having trouble with some baby squirrels who have discovered the girls food/pen and like to visit/scoff while they are out FR. They really are little scamps but one nearly came a cropper today when Lettie cornered it having come out of the nest box to see the little scamp curled up in the food grub (Omlet container looks like a big peanut). It managed to escape with a bald patch and Lettie had a beakful of Squirrel fur.

redpete

ljonski wrote: »

Sorry about your losses Redpete. it is such a shock especially when they were in the finest of health. One little slip and its all over. Id advise you if you can to get some more straight away. I wish i could. The garden which used to be my favourite place is now somewhere i try to avoid as it is so silent without the girls. Its now starting to get overgrown and full of ghosts and i do miss that chirpiness and the anticipatory waiting as i approach the door.:(

Thanks, and to others. It was strange getting in just now and not having to go down to the bottom of the garden to shut them up for the night, and I hadn't realised until today how often I used to glance out of the window to see what they were doing.

I think I'll take the opportunity to deep clean and treat the coop and move the run to another part of the garden, which means I need to replace the fence on that side of the garden first, so it might be a few weeks before I restock.

Then there's the question of what to get. Probably Black Rock and Chalk Hill Blue at least.