Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

happymum2010

Went to the vets today. He is going to spray them with somthing or other used for cats. Hopefully that will be the end of it, I will have to ask tomorrow whether it needs repeated. He said he could tell whether they are hens or cockerals too. Which is a big relief, I've been looking up vids on youtube to see how its done. I've just ended up laughing and crying.

I just have to share these with you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSub4zZU2Q4 Its a big long.

I accidently clicked on this thinking was to do with sexing chickens - not quite, but laughed my head off. The music just sets me off. Let me know if this offends and i will remove link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWd7WmbkD9A

Chicken tractor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah42w2_XSGo Thought this was quite good.

Is the bottom of a plastic barrel too small for the base of your hen house ionahenor2?

Giger the ducks are gorgeous.

happymum2010

Oh, this is cute. Typed in search box making a plastic hen house. A bit on the small side though and not plastic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPCAmjBCP8w

poohbear59

Gigervamp wrote: »

When we tried to get Ivermectin, we made the mistake of saying it was for the chickens. As it's not licensed for them, they refused to sell it to us unless we had a prescription from the vet. It's also pretty expensive, the smallest amount was over £30.
Frontline for cats can be used, just half a pippette per bird.

.

Can we still eat the eggs if we use frontline? I have some spare which I could use on the hens.

ionahenor2

A barrel is too small Happymum. I thought of a tubtrug but again it is too small.
But thanks for the thought.

I thought the videos were funny too. love the music.

ljonski

Frontline does not go into the bloodstream, so should not effect the quality of eggs.

HeatherintheHills

ionahenor2 wrote: »

Oh Giger he/she is so cute.......now I really want a few of those and more chickens. OH is supposed to be designing a new larger plastic chicken house. He's sourced the material but we now need a round plastic base. Any ides?

Did you hatch it from your pair?

A sheet of perspex/acrylic? It cuts quite easily so you could cut it to the shape and size you want. Check out schools/offices that are being refurbished as they use it for display panels and have been known to throw them in the skip.

If you can get a thick sheet and have a router you could put a few grooves in for better grip.

happymum2010

Afternoon all,

I have to ask some more advice.
***RANT ALERT***
Took a look at our hen house this morning and have found several leaks, had a look in the nest box which we have blocked off and locked shut until the hens are ready to lay and there was a good sized puddle in there.
So I phoned the fella who built it, and fair play to him he drove straight to our house (a 40 min drive). Said it is do with the knots in the wood, and it being a natural product swells and shrinks with the weather and with any wood product you expect to have some leaks, even in a wooden shed. I told him that our wooden shed is 5 years old and there is not a leak in it and that the leaks in the hen house were unacceptable. He started to fob me off with that he can't feel any damp. So I pointed out the wet and dry patches of mite powder on the roof (yes, on the roof, DH over enthusiastic with the poweder shaker) and also the big drips and the wet patches on the floor, and then the nest boxes. In the end he admitted that there was a problem. The roof is made of tongue and groove wood and his solution was to attach some very thin plywood to the underside of the of the roof and some breathable felt. I said that i thought that would just mask the probelm for a while as the water will still get in and make the ply damp. Don't want to end up with a mouldy damp hen house in the winter. Does anyone know if his idea would really solve the problem? He said he could build a new house, but we could end up with the same problem unless we have the ply and breathable felt. Does felt encourage mites or something? I am very tempted to get him to take the hen house away but we do not know where we could get another hen house at such short notice. Delivery is a major problem where we live.

Phew, feeling better now. Please help. I have to let him know tonight what we want to do.
Thanks in advance.

ljonski

Felt is a very bad idea in a hen house. Red mite territory. onduline though expensive is good for the job

happymum2010

Thanks ljonski,
I suggested that stuff to him, although I didn't know what it was called. Seen it in homebase around £15 per sheet. He wasn't keen, I think he just wants to spend as little as poss fixing this. I am searching like mad for a plastic hen house on the net to see if delivery is an option. Everything is so out of my price range

MoneyMission

Hey Happymum2010

Have you found Solway yet? http://www.solwayrecycling.co.uk/

Sorry if you've already looked and discounted. Our new loft has just arrived. Our last chicken house lasted 12 years but is finally beyond patching up. Need to wait for OH to come home and help me down the garden with it. Its no great looker but cheaper than others and seems very robust.

MM