Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Thriftkitten

Yaay we have found a loving pet home for "sue/Stew..art, she is going to a farm tomorrow night and will have some friends also...So relieved and they promissed me she wont end up on the table for sunday lunch.
Primrose has now officially finished her moult and given us a little tiddler egg, she has all of a sudden become very vocal again, the little mare woke us all up this morning as she was undecided whether to lay the egg in the coup or the hutch in the shed.
The babies are now 3 weeks and 1 day and getting so big, their feet are laden with feathers and they are spending most of the day out in their run, most of the time 2 of the chicks ride around on top of mummy's back.... it looks so adorable when they do that.

Beetlemama

Well. Friday lunch time I did some gardening and sprayed insecticide around the fence, including around the chicken coop, it said "Safe for pets, no need to keep children or animals off the treated area once dry, danger to water courses, harmful to bees." It didn't say "Will also kill chickens who are allergic to it - just so you know."

I went out Saturday morning and opened the coop, out comes Rooster Cogburn and Ethel - no Edith. So I lift the lid and I can hear her breathing, she sounds like she's got to the bottom of a glass with a straw and is trying to get the last bit like kids do, awful. I shooed her out to see what she'd do and she just stood there bubbling to breath and closing her eyes I tipped her up and poured out a bit of fluid to buy her a bit more time (nasty!).

Quick call to the vet, emergency trip, clarification that some animals can be allergic to it (thanks for the warning), and they took my chicken away to treat her.

THIRTY TWO POUNDS AND A PENNY!

Gad, I mean, it was my fault and she's a pet so there was no question about paying for her, but damn, that's a lot of money, lol. She has the consultation fee, an amp of antidote that is big enough for a large dog but single use, so they take like a micron out and throw the rest away :mad: and a weeks course of antibiotics to make sure she doesn't get an infection - amusingly marked "0.6ml by beak" :rotfl:

By 7pm last night she was back to eating with the others and this morning she tumbled out like nothing had ever been wrong. Poor old Edith.

So, be careful if you use an insecticide, even if they say they're safe. I won't be using this one again on anything but the ants in the vegetable patch, I couldn't imagine having this happen to one of the dogs, I'd have been hysterical and the vet bill no doubt would have been mind warpingly huge since the emergency vet has a "pay now, claim later" policy for insured animals! The girls real vet has an "Anything over x amount can be sent straight to the insurance co" policy plus a 14 days to pay scheme for any treatment, I love them.

xxx

ionahenor2

What did you spray?

Thriftkitten

Awww so glad Edith was ok and yes although it is a pain in the beak to have vet bills, I think anyone of us would of paid all the same.
Sue/Stew has gone to her new home...... it was like "Chicken world there, chickens everywhere, sue was placed in with mainly ducks for tonight wired off next to some turkeys, who she was squaring off with and on the other side more chickens and BIG cockerels, a tiny bantam cockerel, immediatly started pesterring Sue and jumped at her a few time to show her who was boss!!!! There will be hellup in the coop tonight and by morning Sue will realise she is all woman lol!!!!

Beetlemama

ionahenor2 wrote: »

What did you spray?

Wilkinson's ant and crawling insect killer. It was hardly Napalm.

ionahenor2

Beetlemama wrote: »

Wilkinson's ant and crawling insect killer. It was hardly Napalm.

Thanks.

Glad the vet could do something for Edith straight away. You are lucky to have a vet for poultry ills.

HeatherintheHills

I'm so glad Edith is OK, what a horrible experience for you all.

beebuzz168

Hello all

Hope you don't mind a complete newbie popping in to ask some questions... I have tried reading the posts, but it is so long and detailed that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed!

DH & I are finally taking the plunge, having talked about it for ages, and are going to get some chickens. Yey!

And at this stage, this is about all that we know!

I've googled and googled, and read about as much as I can cope with, and it seems like there is so much to know that I can't even begin to start.

So, first questions first (and forgive me if they appear ever so basic).

What breed should we get?! We are planning on getting 3 hens with the only real requirement being that they are good with children / easy to handle (DD 18 mths plus bump on way). We will let them out of their run as much as possible, though that is unlikely to be every day. At the moment I'm thinking of Sussex or Welsummer, both of which I can buy locally.

Which brings me on to the next question - can different breeds be put together happily or are there some things I should be looking out for and not combining? Would Sussex / Welsummers live happily together.

Next - which coop? At the moment we are leaning towards this
http://www.chickencoopsdirect.com/chicken-house-run.htm
Any opinions?

One thing I'm concerned about is how long hens lay eggs for, and the potential that we will need new hens whilst also having "retired" ones. Should we be looking at a bigger coop that would allow this, or am I getting a bit ahead of myself? (it has been known!).

Please keep all answers in simple language! All advice very gratefully received.

Gigervamp

Welcome!

beebuzz168 wrote: »

What breed should we get?! We are planning on getting 3 hens with the only real requirement being that they are good with children / easy to handle (DD 18 mths plus bump on way). We will let them out of their run as much as possible, though that is unlikely to be every day. At the moment I'm thinking of Sussex or Welsummer, both of which I can buy locally.

Either would be good.

beebuzz168 wrote: »

Which brings me on to the next question - can different breeds be put together happily or are there some things I should be looking out for and not combining? Would Sussex / Welsummers live happily together.

Different breeds together will be absolutely fine. We have loads of breeds from tiny silver sebrights up to huge orpingtons.

beebuzz168 wrote: »

Next - which coop? At the moment we are leaning towards this
http://www.chickencoopsdirect.com/chicken-house-run.htm
Any opinions?

That coop is very similar to our first coop which is still going after 2.5 years. The run looks small though, if they're going to be in it for any length of time, so I'd suggest building a larger run, or sectioning off a bit of the garden with some fencing.

beebuzz168 wrote: »

One thing I'm concerned about is how long hens lay eggs for, and the potential that we will need new hens whilst also having "retired" ones. Should we be looking at a bigger coop that would allow this, or am I getting a bit ahead of myself? (it has been known!).

They should lay well for at least 2-3 years, but if you can afford the money and space, get the biggest coop you can as you will probably get wantmorechickenitis :rotfl: and will be able to get more without having to get a larger coop.

beebuzz168

Thank you Gigervamp!

My DH has suggested that he build a bigger run for them - but given that we live in a building site I'm slightly more concerned that he finish our house first! :rotfl:

It does say that coop will house up to 5-6 medium sized chickens (what is "medium" sized?!) - does that sound realistic or optimistic? I don't want to end up with a battery operation!

Another question - the local breeder to us offers 12 week olds or POL, with POL obviously being a bit pricier. Will the 12 week olds have been sexed / vaccinated, or is that something I should check with the breeder?

Ooh, and another one, do they fly?! I've heard people saying about clipping their wings - is this something we do ourselves?

Ooh, I'm getting excited now, and given how excited I got by a picture of a Silkie last night, I can see how catching iwantanotherchickenitis can be