Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

HeatherintheHills

Iona, yes, Polands are the ones with the big hair do's. I had to give her away though, my other hens were pecking out her head feathers. She is now with a small flock of other Polands and is much happier.

7 eggs in a day? Wow! I'm not getting that a week at the moment

Thriftkitten, if it is any consolation, mine and my neighbours hens are all over the place at the moment, the fences have all just been added to and some are over 10 feet high now, but the little so and so's are still getting out. I watched next door's POLs land on an 8 foot fence from a standing start last week. A couple of days ago when I went into the run with the hot mash bucket my 16 week old bantams came running down off the fell, flew over a large overgrown ditch then flew straight over the fence. They were meant to be in their own pen inside the main run, I still don't know how they got out. They have decided they are running with the big flock for now. I get no say in it

As for the hybrids, we have given up trying to sort out which ones belong to whom for this year. The head counts for each flock are about right so that will have to do. We are considering having coloured leg rings for each flock next year. Or maybe we should just let the hens get on with sorting themselves out. :rotfl:

Safety hasn't been an issue so far, dogs and cats are seen off pronto. We just hope it stays that way as there doesn't seem to be anything we can do to keep them in.

I should add that all of the escapee birds come from the allotment sized runs, so strange.

ionahenor2

yes Heather. got 7 new POL hens and have 2 older girls. Daisy has retired now but lettie still lays 3-4eggs a week. We are over run with eggs at present. I can't give them away as most people round here have hens!!!

I'm cooking lots of egg dishes and made some lemon curd this week too.

I have one escapee every time I open the pen but she is not allowed out yet as I think Foxy is about. Walked up the drive for the paper this morning and on my way down saw lots of feathers.....something had got a pigeon. It looked to be hurt quite badly and flapping on the ground but I couldn't catch it before it went through the next doors fence and disappeared under the Laurel shrubs. I put the old girls back in their pen and they seemed quite spooked ...lots of duck ducking, but there was no sign of the pigeon when I went back up the drive. the blackbirds were creating alot of noise too.

Thriftkitten

Good morning I am feeling a little more positive today and looking forward to being able to go out and about without worrying about how many chickens are left by the time I return home.
Brother and I worked tirelessly in the howling rain yesterday.. skidding over all over the place and lagged in mud, but we have the fencing finished!!! Phew! Its not perfect as not chicken wire, however he came across the green building meshing for free and who was I to turn my nose up at it!!, I always feel slightly embarrassed posing pics of my muddy allotment, but I have a feeling most are in the same situation, since it hasn't stopped raining in months, the old run that we used for big momma and her babies when they had their own hutch has now been covered with a blue tarp and will serve as an ideal shelter so that they al don't have to pile into the shed everytime it rains, plus now their food wont keep getting spoilt when it tips it down. The only down side is that it's quite an eye sore and I hope the neighbours dont mind.
But will keep plying them with eggs I have a feeling they will be ok as they wont be getting their lawns scarified now on a daily basis... Hopefully! Have a good day all xx
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Syman

good morning all,

A quick question if i may.

At what age does a chook get their first moult?

ljonski

Good morning . Syman. November is usually the designated time for chicken moulting - strange but true! give them a little cat food for extra protein. I think they moult first after approx 18months HTH

ionahenor2

Some of my new ones have lost a feather or too but this could be feather pulling.

Thrift what a wonderful big area they have now. if yours are as daft as mine they won't go in the dry when it's raining.

Syman

ljonski wrote: »

Good morning . Syman. November is usually the designated time for chicken moulting - strange but true! give them a little cat food for extra protein. I think they moult first after approx 18months HTH

Mine not going to be due a moult then, they are only 6 months or so.

Incidentally, just had omelette find a way through the fence but doing a bit of tree climbing. Funniest thing is the other two were creating as if to "tell tales" like naughty kids. lol

Thriftkitten

ionahenor2 wrote: »

Some of my new ones have lost a feather or too but this could be feather pulling.

Thrift what a wonderful big area they have now. if yours are as daft as mine they won't go in the dry when it's raining.

Well they all run into the shed but there are squabbles over who's going in the hutch and who's going in the big cat box inside the shed, they never seem to fight at bedtime but during the day its another story, but at least their food will stay dry now too.

Shortie

I learnt last night that one of my girls has started hopping over the temporary fencing we put up. Apparently she's been doing it for a few days now but on Saturday morning before anyone realised she wasn't in the run, she'd wander in the back door and was having a right raring old nose around the annex, haha!

Apparently the dogs look bemused, the older cat sat just watching in a lazy/nosey way (this one has been known to sleep with a previous lot of chooks I have, so I know he's no danger to them) and the kitten spotted them and legged it (he's tried to stalk them before but was quickly cornered by 3 flapping/ sqwaking girls, so quickly learnt a lesson to steer clear quite some time ago!)

When I get the next free weekend (hahahahahaha) I looks like I need to make the fencing higher and less temporary!

oldtractor

I've got mine behind electric fencing to hopefully keep foxes and badgers away.
Today I have cooked them some pasta with left over cabbage and apple peelings. they also love carrot peelings.