Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Frugaldom

Basmic, you need a cockeral with the hens if you want any chance of getting chicks out the eggs.

Good luck finding your hens PJ1, I always recommend a minimum of 3 hens just in case anything happens to one, so the other isn't left alone. Hens definitely don't like to be alone.

I now have 4 out of 6 hens laying, as my grey broody has started again. :j She still has her 6 chicks with her, which are now 5 weeks old, but they'll need to be rehomed soon, as will the previous lot of chicks that are now 7 weeks old and getting huge. Don't know how I'll decide what can go and what can stay, so it seems easier to be strong and let them all go. I hate getting rid of them.

julietiff

We got 4 ex-batt hens this year, we love keeping them:D

DON79

Hi everyone!

Well thats it! This morning HE crowed! Our lovely Barred Rock Cockerel crowed - several times - fortunately he was inside so the noise was less than it would have been had he been outside already. So we are going to have to rehome him as I am sure the neighbours won't take kindly to him crowing at 6am in the morning.

Donna

Money_maker

angelavdavis wrote: »

Hi, It might be worth you checking out the Friday-ad web site (friday-ad.co.uk). I got four free through this site from an owner in Rye who had originally taken 20 from a rescuer in Rye and had them for a year, but they might be a bit far for you. I believed there was also one in Sussex who works with the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (bhwt.org.uk), have you contacted them?

An alternative is posting on a hen keeping forum to see if anyone near you wants to share in a delivery? There are also a couple of groups on Facebook where you could post a message too.

Last weeks friday ad had some 72 wk old ex free range from Berwick in East Sussex if you're prepared to travel a bit. Any left will be culled. Only about a pound apiece.

KAAT_LADY

DON79 wrote: »

Hi everyone!

Well thats it! This morning HE crowed! Our lovely Barred Rock Cockerel crowed - several times - fortunately he was inside so the noise was less than it would have been had he been outside already. So we are going to have to rehome him as I am sure the neighbours won't take kindly to him crowing at 6am in the morning.

Donna

hey donna ,,,,,,very good ,,,,, mines hasnt yet still waiting ,,is it really loud:eek: no eggs from him then :rotfl::rotfl:

Laura_D_3

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: Just gone to let the chucks out and one of them was eating a broken egg, had to hurry her out and clean up quick smart if she gets an egg fetish I will not be amused :eek::eek::eek::eek: Does she not know I have work to go to!!!

Fingers crossed its a one off and she'll find another way to entertain herself.

Frugaldom

Regarding how loud a cockeral can be - the next house down from us is at least 100m away and I can hear their cockeral through the double glazing from here no problem. I think that's what starts off the Pekin cockeral here (we're looking after it for next door because the big one attacked the little one). The Pekin cockeral doesn't make much noise at all, some of my hens cluck louder than he crows, but he still crows, there's no way of stopping that. Fortunately, I don't mind the noise and am up early to let them all out anyway.

Laura, hope the egg-eating doesn't become a habit. I had a soft-shelled one laid yesterday that mine all took great joy in eating but they don't make a habit of it. I rinse, dry and crush my eggshells and feed them to the birds as extra calcium. They also free range, plus have access to extra grit and oystershell, but it still happens occasionally. Maybe that's what happened with yours. Good luck

DON79

Hi, well the Cockerel is off to a new home today! Found a poultry rehoming centre about an hour away from us, its on a farm where he can crow all he likes and they said they should find him a new home easily because he is a popular type apparently . We just have to provide a bag of corn as payment in a way to help them with food costs etc.

But we are also getting a couple of hens from them in return too, so we will have five hens after they have all been socialised together.

We got two eggs yesterday instead of the usual one which means another hen has started laying. :T

And after that, we are going to separate the hen who is Bossy boots for a couple of days because she is pecking badly at the other hens and she needs sorted out, hopefully she will get back in lower down in the pecking order!

Katharine

One of my cockrels when they were still young, was nasty pecking at the others faces to the point of bleeding. I put him in a cage with food and water inside the chicken run for a day, and when he came back out he was good. I have no idea if this normally works but it worked for him.

Frugaldom

Well done rehoming the cockeral, Don, he is a very popular breed and he's very handsome! It's great news that you also managed to get a couple of new hens, are they ex-batts?

My lot have been wandering about getting absolutely soaked today (and still are!), I don't know why they can't just stay in or go under shelter! The ducklings are every bit as bad and, at one point, I lost them. When I called the hens, all 3 ducklings came running around after behind them - they seem to have adopted them! :rotfl:I'm quite surprised they are still friends after the mucky duckys went in the hen run, scoffed all the food and then muddied up all the water in the drinkers! :rolleyes: