Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

DON79

Question from me! A silkie/pekin cross Cockerel??? Will it crow loudly?

Silly me we have just rehomed our Rhode Island Red Cockerel today but have seen a gorgeous silkie/pekin cross that someone wants to rehome as they are not sure if it is a cockerel or not.

My husband saw the advert and is tempted to adopt it, I am too because it is very lovely and as long as it doesn't really crow loud, we would love to have it!

Daft aren't we! :o:o:o:D

Frugaldom

The Pekins don't crow loudly at all and I haven't even heard my Silkies crow, although they are still quite young. Silkie x Pekin sounds REALLY cute! If you do adopt him, please post a photo

Hi Natalie :hello:

I have 3 or 4 of my youngsters just approaching laying age, it's normally between 5 and 6 months, depending on the breed but some can start as early as 18 weeks. As long as you have hens, they will lay, don't worry about that. Let us know when they do.

My 3 Araucana x pullets went in with the laying hens for the first time last night. They have been freeranging for the past week but I've been going out and closing them into their own run, otherwise they were hogging the duck house, but last night they went in the big chicken coop with the others. That's them 'all growed up' and ready to start laying me some blue eggs. (Assuming they really are x Araucanas.)

Next big job is rehoming Captain Beaky, Ned the Thug, Flash Harry and whatever else turns out to be cockerels and then I can get the pens refurbished for winter. 2 of the old hens are trying to go broody - the grumpy ones - but shift them I will. Not wanting any more chicks this year. :rolleyes:

lostinrates

nykmedia wrote: »

Not wanting any more chicks this year. :rolleyes:

Here it looks like the first summer without chicks for us. Little lonesome is not doing well I hate this so much.

Frugaldom

Lostinrates, what seems to be the problem? I reared my loan silkie in a cardboard box using a red 60w bulb suspended over the box. I fed her hard boiled egg the first couple of days and then, once she got the hang of pecking at the food and water, she started picking at the chick crumbs. The biggest problem was getting her to realise she was a chicken and had to peck her food - nothing to show her how as I didn't trust letting her near the big hens. Let me know how you get on. You could try liquidising some hard boiled egg yoke with boiled & cooled water then drop it down chick's throat to start it off, or scatter the crumbs and poke at them with your finger - chick may copy using beak.

Good luck, I hope something works and little chickie comes good.

lostinrates

nykmedia wrote: »

Lostinrates, what seems to be the problem? I reared my loan silkie in a cardboard box using a red 60w bulb suspended over the box. I fed her hard boiled egg the first couple of days and then, once she got the hang of pecking at the food and water, she started picking at the chick crumbs. The biggest problem was getting her to realise she was a chicken and had to peck her food - nothing to show her how as I didn't trust letting her near the big hens. Let me know how you get on. You could try liquidising some hard boiled egg yoke with boiled & cooled water then drop it down chick's throat to start it off, or scatter the crumbs and poke at them with your finger - chick may copy using beak.

Good luck, I hope something works and little chickie comes good.

He/she won't touch any thing this afternoon, and he had a bit of to curl, which didn't worry me too much, I've seen that righten alone or with a pipecleaner/cardboard shoe (which I've prepared). Despite taking water yesterday andthis morning after lunch s/he just seemed to start to fade away. I was trying with egg (good idea to blend with water, I've always just crumbld and dipped the crumbs in water to feed, dropping in with my fingers, but liquidised a dropper would make feeding MUCH easier). Ive been doing all th standard stuff: damp cotton wool at back end, hard boild egg and water the other. I've chckd th temperature which is fine too

This morning was tking fine, and yesterdy, but s/he just sems to be fading out.

edmund_blackadder

Hi,

Are the coops at http://www.henhouseworld.co.uk/coops.htm any good? or any other recommendations? (I'm not particularly keen on the Eglus though)

Is it essential to have a run (or is that only of you do not intend on letting them roam the garden?)

Frugaldom

Edmund, the runs are handy for closing hens in if you have to go away during the day and there's nobody to look after your hens. Also handy if you ever want a long lie, you can leave coop open into secure run. I don't have a run on my main coop, so it's 6am starts and 11pm finishes at the moment with hens and ducks. Very tying but, fortunately, I work from home and am always here to keep an eye on them. Going shopping means risking leaving them out unattended, so I never know where I'll find them when I get back after an hour. Among the sheep was a good starting point until I resorted to wing clipping. :rotfl:

Katharine

Looking at them today I've decided to accept the fact that I only have 2 hens and five cockrel chicks. I suspected but didn't want to believe it.

I need to get my new ones sorted but they are confusing the hell out of me with their symptoms/habits. The Araucana laid a soft shelled egg, they were laying on the perch at night so I took the perch out, and the eggs are still getting broken. They have eaten at least two of them as I found the remains yesterday. Between them they eat twice as much as my freerangers and half of that is eaten by the fat sussex!:huh:

xnatalie81x

Have no idea how old they are lol. But where i got tem from had no nest boxes so didn't look to be laying yet - they were in a house thing with loads of barbed wire around the outside and there were hundreds and hundreds!

EGG WATCH: Day 9 - NO EGGS lol, but chickadees are much happier and friendlier and if i am late getting them out of their adapted guinea pig/rabbit cage ( get em out at 8am usually) - as today they start clucking at me to remind me lol.

They are also getting very brave and wandering around their run during the day. I put them to bed about 8/9pm and they are very pleased with neighbours donation of turning corn on the cobb. Pecked to pieces in about 30 secs! How much food should i be giving the three of them - i give them a pot (glass value coffee jar) of the pellets plus a couple handfuls of mixed grit and oyster grit - then they have extras like potato peelings, bread, banana skins etc (anything left over although with 3 kids and me they don't get it all or they will only be good for cooking!)

xnatalie81x

http://www.henhouseworld.co.uk/coops.htm ooooooooooo they are lovely and just measured up and would fit perfectly where they are housed at the moment lol. How easy are they to put together. Do i need a greenhouse at the allotment more than i need a hen house lol. Although i plan on using thick wire to build a run anyway lol

With regards to laying boxes. the first hen house doesn't have one, so if no specific place where will they lay????