Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

nik0510

Hi everyone, i dont post much have have chickens at our allotment, i know everyone is worried about mr fox getting your hens, but we have just had 3 of our 6 girls stolen, they cut thrugh the chain and took 3 of our girls, i cant believe it as they were my 3 childrens hensm my 7 yo dd is so upset, so just a reminder.
Best wishes
Nik

ella_mahony

Hi everyone. I keep chickens and have done for about 6 years. I love them to bits, with their funny little ways and noises they make chatting to each other. The first few we bought from a breeder, but last February we got 4 from Little Hen Rescue (littlehenrescue.co.uk) who rescue ex-battery hens from farmers and re-home them. All they ask is a small nominal donation but be prepared for the sorry state some of them are in - poor things. Ours feathered up nicely within about 6 weeks and have not stopped laying since - even through the snow we had! We didn't expect as many eggs because the other hens we have are pekin bantams, purely ornamental, and lay from end of spring to early autumn, so a real bonus. Yes they do mess, and as ours had total run of the whole garden, kept coming in the house, despite my 4 dogs running around them. So last year we decided to separate an area for them. Mainly because the dogs kept eating said mess and rolling in it! (why do dogs do that?) The hens are cleaned out regularly and the area they have is very large but I do feel sorry for them because they love to eat grass, so I let them out towards the end of the day sometimes to eat the grass before they go to bed at dusk. The eggs are such a vibrant yellow and the whites are thick, not runny like shop-bought eggs. Omlettes and scrambled eggs come out bright yellow! They eat most kitchen scraps, they love tomatoes and what they don't eat, either the horses or the dogs will - so we don't have much kitchen waste!

ella_mahony

Oh, that's just awful Nik, what a mean thing to do. I can understand how upset you all are, you poor things.

jexygirl

Aw Nik, sorry to hear about that there is just no need for that at all. Hope your kids are ok.
As for Mrs Baldy - thanks for the name nykmedia, its stuck! She is still in her corner, not really doing anything, but I am about to go out and put warm hot water bottle out there with her, so she can snuggle it a bit like having another hen with her. fingers crossed
The rest are doing really well, settling in, rooting around, and we are modifying things to suit on a daily basis - todays addition will be an old belfast sink I knew would come in handy one day, its going to be the new feeding trough as the ground didnt work, nor did a plastic tub - apart from pecking at the sides of the tub or perching on it so it tips over!!!
Jex

Purpleclutterbuck

I am new to this forum and am very much of a novice with chickens - I have got 4 girls who have been perfectly fine (I got them last year) but I now have got 2 Mrs Baldy lookalikes and one of them has been pecked - they were in the run over the bad weather and now I let them out as much as possible in the bigger garden Any ideas anyone?
Please could you chicken mse's let me know what to do ? I think I need to chat with some people who have experience and can impart their worldly knowledege onto a beginner who wants the best for her gals! ( their names are Coco, Jobro, Leggy- blonde and No-name )
I will be catching up with all the posts as astart - hope everyone is ok:A

jexygirl

Mrs Baldy RIP

Jex

ljonski

Hi Jexygirl i am very sorry to hear about your loss.
Death is aterrible thing !

Can you go back and ask for a replacement for Mrs Baldy?
also can you get a small syringe to feed if another falls ill.
Best wishes lj

jexygirl

Hi Lj
I probably can call them I guess, but atm, I am still too cross about the fact that I was fooled into beleiving free range meant better conditions than I think my girls have come from, that coupled with the fact that I would not only fetch one but another 30 or as many as I could! I will mention it when they deliver eggs to us though.
I still have 14 and I have only had them for 2 days so I need to not think about it too much! Scouting all over for eggs and trying to break old routines...
Thanks
Jex

poohbear59

Hi I forgot all about this discussion. Over the really bad snow we kept our girls in their run and had not a single egg. Now they are out and about we still have no eggs. They are 3 to 4 years old but I have had hens much older in the past who kept on laying. Any ideas how to encourage them?

We will not be killing them but will kee them into old age. Our really old girl died a couple of months ago aged nine!!

jammy_dodger

mine arent laying yet poohbear59 i ahve had 3 eggs since xmas day , i had to move them 2 weeks ago as the snow got soooooooo deep in their run so they now have residence in my polytunnel with coop in there for sleeping / laying in . I think they are too comfy and enjoying the dry earth to scratch about in . I hope they start again soon . I have 5 black rocks 2 years old