Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink

dizzybee wrote: »

thank you, for the ideas `got some wire fencing of free cycle so going to have a go at putting it along the fence with cable ties, had a tex to say coop will be here mon, so will be ready, can i just ask what do others put in the run area of the coop i thought maybe bark chipping,

Wire fencing should do the trick ok with the cable ties. Just try and make sure the wire fencing is pulled as tight as possible so there are no gaps underneath where the hens could look to escape through. Will you have any help with the wire fence?. It might take two of you to pull it tight enough and get it high above the original fence.

With regards to the ground in the new run bark chip would not be easy to poop pick and keep clean. Something like straw or Unibedding would be much easier to keep clean as they would absorb mess from the hens and all you would need to do maybe once a week is go in there and poop pick for them. Then after many poop picks you would need to top it up for them so they have something new to play with. My hens love a new pile of unibedding in their coop. No need to spread it around the coop as they will happily do that for you.

Don't forget to make sure they have an area where they can dust bathe to keep clean. I'm not sure how many hens you plan to get but you will need to make sure it is big enough for all of them. For example if you are getting 4 hens a 3ft by 3ft area should be fine and if it is made so the straw or Unibedding couldn't get in there that would be ideal. They would possibly make dust bathing areas of their own but with bedding on the ground this would get mixed in with the soil they are trying to clean themselves with. Imagine a cat little tray full of dry soil but much bigger than that size. Just in the corner at the top of their run would be fine. You could just section the corner off by using the 2 sides of the run that are already in place and adding 2 x 3ft small planks of wood screwed together and attached to the sides of the coop. That way you will have an easily made dust bathing area for them. Hope that makes sense. Let me know if you are stuck with what I have suggested as I would be happy to explain it in more detail later today. Even if you have a container like a large litter tray they would happily use that.

Happy hen keeping

Edwink

edwink

Our very old ex-batt hen is still indoors with us. She has been out of her comfy night time box and has sitting looking out of the French doors at the garden. She appears too tired to eat but is drinking water ok now whereas yesterday she didn't drink much at all. Had her sitting on my lap today for cuddles for a while too.

Just doing our best to keep her as comfortable as possible.

All for now

Edwink

edwink

My elderly ex-batt hens is really very quiet today. She has had a drink but wont take any food this morning not even a tiny amount Just keeping a very close eye on her as that's all we can do now. Bless her she has gone back to sleep this morning with an empty tummy

How is everyone else? How about those in the process of building their coops. Any progress happening? Don't forget we do like pictures on here when your new ex-batts arrive in their new home. I know some of you are not ready for your hens yet but the picture thing is just a reminder

All for now

Edwink

Cheery_Daff

Aw, your poor hen edwink Bless her. At least she's comfortable with you xx

I'm feeling a surge of readiness for my hens now :rotfl: :rotfl: Been rather daunted for a while but this week feel like I'm actually *ready* (mentally, not physically :rotfl: ) My boss keeps chickens and ducks and we had a good chat yesterday about it (and she brought me some duck eggs ) and we sketched out plans for a simple coop that will fit in the space we've chosen :j :j

I just impatiently rang the rescue people to ask about provisional dates (their website has said 'to be confirmed' on our local place since the last date at the start of April, which we were nowhere near ready for). Sadly they're shut at the weekend so I'll have to wait :rotfl:

And it's raining, so I can't even get out and build anything :rotfl: Although Mr Cheery was keen to build the coop, and while I'd normally want to do that type of thing myself, I know he has no interest in feeding or looking after them so I'm taking advantage of some involvement at this stage :P

So technically we're no closer, but mentally I feel ready now Feels ludicrously like a big thing as we've never even had a pet hamster before so have no experience of looking after another being :rotfl:

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Aw, your poor hen edwink Bless her. At least she's comfortable with you xx

I'm feeling a surge of readiness for my hens now :rotfl: :rotfl: Been rather daunted for a while but this week feel like I'm actually *ready* (mentally, not physically :rotfl: ) My boss keeps chickens and ducks and we had a good chat yesterday about it (and she brought me some duck eggs ) and we sketched out plans for a simple coop that will fit in the space we've chosen :j :j

I just impatiently rang the rescue people to ask about provisional dates (their website has said 'to be confirmed' on our local place since the last date at the start of April, which we were nowhere near ready for). Sadly they're shut at the weekend so I'll have to wait :rotfl:

And it's raining, so I can't even get out and build anything :rotfl: Although Mr Cheery was keen to build the coop, and while I'd normally want to do that type of thing myself, I know he has no interest in feeding or looking after them so I'm taking advantage of some involvement at this stage :P

So technically we're no closer, but mentally I feel ready now Feels ludicrously like a big thing as we've never even had a pet hamster before so have no experience of looking after another being :rotfl:

You could get in a bit of practice with a pet rock!

dizzybee

Well the council came to do some work in the garden that i had been waiting for, why they where hanging around waiting for there stuff to arrive, noticed they where watching me do the fencing, and struggling one of the lads offered to help and next thing they had done the job whilst i made tea, so one less job to do, coop and run will be put up on tue, managed to get a load of hardwood chips from a tree surgeon for free gave him some money to cover petrol. today i have ordered food and bedding and picked up every thing elsa,so all in all i am ready,
can i ask can hens eat frozen veg? got loads in the freezer,

Pyxis

Talking about can hens eat frozen veg, and finding that they can eat all sorts of things I hadn't thought of, do they like ice-cream?

I've got visions of a line of ice cream cones in those containers with holes in to hold them, with all the hens lined up, one to a cone, dipping their beaks into the ice cream!

That would sooooooo make a lovely photo!

Pyxis

The answer to the perennial fox problem:


Get a pair of alpacas!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zile3eVdlTQ

edwink

dizzybee wrote: »

Well the council came to do some work in the garden that i had been waiting for, why they where hanging around waiting for there stuff to arrive, noticed they where watching me do the fencing, and struggling one of the lads offered to help and next thing they had done the job whilst i made tea, so one less job to do, coop and run will be put up on tue, managed to get a load of hardwood chips from a tree surgeon for free gave him some money to cover petrol. today i have ordered food and bedding and picked up every thing elsa,so all in all i am ready,
can i ask can hens eat frozen veg? got loads in the freezer,

Hi Dizzy

In answer to your question yes they will because they will eat anything, well almost. Just put it on the ground in their coop and it will give them something to do and to play with. They may turn their noses up at frozen carrot but mine will eat them when they are cooked.

They will eat any leftovers from your meals like jacket potatoes, mash potatoes, salad, raw and cooked veg. Bread also but don't give them too much as it doesn't give them much if anything in the way of nutrition. Sweetcorn, fresh or frozen, they absolutely love especially if you hang it from the roof of the coop so it is dangling and swings about. They have great fun if you also hang lettuce, cabbage, celery and greens. Hanging things always keeps them amused.

Hope that is some help. Not long now until you get them is it?

Edwink

edwink

Pyxis wrote: »

Talking about can hens eat frozen veg, and finding that they can eat all sorts of things I hadn't thought of, do they like ice-cream?

I've got visions of a line of ice cream cones in those containers with holes in to hold them, with all the hens lined up, one to a cone, dipping their beaks into the ice cream!

That would sooooooo make a lovely photo!

Hi Pyxis

Yes they will eat ice cream and I agree that would make such a lovely photo but here is the BUT, they would not all be standing in a row like sensible hens munching away at one of the ice creams each They would always want to eat what the hen next door to them is eating and so on. So in the end it is possible that they would all be standing around one cone and maybe one or two trying to stand on it to get a bigger share of it. Once they get bored of fighting for that one cone they would then slowly but surely thin themselves out along the row and possibly but only possibly behave and be civilised and eat all the cones without pecking each other :rotfl: It would be absolute mayhem if you gave a bunch of hens just one corn on the cob between them, with pecking, squawking, biting and flapping wings all over the place. We always cut several up so they all get a piece each. They will pick it up and scarper in all different directions to go and hide somewhere and eat their piece all to themselves. It is so funny to watch.

I have given ours yogurt and they love it. In fact I gave them some the other day and it was all round their faces and on their combs. It was like who can get their head in the pot the quickest and sometimes two of them will do that at the same time. With something like yogurt and custard it is painful literately offering them it from the end of a finger. I've tried that and wouldn't recommend anyone else doing it. Hens are not vicious to humans but they would literately have your finger off for something as tasty as yogurt. I have received a few nasty pinches off of my girls when doing that and it blooming hurts . I've learnt my lesson from doing that finally :rotfl:

Edwink x