Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Cheery_Daff

Sorry your chickens are eating eggs CAFCgirl :eek: I have no idea about anything so far so can't help getting mustard inside an egg sounds like it may be effective although also sounds like quite a skill! :eek:

We're having our own mini drama here this evening - Maud is limping Mr Cheer checked on them early evening and noticed and then when I got home about 7 I spent a good 45 mins in the stable with them (no that bloody run still isn't finished ). She seems reasonably ok other than that, still hoping round, putting foot down occasionally, still eating, and the others aren't picking on her (still chasing poor Hermione round though )

I tried to pick her up a couple of times and she flapped off, but when it went a bit darker I managed, but then it was too dark to really seem much and to be honest I've never really seen a chicken's foot up close anyway so I don't really know what I'm looking for...

Put them to bed after that and I'm hoping she's just landed on it funny and it'll be better in the morning. Fingers crossed..

jac99

Hello, just been catching up on the recent posts - now gone back to work and missing my afternoon natter with the hens!

Sorry to hear about Maud's limp Cheery Daff, hopefully just too much adventurous exploring in your absence.

CAFCGirl, sorry being a newbie I have had no experience of hens eating their own eggs but I asked someone today and they wondered if they need more calcium in their diet? It reminded me that the local farm shop I get my supplies from gave me grit and oyster shell mix which I assume is to provide additional calcium. It might be something to consider.

Good to have you back Edwink, sorry for your loss.

For the first time we received two eggs in one day...being bantam eggs they are quite small but actually perfect sized for my granddaughters lunch box. Apparently her mini hard boiled egg was quite a novelty at school yesterday so she had to come and take some photos of the hens to show her friends tomorrow.

I was gifted some cherry tree branches at the weekend and managed to fit them into the enclosure with the help of the odd cable tie to make them stay up as perches. Today two of the hens were sitting together on the highest branch like two little old ladies clucking away having a chat. The smaller black hen seems to like the branches and I wonder if it gives her a chance to get away from the more dominant hen. I haven't seen her use the branches yet which is quite interesting as she is the one who has worked out the feed balls and toys the quickest.

As I mentioned before I managed to get a free compost bin from a local reusing site to make use of the poop. I didn't realise they would do so much at night! Today I discovered that my local shopping mall is working with the coffee shops and packaging the used coffee grounds to give out free to use in composting. Luckily I had my son with me so we were able to take a few bags of them. Certainly gave the compost bin a better fragrance!

Now that the weather is starting to cool down I have been wondering what sort of things you all do to protect the hens from the weather? Or even if they need any additional protection? Thankyou

edwink

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

We got four Pyxis, quite enough for me as a xonplete chicken novice who's never had any pets at all as an adult :rotfl: Named them after witches in kids' books - Hermione, Luna, Mildred and Maud

So tired yesterday I went to bed really early, and am now up much earlier than usual - shall I let the ladies out, or will they then want to come out before 7am every day?!

Love the names you have chosen Cheery :T
You can let your hens out at a time that suits you as long as it is not too late in the morning. We let ours out around 8-8.30am as a rule but in the Winter months when there are less daylight hours we let them out around 7.30am just to give them that little bit extra daylight time out of their hotel.

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Morning chicken chums :hello:
I'm into my fourth day of chicken ownership and I LOVE it :j
Ladies are establishing their pecking order and I'm trying not to interfere although it's tempting - Mildred is going out of her way to find poor Hermione and chase her away from whatever she was quietly doing.

I actually managed to get them eating out of my hand yesterday Although now a couple of them seem to expect it and stand in front of me eyeing up my fingers when I'm drinking my tea... :rotfl: Not sure whether to encourage hand feeding or not, but I do want them to associate me with food and being cheerful so maybe for now...
Two of them found their own way into the hen house last night :j :j The other two were huddled in a corner on the floor together but I suppose it"s early days yet...

We've been popping in to see them a few times a day so far, but we're out 9am til midnight today. Hope they don't get bored :eek:
They're already showing their own little personalities
Overall they seem happy and I am very happy

Aww Cheery I am so pleased you are loving your new life with your hens. They really are special little things once you get to know them. Looks like you are finding your feet with them too and to think of all that worrying you did before bringing them home. A natural I would say

It is really hard not to interfere when they are sorting out their pecking order. If it gets particularly nasty I do step in and part them but it is rare for that to happen, thankfully. So my advice would be to just keep an eye on them. You can't be there every minute of the day so try not to worry they will sort their pecking order out in time.

If you are happy for them to eat out of your hand it doesn't in my opinion do them any harm. In fact I think they learn quicker to trust you more. As soon as mine see me they come running like lunatics and come to an abrupt halt by my feet. They then all look up at me as if to ask what I have for them to eat. They never stop eating, ever :rotfl:

Yes it is early days and they will all finally take themselves off to bed once they get in to the night time routine.

I really do not think that yours will get bored Cheery so no need to worry about that. You have given them lots of things to keep them occupied so they will be fine I'm sure.

Happy hen keeper and happy hens. That's brilliant well done x

Pyxis wrote: »

I loved hearing about your chooks, Cheery!
Cheery's Chooks!
We need pics, next! I'd love to see what quiet little Hermione looks like!

I agree with Pyxis about needing pics of the new hens cos we like pics on here

Edwink

PS.... I can only quote 3 posts at a time so the rest will follow this post.

Edwink

edwink

suki1964 wrote: »

Well a little update......
And after a lot of discussion, we are rejigging the garden, and restocking

And I have told Mr Suki, no more hatching!!!! This is where we went wrong ( I think) We ended up with having to cull the roosters

As an aside, as you all know I sell my eggs at the gate. Never had an ounce of bother getting them sold. Anyways a sign went up down the road, Free Range Eggs for sale 79p ( mine are £1.20) so I thought our days were numbered.
Cheeky sod is selling housed hen eggs as free range !!!

That's nice Suki glad you are getting some more.

With regards to the hatching of eggs. As a rule 60% that do hatch are Cockerels. Which then leaves the owner with the problem of having way too many of them and keeping them all would end in disaster.

Your neighbour selling his eggs as free range is totally wrong in doing so but I bet he is not the only lying wotsit to do that. Anything for profit eh?.

Pyxis wrote: »

Oooh Suki! That 'neighbour' doesn't sound good. Could you prove they're not free range?
Trouble is, I think the term free range covers a wideish range of living conditions.
It might be worth looking into, though. There's nothing that annoys me more than animal welfare being watered down for profit.

I agree with you Pyxis as I feel the same. It's all about money, money, money. It sickens me sometimes, it really does.

suki1964 wrote: »

Sod him, My customers know mine are the real deal, they even get to meet my hens

Yes free range can be used for hens who are in houses that have openings to the outside but are too crammed in to ever get out

Still they give us great pleasure as well, cant price that

Mine meet my hens too Suki and like yours are known for being looked after properly and humanely

Your right, free range hens eggs are not necessarily from "free range" hens. As long as they have access to the outside world the eggs can be labelled as free range. But, hundreds upon hundreds of these hens never get to go outside, ever. I read somewhere years ago about this whereby the more dominate hens would only let a selected few out and almost stood guard at the door to stop the others going outside. Personally it makes me sad when I read things like that. How these poultry keepers get away with it I'll never know.

Edwink

crv1963

We have one of our hens occasionally pecks her egg, leaving the others alone, it is difficult to break but if it becomes a regular thing I'll try the mustard trick, thanks for the tip.

Pyxis

edwink wrote: »

If you are happy for them to eat out of your hand it doesn't in my opinion do them any harm. In fact I think they learn quicker to trust you more. As soon as mine see me they come running like lunatics and come to an abrupt halt by my feet. They then all look up at me as if to ask what I have for them to eat. They never stop eating, ever :rotfl:


Edwink

:rotfl::rotfl: I do love hearing about all their little quirks....... so much like kiddywinks

I've now got visions of hens a-running to you and skidding to a halt and peering up at you expectantly, like little puppies! :rotfl:
Do they then cluck "Sweeties, mum, have you got sweeties?":rotfl:

Cheery_Daff

Mine stand and look at me intently, really close up, when I'm eating breakfast in there with them :rotfl: :rotfl: One has developed a great interest in the phone - specifically watching videos of herself on it :rotfl:

Two of them were kind of purring this morning... Not heard them doing that before. They were kind of standing next to each other and it almost seemed like they were singing, but barely moving at all. Did it for at least two minutes as I took a video :rotfl: Any idea why?! Cheerful? Or frightened of something? There was nothing unusual! I was walking about picking poop and collecting eggs but they've not bothered about me doing that before.

CAFCGirl, are all your hens eating eggs, or just one of them eating ALL the eggs? :eek: Found this, which (among many other, more sensible things) suggests putting little curtains up on the nest boxes :rotfl:

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/stop-hen-eating-their-own-eggs/

No idea if that will work or not! Sounds like it might be a difficult thing to stop them doing, good luck...

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Mine stand and look at me intently, really close up, when I'm eating breakfast in there with them :rotfl: :rotfl: One has developed a great interest in the phone - specifically watching videos of herself on it :rotfl:

Two of them were kind of purring this morning... Not heard them doing that before. They were kind of standing next to each other and it almost seemed like they were singing, but barely moving at all. Did it for at least two minutes as I took a video :rotfl: Any idea why?! Cheerful? Or frightened of something? There was nothing unusual! I was walking about picking poop and collecting eggs but they've not bothered about me doing that before.

CAFCGirl, are all your hens eating eggs, or just one of them eating ALL the eggs? :eek: Found this, which (among many other, more sensible things) suggests putting little curtains up on the nest boxes :rotfl:

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/stop-hen-eating-their-own-eggs/

No idea if that will work or not! Sounds like it might be a difficult thing to stop them doing, good luck...

Cheery, I found this.......

"Among the many fascinating discoveries I’ve made in the process of raising a flock of adopted hens is the lovely and soothing sound of a chicken purr. Yes, you heard right. Chickens purr like cats when they’re happy. "


And there's a video of Doris (the hen) purring here....
https://freefromharm.org/farm-animal-intelligence/did-you-know-that-chickens-purr-when-theyre-content/

Cheery_Daff

Pyxis wrote: »

Cheery, I found this.......

"Among the many fascinating discoveries I’ve made in the process of raising a flock of adopted hens is the lovely and soothing sound of a chicken purr. Yes, you heard right. Chickens purr like cats when they’re happy. "


And there's a video of Doris (the hen) purring here....
https://freefromharm.org/farm-animal-intelligence/did-you-know-that-chickens-purr-when-theyre-content/

Ha, yes that sounds just like them! :rotfl: Aw... Need to figure out how to get photos onto this site, never managed it before!

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Ha, yes that sounds just like them! :rotfl: Aw... Need to figure out how to get photos onto this site, never managed it before!

I wrote some instructions........ I'll go and find them.



Here they are:

I now use Postimage...

It's free, you don't need an account, and you don't even have to sign or anything!

https://postimage.org

On the Postimage page, click on CHOOSE IMAGES.
(Don't click on the other options about resize or expiry).

You then have the option of taking a photo or choosing from your photo library or Cloud, etc.

So, choose your photo, click DONE, wait for it to load, and when it has loaded, you will see the photo and there will be a choice of URLs.
Use the DIRECT LINK option and click on the icon at the far right of the URL....that automatically copies the URL address for you. (It will say "copied" ).

Come out of Postimage and go into MSE, then on your draft post, select the mountain icon in the tool bar (don't know what it's called) and paste the URL address in the address bar of the pop-up that comes up, firstly deleting the http thing that's always in the address bar. (Why is it there, when you always have to delete it?). Click on ok in the pop-up.

On your draft post it will show as a URL address, so click on PREVIEW POST to check it is ok.

If it is, then press SUBMIT POST as usual.