Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Cheery_Daff

Right, let's see if this works...

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Pyxis

Yey!! :T:T

Cheery's chooks! :beer:

Pyxis

They look in good condition!

But.......how do you tell them apart?

Cheery_Daff

Oh hooray! (Thanks Pyxis, I searched and found an old MSE post and used !!!!!!! but it works in the same way!)

Mildred and Hermione trying out perching on the first night (before Mildred made a bid for being top hen and started being mean to Hermione...)



Hermione in a sumbeam, bathing her feet in the water dish



And Mildred has taken rather a liking to the phone :rotfl: :rotfl:

Gosh I could be here all day :rotfl: :rotfl: Will try to upload the video of them singing later...

Cheery_Daff

They're actually quite distinctive, although it doesn't really show in the photo. There are two with quite large combs (Mildred and Maud), of which Maud is really a lot bigger than Mildred, who is quite small and the scruffiest of the lot (although that might get more confusing when they've all got their new feathers - there's still quite a size difference though and Mildred is proper bossy...)

The two with the smaller combs are quite different from each other too - Hermione is really a lot paler in colour than the others, and Luna has a missing toenail on one foot...

Of course it helps that I've spent hours in there just sitting and watching them :rotfl: :rotfl:

Cheery_Daff

Oops, missed the last photo out



:rotfl: :rotfl:

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Oops, missed the last photo out



:rotfl: :rotfl:

:eek: :eek: :eek:

It's a dinosaur! :rotfl:

edwink

Pyxis wrote: »

Yes, they are sort of pets with benefits, aren't they? Any money you get from spare eggs is a bonus, I suppose!
No edible benefits from having a dog! :rotfl:

I have had such a giggle about "not having any edible benefits from having a dog" Pyxis. Very well put I must say.

CAFCGirl wrote: »

I think i slipped through the net.
Any advice on chickens who have developed the habit of eating the eggs. Never their own but they each other others.
They dont lay at reliable times of days, or every day so catching the egg before they get to it is becoming a nightmare. I've become an unwilling vegan chicken keeper!

Sorry for the delay with my input to your problem but sadly I was away from home attending a funeral. Back home now and playing catch up with all the posts.

There is not much you can do really except go down the route of Suki's suggestion of the mustard (thanks Suki x) or keep going out and collecting any that have been laid. They say that hens will eat their own eggs if they are bored. But, my hens do it and they are definitely not bored so I know that is not true.

Pyxis wrote: »

I'm sure Edwink will give you the advice you need once she's caught up with all the posts. :cool:
See next post in the meantime......

Thanks for posting and quoting from Happygreen and Suki posts regarding egg eating issues Pyxis. You are a star x

Edwink

edwink

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

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..

Hi Cheery

Firstly check her toenails to see if any are longer than the others. Also check to see if any have even the smallest amount of blood on them. This will rule out anything to do with the top of her toes like a toenail digging in to her foot etc. If there is an extra long toenail it can be clipped safely with dog toenail clippers to meet the length of the others. I have had to do this with several of mine when they first arrived.

Next offer her some food by hand so you can get as near as you can to her. Then just try to grab her quickly cupping your hands around her body/wings. That way she can't flap away from you. Carefully turn her upside down and have a look at her sore/bad foot and the other one to see if you notice any immediate difference in the two of them. She may have got something in the pink pad at the base of the sore one. If you cant immediately see anything just have a light feel of the foot and the pink pads to see if pressing them upsets her or makes her yelp. You can press her feet when you are holding her and she is upright if it is easier for you. She may have just stood in something like some of the bedding and a little sharp piece has poked in to the pink soft area under her foot. She could have a seed or a piece of one stuck in underneath.

Also check all of her toes and underneath them and see if that shows anything that is obvious and causing her to limp. I am sure you would have noticed if there was any blood about on the ground in the stable. But, just keep an extra eye on that over the next couple of days.

Once you have managed to do the above checks just keep a close eye on her if you have not found anything.

She may have just jumped off of something and landed a bit awkwardly. If so she should learn not to do that again, well that's the general idea anyway.

Please let us know how you get on. Hope she is ok.

Edwink

Pyxis

You're welcome, Edwink...... I knew you were tied up, and I had time on my hands, and anyway, I am a curious little blighter! :rotfl:

Perhaps I was a hen in a former life! :rotfl: