Keeping hens and ducks chat.

jac99

Pyxis, great idea! Will look out for one to give it a try...they already have a swing and a climbing frame from old branches. Maybe I could place it to get them down the steps and make it into a slide...

edwink

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Today I decided the stable needed a good clean out so I've emptied the bedding out of the coop and scrubbed it, and swept all the straw, sawdust and all manner of rubbish off the floor and replaced it with fresh. The girls were most perturbed :rotfl: and finally resorted to going outside while I did it

Now they're getting further away and I'm concerned I might not get them back :eek: :rotfl: at the minute I'm sitting here and supervising but I'm getting a bit cold :rotfl: Do I let them wander a bit while I go back inside? I can't see them from the house. Ultimately I want them to be free ranging so I suppose I just have to let them get on with it they look so cheery rooting round in the grass :j
Incidentally, how often do you do a big clean out? I've had them 3 weeks now, been picking poo out of coop and off stable floor, and adding extra bedding to coop, but it was getting a bit grim in there - it's been raining in through the roof (not into the coop, just the stable) so a bit damp too.

With regards to doing a big clean out we do our hens every couple of weeks or so now we only have the 3 girls and the Cockerel. By big clean I mean sweep the hotel/hut out and wash the floor which is fitted cushion flooring like Lino, wait for it to dry then throw the used shavings from the nesting box over it. Then wipe out the nesting box and replace the bedding with fresh shavings. We poo pick every day including the nesting box and add extra shavings as needed. Once or twice a year we jet wash the hens and the ducks hotels inside and out to give them a real thorough clean. Great when the weather is really hot as they dry in under a day.

Free ranging wise some say to feed them pellets in the morning and again in the evening only because that way they will always come back for food at night before it gets dark. It is certainly one way to get them in of an evening anyway. As soon as mine hear the dustbin lid being slammed shut that's it they come running like loonies, that's if they don't spot me heading for their feed shed first.

There is always a worry fox wise wherever your hens are I guess. Really difficult to say if they are safe or not being free range. A friend of ours had a really huge, huge garden like ours and never let them out of their large wired coop but sadly a fox got their hens during the night when they were locked in. I would have said that their set up with so safe. I suppose sadly you can never tell when it comes to foxes and poultry. Don't forget you can always splash mens urine in places which is a great fox deterrent or hang some clothing about the place that has been worn by a male. A bit more difficult when your boundaries are over a vast area though but still worth giving a go I guess.

Edwink

Cheery_Daff

Thanks edwink I've been just leaving food out all day so they have access all the time - probably not the best if I want them to come running!

You're right about the foxes of course, I've seen one here and it wouldn't take a minute for them to snatch a hen, nothing for them to be afraid of. I think I'll stick with supervised free range for a couple of hours a day for now - fortunately they were pretty easy to catch...

Just went to put them to bed and they were still up! :rotfl: must have been the excitement :rotfl:

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Just went to put them to bed and they were still up! :rotfl: must have been the excitement :rotfl:

Well, I hope they won't sit up on their perches chattering to each other!
Go to sleep, hens! :rotfl:



I did laugh at the thought of Jac's hen going mental when she found a slug! :rotfl:

edwink

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

You're right about the foxes of course, I've seen one here and it wouldn't take a minute for them to snatch a hen, nothing for them to be afraid of. I think I'll stick with supervised free range for a couple of hours a day for now - fortunately they were pretty easy to catch...

A tin a sweetcorn will make it really easy to get them in especially if you want them to if you are in a rush to go out.

The trouble is a fox will more often than not kill all the hens and run off with one of them. Some say they do this to shut all the other hens up so as not to raise the alarm, so to speak. In my friends case the fox killed 7, left 3 traumatised and took one. The fox got in through the nesting box roof apparently and not through the door itself.

Because there are foxes here and our girls hotel is not in their coop but attached to it we have covered the whole of their hotel in chicken wire including the roof. The large nesting box is attached to the side of their hotel so that is also covered in chicken wire including the roof plus the nesting box is latched securely. We also have chicken wire as a roof over the whole of the coop which is 24ft x 16ft. Never can be too sure around here so we have done everything we possibly can to keep them safe at night even cementing the chicken wire 2ft/3ft in to the ground all the way around. Foxes have always been a worry though

Edwink

edwink

Lost our little indoor hen during the night. She went in her sleep as we thought she would. She was cosy and warm by the stove, bless her!

It is such a shame they slow down and go so soon. But, as we are told so often they have had a wonderful retirement with us which has made up for the rotten 2 early years of their life cramped in those horrible cages.


ETA.... Currently have the other 3 hens around my feet whilst sitting up the kitchen table typing this which is making me smile

Edwink

Pyxis

((((((((Edwink)))))))))

vjm63

So sorry Edwink - you gave her a good life with you. Spoilt rotten, and what is wrong with that! I love the idea of the others cwtching up to your feet, as well.



Well it is a first for me today, after 3 years of having various girls. Opened them up this morning, and one lass was down in the coop, and staggering or falling onto her beak when she tried moving. I picked her out and put on the ground in their run because the coop is up two breeze blocks, and I feared she could have fallen and landed on her head. She seemed to be swaying a lot and very unsteady - think very drunk chicken! Picked her up - no broken legs I think.



I kept going back to her, and she seems to be moving about okay, still with drunken lurches from time to time. She is mid moult so missing her tail feathers and most of her wing feathers. I can only assume she moved on the perch overnight, and lost her balance. So there could be some concussion there - but what can I do for that?


Just been out now, and there is still the odd lurch, but she even managed a reverse to get around one of the more bossy girls, so I think she is fairly ok - just punchdrunk! Anyone had this happen to one of their girls? How long did it take to recover?

edwink

vjm63 wrote: »

Well it is a first for me today, after 3 years of having various girls. Opened them up this morning, and one lass was down in the coop, and staggering or falling onto her beak when she tried moving. I picked her out and put on the ground in their run because the coop is up two breeze blocks, and I feared she could have fallen and landed on her head. She seemed to be swaying a lot and very unsteady - think very drunk chicken! Picked her up - no broken legs I think.

I kept going back to her, and she seems to be moving about okay, still with drunken lurches from time to time. She is mid moult so missing her tail feathers and most of her wing feathers. I can only assume she moved on the perch overnight, and lost her balance. So there could be some concussion there - but what can I do for that?

Just been out now, and there is still the odd lurch, but she even managed a reverse to get around one of the more bossy girls, so I think she is fairly ok - just punchdrunk! Anyone had this happen to one of their girls? How long did it take to recover?

Without knowing exactly what has happened to her it is hard to say what is wrong. Hens can get concussion, so if she fell off her perch in the night this could be the case. The fact that she moved away from a dominant hen is a good thing as shows she is in control of what she is doing, except of course for the lurching that she is displaying.

Best thing to do for her is to keep her as calm as possible and make sure she drinks and eats something. With hens they soon stop eating and drinking if they are unwell ,so always keep a close eye on that side of things. All you can really do is keep checking on her to see how she goes. Obviously if the others do start picking on her, remove her away from them to somewhere where she can rest and hopefully get over this.

Please come back and let us know how she is getting on!

Edwink

vjm63

Thanks for your comments, Edwink. She actually seems okay now - walking around normally, browsing and pecking as she should, so whatever it was, she seems to have got over it. The other girls are not picking on her, so she obviously is not sending out 'weak or ill' vibes - in fact they were happily all in a resting together in the sun early this afternoon.

She does not always get up onto the perch at night - certainly lately when it could be low flying/jumping ability, so if she stays down tonight I will probably leave her there.

Chickens, eh? - daft lot!