Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Cheery_Daff

Daft lot indeed - I'm sat outside freezing my fingers off while my lot make the most of the last of the evening light - I was hoping they'd have taken themselves to bed by now but clearly it's going to take a bit of persuasion :rotfl:

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Daft lot indeed - I'm sat outside freezing my fingers off while my lot make the most of the last of the evening light - I was hoping they'd have taken themselves to bed by now but clearly it's going to take a bit of persuasion :rotfl:

:think: I wonder if you could set up a TV in their coop. That might lure them in, especially if "Chicken Run" is showing! Or "The Hendersons".

Cheery_Daff

Evening all - how are we? How is your wobbly girl vjm? Hope she's a bit more steady now x

I am DELIGHTED to announce that my girls are now outside in their permanent run after nearly 4 weeks temporarily being housed in the stable block :j :j :j I am THRILLED :j :j They, however, are reserving judgement :rotfl: They have less room in their outdoor run (although still plenty), and they're not convinced about the wind ruffling their feathers :rotfl: and they were MOST put out with the drizzle this morning :eek:

But they're in front of the house, so I see them every time I go out to the car or to take the compost out etc, which is far more often. There's plenty for them to look at, and grass and soil for them to scratch around in. Luna actually found a WORM this morning and there was great glee :rotfl:

They have the same house to sleep in, and they've all gone into it perfectly happy both evenings since they moved, although they seemed slightly surprised when I opened the door on them for the first time this morning, they didn't rush out like the normally did, just stood on the threshold wondering where they were (despite the fact that they'd been in there for several hours the day before and had gone to bed unaided :rotfl: )

Gave them their first taste of pineapple today They weren't sure... :rotfl:

How are all your girls getting on? xx

jac99

Good morning, hope everyone had a peaceful weekend.

I have been using up the last bits of veg in the bottom of the fridge with then hens this weekend with mixed results...
Green cabbage stalk devoured in seconds
White cabbage eaten eventually
spring onion only liked the green bits
courgette stump was a hit
pear and apple enjoyed
blackberries a sticky but enjoyable mess!

I managed to get in some foraging this weekend while walking the dog, and found an apple tree that I will be going back to as the windfalls made a great crumble as well as being enjoyed by the hens. Found a few late blackberries but mainly all gone now. couldn't find any chestnuts but think I might have found a hazelnut tree so will keep an eye on it. This is a bit of a new hobby for me but hoping to supplement both the family and chicken foodstocks a little.

edwink

Morning everyone and their feathered friends

Cheery...... Glad you managed to finish your girls coop I bet you were so pleased once they had all been moved in to their new home. Just a little tip but hens hate it when it is really windy and getting their feathered knickers blown about. Easiest thing to do is just to fix a length of boarding somewhere from the ground up to about 2ft maybe 3ft high on to the boundary of their coop from the outside. So if it is really windy it will give them somewhere to get some relief from the blowy conditions. Just secure the board with some cable ties top and bottom and that should do the trick. Doing this will also give them some shelter from the rain if it is going in to their coop from that direction. If you have some boarding laying about spare you could tie a length each side by their hotel as this would give them somewhere a bit warmer to be in the real colder weather. As a rule hens don't mind the cold too much as they have layers of feathers to keep them warm. But, in weather extremes the boarding would make them more comfortable.


Jac........ Well done on the foraging we do that too. My girls go absolutely mad for blackberries. Stalks of any veg will keep them amused for ages too rather than chopping it up in to small pieces where they can gobble it up in minutes. With regards to onions only give your girls very little of this type of food. Some say it is bad for them and some say it is not. We give our girls a little onion from time to time and the same goes for leaks and which they love. Just a few chopped pieces left over from a meal or leftovers from a meal with a little onion in it should be fine for them.

One hens absolute favourite is cucumber and greens. Sometimes we chop them up for them but if it is cold out we give it to them in chunks for the cucumber and whole leaves for the greens as this keeps them occupied.


All ok here with my girls, thankfully. My other hen that was a bit quiet is ok but rather slow, bless her. Her comb is not as red as it should be which often happens as they get really old and slow down somewhat. Ideally your girls combs should resemble the combs of the hens that are on those cornflake packets Always worth keeping an eye on combs as can be an indication of their overall health.


Talking of hens combs. In the really cold weather and I mean freezing weather you can coat their combs in Vaseline as this will help them to retain heat. Think of it like us wearing a hat on a cold day keeping us warmer. Heat is lost through the combs so coating in Vaseline will help to keep your girls warm. Not always easy catching them and as a rule a 2 person job but always worth doing if it is bitter cold outside.

Oh and don't forget the porridge for them which they love on really cold days.

Edwink

green-backer

Hi all,


I've followed the thread as I have been looking into keeping some chickens for some time. Would you mind helping me with a few quick questions-


1. The potential run area I have for the chickens is 35ftx13ft. I have purchased a second hand eglu and I'm thinking 4 chickens will suffice (not sure which to go for yet). Half the designated area is just soil with plenty of reoccurring weeds at the moment. Should I grass this area or would the chickens just pull it up? I don't mind the time and expense for putting down some turf.
2. The other half of this area has an overgrown apple tree overhead with wood chippings throughout the ground (weed matting to the underside). The apple tree is going to be pruned back a little but I'm wondering if the tree or wood chippings will cause a problem?
3. Finally- Do chickens make much of a smell. I'm not thinking about the eglu but more their run. Its just that the designated area borders onto next doors garden.


Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

green-backer

Here is a link to the area I am thinking of having the chicken run.


https://ibb.co/iLwprz

edwink

green-backer wrote: »

Hi all,
I've followed the thread as I have been looking into keeping some chickens for some time. Would you mind helping me with a few quick questions-

1. The potential run area I have for the chickens is 35ftx13ft. I have purchased a second hand eglu and I'm thinking 4 chickens will suffice (not sure which to go for yet). Half the designated area is just soil with plenty of reoccurring weeds at the moment. Should I grass this area or would the chickens just pull it up? I don't mind the time and expense for putting down some turf.
2. The other half of this area has an overgrown apple tree overhead with wood chippings throughout the ground (weed matting to the underside). The apple tree is going to be pruned back a little but I'm wondering if the tree or wood chippings will cause a problem?
3. Finally- Do chickens make much of a smell. I'm not thinking about the eglu but more their run. Its just that the designated area borders onto next doors garden.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Welcome to our hen friendly thread :hello:

The soil area you have in mind will be absolutely fine for hens. I personally would not bother laying turf because with hens it really would not last that long as they would constantly eat it, scratch the soil beneath and make holes in to dust bathe in. If you leave it as it is it will give them an area where they will happily scratch around and will soon make some dust baths there. It will be nice and easy for you to keep clean too.

For the other half the apple tree will be fine in there. We have a Bramley apple tree in our girls coop and they have fun perching on the lower branches. Not sure on the bark chip base with the weed matting underneath though as this area would be difficult to keep clean. I know others on here have bark chip with no problems but I don't think they have the matting as well. When it rains it could be difficult for the hens mess to wash away being held back by the matting and could become really nasty smell wise and not too healthy for them. Saying that they may not go on to this area as much as the flat ground so obviously would not get so much poop on it.

There shouldn't be any problems with smells as long as you keep their eglu clean, their coop clear of poop and you change their water regularly. You could do as we do and throw some handfuls of shavings on the ground so they can scratch around in it and every so often you can rake it up and maybe compost it, then throw fresh shavings down for them again. The shavings we use is shaved straw with pine in it, it is very absorbent so will hold on to their mess/poop and keep the ground dry for them, unless it rains of course. It is extremely clean to use and handle. This method keeps our coop nicely clean with no smells. As long as you keep on top of the cleaning you should be fine smell wise.

Hope that helps you. Please ask any further questions you may have. We are a friendly bunch on here, honest.

Edwink

Cheery_Daff

Welcome green-backer :hello:

Edwink is the font of all chicken knowledge I've only had my girls for 4 weeks so can't really add anything other than not to put turf down! :eek: :rotfl:

I LOVE having my girls out the front of the house in their run :j :j They hear me coming down the drive and when I park I can see them all peering out looking at me :rotfl: After they moved I kept them shut in the run for a couple of days to get used to it, but the last two days I've let them out for an hour or so before bed while I potter about and keep an eye on them. Tonight I ended up sitting in the run myself drinking my tea and trying to lure them back in while they all just wandered about on the outside :rotfl: :rotfl:

They did all go back into the run themselves though :j :j Not in the house yet mind you as it's not quite dark but I'll pop out in a bit and shut their door.

Four eggs today!! Not bad at all! (in fact I'd be very surprised if it was more given that there's only four of them :rotfl: )

green-backer

Thanks Edwink/Daff,

I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. I''ve really enjoyed following this thread.