Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink

Edwink x

Pyxis

Nice to see you, Edwink!

edwink

We are back to getting eggs everyday again now, well at least one a day anyway. How about others on here? Are your girls still laying? Mine might slow down again now as the weather has turned pretty chilly here tonight and the forecast is for a chilly spell over the next week. So no sooner do we get our lovely egg and chips supper it will probably be off the menu again for a while.

I'm still very surprised how my ex-batts are doing considering their age to be honest. One of them showed real signs of slowing down just before Christmas but has picked up again. I swear it is the warm porridge I feed them as a treat every lunchtime, spoilt lot they are.

Not much clearing out to do now we don't have so many feathered friends and only takes around half an hour a week cleaning out both the hens and ducks now. Mind you using a large snow shovel helps enormously especially for the ducks hotel.

Hope everyone and their girls are all ok and being spoilt rotten.

Edwink

Cheery_Daff

Evening all :hello:

Still laying here - 3 eggs today, and FIVE yesterday - from four hens :eek: Not some kind of miracle or freak of nature - we spotted one of them settled nicely behind a bush in the garden the other day so I've been periodically checking for eggs and yesterday I found one (clearly laid the day before). Pesky ladies! (I do agree it's a good spot for egg laying though - there was another one in there today!)

Mine get warm porridge first thing in the morning Spoilt indeed Bought them some extra seeds to go in it today too

Ours are getting a lot of wandering around time these days :j We've been at home a lot over the holidays, and when we're here, they just get let out to roam free :j They're getting more adventurous, but still have their favourite places (once they're out of their run, they literally have the run of the county, and beyond I suppose, as we have no fences). They've made little dust baths for themselves on a bank under some trees - I never would have noticed it as a chicken hotspot but apparently it's sheltered, relatively dry, on a bit of a slope, and catches the sun. They spend a lot of time there!

They've also started scratching around in front of the garage - I suspect because it's near the back door and they're waiting for us to emerge with treats :rotfl: It's probably also a good source of bugs - it's basically a layer of soil/grass on top of tarmac so they're doing us a favour by scraping it off really

And there's another bit they like behind one of the outbuildings which is a bit of a depression filled with leaves :j

Thinking of opening some kind of chicken holiday resort if you want to send your ladies for a few days of novelty adventurising :rotfl:

We visited a friend's chickens today - she had 4 already then got another 4 from the same rescue batch as us. Mr Cheery was surprised at how 8 hens didn't seem that much more than 4, so I can see some more in our future at some point... :j :j There's room for 8 in the hen house, but I wouldn't want to leave 8 shut in the run for a day while I was at work so that would require a bit more building but isn't an immediate priority.

Want to get these ones alive and through the winter first! :eek:

edwink

Talking of increasing the amount of hens, we started with 4 ducks first and then within a month or so got 12 rescue hens (planned). Was meant to be the other way round but someone urgently wanted a new home for 4 ducks so we took them in. As the years went on we lost some hens, rescued some more, rescued some more ducks, bought some hens just so we could have some that were different breeds and colours and also bought some different breed of ducks. Also rescued more hens, then rescued 15 hens in one go that was actually meant to be just 8 of them but the owner obviously couldn't count properly. Never in a million years did I ever think we would one day end up with 30 :eek:. But, we did and I loved having them all around. Then because of their ages we lost some of the rescues and got some more so stayed around having the 30 mark for ages. Now down to 10 and the place seems empty in a way because of the space we have for them . But, hopefully in the spring when we have a few of our urgent jobs done out of the way we shall rehome some more hens and also probably buy some just to have a good mix.

Very addictive this hen keeping malarkey Cheery so don't say I didn't warn you And in case I haven't mentioned this to you before it may be worth your while whilst you are wondering about outside just to have a look in a few of the nooks and crannies around the place just to see if they have been laying wherever they blooming well feel like, because that is what free range hens often do. When we cleared the top and sides of Clematis from the hens coop this summer we got an absolute shock to find there were 11 eggs on top of the chicken wired roof. Bearing in mind the roof height is around 12 foot we were so shocked to find them up there. They were buried in two masses of Clematis and dead leaves :eek:. Also, when we cleaned out the pond completely by emptying it and hoovering all the muck up from the bottom we found 14 duck eggs in there. So you see they certainly can and will lay wherever they please:rotfl:

Edwink

jodles16

Hi all!

We rescued four beautiful girls last year, they are all lovely and fluffy now and I cant believe how many eggs we get! Even now with the cold dark days we are getting 2-3 eggs a day!!

Initially we were keeping them in a rather large run, but we are now letting them free range, we figure, they have lived cramped all their lives and we hope no foxes come, but if they do, hopefully the freedom of free range will outweigh the sadness.

I absolutely love looking out of the window and seeing them all wandering around together having a great time!

They arent out all day everyday, but at least 4-5 hours everyday, unless we are getting a gas delivery then they stay in, safe!

Jodles

Cheery_Daff

Welcome Jodles :hello: I feel similarly about having my ladies roaming free :j So lovely to see them pottering about together :j

We're still getting 3-4 eggs most days (from 4 hens). No signs of slowing down. I'm keeping a chart so I know I'm not imagining it - we've had 30 eggs so far in January :eek:

However the pesky ladies have decided my nest box (which they've happily laid in for 4 months) isn't quite as desireable as a cosy bush they've found in the garden :rotfl: this is basically since Christmas, when I've been home all day so they've been out all day every day.

Got to give them credit - it's a nice bush with a good view, raised on a wall so easier for me to get into, and closer to our house than to their run :rotfl: so very convenient all round I like to see them sitting in there among the leaves - and queuing up to use it, as they all lay there now.

I was concerned they'd be crossing their legs if I didn't let them out of the run til later :eek: but they do still lay in the nest box too if they're not out when it's laying time.

Other than that all's well. Hermione is finally growing some feathers back on her little bald head :rotfl: the others are looking slightly smarter than they did (although they're still a bit of a scruffy bunch).

Hope all your ladies are well and cheerful :j :j Edwink, how is your own health?? Xx

Pyxis

I hope Edwink hasn't got The Cough. I've been laid up with it for two weeks, now.

Pyxis

Strangely enough, being laid up with The Cough has made me want to eat eggs.

I think I mentioned before that usually, I'm not keen on naked eggs, i.e. not cooked into things, but that occasionally, a couple of times a year, I suddenly fancy omelettes or scrambled eggs,

Well, A few days ago, I really felt like an omelette, so I ordered some with my organic veg delivery, and then I had a three-egg cheese omelette with chervil and tomatoes, and the next day I had scrambled cheese omelette on toast!

All six eggs are gone, now, yet I still feel like some more!

I think The Cough must be denuding me of nutrients, plus, when you're ill, and don't feel like cooking, an omelette or scrambled eggs is a quick and easy option.
I thought longingly of you lot and all your eggs being laid in bushes and unexpected places, just ripe for the picking! :):)

Pyxis

You know how you can house-train dogs and cats?

Well, has anyone tried house-training hens to lay their eggs indoors?

Just wondrin', like.