Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Pyxis

Hopefully you can allow yourself to feel a bit excited at the prospect of newbies!

Especially ones who have had such a dreadful time up to now.

It's a bit like taking in refugees, isn't it!



I had to smile at the try-on regarding the "no pudding until you've eaten your meat and two veg"!

I bet they had thought they'd got you well-trained!
Then realised they hadn't!

edwink

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Right - spoke to the nice lady on the BHWT advice line and they normally advise waiting a month after a predator attack before rehoming more hens. However, they have a rehoming date at the end of Feb so we're going for that - it'll be three weeks then, and they don't have another local date planned soon, so this will save them staying on their own for too long.

No-treats-before-breakfast routine has started. They just looked at breakfast with disdain :rotfl: However when I held it out in my hand they ate it all :rotfl: Making a rod for my own back there!

So three more ladies joining us at the end of next week :j :j Admit I'm quite daunted - what if these ones get killed too?? :eek: These are ex-caged ladies so are likely to be in rather a worse state than the current ones (who'd been barn hens - not outside, but at least not in a cage). Awful to think of them in there at the minute, bless the little things

Firstly the breakfast side of things. Yep Cheery rod for your own back definitely springs to mind :rotfl: Feeding them by hand is definitely a good way to get them to trust you fully in any case because if they are ever poorly it is always a good method to make sure they get something to eat especially if they need medication.

Great you are getting some more hens, well done. These caged hens will be quiet timid and most likely pretty scarred for a couple of days or so but will soon find their feet. We started off with 12 ex-caged hens and as I was allowed to choose which ones we took home I chose 6 healthy-ish looking ones and 6 very bald hens that looked in a terrible state. Thought at the time it was fair on them to choose a mix of both. The bald ones often do not have many feathers and the ones they do have are normally just on their backs. But they have very bald bottoms sometimes with sore spots where they have been pecked at, these areas will heal on their own so don't worry about them. Also, very few if any feathers underneath going right up to their little heads and very bald necks. But, although somewhat upsetting to actually see hens in that condition it is extremely pleasing to see after several weeks or so that they have started to grow some feathers. Within several months they should be fully feathered and resemble a proper healthy hen. So don't be put off by what you see with the ex-caged hens Cheery as with your help and support they will flourish and enjoy their retirement with you.

Often but not always there is a problem with adding more hens to a flock and they can and do fight a bit, some more than others, so you will need to keep an extra close eye on them initially to make sure there is harmony in the camp. You may or may not need to step in to stop them having a go at each other, just to warn you. With your two the way they are at present being still a bit scarred/timid remember the new ones will be feeling the same for different reasons, so you may find they just have the odd quarrel and things settle nicely. Some say to put the new girls in with the old ones at bed time so they will all spend the first night together in the dark obviously so that way they will have a little time to get used to each other. We personally have never actually done that except for when we rehomed one hen on her own. We placed her on one of the perches in between some of the others and locked them up for the night because we felt it would be so difficult for her to fend for herself being new and not having the back up of any other new hens with her. That worked out really well for her thankfully and I must admit as she was on her own I was rather worried about her but need not have been.

Just a thought, but as you are out in the sticks, so to speak, have you thought about rehoming a Cockerel or buying one? Cockerels as a rule are much larger than hens and would want to make sure your hens are safe. If any of my girls get in to an argument my Cockerel often steps in and sorts them out, good little man he is. Plus, he is a male of course so I always hope he is a bit of a deterrent to predators especially the male ones.

Edwink

Cheery_Daff

:rotfl: pyxis

Thank you edwink :kisses3: always so good to hear your comprehensive accounts of your experiences! Feel i need all the help i can get at the minute

Had these two outside with us for a couple of hours today. A lot less timid thank they were the other day, after a bit of hesitancy they had straight for their little first bathing area they've dig out under the trees :j they used to spend all day in there someone's and the holes are deeper than they are tall :rotfl: then they headed up to their run :j

Spent ages in there just scratching about - I was SO pleased as I wondered whether they're want to avoid it, good to see they still think of it as home. I cleaned out the hen house while i kept an eye on them, very sad having to clean off the spatters of blood left the roof off so it could dry in the sunshine and get a good airing.

Brought the ladies back in with us again, Mr Cheery is paranoid about leaving them out on their own till they're a bit less terrified of everything - they certainly seem happier when we're in the room.

Quarter inch mesh is arriving tomorrow and we'll be covering the entire coop plus roof. At least they'll be safe in there this time! (I hope...)

Oddly enough the local farmer was trying to Palm off a cockerel the other week :rotfl: we have considered it, but what if we accidentally end up with chicks?? Neither of us eat meat, we'd just have to end up seeing up several different tribes of ladies around the fields each with a different cockerel :rotfl:

Do any of you have cockerels? So you ever have unplanned chicks? What do you do?

edwink

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Oddly enough the local farmer was trying to Palm off a cockerel the other week :rotfl: we have considered it, but what if we accidentally end up with chicks?? Neither of us eat meat, we'd just have to end up seeing up several different tribes of ladies around the fields each with a different cockerel :rotfl:

Do any of you have cockerels? So you ever have unplanned chicks? What do you do?

We have never had any unplanned chicks Cheery. Just make sure you collect your eggs regularly and don't let any broody hens sit on them and there wont be any chicks. If you get a broody hen which you can get with or without a Cockerel just keep moving her off the nest and remove any eggs you find her sitting on. If she screeches and spits at you just ignore her, say hello and slip your hand under her and slowly take them if there are any there. Before we got a Cockerel we had the same hen every year go broody, naughty little thing used to run back up to their hotel and sit for hours even after we took her out and away from their hotel. She was a little so and so and would not stop doing it year after year. Just had to make sure she got something to eat during the day so when all hens had laid for the day we used to lock their hotel up so she couldn't get back in and opened it back up before bed time. That way she went off foraging or had some food from their food bowl. Next day she would do exactly the same thing again and so did we. She is no longer with us now sadly but I did love that little hen, crafty little thing she was.

So really just keep your eye on things and as said keep removing the eggs all the time, so then you wont get any chicks. You will only get chicks if you leave your hen sitting on the eggs as she will keep them cosy and warm whilst they are incubating which is what they need and after a while they will hatch. Having a Cockerel will fertilise the eggs but the eggs if removed won't get the chance to produce chicks.

So best go and see the farmer and see if that Cockerel is still available Cheery

Edwink

Pyxis

Some people say that fertilised eggs taste different from unfertilised ones, but I'm not sure that's true. What do you think?

edwink

Pyxis wrote: »

Some people say that fertilised eggs taste different from unfertilised ones, but I'm not sure that's true. What do you think?

From our experience there is no difference in their taste at all. We have had our rescue hens for many years now and our rescue Cockerel for only 4 years, so have had experience of both fertilised and unfertilised and I can honestly say there is no difference in taste.

Talking of which, we got an egg today and one the other day so I can foresee eggs and homemade chips on the menu next week. Plus a homemade bread chip butty for good measures. Still not enough eggs for an omelette but you never know we might be lucky.

Edwink


ETA. In case anyone is wondering why I'm up and posting this at silly-o-clock, I've got Sciatica again and have to get out of bed to walk about to ease it off. Painkillers not doing their job again :0(

Pyxis

Do you use ice packs on your low back, Edwink? I can't remember if I asked you before.

edwink

Pyxis wrote: »

Do you use ice packs on your low back, Edwink? I can't remember if I asked you before.

Yes Pyxis I do but in the early hours of the morning I don't find it very appealing. Of an evening I will sit with an ice pack on it which sometime helps but not always though. The trouble is I have Spondylosis in the top and bottom of my spine and tend to stick with prescribed strong pain killers for night sleeping time and during the day if needed. So I get Sciatica quite a lot from time to time anyway but since falling down the stairs and jolting my back I've had it quite a bit more lately. Normally I just get on with it and do my best to ignore it unless it is particularly troublesome but falling down the stairs did my back no favours what so ever. Still cant plonk down in a chair as the base of my back is still sore but no where near as bad as it was when I first did it. It is improving though so much not grumble.


Now to hen news
Have a very quiet elderly hen on my hands now. Poor little old girl and not eating very much at all. I've sat with her but haven't been able to get her to eat today although she has a small drink which really isn't enough. Think tomorrow she will become a indoor hen so she can have the rest of her days indoors in the warm with us. She like the other previous indoor hens will probably spend her time propping herself up to the stove door, snoozing, chilling and enjoying the warmth. Will try then to get her to eat something again later tomorrow as she may pick up a bit being warmer indoors with us. She stayed standing outside their hotel today on her own, the ducks were all fairly near her but its not the same for her as having the hens around her as she is now not only old but getting rather frail. She really doesn't need a hefty duck knocking her over plus I am sure she would welcome some time away from their quacking. The other two elderly hens are doing fine and our little man Cockerel is doing great its just this little girl that has started to worry me.

They are no bother at all when old and frail and live indoors. We have done this with most of ours over the years as they are no trouble at all. In fact they are so quiet you would almost forget they are indoors with you except for the odd little poo you find. We just pop them in to a nice clean box type bed at night where they will feel safe with plenty of straw and lift them out in the morning so they can walk around at their leisure. If they are indoors because one of them is poorly they normally perch under the kitchen table along the wooden bar at night and I put a little tray lined with kitchen towel under them to catch any thing they do in the night. I just try to make them as comfortable as possible because not only do I love them to bits they have already rewarded me with lots of lovely eggs over their time here with us so it is a least I can do for them when they become not only very old but frail with it.

Will update on her progress.

Not so eggless Edwink (2 eggs this week and you all know what that means don't you?. EGG AND CHIPS SUPPER

Pyxis

You're so kind, Edwink.
:A





"She really doesn't need a hefty duck knocking her over plus I am sure she would welcome some time away from their quacking. "

Now I got visions of big burly monster ducks mugging poor defenceless old lady hens, and deafening them by quacking in their ear.

edwink

Pyxis wrote: »

You're so kind, Edwink.
:A
"She really doesn't need a hefty duck knocking her over plus I am sure she would welcome some time away from their quacking. "

Now I got visions of big burly monster ducks mugging poor defenceless old lady hens, and deafening them by quacking in their ear.

Aww bless you Pyxis thank you x

Now I'm up today at the other end of silly-o-clock, I can't win at the moment.

Only 2 of the ducks are huge like turkeys but not quite as big, they are the white Aylesbury breed. Hefty quaking things those two are although as mentioned before the male only has half a quack, so poor old lady hen probably doesn't mind him for company. My Cayuga's which are black do quack but its a bit more like a croak type quack and not a quack type quack so not as loud. My Indian Runner, she is my MSE avatar, quacks for England. She is a real flirt and snuggles up to the 2 male ducks because she wants their attention and goes round calling and looking for them all the time. I think they sneakily waddle off somewhere and hide from her to be honest. She honestly is a real flirt with them. Rude girl she is.

Would you believe as all the ducks have got older they are not keen on having a wash. Seriously we now have to go and find them one by one and pick them up and lower them in to the pond and make them stay in there for 10 minutes or so, so they can have a splash about and get themselves wet. When they get out or should I say when I allow them to get out they will all preen their feathers and get all the pond water off and happily take ages doing it. In this damp weather because we have areas of mud like veg beds etc. the white ducks can get pretty dirty underneath and I hate seeing them like that. But within a couple of hours and some effort they look almost snow white again. With the black ducks you can still tell if they are clean because their feathers are so shiny when they make the effort. They are all old too now, the Aylesburys are 9, the Indian Runner and one of the Cayuga's are 8 and the other 2 Cayuga's are nearly 8. But, I tell them age is all in the head and there is no excuse for a dirty duck.

Edwink