Keeping hens and ducks chat.

vjm63

Hi all, could I just check something with your combined expertise? I am a newbie with chickens, gut I am a little confused.

I was under the impression from other people, books, things online, that an egg takes 25 hours or so from start to finish, so a chicken will lay gradually later each day until maybe mid afternoon, then take a break day.

Mine did not get the memo. From 4 chucks, I have had four eggs each day for the last 15 days continuously, apart from today, and 8 days ago. That day I found two shell-less ones first thing, so expected only 2 proper eggs - we got 3. Today we only got 3 proper eggs, but yesterday mid-afternoon we got an enormous one (the sort that makes you wince thinking about it), which must be a double yolker at least, so I suspect that lass is having a well-earned rest!

Have I just got odd chickens? Or is this at all normal?

The other thing is that one of them is talking almost constantly at me. Called Bravo because although the smallest when we got them she had a real 'oh yeah?!, bring it on!' attitude to the others, but now I am thinking she is more like Donkey in Shrek! Personality? - she has it in spades.

edwink

vjm63 wrote: »

Hi all, could I just check something with your combined expertise? I am a newbie with chickens, gut I am a little confused. I was under the impression from other people, books, things online, that an egg takes 25 hours or so from start to finish, so a chicken will lay gradually later each day until maybe mid afternoon, then take a break day.

Mine did not get the memo. From 4 chucks, I have had four eggs each day for the last 15 days continuously, apart from today, and 8 days ago. That day I found two shell-less ones first thing, so expected only 2 proper eggs - we got 3. Today we only got 3 proper eggs, but yesterday mid-afternoon we got an enormous one (the sort that makes you wince thinking about it), which must be a double yolker at least, so I suspect that lass is having a well-earned rest!

Have I just got odd chickens? Or is this at all normal?

The other thing is that one of them is talking almost constantly at me. Called Bravo because although the smallest when we got them she had a real 'oh yeah?!, bring it on!' attitude to the others, but now I am thinking she is more like Donkey in Shrek! Personality? - she has it in spades.

Hi Vjm

Yep, mine do the same. Every 25 hours no, when they feel like it yes. That is perfectly normal. Some hens do not lay everyday especially when they get a bit older. Then when they get older they just retire all together and have a jolly good old rest from laying. And I say good for them after all those lovely tasty eggs they have given us.

I also have a hen that talks constantly. I have nick named her Fido because she follows me around like a dog. When I am up the garden and the others are down the bottom foraging she is poking her head through our fenced off veg beds and chats away to me. My husband thinks it is so funny because when she stops I answer her and when I finish answering her she starts again. Seriously she does. She won't go back down the garden until I do!! Bless her.

So yes you have perfectly normal healthy hens by the looks of it. Just keep an eye out on those soft shelled eggs. Sometimes you may need to up their calcium a little, We usually use there egg shells by baking them a little in the oven until they are completely dry and then crush them all up in to very tiny pieces and add them to their feed. What feed are you providing for them? If it is a commercial based feed most are complete for them and contain all the nutrients they need. But, still sometimes it is no harm to give them a little extra calcium from baked crushed egg shells. Make sure you do not give them too many treats if they are not eating their correct amount of commercial feed. I normally feed mine commercial pellets in the morning and evening. At lunchtime I give them treat food like sweetcorn, spaghetti or maybe rice. I do vary their treat food as much as possible so they are not consuming too much protein or iron, that sort of thing.

Hope that is of some help to you. Please come back if you have anymore questions. There will always be someone on this thread who will be able share their experiences with you and offer good advice.

Nearly forgot to say. We have had several double yoke eggs. The yolk does tend to be a little smaller than normal but two for the price of one, that's brilliant. And don't forget they will lay less when they moult, there is nothing wrong with them it is just that they need their strength etc. to grow nice new feathers for their winter coats. So don't worry if maybe some days you don't get any or maybe just one.

Happy hen keeping.

Edwink x

Better_Days

My two hens which are laying, lay every morning before 11am. Like your hens they don't seem to have got the '25 hours' memo.

Some hens are definitely more talkative than others. Jemima always likes to chat and is the first to come rushing over when we go into the garden. They're not very happy this morning as it is raining.

And just to emphasise the importance of good feed. For years we have fed our hens on feed from the local mill with no problems. Then earlier this year all the hens stopped laying. We changed to feed from the smallholders range, and they started laying again. Seems like we got a duff batch from the local mill.

edwink

My hens are not too happy either. They are perching in their outdoor huts looking thoroughly feed up with this weather. But, my new rescue hens are loving it, they don't care at all. I think it's because they have fresh air and can see daylight now. Bless them they are soaked and chirping away to each other. Hope the sun does show it's face today the weather is miserable here.

We are introducing the new girls to our original ones tomorrow. Just hope our lovely Cockerel will be there to help with any scuffles. They have actually met each other throughout the last week. But, as the new hens are in the duck run just until they settle our other hens have only seen them through the chicken wire. We have introduced new rescue hens before so are aware there could be a few battles between them. Pecking order and all that. Wish us luck!!!

Edwink x

vjm63

Thanks for the reassurance, people! - much appreciated.

Back to the four eggs today from the girls - and some complaining because of the rain, but not too much. They are sitting on top of their coop now, and I'd love to take a photo but I know as soon as I go out they will get down and rush to the gate to demand something from me!

Foodwise they are getting complete layers pellets from a gravity container thingy that is available all day, and I make sure it has plenty in. I've also got a container of shell grit for them that they use. I also usually fill up their water one everyday, or certainly rinse out and clean before putting in fresh every other day. Not sure why I bother - I swirl around the water in it in their pen and tip it out on the ground before refilling, and they love drinking that tipped out water as soon as I do it - they must like muddy puddles!

I have a policy of treats in the afternoon/evening only, although I do throw in handfuls of grass and weeds at any time of day. So they should be getting enough nourishment of the right sorts. I think/hope the softshelled eggs might be because they are still young - only 27 weeks. We did have a burst of egg eating a few weeks ago, and when I tried shells containing mustard they ate those too! Both dijon, and english - crazy creatures! But rubber eggs seems to have sorted that out - no evidence of it lately, so fingers crossed they have grown out of it.

Better_Days

We are always up early as Mr BD is a postman.

Now the days are getting shorter it is now dark at around 6am when we open up to coop. If I do it I walk down the garden and all is quiet. I then softly call the hens and they always give some answering good morning clucks from the coop. Never fails to make me smile. Hens are always happy to start the day.

ampersand

I save this lovely Thread for happy reading.

In a previous henny life, we grew beetroot just for the girls. It was that 'love red' thing again. They wrecked the tomatoes too, but there were so many it didn't matter.

Is it the same catalyst that makes blackbirds leap to pull down canes with ripe raspberries right now?

edwink

Hi Ampersand

What a lovely thing to say, thank you. I started this hen and duck thread because I love all mine to bits and I just knew that there would be others who felt the same about theirs on the MSE forum.

With regards to the "red thing" I would say yes with the Blackbirds and the raspberries because they are constantly attacking our Red Currents.

What type of hens did you have when you kept them?

Not a good day for them weather wise as it has been pretty miserable here today. Tomorrow isn't looking much better for them either. Thursday is looking good though, thankfully.

Edwink x

jim-jim

Hi there, my name is jim-jim and I have 6 chickens.

This is the first year of having the chucks, and it is fun but hard and dirty work.
We are still battling the creepy spider bug things. THEY WILL NOT DIE:mad: ( sorry for that) next step is to blow torch the coop, after doing diatom & poultry shield, every day weather perming and egg laying.

Any how, what I wanted to know is, in the bad weather do you experts do anything different to your coops? We have 2, the big one where 4 live high up on their perch ( big enough for all 6) and a smaller one where R&J sleep in the next boxes. They like comfy beds
The smaller coop has the nest boxes facing out , with only a hedge to the side, I was thinking, would it be possible to line the outside with some thin polystyrene packing to insulate it and recover that. I wouldn't cover the lid.
I hope that makes sense

Better_Days

Hi jim-jim and welcome to the thread.

I feel your pain with regards to the mites. They are the devil to keep under control and horrible for the hens. Keep up with what you are doing, and make sure you dust the DE into every nook and crevice and underneath the perches as that is where the little beggers hide. Mr BD cleans out the coop and washes down with poultry shield and when dry dusts with DE on a monthly basis in the spring/summer/autumn. He uses an old paintbrush to get into all the corners, awkward bits, and the underside of the roof. Bit less often in the winter. That keeps them under control.

Do you have a felt roof on your coop? If so the mites will be under there and you cant get at them without taking off the felt. They will then reinfest even if you keep the rest of the coop mite free.

Mites are endemic in the environment so it is a never ending war. You could also treat your hens with something like Ivermectin - but an egg withdrawal period of at least 7 days is recommended if you do used it. http://www.bhwt.org.uk/information/external-parasites-on-chickens/

With regard to insulating the coop - the main thing is that it is dry. Damp can get in the bedding and wood and hens are susceptible to breathing problems. Even on the coldest day they will be as warm as toast as long as they have their feathers. They are afterall walking round with a duvet which fits wonderfully.