Keeping hens and ducks chat.

orangecrush

Enjoying all the little emoticons hen-keepers!!



How are you all doing? We're all well and the henny inhabitants are well too! They are not a fan of the cold weather bless them. I think we've got two rather soft chicks.



I love our wipe clean (ahem... hose clean) hen house! We got an eglu go up and it's great. We wipe it down every week and every other month take it apart and jetwash and disinfect. They go for really good money on eBay too so we know we'd recover some of the cost if we sold it one day. Also the mesh for the runs is absolutely fox proof. Our local foxes have been trying to get in for the 4 years we've had chickens and they've never managed.

orangecrush

There are a few places that my friend recommended when we were buying our hen house... obviously Eglu is super expensive but there are a few other wipe clean ones... let me see if I can find them...



Aha, green frog designs, and solway recycling. Both came highly recommended. What swung it for us was the run you attach to the Eglu, but we both work so our chicks are in the run most of the time so it needed to be secure.

edwink

orangecrush wrote: »

Enjoying all the little emoticons hen-keepers!!

How are you all doing? We're all well and the henny inhabitants are well too! They are not a fan of the cold weather bless them. I think we've got two rather soft chicks.

I love our wipe clean (ahem... hose clean) hen house! We got an eglu go up and it's great. We wipe it down every week and every other month take it apart and jetwash and disinfect. They go for really good money on eBay too so we know we'd recover some of the cost if we sold it one day. Also the mesh for the runs is absolutely fox proof. Our local foxes have been trying to get in for the 4 years we've had chickens and they've never managed.

Orangecrush, So nice to see you on here again and I am so pleased your girls are still well. Glad you have managed to keep the foxes out and keep your girls safe. Well done for protecting them. I can't remember what your hens names are, would be nice if you could remind me if you get minute please. We like hens with names on here although saying that only a few of my ginger hooligans have names because they all look so similar now they have 80% of their feathers back.

The names we have chosen so are Bunty aka Fido because she follows me everywhere and follows Mr Edwink too, she is like a little dog and likes being picked up for cuddles, strokes and to sit on one of our laps. Scarecrow is the scruffiest little thing ever, although her feathers are growing back they stick out all over the place and she still does not have any fluffy knickers on so has a bald bottom, bless her. They are the only 2 that we can really identify at the moment. We do have Lavender, Thyme, Rosemary and Basil but I'm sure we get those four mixed up with some of the others at the moment. The more they gain their feathers back the more we will be able to identify them and give them names, I hope :rotfl: That's if they stand still long enough so I can see them properly. This lot have so much energy and clearly look so happy in their retirement, yay!. They are here, there, everywhere and all over the place. It is quite difficult to walk with 24 running round my feet. Mr Edwink manages better than I do because he gets ahead of them and marches along with them running behind trying to keep up with him. With me because I have Menieres Disease they are round my feet as soon as I step out the door and I have to step gingerly in between them all to be able to walk anywhere and not tread on their little feet. I really don't mind as it makes me really concentrate about where I am walking, bless them.

Will hopefully get some more pics on here soon once I find out how to do that with my new laptop and now Windows10. Wish me luck please x

Edwink x

orangecrush

Ahh I love hens with names too Edwink!! We have Buffy and Ginger - they definitely suit their names I think.


That's wonderful to hear your new charges are getting their feathers back! I love their names, I hope they will become easier to tell apart eventually



I really look forward to seeing more photos once you get your laptop sorted! Good luck! I must say I do love Windows 10 now that I'm used to it. I've been a Mac user for more years than I can say, and Windows 10 was quite easy to adjust to.

Cheery_Daff

Evening poultry lovers :hello:

Glad your new charges are selling in nicely edwink :j and interesting to hear about your wipe clean house orangecrush - we just built ours out of stuff we had lying around as we'd not faff hens before and wanted to see how we got on without spending a fortune but I'd definitely consider swipe clean one in the future so it's good to hear about yours :j

Well we've had a weird one this evening :eek: all ladies fine during the day, and when we put them in the run at 3.30. I got sidetracked working late then trying out the new cooker so didn't go out to shut the door of the hen house til 8pm (of course the *run* door was safely closed at 3.30)

Stuck my head in the house to count- and there were only four :eek:

Shone the torch round and found Rusty stood to one side of the house, looking sleepy but not obviously unwell...

Once I'd stopped shining the torch in her face and held out my hand with food on, she came over to me and had a good peck. I shone the torch at the steps to the house, and threw a bit of food in, and she went in quite happily, clucking at the others.

Shone the torch at where she'd been standing and found a lash egg

https://www.bhwt.org.uk/something-lurking-in-the-nest-box/

Well, I had to bring it in the house to figure that out because at first it looked rather like a dead baby mouse :eek: but it wasn't.

Went back out to check half an hour later and she was just snoozing in the house with the others, so I suppose we'll wait and see what tomorrow brings

Just been reading lots of internet horror stories about lash eggs but actually we've had the occasional one before and the hens have been fine later.

But I'll be scrubbing all the waters and food bowls and possibly stopping using hay on the floor of the run in case it's caused a respiratory infection - I figured it'd be ok in the run because of the fresh air, but never used it in the house.

Fingers crossed

Karmacat

Oh my ... looking after them can get very complex sometimes .... hope Rusty's okay, Cheery.

Cheery_Daff

Thanks KC, it certainly can *feel* complicated when you're still pretty new to everything! I think part of the issue is that hens haven't been traditionally kept as pets, so there isn't the wealth of veterinary knowledge that there is for dogs and cats. Usually I think they're probably just 'removed from the flock', and in the old days I suppose would have been put straight in the pot or something.

Hey ho. I'm delighted to report that Rusty was first out of the hen house as usual this morning, and headed straight for the food bowl. All five of them just marauded their way into the house looking for treats, and so far (fingers crossed) I can't see anything else wrong with her :j :j

orangecrush

Oh gosh Cheery!! That looks a bit gruesome :eek: I hope Rusty is ok! Keep us posted

edwink

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

....I think part of the issue is that hens haven't been traditionally kept as pets, so there isn't the wealth of veterinary knowledge that there is for dogs and cats. Usually I think they're probably just 'removed from the flock', and in the old days I suppose would have been put straight in the pot or something.

Hey ho. I'm delighted to report that Rusty was first out of the hen house as usual this morning, and headed straight for the food bowl. All five of them just marauded their way into the house looking for treats, and so far (fingers crossed) I can't see anything else wrong with her :j :j

I am glad that Rusty is ok Cheery, that's really good to know. Like normal just keep an extra eye on her, bless her. I had a hen that laid a Lash egg and I have to say she was fine and I never found any others from her at all.

I am sure you are right about them in the old days being put in a pot. Either that or just removed from the flock and thrown out I guess. I can't remember the amount of times I have been asked if we eat our hens when they pass away. I suppose in peoples defense they wouldn't know that the chicken they buy in the shops are normally Cockerels that have only lived for 39 days, unless they were free range then they would have reached 42 days old and if Organic would have lived until 49 days. Such short lives when you think about it. The females are kept as hens for their eggs that's why it is the cockerels that are slaughtered for human consumption.

I think you are right though Cheery, about the lack of veterinary knowledge. I remember reading about Lash eggs some time ago when one of my hens laid one. My god they are gruesome to look at let alone pick one up. I remember when I saw it I picked it up and couldn't believe what I had hold of. Yuk really gruesome especially close up.


Sorry I've not been about much but we have a horrid virus going about here and both myself and Mr Edwink currently are just coming through the other side of it. Boy did I sleep, it just knocked me for six. Anyway I'm nearly on the mend now and just about feeling like me again.

Edwink x

Karmacat

Edwink, sorry that you and MrE have been all virused up good to know you're coming out the other side. But take it easy, things seem quite virulent this year.