Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Cheery_Daff

I think we must have gone with the slightly cheaper plastic - not a good economy! (Or at least it might have been had we got it up onto the roof straight away!!) Need to have a think about how to do it. Our run is far smaller than yours, and I feel like the rain is just going to come in the sides anyway so there's not much point in a roof. But maybe we just need a big overhang?? (or a bigger run??) Lots to think about. 

The ladies have all hung around together today, thank goodness. We had a visitor stay overnight and they were quite cute this morning with her which was nice. Beaky has seemed brighter (probably just full of drugs) and seemed quite keen on hanging out with the others, so she's been pottering round with them most of the day (they've not gone far) then we brought her in for a bath when we put them in their run, and she's sleeping inside again. Hope she improves soon! 

edwink

Cheery_Daff said:

I think we must have gone with the slightly cheaper plastic - not a good economy! (Or at least it might have been had we got it up onto the roof straight away!!) Need to have a think about how to do it. Our run is far smaller than yours, and I feel like the rain is just going to come in the sides anyway so there's not much point in a roof. But maybe we just need a big overhang?? (or a bigger run??) Lots to think about. 

The ladies have all hung around together today, thank goodness. We had a visitor stay overnight and they were quite cute this morning with her which was nice. Beaky has seemed brighter (probably just full of drugs) and seemed quite keen on hanging out with the others, so she's been pottering round with them most of the day (they've not gone far) then we brought her in for a bath when we put them in their run, and she's sleeping inside again. Hope she improves soon! 

Fingers crossed that she improves Cheery, bless her.  At least you have seen the vet and got some treatment for her plus the addition of giving her baths.  Nice she was able to spend time with the others and that she was brighter today.  That sounds like progress.

The perspex we found were in 2 grades. One was around £10 a sheet and the other which keeps out UV rays was around £30 a sheet. I think we used more than we thought we would because you need to overlap them to get a water tight seal. Maybe the idea of an overhang would suit your coop Cheery and if you overhung it from the front you could cover it over with a plastic sheet and rather than fix the plastic sheeting on you could just lay something heavy on the top like planks of wood, if you have any lying about or bricks to hold it down and stop it from blowing away.  If they had a long overhang at the front you could support it with 2 long fence posts at each side so it would act like a porch for them to stand under.  So in a way you would be extending their coop. Then later you could cover the sides and front of the overhang as and when you have bits and bobs available and the time to do the job, then the coop will be extended. I think that makes sense Cheery. I am struggling to type a bit as I have 2 dogs laying across my lap, not one but two.  A small Patterdale terrier and a Jug which is a Jack Russel crossed with a Pug.  They are staying with us until Tuesday by which time I shall get my own space back and not have to type with my laptop balancing on them whilst they are a sleep. Bless 'em.

Edwink

edwink

Hi all

All ok here but I do wish the rain would stop for a week or two, that would be nice.  I suppose we are grateful really that we have not been flooded so I guess I shouldn't grumble really

Got a double yoke egg today for the first time in ages. Have you ever got any double from yours cheery?.  We are getting around 12 to 16 eggs a day at the moment, that's if our resident hen egg eater doesn't get to them before we do.  I really don't mind if she want's to eat one or two but as hens have a habit of all laying in the same space the ones that are not eaten get covered in runny raw egg and it makes a right mess. Oh well it won't be the first time we have had an egg eater in our flock and no doubt she won't be our last, naughty girl she is

I tried to add some smileys to this post and just lost the whole post.  Right, just added 2 more so I'll post this before I lose the whole thing again.

All for now

Edwink x

edwink

I wasn't sure if this would work.  I've copied an pasted it from another thread.  WOW what a beautiful peacock.
https://youtu.be/xMsBdMT14AA?t=2

ETA.  Yay it worked.  So much easier on new forum.

Edwink x

orangecrush

Hi everyone!

@Edwink, what a gorgeous peacock!  I almost ran over a peacock once, it was a very surreal experience.  Thankfully I have good reactions and good brakes in my car!

@Cheery_Daff, how is Rusty doing now?  And I hope Beaky is doing better!

How are everyone's chicks doing?  Buffy has started laying already!  We were very surprised to see eggs from her, she's now 5 and we thought she'd be slowing down. 

We had a brief glimmer of spring at the weekend and let the chicks out to search for baby slugs and snails.  All they did was munch the grass seed we just sowed!  Oh well, our toddler found them very entertaining (though they did give him a nip when he tried to feed them blueberries!).  I'm hoping it's the end of the stormy season as Buffy and Ginger are most definitely fair weather hens!  They hate the rain and sit and sulk. 

Our house is on the market at the minute, and we had our first batch of viewings at the weekend - I wonder what the viewers thought of the chicks!  Hope it hasn't put anyone off. 

Hope you're all well! 

edwink

Hi everyone

All going ok here with my girls, thankfully.  I still have 4 missing some feathers but besides that all are pretty much feathered now I am pleased to say. Most have gained a fair bit of weight too which is good especially as we have just gone through the colder months where they are more inclined to lose it, bless 'em.

Glad yours are doing ok Orangecrush.  I honestly wouldn't think that the chicks would put buyers off at all. 
With regards to Buffy you may find that now she is 5 she will lay every other day now that she is older.  Most carry on laying into old age if they are cared for properly although they will slow down over time.  I've got a few fair-weather hens within my girls I've noticed.  They will come out of the coop if I have some treats with me and as soon as they have eaten what they want they dash back undercover again, funny little creatures they are.

How are your girls Cheery, especially little Beaky?.  I hope she is making a full recovery after being so poorly. We've had a couple of warmer dryer days here, how about where you are?. I know some areas have had quite a bit of rain lately, mind you its been like that here all day today and half of yesterday.

I'll try and get some pictures on here as soon as the weather cheers up and I take some more nice ones. It is meant to be easier to put them on here now but I'll have to be the judge of that when I next try. Wish me luck!

Edwink x

orangecrush

Hi @edwink!

Glad you and your girls are all doing well, especially growing feathers and gaining weight!  AFter such a miserable winter I'm sure they will be glad to have some warmer weather.

I'm now working from home for the next 12 weeks as my employer has asked us all to limit contact; the plus side of this is getting to spend more time with the ladies! 

Hope you're all staying well x

edwink

orangecrush said:

Hi @edwink!

Glad you and your girls are all doing well, especially growing feathers and gaining weight!  AFter such a miserable winter I'm sure they will be glad to have some warmer weather.

I'm now working from home for the next 12 weeks as my employer has asked us all to limit contact; the plus side of this is getting to spend more time with the ladies! 

Hope you're all staying well x

That definitely is a plus side to be able to spend more time with them. Personally I find it very relaxing, that's when they are not squabbling of course. I've got one little girl who is an absolute menace sometimes.  She likes to have a bit of a peck at the others from time to time although she is not the top hen. I've seen quite a few turn on her to get their own back and now she has some missing feathers, silly hen she is. I've had a quiet word with her and told her that she definitely starts it and she will end up bald if she carries on annoying the others. Bless her, she is a lovely hen except for her occasional naughty behaviour.  

Stay safe x

Edwink x

Pyxis

A little bit of news just seen on a thread in The Arms.........

“A newly discovered fossil bird found in a quarry on the Netherlands-Belgium border could be the earliest known ancestor of every chicken on the planet. Living just before the asteroid strike that wiped out giant dinosaurs, the unique fossil, from about 67 million years ago, gives a glimpse into the dawn of modern birds.”

Cheery_Daff

Morning all, 

Yes, the news about the Wonder Chicken is quite exciting! We've told our ladies about their ancient ancestor but they don't seem that interested

All is fine here with our beaky friends. Beaky herself has made a full recovery, marauding around the place and demanding treats, back to her usual feisty self thank goodness. The others are ok. Bessie is still coming back from moulting so seems a bit more moth eaten than the others, but is acting fine. Maud seems a bit quieter than usual, but nothing you can put your finger on, so we're just keeping an eye on her. She's one of our original chickens, so we've had her over 18 months now, which means she's over three years old. I don't think that's ancient, but probably not bad going for an ex-commercial hen. She's not poorly, and she was always top of the pecking order - never actually pecking anyone, just glaring at them, and I've never seen ANYONE peck her, not even Mildred, who pecks everyone else. We'll see. 

I need to do a decent clean out of the run over the weekend. We acquired some roofing materials that we can cover it with recently, so I'm hoping for a dry and non-windy day soon when we can get on with that - hopefully then we'll be able to remove some of the internal roofing that has me crawling round on my knees to clean them out! 

Hope you and all your ladies are doing well xx