Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink

in_my_wellies said:

edwink:

I am sorry that you have lost another of your hens, it's always sad.  From what you have said my guess is that she died in her sleep and didn't know anything about it, bless her.  Nicer for her but a complete shock for you when getting them out in the morning.  I am sure she has had a really good retirement with you and your other hens so you have that to be proud of and look back on.

The hole digging is a worry that's for sure especially as you filled it in only to find it had been dug out again.  That's a bit too close for comfort for you and your hens. What is behind the hedge? is there another garden the animal has gained access through?.  
Do you have any paving slabs that you could put where you have filled the hole back in?. They are so useful in a situation like you have.  Every time you fill a hole in you put a slab on it so when the animal tries the next night to dig through he/she won't be able to gain access through that particular route again.  Is there any evidence of digging around the hens coop? If so you will need to put paving slabs preferably or breeze type blocks all the way around the coop. Basically, anything that is solid and heavy that the animal can not dig through.  Maybe if you could describe your set up to us or put on a picture on here Cheery and I might be able to suggest something that would help sort this problem out for you. I really do feel for you as it is very worrying.

Edwink x 

Lots of squabbles and noise today. I'm wondering if the one that died was the boss who kept order. Could the pecking order have been disturbed? 
Thanks for the suggestions re the hole. Nothing on the camera last night. I'm not sure about badgers and hens. In my old garden I have them many times on camera just going for worms and apples. Always coming through the same gap, same routine and out again without seeming to notice the hen house 
The hedge is wide, the other side is someones garden but it's at the far end of their two acres so I doubt they know its there as they are most definitely not gardeners. Today I covered the hole and the area with a piece of hardboard and breeze blocks and hammered and wove in some extra sticks around the base of the hedge to block gaps - but needs more work. There is a wide, human size, hole in the hedge but I would need to be more subtle if covering holes on the other side. I hope I'll see something on the camera to guide my efforts.
Due to having a visit from a fox years ago my hens are completely enclosed. I have a 4' x 4' house opening into a 12' x 16' run. The netting is folded out on the ground 12" all round the edge, pegged down and mostly grassed over.  The frame sits on a wooden plinth which sits on 2' x 1' marble tiles (very posh, from freecycle) These were put down because the soil is very sandy (house was called 'Sandbeck') and it was the hens trying to excavate out rather than a fox trying to get in which was the problem. I still need to add at least three wheelbarrow loads of new soil every year - what do they do with it??? the roof is wire netting covered with corrugated plastic (from freecycle)

200 meters away a lot of building work and landscaping has been happening and I do know there were badgers in that direction so I'm thinking they have been disturbed. I read last night that badgers dig but foxes usually just take over an existing hole. As this is new (since last autumn) I'm thinking badgers but they could have started, moved in, moved out and then a fox moved in just recently. Hoping the camera works tonight. 

Yes, the pecking order would have been disturbed if she was the top hen and now the squabbling will go on until the new pecking order has been established. Sometimes finding the new leader is pretty quick so the squabbling shouldn't go on for long unless of course you have 2 rather feisty hens and neither of them will give in.

We had 2 huge holes in a tall wide hedge last year so we covered them over with strong thick black netting.  The hedges are now growing nicely over the netting, in fact, you can't even see the netting unless up close because it is black.  It is really strong netting that an animal would not be able to rip should they attempt to gain access through it. 

It looks as if you are doing all you can regarding the holes.  I know myself how time consuming it is trying to keep a preditor out and away from hens. You can only do your best to protect your girls. 

It will be interesting to see what your camera shows, I hope it works too. 

Edwink x

edwink

Pyxis said:

Do badgers attack hens? I didn’t think so but enlighten me!Or do they just go after the eggs?
I’m so worried about this weekend, with the warmer weather forecast.
It’s ironic that we couldn’t have had the wet weather when lockdown started, instead of earlier. I’m sure the figures would have been a lot less if so.
I feel so sorry for people who might still not be back in their homes after flooding, and now having to face lockdown. You don’t hear about the flood victims any more.
Sorry......have drifted away from hen talk, but some of the flooded people may have had hens. I wonder what they did with them?
I won’t be able to train my garden birds, as I’m out of live mealworms and don’t think Ican get any more. Galling, when the shop was literally 3 minutes walk around the corner! 

Yes, a badger would attack a hen sadly, even rats can do if they are brave enough. 

We had a poster on here quite a while back that had serious flood damage to her house so she was living in a caravan on her land.  She had hens and as far as I know, the hens were fine and were not affected by the flooding except for having soggy feet.  The hens and their coop must have been on higher ground I guess although I could be wrong.  I remember her mentioning that it was very muddy for them but they managed I think by putting straw on the ground. This allowed her hens to wander about without their feet being constantly wet. 

Would you be able to train your garden birds with dried mealworms or are they not as enticing as live ones?.  I know here that if any soil is turned over our resident Robin is there as soon as we turn our backs. He/she is the one that always goes for the dried mealworms on our hanging feeding station whereas the Blue Tits and Greenfinches head for the seeds. I'll have to put a pic on here if I can get one with them all feeding.

Just out of interest has anyone succeeded in putting pictures on here now we are on the new style forum? I've not attempted it yet but apparently it is so much easier than it was.  Here's hoping eh? fingers and toes crossed.

Edwink x

Pyxis

They wouldn’t come to my hand for dried mealworms, even dried ones that I had soaked in water to hydrate.Them birdies ain’t stoopid! 😁

re. Pics........ have a go at putting the hen  and duck emoticons on your thread title, if you are still able to edit it. 🐓 🦆

It’s a bit easier to do pics on here, I suppose, inasmuch as you don’t have to upload a pic into a hosting site thing first.
To get a pic from your photo album, first ensure that the cursor is in the place on your draft post where you want the pic, then click on the ‘mountains’ icon in the toolbar at the top of the draft post. You’ll get a drop-down box.
Click on ‘choose files’, then click on ‘Photo Album’ and you’ll get your list of photo albums. Then you just click on the photo you want, to select it, and then click on ‘Done’ and the photo will appear in your draft post. If it doesn’t appear straight away, it’s because it is loading.........there will be a pale blue line under the tool bar that grows as the photo loads.

This is on my iPad. I don’t know if it’s different on other computers. There’s also an option for taking a photo there and then, rather than going to your photo album, but I haven’t used that, plus an option to browse your files like Dropbox, Googledrive, etc.

I don’t know if you can copy and paste a pic directly from another site.....I haven’t been able to do that....I seem to have to save the image to my photo album and do it from there. Some people can drag and drop images too, but again, I don’t seem able to do that.

Cheery_Daff

sorry to hear about your hen, in_my_wellies. Sounds like you've got a good, safe setup there. 

We've been to the vets with Mildred this morning. They were very good, picking her up from the car and taking her in while we waited outside. Confirmed what we thought - some kind of heart issue, and there's nothing to do other than just keep her warm and fed and free of stress. All very sad but comforting to know we're doing everything we can, and at least the weather is nice and the sun is shining, and they can potter about outside together, which they are doing. He said she'll likely just be a doddery old lady for a while then one day just not wake up in the morning  I suppose as a chicken that's not a bad way to go (well, for any of us really). 

in_my_wellies

Only two cats on the camera this morning but the holes as far as I can see have not been disturbed

I do let them out in winter and they come running home very easily but in summer they are restricted to small areas but I'm a bit wary now. I also worry about what they find to eat. 

One had a nasty dose of sour crop last month. She looked ill and was sick when I picked her up, very smelly and bubbly. I tipped her up more and it poured out. A good squeeze and shake and even more came out including sprouting grains. I washed her mouth with water from the hose pipe, she was thirsty. Tipped and squeezed again, another drink and let her be. She improved for two days then repeat but touchwood she's been OK for three weeks now. Then I read up on the internet and apparently I shouldn't have made her sick, bad for hens, - I was going in instinct - and if I hadn't done anything she'd  have died anyway. 

CheeryDaff - My vet is reluctant to see hens and probably even more so now. The one further away would be an 'essential journey' as far as I'm concerned

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, your experience with sour crop sounds very dramatic! Well done for keeping her alive though. 

Our vets have stopped all non-essential stuff (eg jabs. flea treatments etc while they can wait) but they're still doing consultations when necessary. We had a chat on the phone last week, but without seeing her they couldn't really say. I did think long and hard but I didn't want to just let her die if there was a chance we could have done something. They were very good about distancing - we arranged a time, pulled up in the car and rang them. Vet came out, we put the cage on the floor then backed off and had a chat from the other side of the car/pavement (well over 2m). He took her in, came out to tell us what he thought, then brought her out, put cage on the pavement, and backed off while we put her in the car. We paid over the phone when we got home.

We're lucky with our vets. The first time we ever took chickens was to a different place listed on the BHWT website, but more recently we had a ring round and found a more local one who are happy to view hens as treasured pets (rather than farm animals). We're very grateful. 

in_my_wellies

Cheery_Daff said:

We're lucky with our vets. The first time we ever took chickens was to a different place listed on the BHWT website, but more recently we had a ring round and found a more local one who are happy to view hens as treasured pets (rather than farm animals). We're very grateful. 

Yes, good to have someone local with experience. I was pleased the local one doesn't pretend to know hens but just said no. It's always hard when they look so ill for days but you have done everything you can. My niece is an avian vet but lives in NZ, I keep telling her she'd find a job in the UK but as her speciality is penguins she doesn't believe me. 

Pyxis

in_my_wellies said:

Cheery_Daff said:

We're lucky with our vets. The first time we ever took chickens was to a different place listed on the BHWT website, but more recently we had a ring round and found a more local one who are happy to view hens as treasured pets (rather than farm animals). We're very grateful. 

Yes, good to have someone local with experience. I was pleased the local one doesn't pretend to know hens but just said no. It's always hard when they look so ill for days but you have done everything you can. My niece is an avian vet but lives in NZ, I keep telling her she'd find a job in the UK but as her speciality is penguins she doesn't believe me. 

Gosh, a pet penguin would be ace! 

edwink

Talking of penguins my Indian Runner duck that some of you will remember resembled one, bless her. 

Pyxis

Awwww!


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