Keeping hens and ducks chat.

suki1964

queen_of_cheap wrote: »

The more green stuff a hen has, the yellower the yolk. The nasty tasteless eggs you get with fry ups in some places generally come from caged ladies who get nowt but layers pellets and a bit of corn if they're lucky.

Eggs you buy in the shop can be anything up to A MONTH old :eek: :eek:

well my girls get layers that they can access all day and night. Once we are up they have access to the garden which is about a 3rd of an acre and they munch away at whatever takes their fancy

I also give them corn, fruit and veg as well as maybe a cracker crumbled or a bit of cooked rice or pasta

and omg, that eg was loverly and the one I got today ( a whole gramme bigger is going to be just as lovely)

Just got to keep out of my head the fact they adore slugs

edwink

Wow!! Suki so that's another egg for you. Well done those hens!! It will be an omelette for you next.

Always such a lovely feeling collecting their eggs. Hope everyone thanks their girls when they collect them. I always do and I am sure that they know what I am saying to them.

Cleared the green houses today of the last of the tomatoes and now allow the girls to go in there and dust bathe. The new girls are not so sure at the moment but they will soon get used to the idea. We allow them to use the greenhouses from the Autumn to the spring until we start using them again. Still have some cucumbers growing in one of the greenhouses but they are too high up for the girls to reach them and start pecking holes in them. Our Cockerel found his spot in one of the greenhouses today and there was soil being flicked everywhere. He was in there with 2 of the girls for ages. One of the new girls followed me in and just had a little scratch around. I am sure in time she will get the hang of it. She has a lot of feathers missing bless her and her beak does not meet properly. I think she was picked on quite badly when she was at the battery farm. She is the cutest little hen ever.

Hope everyone's hens are enjoying this better weather and their dust bathing. I know mine are.

Edwink x

stepuptothepl8

Hi everyone

We lost one of our rescue girls yesterday so down to 9. SHe was a friendly little thing; considering where she came from she was so tame, and would often jump on our lap if we were sitting in the garden. DH has said he wants more in the spring - he's converted to loving them as much as I do! X

edwink

stepuptothepl8 wrote: »

Hi everyone

We lost one of our rescue girls yesterday so down to 9. SHe was a friendly little thing; considering where she came from she was so tame, and would often jump on our lap if we were sitting in the garden. DH has said he wants more in the spring - he's converted to loving them as much as I do! X

Aww Bless you. It is so sad when we loose one of our girls isn't it? I do feel for you as we all get so attached to them. I have all the ones I have lost buried in my garden.

I know people who think a hen is just a hen but what they do not realise is that each hen has its own personality. Some of mine could not be more different.

So glad your husband is loving them too. My husband is exactly the same.

So sorry for your loss.

Edwink x

Dizzy_Ditzy

Since my girls have come back from boarding, my lovely timid, mellow ginger ranger has been a proper bully and I don't know why

suki1964

Sorry for your loss stepup

Well it turns out it's not Honey laying, it's one of the babies ( Henny)so fingers crossed her sisters will catch on as well.


I'm so sad ( really need to get a life lol) that I sit in the kitchen watching who's in and out of the nesting boxes. Turns out to be Henny. She goes through the same routine every day. Goes to the first box and kicks out all the shavings and comes back out. Then back in, same to the second box, then again the same to the third, then she lays in the one all four had squeezed into to sleep . Like she has three lovely clean ones to choose but nope she's got to lay in the dirty one !!

Eggs are getting bigger, today's was a whopping 55g

edwink

Our new rescue girls are getting on really well with our other hens. There is a little bit of bickering going on from time to time but nothing major thankfully. The new rescue girls are now laying really well and are putting our other hens to shame. Their feathers are showing signs of growing back which is good news for them with the winter on its way.


They are now all dust bathing in the greenhouses and are loving it. The new rescues are getting the hang of it at last, yay!!! Love them!!!


Suki, a whopping 55g egg, well done that hen. I have just weighed one of our duck eggs at that is 110g. So considering that Aylesbury duck eggs are huge and I do mean huge that is a good weight for a hens egg.


Anyone else like to join in and tell us the weight of their hens or ducks eggs?


Edwink x

ali-t

I havent been weighing them but had 3 whoppers that were all double yolkers this week which was amazing

Dizzy_Imp

I haven't got scales that measure small weights accurately but my ladies are just getting started, so they're still on the small size. No double yokers yet either but we are averaging four eggs per day from six hens, so pleased with that. Used one egg to make some apple and cinnamon muffins just now and DH has already eaten two!

Sorry some of you have lost hens recently. I'm surprised how fond I've become of some of mine already and I'd certainly miss them now. I am struggling with one though as she is isn't anywhere as friendly as the others. She's the Black Rock - are they a bit more stand-offish than other breeds? The brown hens are super friendly and feed out of my hand and let me stroke and pick them up with no fuss, but Ebony looks sideways at me and runs away if I get too close

Dizzy_Ditzy

My biggest egg was 97g :T :T