Keeping hens and ducks chat.

skipton

Hi all
My egg production has dipped too but the 4 young ones are laying fortunately so 4 a day with an odd white from one of my muggers. The 5 older ones are still moulting so lots of feathers about.

Our biggest danger is falling acorns lol. Our Oaks are 60 to 80 feet tall so the acorns come down at high speed and sound like bullets when they hit the eglus. The chickens run in all directions when the wind blows sending a flurry of acorns down. I know how Chicken Licken felt!

Better_Days

My girls are still laying well, the ex-bats usually do even when the days are getting shorter.

Plus have booked to collect 3 more ex-bats at the beginning of November :j:j:j

Hope it isn't too cold as they usually come with a dearth of feathers.

Need to get my thinking cap for some new names.

suki1964

My three are still laying daily. I can time them to within 20 mins as to when each one has laid .)

One of the lads has just dropped me a bale of staw in to work, great fun squeezing that into a mr2 lol. Going to be more fun trying to get it out when I get home

Tried a few new treats for them. They like yoghurt, will kill each other for cheese, like cauliflower and carrot but were not fussed on the porridge. Still at least they are trying the scraps now rather then turning their beaks up in disgust. I was reading on backyard chickens the things people " treat " their girls with :eek:some of the things I wouldn't give to humans let alone chickens

edwink

Better_Days wrote: »

Plus have booked to collect 3 more ex-bats at the beginning of November :j:j:j Need to get my thinking cap for some new names.

Yay!! That's great news on the new ex-bats. That's 3 more poor little rescues heading for a worry free retirement. :T

Well done Better Days for rehoming them. Bet you can't wait.

Edwink x

Better_Days

edwink wrote: »

Yay!! That's great news on the new ex-bats. That's 3 more poor little rescues heading for a worry free retirement. :T

Well done Better Days for rehoming them. Bet you can't wait.

Edwink x

I love watching the transformation from shell shocked hen unused to flapping her wings and scratching around, to a happy hen squawking with delight when she finds a worm or slug.

And whatever happens they are always pleased to see me and come rushing over for their treats. It's nice to feel popular :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Happygreen

suki1964 wrote: »

My three are still laying daily. I can time them to within 20 mins as to when each one has laid .)

One of the lads has just dropped me a bale of staw in to work, great fun squeezing that into a mr2 lol. Going to be more fun trying to get it out when I get home

Tried a few new treats for them. They like yoghurt, will kill each other for cheese, like cauliflower and carrot but were not fussed on the porridge. Still at least they are trying the scraps now rather then turning their beaks up in disgust. I was reading on backyard chickens the things people " treat " their girls with :eek:some of the things I wouldn't give to humans let alone chickens

That is so interesting that different families like different treats. Mine kill for porridge, but can't be asked to eat carrot scraps! Suki, remember that whatever you give them from your kitchen (even that in itself is actually not quite legal since foot&mouth! ) may contain salt - like cheese, cereals, bacon fat, etc. Processed foods should be treated with caution and might better go in the bin

ali-t

I think my hens are on the egg decline as of today. We have been consistently getting 8 or 9 but today was 2 and 2 broken soft shell eggs. We will have to savour the eggs that are coming now since they will be in short supply until spring.

Happygreen

When I looked in the nesting box this morning, the duff egg (mustard filled) had disappeared! Either it's very well hidden indeed on the coop floor or the naughty girl ate it mustard and all! I now ordered wooden eggs on AZ, I'm not giving up on teaching her a lesson. On the other hand she might have forgotten at the end of the resting period that eggs are nice ...

suki1964

Happygreen wrote: »

That is so interesting that different families like different treats. Mine kill for porridge, but can't be asked to eat carrot scraps! Suki, remember that whatever you give them from your kitchen (even that in itself is actually not quite legal since foot&mouth! ) may contain salt - like cheese, cereals, bacon fat, etc. Processed foods should be treated with caution and might better go in the bin

Oh believe me I do

the cheese was a very very very thin slice broken into about 20 pieces and the yoghurt was home made

Thats why I said about reading what some hen owners were feeding 0 the likes of sugared cereal, tacos, fajitas etc etc

I bought hens so that we could enjoy their eggs and Im a great believer in what goes in comes out. Now I know they are omnivores but I dont like the idea of feeding them meat scraps, they are getting strictly veggie from our kitchen, and Ill ignore the slugs and worms

Dizzy_Ditzy

I think my girls may be on the slow down too now. Three eggs today and a softie, four otherwise every day this week. It's my gold line who isn't laying. She's turned into a right grumpy cow who is picking on the others, but she's been doing that for a few weeks.

We've noticed too that they aren't eating or drinking as much as they would normally do. Corn gets left uneaten :eek: they turn their noses up at grass too :eek: :eek:

Is this normal when the seasons change?