Keeping hens and ducks chat.

RebekahR

edwink said:

Hi everyone

Went out to my girls run today to give them some treats at lunchtime and found one of my girls had died 😢 I found her tucked in by the dividing chicken wire wall between the hens and Hoppy.  Bless her, out of all the 12 years I have kept hens there is only one other occasion that this has happened where one has died in the run itself.  Mostly if they are very old hens you would find them in a nesting box or in their hotel somewhere when you open up in the morning. 

Hope everyone and their hens are ok.

Edwink x

Oh no bless her! So sorry for you :-( I'm dreading the day we loose our first one. There will be big tears! All ours are ok but angry to not be allowed out!

Cheery_Daff

Cheery_Daff said:

We are all OK here, nothing to report, thank goodness. Touch wood, everyone seems ok (I'm always reluctant to say that, just in case). Just been up to tuck them into bed and they all seem nice and cosy. We've been shopping tonight, and threw some grapes in the trolley for them to have a little treat tomorrow 😊

Well, of course, the minute I said that, we had a chicken palaver 🙄 On Monday afternoon, just 3 days after I wrote that, Mr Cheery rang me at work to say he thought Bessie was breathing a bit heavily 🙄 In the past that's been a sign that her implant is wearing off, and she's building up fluid, so worth sorting quickly.

Rang the vets, but apparently they're really close to an avian flu outbreak (in January) and are still within the 3km zone, so can't see birds 😮 They offered a home visit, but not til next week (far too late), so I booked with a more local (but non specialist) vet. But they later rang back and offered a home visit the next day, so we said yes.

Anyway, a right palaver of a day for many reasons, but the vet was lovely, Bessie now has her new implant, and anti inflammatories, and antibiotics, and we should get blood test results in a day or two 🙄 and our bank account is £627 lighter 😱😱 

Goodness me. We really need to switch to the local vet. These ones are ace, but it's a 3 hour round trip, and they are SO good, and will do scans and blood tests and everything, but it just gets SO expensive. Bessie alone has cost us well over £1500 over the last couple of years 😮

I think we'll stay with that vet for Bessie, but the new rescues might have to make do with the ministrations of the more local vet. My friend uses them for her hens and says they're lovely, the vet has her own chickens, so they do know a fair bit, and they'll do implants if necessary I think. I do feel bad treating them differently, but it's getting ridiculous, especially with the amount of driving. 

Can't promise I won't change my mind when one of them gets ill though... 🙄😂

Cheery_Daff

Oh, and speaking of avian flu, did you see the announcement from BHWT today? Apparently flockdown won't be ending at the start of April this year, and all free range eggs are going to have to be repackaged as we're going past the 16 weeks point of them being shut in 😢

No set date yet, but there are still outbreaks, so I guess it will be mid April at the earliest now. I do hope we get a year off next year, but it's not looking likely, is it? At the rate we're going they're going to be in 6 months of every year!

Sorry, feeling very gloomy about the whole situation today 😕 Definitely affects how I feel about keeping chickens.

Glittering_M

Hi all,
Sorry to hear that Edwink.

I've now moved and looking to get set up with my chickens. I just went onto the Green Frog website and it seems that they've changed names and seem to only offer one coop now although other places do seem to have the old ones. Not that I've decided what one I want! I need to measure out my space too as it is a fairly big area and I think I'm going to have to make our own.

With the restrictions, am I right that the chickens can still be outside in a run as long as wild birds cannot get in? I.e. so it has a cover/roof.

Cheery_Daff

Yes, that's right Glittering. As long as there's a roof/covering to stop droppings. 

We ended up making our own too, and added to it last year - I'm glad we do as now our girls have plenty of space while they're shut in the run. I'd still rather they were outside! 

Lots going on in our coop at the minute! Bessie is still on antibiotics, seems to be faring ok but NOT impressed with us catching and giving tablets twice a day. 

Yesterday she led Mr Cheery on a merry dance to catch her, and he knocked the door to the hen house shut and didn't realise. Last night when we went to shut them in, we found them all happily asleep in the second little shelter/nest on on the ground 🙄 Moved all five individually into the main house and they seemed to settle and get cosy again.

Then this morning, there was a big egg laying noise when I went to let them out. They all appeared at the door except Sunshine, so I assumed she was laying. However she clearly got distracted, came down the steps, spotted a treat, started eating - and then just stood up and laid an egg on the floor! I've never seen one actually lay before (although we have had them get distracted and lay in odd places before now).

Anyway, hoping things are uneventful today 

Do let us know what you decide to do Glittering. Glad you are all moved and settled in. How many hens are you planning to get? Rescues, or young ones? All exciting stuff!

Glittering_M

Thanks
Probably 4 chickens to start, hopefully ex batts but I need to research a bit more. Ultimately I want to get something set up first.

RebekahR

Cheery_Daff said:

Oh, and speaking of avian flu, did you see the announcement from BHWT today? Apparently flockdown won't be ending at the start of April this year, and all free range eggs are going to have to be repackaged as we're going past the 16 weeks point of them being shut in 😢

No set date yet, but there are still outbreaks, so I guess it will be mid April at the earliest now. I do hope we get a year off next year, but it's not looking likely, is it? At the rate we're going they're going to be in 6 months of every year!

Sorry, feeling very gloomy about the whole situation today 😕 Definitely affects how I feel about keeping chickens.

This is me. Not really enjoying chicken keeping right not and having htem all cooped up. They should be out deworming the garden. This is now how envisaged it being. I reckon that bird flu is just going to get worse and possibly become a permanant thing now. May even be as bad as to have to have them in 24x7x365??!

edwink

Hi everyone

Article in the news today about labeling Freerange eggs etc. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60820595

Like others, I was hoping this hen lockdown would be over by now.  Not a chance eh?

Edwink

Cheery_Daff

Evening chicken and duck pals 😊

Hope you and your feathery ones are all OK. 

We are not having a great time here 😕 Bessie is still with us, not really any better but at least doesn't seem worse. Vet said to continue her antibiotics for another week, and she's booked to come back for another home visit on Wednesday. So we're catching and giving her tablets twice a day - none of us are very pleased but we've settled into a routine now at least.

Today's worry is Bonny. She was fine this morning, but late on this afternoon Mr Cheery spotted her do three very watery droppings in fairly quick succession, and then she was standing around very quiet and looking really quite ill 😕 We left them to go to bed, and when we went back, the others had gone all in the house, but Bonny was just standing around in the dark in the run on her own 😕

Picked her up and put her in the house with the others - nothing we can do for her overnight and it's not a cold night so we've tucked her in cosy with her pals. 

So fingers crossed. It's come as quite a shock and looking at her last thing I'm not entirely convinced she's going to be with us in the morning 😕 If she is, we obviously can't see our own vet who is still in the avian flu protection zone, so we'll have to see the local vet. Sigh.

Cheery_Daff

Well, I am pleased to report Bonny is still with us! If I hadn't seen her ill last night, I wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong with her this morning. She came out with the others, seemed bright eyed and awake, and went straight to have a drink - not surprised if she's thirsty after yesterday's watery droppings.

Someone had laid a soft shelled egg, which Bessie was tucking into, so I suspect that was her and passing it has maybe made her feel better. Who knows. Not going to assume she's fine just yet 🙄

Hope you are all faring better...