Keeping hens and ducks chat.

ali-t

Thanks for the quick response Edwink. We have rectangle fence panels with chicken wire across them. We bought them from someone who had an industrial chicken farm and they had them cable tied together and linked to fence posts. We got fence posts s.unk into the ground the panels are attached to these at ground level so they sit on top of the grass. There are wood panels all round the bottom of the enclosure and it is these that the animals have burrowed under IYSWIM. I don't even really understand why as the hen enclosure is at the bottom of the garden and behind our boundary fence are fields so whatever is coming in can wander under the boundary fence panels straight into the enclosure or garden - strange behaviour!


Inside the giant enclosure we have 2 coops and each of the coops has a run that the food is kept inside but the chooks have free access to all day but they are locked in at night. I thought the holes looked mouse size but if they are good at squeezing into things it could be rats. I have seen rats round here the size of small cats!


I don't want to leave traps or bait out as we have a dog that has full access to the garden and the chooks often get out into the main garden for a treat. I think bricks might be the way to go to fill in all the holes. We had one of those vibrating mole things sunk into the grass before we got the chooks which worked well with moles but not so good for rodents.


Thanks for the advice - I had no idea mice could make themselves so small!

Better_Days

Well, Jemima appears to be on the mend.

She still isn't eating properly, but is much more perky and was very eager to go out today. The cat food and tuna I put down for her vanished quickly. Plus diarrhoea seems to have cleared up, today at least.

She still isn't eating much in the way of her layers pellets, but is certainly going in the right direction :j:j:j

edwink

Better_Days wrote: »

Well, Jemima appears to be on the mend. She still isn't eating properly, but is much more perky and was very eager to go out today. The cat food and tuna I put down for her vanished quickly. Plus diarrhoea seems to have cleared up, today at least. She still isn't eating much in the way of her layers pellets, but is certainly going in the right direction :j:j:j

Hoorah Jemima is getting better and hoorah her mum loves her.

Great news. Keep us all posted. Thanks

Edwink x

Better_Days

Both good and bad news.

The good news is that Jemima is pretty much back to normal, although not laying again yet. One of my kind neighbours came round with some grapes for her which she had purchased especially for Jemima from the market. :j:j:j So not only do we spoil our hens, but our neighbours do too

The bad news is that our oldest ex-bat which we got in January 2014 has gone off her food over the last few days, and has a swollen and firm abdomen. Mr BD took her to the vet today who diagnosed egg peritonitis. We didn't want her to suffer so had her PTS. :(:( She was such a feisty hen when we first got her we called her 'the Henforcer'. Thanks for all the eggs Henforcer. At least she had two summers with us and experienced the sun on her feathers, finding tasty worms and the excitement of chopped grapes.

The coop is looking very empty with only Jemima and Matilda left, but at the weekend we are collecting 3 new ex-bats. I'd love to be able to tell them now how different their lives will be this time next week.

edwink

Hi Betterdays

So glad Jemima is feeling so much better. And how lovely of your neighbour to get her some grapes. I hope she continues to improve.

So sorry to here about your other hen. Bless her!! Having her PTS is always the best thing to do if they are that poorly. Your poor husband must have felt awful coming back home without her. We did that once and I remember how we felt. We bought her back with us and hubby buried her in our garden near to the others we have lost over the years.

So more exbatts are coming at the weekend. Hoorah for more being rescued. Well done that friendly hen keeper. Don't forget to give us their names when you have finally named them.

Hope all goes well with the new girls.

Edwink x

Dizzy_Imp

Still pleased to report that we are getting 5-6 eggs a day (have 6 hens) so we have been eating eggs all week :rotfl:

Pancakes, frittata, scrambled, in muffins, on bagels, soft boiled with soldiers, meringue, HM custard....but....I'm running out of ideas! Help please!

edwink

Dizzy_Imp wrote: »

Still pleased to report that we are getting 5-6 eggs a day (have 6 hens) so we have been eating eggs all week :rotfl: Pancakes, frittata, scrambled, in muffins, on bagels, soft boiled with soldiers, meringue, HM custard....but....I'm running out of ideas! Help please!

Ok a few ideas for you. How about Omelette, egg on toast (scrummy), egg and chips (even more scrummy). Egg an tomato curry (you can freeze this too). Pickled eggs (if you like them).

You could give someone a box as part of a birthday present. Or a box as a thank you present. We sell our surplus eggs to our neighbours which pays for our girls feed. Could you do something like that with your neighbours, friends or family? A little income towards their feed is always helpful.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know. I am sure others will be along to add their suggestions.

Edwink x

ali-t

Do any of you cover part of the girls enclosure in winter. We had a tarpaulin over part of it that they could shelter in but it blew off in the recent storms so we are looking at something a bit more durable for the winter. Any suggestions?


We have looked at corrugated plastic type stuff but it will be very expensive and we would need to get someone to do it for us as we aren't very DIY technically minded. More tarpaulin stapled on but theres still a chance it will blow off. All suggestions welcome - the more inexpensive the better.

edwink

ali-t wrote: »

Do any of you cover part of the girls enclosure in winter. We had a tarpaulin over part of it that they could shelter in but it blew off in the recent storms so we are looking at something a bit more durable for the winter. Any suggestions? We have looked at corrugated plastic type stuff but it will be very expensive and we would need to get someone to do it for us as we aren't very DIY technically minded. More tarpaulin stapled on but theres still a chance it will blow off. All suggestions welcome - the more inexpensive the better.

Hi Ali-t

Have you heard of Freecycle or Freegle? They are local groups which are in most areas of the UK and other countries. Once you join you can advertise if there is something that you need. And you can offer things that you do not need yourself. Maybe if you joined one of those type groups you could advertise for some Tarpaulin and someone may have some that they no longer want and gladly give it to you. If you do go back down the tarpaulin route I think it would be best to strap it down with cable ties. They are very easy to use and not at all expensive. Someone may have some to give away on Freecycle so the whole job would not cost you anything.

You could also advertise for some of the corrugated plastic roofing but as you say you would have to get someone to fit that. Unless you just laid it across the top and put some bricks on top of it to keep it there. Maybe though your coop may be too wide for doing it like that.

Whatever you do always remember that if anything is loose like tarpaulin and it flapped about the hens would hate it. Anything like that can spook them and make them really nervous.

How wide is your coop? I can't remember what type of set up you have. Can you give me some idea then I can keep thinking on it plus others on here too might be able to suggest something you can use.

Edwink x

ali-t

Hi, thanks for the suggestions. What we have is a large enclosure I'm not sure of the sizing - maybe 20 metres by 15 metres but I would have to go out and measure it in daylight. It is fence panels that are 6-7' high and there is a gate so it looks similar to a large aviary. We have netting on top to stop the hens flying into the main garden as they were getting on top of the coops and flying into the rest of the garden.


We put a huge tarpaulin over the full width of it and maybe 4 metres of the length of it and secured it with cable ties and it was secured to the main enclosure and the netting that is over the full length/width of the enclosure. the hens didn't mind the flapping but we had winds so strong one night that the tarpaulin ripped leaving the metal rings from it still attached to the cable ties and enclosure but the tarpaulin flapping around. It is now all gone.


If we go for the corrugated plastic it would need a frame to attach to as the largest sheets we can find are 2m long and we need to decide whether to have it flat like a car port type structure or sloped like a roof for the rain and snow to run off.



I will go and have a look on freecycle and freegle to see if there is anything on the go. I don't even know what sort of tradesperson would do a job like that - a joiner? I would feel embarrassed phoning a roofer to ask about a roof for a hen enclosure lol. Thanks again for the input. This is my first winter with hens and I want them to survive it happily and healthily. We are still getting 8-10 eggs from 10 hens daily which is a great sign.