Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink

Happygreen wrote: »

That is so interesting how different families have such different rhythms. Someone once told me that an early moult means there will be an early frost and winter - mine were definitely early this year and the ducks weeks ahead of the hens (whatever that means!) . But that might explain the regional differences as we are probably much further north than you are

Yes I agree that is interesting. We are in the South East and it has been pretty mild for us here. But, it is due to snow at the weekend now. OMG what a shock it will be for my girls.

We have an outdoor stove and if it gets too cold that will be lit for them and my little hooligans will be huddled around it nice and warm. We did that last year when it snowed and the hens that got the closest to the stove laid in front of it and spread one of their wings like they were sunbathing. I nearly cried when I was watching them. I am such a softy when it comes to my rescue girls.

I know we do tend to spoil our girls and their hut we call a hotel cos it has heating. But, everything for them is done on a budget and most of the materials were recycled for their coop. Their hotel was given to us by a neighbour which was a good quality shed. The heating used to be in the greenhouse so reused for them, it is a 40watt Thermo Tube. Their coop used to be an old fruit cage, we removed the netting and covered it in chicken wire. Their bench was given to us to chop up and burn on our stove :eek: so we gave it to them to perch on. Their drinking containers were given to us by a family member. Their feed store we bought off a neighbour for £50 and it was only 6 months old and cost them £260. The stove we originally had in our kitchen for years and it got a crack in it so when we purchased a new one we gave them our old one. Even the container we use to collect their eggs in everyday is recycled.

Our hens and ducks pay for their own keep and we have never paid a penny towards it. We sell all of our surplus eggs to our neighbours and family and all of that money goes towards their keep. There has always been a bit of spare money in their kitty to pay for the odd vets bill too. so all in all they are self sufficient :j. Clever little things they are!!

Edwink

Dizzy_Ditzy

:hello:

My girls are all still laying :j we had a while when my ginger one wasn't and at the same time she was being mean to two of the others, but on the odd day she was laying she was back to her normal self again. She's back to laying daily again now though

One of my other girls I think is getting ready to slow down- her eggs are coming out all different shapes and sizes :rotfl:

I pretty much only get to see them up and about at weekends now by the time I get there after work they've all gone to bed and I only get to count feathery bums fast asleep :rotfl:

edwink

queen_of_cheap wrote: »

:hello:

My girls are all still laying :j we had a while when my ginger one wasn't and at the same time she was being mean to two of the others, but on the odd day she was laying she was back to her normal self again. She's back to laying daily again now though

One of my other girls I think is getting ready to slow down- her eggs are coming out all different shapes and sizes :rotfl:

I pretty much only get to see them up and about at weekends now by the time I get there after work they've all gone to bed and I only get to count feathery bums fast asleep :rotfl:

When I read that you only get to count their feathery bums fast a sleep I nearly cried. Aww!! Bless them and you too. At least you do get to see them if only it is their bottoms.


Glad your Ginger is behaving herself now. Maybe her meanness is something to do with hormones when she is not laying.


We get funny shapes and sizes when our girls slow down. We have had a couple of eggs the size of a Gobstopper, really small for an egg. I really do not like it if we get a soft shelled one. I actually dislike picking them up cos they feel all wobbly and weird.


Hope everyone else's girls and boys are behaving.


Edwink x

Dizzy_Imp

My girls are still laying an egg a day, so a half dozen every day *insert smug smile*.

I love my hens and I NEVER thought I'd say that. They all run to me and use me as a safe place when the mutts are around. Each of them is a beauty, if not in looks, in nature and they are just little gems. OMG this is a revelation. I dislike flappy birds. And pecky ones. And bony ones...and yet... My DH laughs at me for giving them "Cluckingham Palace" and buying them corn and grapes and all the tasty things they love. I'm going to move them to the paddock where they will have a barn and a field all to themselves. I am such a softie. I could never work for an animal charity...OMG...it would be Battersea dogs (animal) home.

I now want ducks and donkeys...

Dizzy_Ditzy

edwink wrote: »

When I read that you only get to count their feathery bums fast a sleep I nearly cried. Aww!! Bless them and you too. At least you do get to see them if only it is their bottoms.


Glad your Ginger is behaving herself now. Maybe her meanness is something to do with hormones when she is not laying.


We get funny shapes and sizes when our girls slow down. We have had a couple of eggs the size of a Gobstopper, really small for an egg. I really do not like it if we get a soft shelled one. I actually dislike picking them up cos they feel all wobbly and weird.


Hope everyone else's girls and boys are behaving.


Edwink x

It's horrible not being able to see them properly during the week, I miss them way more than I should or thought I would :( I still have to go round and pick up the eggs and often have to fish around under a sleeping chicken to get the eggs from underneath them. I take my life in my hands :eek::rotfl:

I let mine have the softies and just pick up what's left of the shell when they're done :cool:

edwink

This photo is especially for you Betterdays. She is one of my recent Rescue hens, her name is Bubble. Finally managed to sort the photo thingy out with your help. More photos to follow.


Edwink x

edwink

Little Langley on her first day with us. She came from a home where a fox got in and killed 16 of her friends. She was the only one that got away by flying high on top of a fence so the fox could not get her. She was traumatised so she was allowed to stay indoors with us for most of the day until she settled. She was a sleep on our chest of drawers for a good few hours, bless her. She was worn out. She is settled with our others now and gets on really well with them all.


Edwink x

edwink

We have had a small rise in eggs this week. Has anyone else had the same?. We are just going through a really cold snap so I would have thought the girls would have laid less not more. How strange.

Edwink x

Happygreen

I had to foil an attempt at nest building (duck!), found 2 eggs outdoors - what on earth is going on?

edwink

Happygreen wrote: »

I had to foil an attempt at nest building (duck!), found 2 eggs outdoors - what on earth is going on?

My ducks do that on a regular basis so we have got used to it now. If there are no eggs in their hut in the morning by the afternoon we go on an egg hunt to find them.


That reminds me of the time we did a thorough clean of the hens hotel so that day we put a temporary nesting box by the door so they could lay their eggs in it. Thy only laid two that day in the temporary box. The next day when hunting for the ducks eggs we found 11 hens eggs in a bush. We were not sure if they were from the big cleaning day or they had been laying them there for some time. But 11:eek: wow!!!


Edwink x