Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink

Hi everyone

It was really cold and windy here this morning for my little hens. The ducks really don't mind the cold weather but the hens hate it. The sun is trying to come out so I hope it cheers them up a bit.

Egg laying going ok here. Five from 5 ducks and around 18 a day from the little hens. Because of the amount of eggs we have been getting we made loads of quiches yesterday for friends and family. They really went down well I can tell you.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Edwink x

suki1964

Chicken math happened again, I've now 12 hens:j:j

They are a bit timid and don't want to leave the coop but at least they are enjoying the sunshine through the window


Honey who came to us looking all dishevelled and in full moult last sept is now top hen and is showing us what's she's made off- her eggs are coming in at around 100grs, yesterday's was a whopping 120grs No wonder she sqwarks so loud lol


Word has got out that our eggs are so good, I'm turning people away as we keep selling them out. It's so bad that the farmer up the road had his straight out the laying box this morning. So my sign and honesty box will be packed away for a while. I found I don't like day old eggs so want to have a good stock before I think about selling any more

It's been a lot drier and sunnier this week so all the girls have been out sunbathing and dust bathing. Where they have cleared the bank, they have made dug outs for themselves. They love it

smallholding_antics

Hi all,


been MIA as lots on. Sadly we lost a rescue girl over the weekend. She went down hill over a couple of days and nothing we could do helped, so we made her comfortable and removed her to her own place and I got there just as she gave up (I'd been in and out of the barn where she was all day). Really sad to see. She definitely had something wrong with her. She was bubbling at the nose and when she passed a lot of liquid (well a lot in terms of her size) came out from her nose. Clear and not smelly.


Re the ducks and the geese. The goslings are due anytime in the next 10 days! Cant be more accurate as we're not 100% when she was sitting on them full time and obviously they can go over the expected period slightly. We're going to let Mam do her job this time round and just learn from any mistakes. The ducks are laying amazingly!!! I've been baking with their eggs and it's all great.


I love that the ducks will keep supplying us all year (mostly) so when the geese stop the hends and ducks will still be laying.

suki1964

Sorry for your loss smallholding

Well hasn't the weather changed

Freezing cold and snow and hail, downright awful

We picked up another 3 hens last Friday so now I have a round dozen . They actually settled in really well, only one took more then a day to venture out of the coop to the big outdoors. Some bickering, but nothing serious and now all the newbies roost happily alongside the established girls ( they had to be taught, never roosted before)

So any ways egg production fell over the weekend as I thought it might with the disruption, but it never picked up again. I was on at DH to search the bank as I was sure eggs had to be somewhere. I had gone from 8 to 4 a day and I knew the new girls were laying

Turns out the girls, being miffed at new hens in the coop, had taken themselves off next door and were laying there lol. Neighbour came around with a box full of eggs last night to let me know

So today they are confined to the run until the weather clears enough to block the holes they have dug under the boundary fence. Our neighbour is really lovely and understanding, he has hens, donkeys, ponies and dogs in his garden, he just doesn't want the worry of his dogs deciding chicken is on the menu


Just braving the snow to give them their lunch of veggie peelings Xx

edwink

Awwww so sorry for your loss Smallholding. We get so attached to them don't we. I am always so sad for days when we loose one of our feathered friends. Chin up you gave her a lovely retirement and lots of nice treat food.

Barmy weather here this past week. We have had every season possible. Snow, sleet, hail, rain, sun, very cold and blooming windy. I know that hens hate the wind and having their knickers blown inside out. Bless them!! We have a tall bush in our garden and they all shelter in and under there. The stems/branches inside make climbing inside it really easy for them as it doesn't have any small branches or leaves inside. So they climb up inside to stay warm. The other day I counted 7 of them in there in different layers. I tried to take a photo but every time I went near the bush they came running out to see me so it became a hopeless task. Maybe I should take a picture of the inside of the bush and then you will get an idea of what I am on about. I do love my girls but I wish they would just sit still when I want to take a photo of them.

Hope everyone is ok and thoroughly enjoys their Bank Holiday break.

Edwink

Happygreen

Good morning, all. So sad for your loss, smallholding.
Our elderly is not doing too well, last year the wormer did the job and she did stop gasping, not so this time. I reckon she might leave us some time soon....
The duck egg glut has calmed down, after the week with pellets on worming week they went through the roof! The crows are helping with tidying the garden and showing the chickens how lovely eggs are, grrrhhh. I found the first eaten hen's egg in the house a couple of days ago and had none since! Not sure which strategy I will apply now as they already have wooden eggs in the nesting boxes...

Better_Days

How's your old hen doing Happygreen?

Looks like the weather is going to start to pick up a bit at last, maybe the grass seed will grow before the birds eat it all.

Our friendly local tree surgeon has dropped off some woodchip (massive pile on the drive for Mr BD to move ). Last year we put a thick layer in the chicken run and it helped with the pong in the summer, stopped it turning into the Somme when it rained and gave the hens something to scratch around in. I'll use the rest as a mulch for our newly planted hedge.

Hens all seem healthy atm and we treated them to some corn on the cob yesterday which went down very well indeed.

smallholding_antics

WE HAVE GOSLINGS WAHOOOOOOOOO 3 so far that we can see but Mother is very protective!! I would be too if I was her and humans kept coming in!

Better_Days

Very exciting smallholding_antics, any more hatched now?
Post a pic if you can.

Lovely day here this morning, and not so chilly as yesterday either. Just persuaded Mr BD that we need a cheap n cheerful summerhouse. That will be nice to sit in when it is sunny but chilly.

Hens are happy on their inches of wood-chip - lots to scratch around. And it smells lovely.

Happygreen

Better_Days wrote: »

How's your old hen doing Happygreen?

Many thanks for asking , she still has problems breathing, so she takes things slowly. I am still puzzled why the wormer did not make her better this year as it did last year...she gets spoiled with treats as she is around more than the others
During the last storm the roof of the small duckhouse blew off, so I've been improvising with weights.... OH is away and I can't get to the stuff in the shed on my own I could use so I'll just have to wait until he's back in the hope it will hold...;)