Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink

vjm63 wrote: »

Well we got our new three girls two days ago, and (so far) it is going better than but not quite as I expected!
Sorry to bore you all with that - does it sound good, that it will work out okay?

Nothing boring about reading what yours are getting up to. We love little hen stories on here.

Seems to me that they are settling in nicely to be honest so yes it does sound good and don't worry they will be ok. You may well have the odd fight on your hands before they settle completely but that often happens. But, as I say they will sort it out between themselves. Just a few lost feathers sometimes.

You seem like a really loving caring hen keeper so well done you and keep up the good work. Please let us know how they all are.

Edwink x

walkers60

I have five chooks, about 30 months old who have slowed down on their egg laying after moulting - which I know is normal. One lays a very soft shelled egg - always has done and the other chooks often eat it before I open up. However I now have one large egg laid regularly which has a pale / almost white shell (usually brown shells) and does not stay fresh for long. It was not a one-off egg - it seems she is laying them regularly now. I went to boil one the other day, only a few days old, and it smelt unpleasant. I put other ones in water and they lifted almost as if they were going to float. So I threw them away. Any ideas, please?

edwink

walkers60 wrote: »

I have five chooks, about 30 months old who have slowed down on their egg laying after moulting - which I know is normal. One lays a very soft shelled egg - always has done and the other chooks often eat it before I open up. However I now have one large egg laid regularly which has a pale / almost white shell (usually brown shells) and does not stay fresh for long. It was not a one-off egg - it seems she is laying them regularly now. I went to boil one the other day, only a few days old, and it smelt unpleasant. I put other ones in water and they lifted almost as if they were going to float. So I threw them away. Any ideas, please?

Ah!! That's a rather strange one to be honest regarding the eggs that should really be fresh as they are newly laid.

If I was you I would start by crushing their shells once you have cracked an egg open to eat. Not the shells from the bad smelling eggs obviously. You can then put the crushed shell in to their feed to give them some more calcium. That should help with the soft shelled egg situation.

If you have any Vit-boost by Nettex or similar you could add that to their water to see if that helps give them a bit of a boost now they are older and the colder weather is here. Also you can put garlic in their drinking water or cider vinegar.

Can I ask what you feed them on? Do they have access to any grass at all? What sort of treat food do you give them?

How is your hen that is laying the almost bad eggs looking to you? Does she seem ok and not poorly in any way? How does her comb look to you? To be honest laying eggs like that is a bit of an odd one to answer because it could be anything really.

Sorry for the questions but the answers may throw a light on what is happening with her to lay eggs like that.

Wait to hear from you again.

Edwink

walkers60

Thank you for your reply. I am not absolutely sure which one lays the egg. I have had chooks for many years and haven't had this problem before. They all look healthy but there is one who stands apart from the rest a bit but there is no aggression. I put poultry spice (Liquid) in their pellets or water on a regular basis as a boost. I feed pellets, so of which I add water so that they are a mash.

They haven't got grass but have a big run with lots of soil to dig in and I throw in greens, weeds and veg from garden - they adore spinach. I do feed treats - like oats, fruit, corn and mealworms. I do probably feed too many treats to be honest . If it is a calcium problem then I would have thought it would affect all of them as they all eat the same things. I think I will just test the big eggs in water to see if they float before using. I won't give any of those away to anyone.

vjm63

I thought I would drop in an update on my girls. We've had them a week and a half now, and there seems to be some sort of pecking order, but it is still a little fluid - apart from the odd episode of picking on the smallest by two newbies and one of the big girls. All go in the coop at night, smallest often only when I have turned up to shut them in, else she does get pecked on the way in.

They are learning about the tub I keep treats like mealworms and peanut nibs in - coming over but not as close as the older girls. There is some mingling, but still often two groups. The odd face off, but usually between Darkbeak and Blondie (newbies), and if one of the older three head determinedly towards the new girls, they do move away. I always give them two piles of grass in the mornings in the pen so all have a chance at it, and although the main feeder and water container are used by everyone, they do have the other one as well.

Currently we are getting no eggs, but not surprising when the new girls are too small, Dimples has just about finished moulting, Dodo is still looking a raggedly mess, and now Bravo seems to be losing a few feathers. Oh well, no eggs until Feb/ March! At least I still get the fun of watching them ...and watching ... get a little addictive...

I read Walkers60's posts - and it does seem weird - these creatures are sent to try us with their odd behaviour sometimes! I've decided even when I have had them for years, one of them will always manage to do something unexpected - worse than children! I hope you figure it out soon.

CAFCGirl

Hello,

Hope its ok to join in.
Im impatiently awaiting the arrival of 4 hens from a rehoming charity. The chooks arrive here on the 3rd december

I've got an area in the garden being repurposed as we speak which was my son old playhouse area. The coop arrives on Monday so next will be building and getting organised & busy!

The area their coop and run is going on was covered with weed membrane and wood bark/chip. Any suggestions on what to do with the area now? Im of the understanding they shouldn't go on wood chip/bark. Should I pull everything up and leave it bare? or put anything else down in its place instead?

edwink

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Hello, Hope its ok to join in.

The area their coop and run is going on was covered with weed membrane and wood bark/chip. Any suggestions on what to do with the area now? Im of the understanding they shouldn't go on wood chip/bark. Should I pull everything up and leave it bare? or put anything else down in its place instead?

Hi and welcome to our hen & duck friendly thread. Great to have you on board with us. How exciting for you to be getting chooks. Not long now before they come to their new home so equally exciting for them.

With regards to the area you are going to put your coop in. There are two ways you could do this. Remove the bark chip and leave the weed mat there and cover the area in stones. If you go for something like this option you will need to supply them with an area to dust bathe or something that they can use for dust bathing. The other option, which I personally would favour, would be to remove the weed mat and put the coup there and see how it goes for them. They will find their own area to dust bathe and maybe share it between them or they may make 2 areas etc.

One of the best things in the world is to watch them dust bathe especially if they have made the area for that purpose themselves. Clever little hens they are.

Things to consider would be will the area get waterlogged during the wetter months?. Will it become all mushy so they can not walk on it easily?. Will there coop be sheltered in any way? Asking yourself these questions will help you to decide what to do regarding the ground in their coop.

Hope that is some help. Please stay with us on this thread because there are a lot of helpful hen and duck lovers on here with experience of keeping them. At the moment the thread is rather quiet but others do pop on here and read even if they don't post.

Do you names for them already or will you decide when they arrive?

Edwink

ali-t

Always reading but dont have much to post just now.

CAFCGirl

edwink wrote: »

Do you names for them already or will you decide when they arrive?

Edwink

Many thanks for that advice. It had pretty much confirmed what I was thinking of myself - which was to remove it all :T
Hopefully it'll stop raining so I can make a start on doing that this week.
The coop arrives tomorrow, and then I need to start a list of what I need to buy/source ready for them.

As for names, I've gone with :
Nugget
Goujon
Dipper
and finally Moose

We have a dog called Duck, so thought we should dedicate one to having an equally outrageous name pairing :rotfl:

CAFCGirl

Just an update.
Coop arrived and is built and situated.

It looks lovely and now I just need to organise my supplies that I need to buy for them.

Another random chicken question, does anyone actively feed their chickens slugs?