Hen house corner

leonie_2

Right then, we decided to get up this morning and take her back to the place we bought her from and ask them had they seen this type of thing before. Buuuuut this morning she came out of the run and had a bit of breakfast with the other two!!

I have put out some live yoghurt mixed with oats and layers pellets and she is having a few, then having a few more!

She has even been walking around a little today but she is really slow compared to the other two.

Now whether the tonic and squirting live yoghurt into her has done the trick I dont know, or whether there was something in her crop and she's finally passed it but she's actually done a proper poo just now!!

I am still going to get some complan to help build her up, but fingers crossed she may be getting better, its a big relief :beer:

pepsicola_2

Glad to hear you think your little hen is getting better. I have found it very interesting reading about everyone keeping hens.

Thank you.

Noozan

leonie wrote:

. Buuuuut this morning she came out of the run and had a bit of breakfast with the other two!!

I have put out some live yoghurt mixed with oats and layers pellets and she is having a few, then having a few more!

She has even been walking around a little today but she is really slow compared to the other two.

I'm really pleased to hear she's starting to perk up again now :beer:

Noozan

I'm pleased with myself today....instead of spending all morning loitering on MSE , I've been busy sectioning of a third of the garden for our hens. They do have a run attached to their house but they usually free range the garden for the whole day as they had a habit of strutting about in their run making you feel sorry for them :rolleyes: They enjoy gardening too much for me to let them have the entire run of the garden through the summer months though as my greenhouse and coldframes are bursting with veggies that need to go out asap.

Anyway, I had old wooden greenhouse staging which I didn't want anymore, so I took that apart and used the long bits as fence posts and used the short bits to make a gate. I found some old hinges lurking in the shed which I've used to secure the gate. Now, what can I use as fencing/netting that is very cheap, preferably free (!) ? One of us is usually home thorugh out the day, so it's really to keep the girls in, rather than anything else out. If we go out, we put them in their fox proof run. Any ideas people?

leonie_2

Thank you peeps and an update.

I've just been cleaning out the run and one of the hens has poo'ed out something plastic, about 4cm long and slightly thinner than my little finger. Now if it was poorly girl I guess that explains why she hasnt been eating!

Although saying that the vet said there was nothing in her crop so maybe im just clutching at straws, but she has just taken some sweetcorn from me and she is still walking around (very slowly though) eating the grass.

Lets see what happens in the next few days!

sarah1

The Chucks have landed........
We had our new additions to the family yesterday. Three brown warrens, 18 weeks old, £4.50 each and are doing fine. Have been told that they should start laying in 2 to 3 weeks. They have been loose in the garden in the daytime when were at home and in their pen when were not, they are pecking at the grass a lot, i hope this doesn't ruin the lawn ??????. Their favourite place seems to be under the bird table munching on what the birds have dropped.
Two of the hens seem to stay together and the other one is on her own a lot.Is this normal ? This one keeps coming up to the house a lot and staring through the window, i think she would come in if we let her. :rolleyes:
We have also got two Westie dogs which we were a bit worried about they chase anything that moves, but they seem to love them, following them round and sniffing them.
We have been feeding them on 'Wynnstay poultry feed' which the lady sold us, she had been feeding them on that. One large sack full which should last a while. We've been putting this into tubs with tight lids on as we don't want mice. We have also tried them with some seetcorn but the dogs ate that. :rolleyes:
Can't wait for the eggs , to see if they are all they are CRACKED up to be... :rotfl:

Magentasue

You'll love the eggs Sarah! Won't be long now with the days getting longer.

Your grass will be fine ... for the summer. Ours suffered over the winter though, but we let ours free range from dawn to dusk.

I think two or three hens are a difficult number, they do seem to like being in a flock but they'll probably settle down once they start laying. One of ours is a bit of a Billy-no-mates, just the way she is, I think.

You must watch the dogs to start with. I trust our spaniel but you can't be too careful. Cats and hens seem to establish a relationship where they tolerate each other, dogs will kill hens if they've a mind to. Hopefully, yours will get used to having feathered friends around and not take too much notice.

If your hens are coming into lay, conventional advice is that they will be needing layers pellets or mash when they do. I don't subscribe to this although we do leave layers pellets out for them all day. We buy organic at about £8.50 a sack, couple of quid cheaper for non-organic.

DSmiffy

Hi there, just been reading this whole thread and found it vey interesting. Really fany "The Good Life" and was wondering if anyone can tell me what sort of amount of space chickens need outside of the hen house. Can you keep them in a run leading from the hen house where it is all fenced off with chicken wire, what is the minimum size of run you could get away with?,does it need a chicken wire roof on it to keep them safe, and if it didn't have one, would they fly away at all? My main concern is the neighbours, are chickens noisy at all? Is there a chance of them ending up in next doors garden. And finally do they lay all year round?
Sorry, so many questions, thanks for the help...

Magentasue

DSmiffy wrote:

if anyone can tell me what sort of amount of space chickens need outside of the hen house.
Can you keep them in a run leading from the hen house where it is all fenced off with chicken wire, what is the minimum size of run you could get away with?,


As much space as you can spare, minimum recommended is 80 square feet for each hen according to my Google search.


does it need a chicken wire roof on it to keep them safe, and if it didn't have one, would they fly away at all?

They don't need a roof but they might fly over anything less than five or six feet high

My main concern is the neighbours, are chickens noisy at all?


They can go on a bit when they lay an egg but normally they don't make much noise, less than my kids anyway! It's roosters that are really noisy and you don't need one of those for eggs.


Is there a chance of them ending up in next doors garden.

Yes, if the hedge/fence/wall has gaps or is less than about five feet tall. They won't try to burrow under like a rabbit but they'll squeeze through gaps.

And finally do they lay all year round?

Modern hybrids lay more through the winter but some give up especially if it stays cold and dark. Ours laid right through the winter but most have a few weeks off after the summer for moulting. We get 4-5 eggs a day from five hens, more like 3 or 4 in the winter.

Hope this helps!

leonie_2

Just a quick note to say that my poorly hen perked up after pooing out the plastic and is nearly back to normal now hooray!!

She's still not started laying eggs again but she's looking so much happier so I dont think it will be too long.

Buuuut my biggest hen has finally started laying and the eggs are a brilliant size, infact yesterday's was enormous and it turned out to be a double yolker! I havent seen these for years but I remember my mother used to buy them as treats sometimes.

Havent been so great for the garden though, and yesterday they ate all the red strawberries!

I couldnt go back to shop bought eggs now!