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Keeping hens and ducks chat. Hens & ducks names & how many eggs do you get per day.
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Hoppy is doing ok thankfully and we spent quite a bit of time on the lawn with her today, several times just chatting away like you do to a duck. She just keeps looking at us as if to say what are you going on about you two. She enjoyed some freshly cut up cucumber and I gave her some very wet lettuce because I thought she wasn't drinking enough today. She gobbled all that lot up so there is nothing wrong with her appetite. I just wish she wouldn't share her bowl of food with the local pigeon population. She just lets them dip in and out of it and a few of the pigeons stand in it too. Would like to change her food bowl but really wanted to keep everything that she is familiar with. I'll have a think on that one.
Good news, really good news!. We have finished the fence:j . What an absolute pain in the backside that job was but now we have much less of a hedge to cut back twice a year and foxes won't be able to get out through it like they have done before as we have blocked a huge percentage of it. The reused fence panels were fitted sideways so reach a height of 6ft 6 and the hedge is 8ft tall so hopefully that should be ok now, fingers crossed.
Still have the netting to fit hopefully tomorrow and Friday but as I'm hobbling a bit because I pulled a muscle in the back of my leg. Got my feet up now so hopefully it won't play me up tomorrow. Got frozen thingy on it which is helping a bit so we will need to see how it is in the morning. The netting to be done is about 2 lengths of around 50ft I guess. We will fix batons to the original fencing and leave them around 3ft higher or so, then we can pin the netting along the length of the batons. The netting is quite dense so won't be too see through unlike the chicken wire that is over the fencing there already. The hens and ducks never used to be allowed to go in this area because the fences were see through above 3ft high but we want to give it added security just in case a fox tries in desperation to get in over these fence panels. This fencing runs down a huge bank so fingers crossed it's not too difficult to fit the netting up OMG:rotfl: . If the job goes smoothly we will both be very happy that all I can say about it at the moment especially sitting here nursing my bad leg.
Thank you so much for your support everyone. It is making such a difference it really is, especially since I lost so many of my feathered friends in one go 4 months ago and was incredibly upset about it. Your encouragement is brilliant, that's what I like about our hen and duck thread. Although some of you do not keep hens and ducks it is so lovely that you are there for us hen and duck keepers supporting us along the way.:T Many thanks x
Edwink
*Biomass boiler stove for cooking, hot water & heating
*2000ltr Rainwater harvesting system for loo flushing - Hybrid Toyota Auris car
1 Cayuga duck Hoppy & 19 ex-battery hens - RIP Pingu
Hens & ducks chat thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5282209
Such a lovely little story and it looks like you have made a couple of little feathered friends there maddiemay. They love it if someone is weeding and always hope for a worm or two but how nice to give them meal worms as there wasn't any. Two very lucky little birds I think
Edwink
*Biomass boiler stove for cooking, hot water & heating
*2000ltr Rainwater harvesting system for loo flushing - Hybrid Toyota Auris car
1 Cayuga duck Hoppy & 19 ex-battery hens - RIP Pingu
Hens & ducks chat thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5282209
*Biomass boiler stove for cooking, hot water & heating
*2000ltr Rainwater harvesting system for loo flushing - Hybrid Toyota Auris car
1 Cayuga duck Hoppy & 19 ex-battery hens - RIP Pingu
Hens & ducks chat thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5282209
Retired August 2016
Paid off French mortgage September 2018
New kitchen fully installed June 2019
Not counting this! 2020
Garden fencing completed, woohoo 2021
Love the thought of you feeding the little Robin's maddiemay :j how cheery
Speaking of wildlife (although not of the feathery variety) we have a tiny hare that appears to have adopted our garden. It really is the cutest thing. We've seen it for the last three days, right up by the living room window. Such enormous ears :j :j
Feathery pals all present and correct here. We're trying to wean them off the daytime treats a little as they've basically started hanging round the back door constantly, mugging us whenever we try to go in or out :rotfl: little feathery hooligans :eek:
But other than that, all pretty ok. Slightly worried about Mildred, she's been grumpier than usual lately, delivering a swift peck to the others more often (she was always a bit like that though) and today I spotted her on a couple of occasions just sitting in odd places, like the long grass at the bottom of a tree, and the path to the back door.
Nothing I could really put my finger on, but seemed a tad out of sorts - I bit like I am if I've got toothache or something (I suppose that's the one thing I can rule out with chickens! :rotfl: )
Will keep an eye on her. Her pecking isn't causing any damage and the others seem to just accept it as a pecking order thing so we may just be being too sensitive
Maud wins today's Beakiness Award (a new institution that we invented this week :rotfl: awarded mostly for either cuteness or mild peskiness). I had sandals on again and most of them have learned that my toes (even if the nails are painted, usually blue) are NOT food, but Maud just couldn't leave them alone this evening, no matter how many times I chased her away she kept coming back :rotfl:
Was planning on sitting and having a cuppa with them once we shut them in the run but I couldn't stand having my feet pecked so had to leave :eek: :rotfl:
Hope you're all getting on ok
Mortgage end date now: Feb 2033
Mortgage end date now: Feb 2033
Retired August 2016
Paid off French mortgage September 2018
New kitchen fully installed June 2019
Not counting this! 2020
Garden fencing completed, woohoo 2021
Love the idea of the slate for the insects Karmacat and your bird baths. I love watching the wild birds having a bath and flicking water everywhere, bless them.
Hoppy is doing ok and we continue to spend as much time with her as we can. To be honest she appears really happy and content on her own. I thought she would have some sadness maybe after Pingu went but if she is sad it certainly isn't obvious to us. She continues to eat well, washes every day, spends lots and lots of time preening her feathers and the rest of the time chilling out on the lawn or snoozing. We put obstacles on the lawn as we have Kites around here and it does worry me that one might swoop down on her as she is on her own. We just don't give any bird of prey anywhere to land near her. If we left the lawn as a wide open space I wouldn't trust a bird of prey not to try and land there.
Still plan on getting 20 rescue hens in September some time. Have chosen September as have other commitments before then and when getting new girls I do like to give them my undivided attention especially when war breaks out between them
Edwink
*Biomass boiler stove for cooking, hot water & heating
*2000ltr Rainwater harvesting system for loo flushing - Hybrid Toyota Auris car
1 Cayuga duck Hoppy & 19 ex-battery hens - RIP Pingu
Hens & ducks chat thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5282209
So lovely to watch the little birds in the garden KC :j
Well, we have FINALLY taken the plunge and left our ladies alone overnight for the first time since we got them :eek: Yes, this is the first time in almost a year that Mr Cheery and I have been away overnight at the same time :eek:
Fairly spontaneous, we didn't leave til 6pm last night so the ladies were already in their run, we left plenty of food and water, and the little house door had to stay open, and we were back by 3pm today so they've had a couple of hours out this afternoon.
We were a bit nervous
Anyway, they were fine of course, despite all our worrying, and leaving our friends early to get back and check
Except that Beaky's bare patch on her back (which is SLOWLY growing over) was bleeding :eek: Clearly *someone* has been indulging in some feather pecking... :mad: I did wonder whether that was why it wasn't growing back as quickly, but her wings have taken a long time to re-feather properly but they're well on the way now, and the back patch was getting smaller...
Anyway, *someone* (cough - I'm looking at you Mildred - cough) has actually caused her to bleed now :mad:
Sprayed her with the purple spray I'd bought, but which isn't actually purple spray, it's this stuff
Anti-pecking spray
Let's see whether that stops it long enough...
Of course it might not be Mildred, but she is by FAR the most inclined to give any of the others a swift peck for no good reason, and has been quite grumpy lately, jumping on the others occasionally for no reason that we can see.
Not sure what to do about it really - the others don't seem unduly bothered and she's not caused any injuries til now. We only left them alone for about 18 hours, most of which they would have been shut in their run overnight anyway!
Hey ho. Can hear one of them making a noise in the front porch now so suppose I'd better let her in for a bit of a nosey round :rotfl:
Mortgage end date now: Feb 2033
Hi Cheery
Glad you managed to get away for a night. We were the same the first night we stayed away, OMG I just wanted to get home sharpish the following day. But, like yours they were fine. All they think about is food anyway so as long as they get something to eat I guess :rotfl:
The jumping on a hens back is for dominance purposes Cheery. If you think about it, it is exactly what a Cockerel will do to a hen not only to be rude
The spray you have used is absolutely fine. That one is like an instant spray tan for hens. Nothing better than having a Tangoed hen running around the place :rotfl: It will cover the redness over, stop the pecking and allows the sore to heal. If it starts to wear off you will need to spray her again to keep the sore area covered and the redness out of sight.
Hope that helps
Edwink
*Biomass boiler stove for cooking, hot water & heating
*2000ltr Rainwater harvesting system for loo flushing - Hybrid Toyota Auris car
1 Cayuga duck Hoppy & 19 ex-battery hens - RIP Pingu
Hens & ducks chat thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5282209