Keeping hens and ducks chat.

StarShapedPeg · 15 August 2017 at 10:48AM

Hello all, hope everyone and the hens and ducklings (they are beautiful, Suki) are enjoying the sunny weather.

We are down to one very determined broody but the other two are back to normal. The buff one sitting on her three golf balls is so hormonal, I really worry about her, she won't come out until we pick her out, she drinks maybe one sip and is back on her nest. She hasn't eaten anything for about a week now, every time I pick her up she's lighter, basically all feathers. She even turns her beak up at sunflower seeds and crumbled cheese which normally doesn't touch the sides!

We grow mainly fruit and salad and tomatoes, my experimental peppers this year are just food for the slugs.
We have an apple, cherry and peach tree. We have blueberries and strawberries, raspberries and blackberries which were lovely this year. All very easy. I'm going to plant a plum this year I think as I have some room removing a very old and overgrown bamboo.
Any suggestions for which variety would be gratefully received. My grandparents used to grow plums and we loved climbing the tallest trees and eating them as they ripened. No earthly idea what they where though and my grandfather can't remember

Anyways I'm off to coax my hen out.x

edwink · 15 August 2017 at 6:49PM

jim-jim wrote: »

Thanks edwink, we don't need to do the night hunting in this coop just open the door they are every where. .

Oh and they are call Boris (a black rhode X) Doris, Hank, Derek, Mich, Rosie and Betty they are all warrens. RIP Digger, Rhino, & Frank. The age ranges are from 7 months up to nearly 3years old. The next 3 recruits, when the time comes.....:( will be called Hetty, Hey Hey and Harold.

Sorry I meant after moving them to their new home check that they haven't taken the mites with them by wiping under the bars when the girls have gone to bed.

Love the names by the way especially Hey Hey.

Edwink

edwink · 15 August 2017 at 7:04PM

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Late to the question, but another grow your own here. We have an allotment, I say we - i'm the only one who works it! Plus a few bits that are grown in the garden that DS was responsible for (strawberries in troughs) plus some kitchen herbs as there's no point having them at the allotment when I need them near the kitchen for cooking LOL

Great to have another grower. Do you grow stuff especially for your girls?. It always seems like that in our house:rotfl:. I think my hens have had more of the lettuces than we have this year plus the kale come to think of it. I did sow a lot of those "cut and come again" lettuces this year so I had a constant supply for us and them. I don't mind to be honest as home grown is so fresh and good for them. Not really spoilt my lot are they?:o

I agree about the herbs by the way. Mine are outside our kitchen door in a herb bed. Mind you I am having trouble reaching them especially the chives because we have a huge amount of logs in the way this year:mad:.

Edwink

CAFCGirl · 16 August 2017 at 10:06AM

edwink wrote: »

Great to have another grower. Do you grow stuff especially for your girls?. It always seems like that in our house:rotfl:. I think my hens have had more of the lettuces than we have this year plus the kale come to think of it. I did sow a lot of those "cut and come again" lettuces this year so I had a constant supply for us and them. I don't mind to be honest as home grown is so fresh and good for them. Not really spoilt my lot are they?:o

I agree about the herbs by the way. Mine are outside our kitchen door in a herb bed. Mind you I am having trouble reaching them especially the chives because we have a huge amount of logs in the way this year:mad:.

Edwink

Theyve had an awful lot of cabbage thinnings and ones that are too decimated by the bug life to be saved. I do have a plan to one day build a little mobile chicken run on the allotment, take two of the girls with me for a few hours and let them have at it on the plot in the run. They can help weed and fertilise for me then LOL

StarShapedPeg · 16 August 2017 at 10:12AM

I had an idea about a year ago to rent my ladies out for an hour or two to fellow gardeners for 'free weeding and fertilising' until my husband pointed out what self respecting gardener would actively bring wanton destruction to their perfect garden? I quickly put the idea to bed.

ali-t · 17 August 2017 at 7:41AM

Sad news here, we have lost one of the new hens. She was the one with the problem with her crop. We tried lots of things to help her and it seemed to be working but then she went downhill yesterday morning and died yesterday. Poor wee thing was very young but I suppose some unscrupulous sellers use the auctions to get rid of their sickbirds.

edwink · 17 August 2017 at 10:59AM

ali-t wrote: »

Sad news here, we have lost one of the new hens. She was the one with the problem with her crop. We tried lots of things to help her and it seemed to be working but then she went downhill yesterday morning and died yesterday. Poor wee thing was very young but I suppose some unscrupulous sellers use the auctions to get rid of their sickbirds.

Aww Ali-t how sad. You helped her so much and did all you could for her bless you! I am sure there was nothing more you could do to be honest.

I think you could be right in that these sellers use auctions to rid themselves of these sick birds. How anyone could do that I really don't know.

Big (((HUG))) Ali x

Edwink

StarShapedPeg · 17 August 2017 at 11:04AM

So sorry Ali. Look after yourself.x

edwink · 21 August 2017 at 2:47PM

Hello everyone

Well that nice weather didn't last for long did it? And there was me hoping for no more rain at least for a while. My poor ickle girlies got soaked again this morning, bless 'em.

Finally taken the tarpaulin off of their coop and all the netting we fitted around the front, back and sides for when we all had the threat of the dreaded bird flu. Now it is like someone has switched on a really bright light. Only problem is that they now get wet if it is raining whilst they are eating their breakfast.

We have now decided to make a permanent roof to go over their coop. Not all the way to the front but at least half way. That way if for any reason they need to stay in their coop they will have a permanent shelter. Their outdoor rain shelters get soaked when it rains so they will be covered by the new roof too. Quite a lot of work but there is a method to our madness, honest there is. We only have one water butt that collects the rainwater which is inside the coop from their hotel roof and it really doesn't collect the amount we need. Hubby is fed up of having to carry watering cans full of rainwater from the house up the garden for them. So we are hoping with this new roof, I suppose it will be a bit like a car port actually if we attached guttering to it etc. etc. and move a few of our water butts in to their coop hopefully all the watering can carrying will not be needed. That's the idea anyway.:cool:

Enough of my ramblings on how is everyone else?. Whilst I remember has anyone heard from "OldandHappy" ?. She posted on here for a while with some lovely stories and then seemed too just disappear. She posted some great photos too.

Take care all

Edwink x

stepuptothepl8 · 21 August 2017 at 6:29PM

Hi everyone

Our chicken run is half covered with corrugated plastic Edwink so that even if it's pelting down they have somewhere dry, if they're shut in. The coops are both in the run, but it's very rare that they don't get some free range time. They do hop over the fence to the veg garden if they fancy anything, but mostly they seem to stay clear. We're down to 8 ladies now, all rescue (ex poultry shed).. so friendly and such characters :-)

Keeping hens and ducks chat.

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