Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink · 26 March 2016 at 4:52PM

One of my rescue girls is on her way to hen heaven. she is the frail one that I have mentioned before on here. She didn't come out this morning so I decided it was best to leave her where she was a sleep in one of the nesting boxes. Checked on her a few times this morning and she woke up and looked at me as if to say "mum I am too tired to move today" and closed her eyes again. Later I went up and she had managed to get just outside of their hotel and was sitting in the rain bless her. I have brought her indoors now where it is nice and snuggly for her. She is in a box near the stove having a well earned rest all nice and warm. She has looked up at me a couple of times and just put her head back down again and goes back to sleep. She doesn't want to drink anything at all. I think she has given up cos she was rather frail.

Sad

Edwink x

Better_Days · 26 March 2016 at 7:56PM

Sorry to hear that Edwink.

:(:( Poor little thing :A. All you can do is keep her comfortable and stress free. It's very upsetting when they go downhill like that.

Well, we have a couple of new additions today. An Araucana cross (I hope it will lay those lovely blue eggs) and a silky cockerel. Re-homed them from someone who can't keep them any more. Surprisingly little fisticuffs so we've risked putting them all together in the coop tonight. Not a peep out of them so far, I can hear the coop from my room. The silky is on probation - we won't be able to keep him if he makes a dreadful racket in the mornings. He is very decorative though, but rather flighty, it was a job and a half to catch him up to put him in the coop with the girls.

Very windy here this evening. Hope you all stay safe the forecast is not good.

edwink · 27 March 2016 at 11:32AM

The weather here today is absolutely dreadful. It is just chucking it down with thunder and lighting for good measures. All the girls and boys are sheltering for life in their outdoor huts. Poor ickle things. The ducks are not bothered one little bit. They are just walking up and down the garden like they normally do looking for the odd worm or two.

Little poorly hen is very unwell. She has taken a little water today but only two sips but that is better than nothing for her. She is just sleeping most of the time occasionally opening her eyes and that's it. I hate to see them like this but she is not in any pain at all from what I can see so I will just let her continue to sleep in peace in the warm. Poor ickle thing

Hope everyone and their hens, ducks and geese are ok x

Edwink x

skipton · 27 March 2016 at 3:42PM

The rain has just started here up in Yorkshire. We had sun this morning but a biting wind that blew the girls knickers inside out! They needed their porridge this morning.

Ali-t if you haven't many girls you could give the flubenvet on slices of grape. (omlet forum idea). Just sprinkle some on and hand feed. I used to do this when I only had 3 hens as they would wait their turn but my muggers have no sense of sharing.....it's just me me me!

ali-t · 27 March 2016 at 6:07PM

I ended up ordering the wormer pellets so will give them that for a week with no treats - they will hate us!

Happygreen · 28 March 2016 at 12:30AM

ali-t wrote: »

I ended up ordering the wormer pellets so will give them that for a week with no treats - they will hate us!

But after that they will love you again forever when the treats come rolling back in

edwink · 28 March 2016 at 9:06AM

Our poorly little hen went to hen heaven in the night in her sleep. Even though they have the best life we can possibly give them here and I know they must have benefited from that it still makes me really sad when they go. She was one of our recent rescue girls so was about two and a half years old. Poor ickle hen.

Hope everyone is ok with their hens, ducks and geese in this awful weather today. It is blowing a blizzard out there where I am.

Edwink x

suki1964 · 28 March 2016 at 10:10AM

That's very sad news Edwink

As you say she did at least experience some time of being a chicken

I think you must be a pretty strong woman. I know I couldn't take ex production hens, it would break my heart seeing them so frail and I know I would be a complete mess if they died so young

We haven't been hit by Katie, just freezing cold and wet here which is just marginally better then the snow we were promised. Although the hail comes down so fast it looks like it's snowed. Chooks are in and out like yo yos. Now up to six laying formed eggs. It's amazing how quick they go from the first small eggs to good large ones. I've got a nice bit of cabbage here for them at lunchtime. Funny creatures, they happily munched their way through what was left growing in the veg garden, but now will only eat cabbage cooked lol

Better_Days · 28 March 2016 at 1:19PM

Sorry to hear about your henny Edwink. You gave her an extra year, and that is a great deal.

Suki it is very upsetting when you collect the ex-batts, they are 'shell shocked' standing around not knowing what to do with the grass, and often minus many feathers. My neighbour, who had never seen ex-bats before, was nearly in tears when she saw our last 3 that we re-homed.

But it is incredibly rewarding watching them 'flower' to become proper hens, exhibiting natural behaviour, scratching around in the soil, dust bathing, sunbathing, getting excited when they find a worm. It is one of the most rewarding things I do. On the whole, once they get over the stress of coming out of the farm and grow back their feathers they are pretty hardy.

It's been very windy here this morning, but the wind does seem to be abating thank goodness. Hens do not like the wind blowing their feathers hither and thither, especially if it is raining too.

edwink · 1 April 2016 at 10:20AM

Thank you all for your thoughts about us loosing one of our rescue girls. Always a sad time when we loose one of them. It does not matter how many we have lost it never gets any easier for us. I still remember many years later loosing our very first rescue girl. I was distraught I rang Little Hen Rescue asking if I had possibly done something wrong. But they assured me I had not and said some of our rescue girls may not get past 6 months with us. They said that most live 18 months to 2 years after rescue. My longest living rescue hen was with us for 2 and a half years so she died at 4 and a half bless her.

We got 18 eggs yesterday from now 25 hens. So it looks as if they are all back to how they should be health wise. Well done those girls.

Hope everyone is ok.

Edwink x

Keeping hens and ducks chat.

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