Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Hi everyone

Sad news here because we lost one of our little rescue girls yesterday. She had been quiet for while which normally happens when they are on their last days. Bless her.:(

Most of my rescue girls are of the same age so I could lose a few of them this year . They normally live around 18 months to 2 years after rescue as a rule. The last lot we took in was in March 2016 and we still have some left that we took in the year before. We have only one purchased hen left now and she is coming up to 6 years old. We have both said next time we decide to get some more we will buy some and then after that have some more ex batt girls. Even after all these years we still find the loss of any of them really hard but as friends have said to us we must look back at the lovely free range life we have given them in their retirement. Still hard though. Just me being a big softie really.

How is everyone else been getting on and their girls and boys too? Lots of lovely eggs now the sun is shining? A few of mine are moulting so we are getting around 10 eggs a day from our hens and around 4 eggs a day from the 5 laying ducks. I just wish the ducks would lay their eggs in their hotel because it is like an Easter egg hunt here every day. Actually it is quite fun looking for them. We found 2 in between the two greenhouses yesterday. No idea how long they had been there. We often find one or two under a hedge we have at the top of our garden. Quite a lot actually are laid in our pond would you believe? When we cleaned it out last year we found 16 Aylesbury duck eggs at the bottom:eek: Have not cleaned out the pond yet this year because of my husbands accident to his arm/hand but he is now on the mend slowly so it will get done once he gets more movement in his hand. He is currently having intensive physio which is painful for him but it is helping him a lot. Bless him.

Catch up with you all soon

Edwink

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Oh edwink - Im so sorry to hear of your loss. She had a wonderful life with you though and I'm sure her spirit will be ever thankful for the sunshine on her feathers and many days spent scratching in the dirt xx

Aww what a lovely thing to say, thank you for that. :T I'm really touched by that. Thank you again and have a (((HUG))) from me.

Weather not too good here today but at least the wind has died down. It has been so windy here so much so our Buddleia was blown down on to part of our growing potato bed. Was difficult cutting up the branches to get them off as I don't have a lot of strength in my back and my hubby is still recovering from his accident. But, we managed to clear it though thankfully. Now the only job we have to do is clear a big chunk of tree that came down from our neighbours narrowly missing our compost bins. Leaving that for another day as not it our way for the time being.


How is everyone else? What has been happening in your neck of the woods? Any new additions from anyone? Oh and don't mention eggs to me as we are having them eaten every day, not all of them but at least three or four. Trouble is it is difficult to know who it is because when we go to collect them the 2 hens are still in there munching on them. They shoot out as soon as they see us but we can't tell them apart from the others.:mad: I walk around the garden saying "and who's been eating my eggs" but none of them own up or mores to the point have no idea what I am going on about.:rotfl:

Take care all.

Edwink x

ali-t wrote: »

We have red mite again. So not content with a fox getting most of the flock, the remaining 4 have been in an infested coop. The recent hot weather has led to an explosion of them. We have switched them to another coop and will aim to eradicate again. We have used the powder on the hens again too but it has been so rainy it won't have worked properly. Grrrrr, it never rains but it pours.

Aww Ali-t poor you not again! Especially after having the problem with the fox too. You are not having a very good time of it are you? I really do feel for you, honest I do.

We had blooming Red Mite several years ago and they were an absolute menace to get rid of. We powdered and scrubbed the place down but couldn't get rid of them. Glad you have spotted it because hens can become very weak with a Red Mite infestation if not found early. The blighters hide under the hens perches and come out at night and feed on the hens blood. Horrible little things they are and so tiny too you can hardly see them. Glad you had another coop to use instead.

Please let us know how you are getting on. Have a cyber (((HUG))) from all of us one here.

Edwink x

ali-t wrote: »

Thanks Edwink, we seem to have had a run of it lately but think it is all because we have got a bit lax. With the longer lighter nights and hot days they have spent less time in the coops so we didn't clean them out as frequently as they were barely in them. This in turn has meant the red mite has flourished so the big clean starts again this weekend. I am seriously thinking of binning the coop and buying a new one.

Hi again ali-t

Hope your big clean is going ok for you. Not an easy job to do I know because we had to do it here with our Red Mite. Have to be honest and say we really struggled to get rid of the mite totally so got them a new recycled home to roost in at night and ended up burning the other one. To be honest though it was difficult for us to clean because the main door was so small my hubby struggled when cleaning it out. Our new one is so much better and has made life easier for us.

Don't beat yourself up about not cleaning them out so often because we do the same in the summer if we can. Especially because as you say they spend a lot less time in it because of the longer summer days. In the winter they are in it for hours so the mess definitely builds up more quickly then. All we do every day is clean the mess up from under their perches and add more shavings to their nesting box if needed and that's it until they actually need cleaning out thoroughly. We were cleaning them out weekly before the lighter evenings were here but not now.

If you are doing your deep clean today you probably have great weather for it. We have sun and blue sky here with only the odd cloud. Lots of sunbathing going on with my girls today. YAY!! I love seeing them flopped around the garden without a care in the world taking in the warmth. Bless them.:j
Please let us know how you are getting on.

Edwink x