Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink · 23 June 2016 at 8:21AM

Hi everyone

A few bits of news from me today. We have lost one of our ickle rescue girls. Always makes me sad as you all know. But as my hubby says she had a lovely life here with us and the other girls so her retirement so relaxing and peaceful with nice food and plenty of treats. Still makes me sad though.

Second bit of news I HAVE A BROODY HEN who is going in to BROODY JAIL this morning. Have kept an eye on her for the past week and she definitely is a naughty broody bird :mad: Bless her.

Egg production has dropped a little down to about 12-15 a day and 2-3 a day for the ducks. I think they are probably eating too many worms and slugs in the dreadful wet weather. I went on slug watch the other night with a torch before going to bed. I collected (with gloves on) around 50+ slugs and a few snails. Now I know where my baby lettuces went. Still finding one or two in the day time and removing them. Our Rocket is growing well so maybe that is too hot for them to eat.

And lastly our veg plot is soaked but on the bright side we should get lots of lovely new potatoes this year and the Brassicas are all doing well. But, the cucumbers which are mainly for the girls are not doing too well at all in the greenhouses. All water butts are full. Will post some photos on here later if the rain ever stops and I can get out there to take some pictures.

Hope everyone is ok x

Edwink x:wave:

Horseygirl123 · 23 June 2016 at 3:28PM

Sorry to hear about your rescue Edwink. I thought one of mine would die. They were all very traumatised but one in particular just huddled in a corner and I didn't see her eat or drink. She has picked up now but it is very worrying. They are still in a stable as the shed has still not been relocated to my 'orchard' but what with all the rain we've had is probably not a bad thing. Several of them look 'oven ready' and whilst they are in they are eating lots of layers mash - a whole 20kg bag almost gone since Sunday.

For the first time ever I'm at war with the slugs and snails. I don't usually bother with a few eaten plants as I worry about birds eating slug pellets but I've just had a whole container of petunias eaten and my dahlias aren't looking much better. A friend has advised I use a slug repellant liquid rather than pellets so I'll look into that.

I had about 20 eggs this morning. I've made a couple of quiches for my daughter to take with her tonight - she's helping count the votes for the EU referendum and will likely be there until 4am so it should keep her and her friends going a bit. I'll probably have to look into selling some - maybe an honesty box attached to the gate or something. I thought about £1 for six eggs - does this sound about right?

Better_Days · 23 June 2016 at 5:59PM

Very sorry to hear about your henny edwink. They are such little characters and it is sad to lose any of them. :A Most days my neighbour brings round some greens for the hens and we always smile at all the contented chuckling noises the hens make. I'm sure your hen was just as happy in her days with you.

Hope your sad girl picks up Horseygirl123. I've found that keeping them quiet, out of the elements (but well ventilated) and good quality feed really brings them on. They will be growing feathers too which takes a lot out of their little bodies. I usually give them some poultry tonic in their water which can perk them up.

Our egg production seems to be OK, surprising really as the hens aren't that happy with all the rain. The garden is sodden and part of the lawn squelchy, something that only usually happens in the winter. The hens are on woodchip, so at least their run isn't like the Somme. Very odd weather for June, and more on the way. My dahlia's haven't done much this year, too wet I think. Haven't noticed the slugs, but then I haven't really looked!

The weather must be affecting the insect population. The birds are going crackers for the fat balls, usually this time of year I don't bother putting them out as they don't get eaten.

Horseygirl123 · 23 June 2016 at 7:14PM

They are coming along nicely thanks Better Days. The hen that looked the worse is actually an inquisitive and friendly little thing. I wonder if that's why she is almost featherless as she found her life so stressful as she seems quite intelligent. Oh dear, I'm turning into a mad chicken woman - my husbands eyes glaze over when I talk about them:)

edwink · 24 June 2016 at 2:53PM

Horseygirl123 wrote: »

They are coming along nicely thanks Better Days. The hen that looked the worse is actually an inquisitive and friendly little thing

Aww so glad they are coming along ok. Some of the ones I got looked dreadful but now they are flourishing. It is so nice to see them bloom isn't it?. I often have found that the really shy timid ones are the ones that are the most friendly in the end. Always coming over to say hello and almost saying thank you for talking to me when I first came here when I was all on my own.

I do love these little stories. Keep them coming in when you have them please ladies and gents. I love to tell people about the good news I hear about our feathered friends on this thread.

Edwink x

edwink · 24 June 2016 at 3:17PM

Better_Days wrote: »

keeping them quiet, out of the elements (but well ventilated) and good quality feed really brings them on. They will be growing feathers too which takes a lot out of their little bodies. I usually give them some poultry tonic in their water which can perk them up.

Good point Better Days about hens growing feathers and the fact that it takes a lot out of their little bodies.

Always try to remember everyone to be very, very careful when picking a hen up that is re-growing feathers as this can actually hurt them. I have often picked them up and just sat them on my lap but have done it slowly and carefully without any distress to them.

Was meant to be a lovely day today so I put out 2 loads of washing and the heavens have just opened up and soaked the lot. What is happening to the weather right now??? It is slowly starting to annoy me if I am honest. Rain due tomorrow too but Sunday is meant to be nice. Hopefully, please, pretty please!!

Edwink x

Spirit_2 · 24 June 2016 at 11:41PM

I have a broody hen who has benn broody since the beginning of May. No fertile eggs here and all eggs removed daily.

i take her out of the egluand close it so that she cannot sit, but when she goes to bed at night she starts all over again.

All advice to stop the broodiness welcome.

edwink · 25 June 2016 at 12:31AM

Spirit wrote: »

I have a broody hen who has benn broody since the beginning of May. No fertile eggs here and all eggs removed daily. i take her out of the egluand close it so that she cannot sit, but when she goes to bed at night she starts all over again.

All advice to stop the broodiness welcome.

Hi and welcome to our friendly feathered friends thread

I also have a broody girl atm and like others on here I have put her in broody jail :rotfl:(the name for this was given on here by one of our hen lovers). Our broody jail is in our duck run. Not with the ducks as they are freerange and anywhere but their run except when they are in bed. So the run is free space for her. She can see all the others so she is not alone but just kept in the run so eats and she does not go back in to the nesting box when I am not looking. I remove her from the nesting box in the morning and put her in the duck run for the day. I give her plenty of food and fresh water and she has somewhere to dust bathe in there too so she won't get bored in there. I let her sleep with the other hens at night though and put her in jail if she is in the nesting box the next morning.

Fingers crossed she will get out of bed in a few days time and follow the others out and hopefully the broody cycle is broken with her.

I had another broody hen last year and she did it for 4 years running. Sadly lost her last year earlier than I really should have done. It is not good for them because most don't eat or drink and just sit there day after day loosing weight which can be fatal for them.

I am sure others will be along shortly to help you out with this problem.

Edwink x

Spirit_2 · 25 June 2016 at 10:30AM

Thank you I have a small coop and run that I have used for a broody and chicks, that will now become broody jail.

stepuptothepl8 · 25 June 2016 at 4:26PM

Hi all

I'm picking up 6 (although I might sneak in 2 extras) new girls tomorrow! A poultry farm near us is clearing out, and we're having some for £1 each

I can't wait! It'll take us to 14 (or 16

) so I've bought a new coop to go in their run too. I do love our rescue girls, they are so friendly and it doesn't take them long to find their feet. I'll post some pictures when they're here.

Re broody hens.. I always lift them out, and put my hands under their wings and lift them up and down a bit to cool off, and then put them out, tempting them with treat food if they won't eat. It does tend to pass after the 21 days that eggs take to hatch but can sometimes go on for a month or so.

Keeping hens and ducks chat.

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