Menopause Matters Forum
General Discussion => This 'n' That => Topic started by: stella2 on November 07, 2010, 12:46:56 AM
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There will shortly be new additions to my household. I'm getting hens ;D it may seem silly, but I'm really quite excited! I have thought about it for a couple of years and looked forward to when I could have them. I assumed this would have to be after I moved house to somewhere with a large garden (my current house has only a reasonable size yard), probably after I retire in nine years. Then a couple of days ago I discovered that you can purchase a suitable coop and run and put a surface they would like in the bottom (I'm going to use compost) and viola, happy hens.
I feel like an expectant mother. Anyone else here have hens?
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That sounds exciting Stella - CLKD and Meggie both have hens (I think)
Taz x
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Lucky you!
I kept hens for years when I had a small holding, and found them endlessly entertaining as well as laying the best ever eggs. Trouble was they loved to pop indoors and lay them behind the telly or on the sofa! Daft things followed me everywhere, - I felt like the pied piper at times.
Have fun :D
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Time Wasters ;D
Our hen house and run are fully wired under and over to stop rats, badgers, foxes digging them out. On top of the run wire is good quality compost, not peat which goes mouldy; and a bale of straw which they will scratch about and scatter. They need good quality layers mash, grit and oyster shell, fresh water; hang a cabbage for them to jump up for, good exercise. Tinned sweetcorn and live meal worms go down really well 8)
Before you get them dust the WHOLE hen house and run with lice and red mite powder espeically any nooks and crannies; use sawdust in the nest box and dust it well then turn the straw over. So far in 5 years we have not had a red mite attack but once they take hold >:(
ENJOY! we have 4. Getting them from the same place at the same age they are less likely to peck each other ........ what are you getting and from where?
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Oooh I'm so jealous! We have an outhouse which would be perfect, but OH is very po faced re getting them looked after if we go away, WHEN? I'm sure one of the neighbours would pitch in, or even better separate hols ;)
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Our neighbours usually help out. We feed their cat, they get eggs when they feed our birds, I'm going wrong somewhere ;D
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Awww Stella2 you're going to love them!!! :D
Ours arrived at the end of August. A friends dad has a farm and had 'some' chickens that needed a home. We'd already constructed the coop (fortunatley our neighbour doesn't use the bottom of his garden and helped us to make a big run and convert an old shed) and in the dead of night my hubby and son went to the farm to get the new family once they'd roosted.
I woke in the morning to find I had 10!! new mouths to feed. One mum and nine babies.
We lost the smallest sadly but all the others are huge now and are just the best things ever, so funny and curious. They eat everything, poo for England and won't lay until next Spring... but hey ho what do I care I just love them - even when I have to trudge to the coop in howling gales and lashing rain.
Plus they're great for meno stress relief, you can sob and rant and they won't make you feel stupid or guilty! ;D
Let me know when they come! x
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Oh about the poo - white blobs with black/green ..... chickens poo/pee : white : mostly during the night and first thing in the morning. Ours are in at the moment as it is POURING down >:(
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Meggie - how is Ginger?
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Crikey, until I read this post I didn't realise how long since I'd been on the site. It's been very hectic the past few weeks - sorry - hope you are all OK.
Chickens - Yep, we have 6 of them, 3 types and all very different characters. There's Mrs Brown and Ginger Rogers (Lovely Golden Brown), Rasher and Queen Vic (huge Grey Birds) and Steve and Blackie No Mates (beautiful black/petrol blue feathered variety). Ginger Rogers has had "Bumble Foot" and although the swelling on her foot is smaller it's not gone altogether .... to answer CLKD's question. We dust out the pen regularly with SMITE (available in the UK) as the miniscule red mites even hide where the screws and nails are in their house. The mites will suck the blood of the hen and human blood too if it gets the chance - anywhere there's food !!
They are "Timewasters" as CLKD said earlier in this post but they are so entertaining. One day when I was in the Office, the Chooks wandered in through an open door and were legging it down towards the bedrooms. They follow wherever we go and as soon as they here us moving around they start calling.
Enjoy them - they'll give you plenty to talk about.
Meggie
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Glad Ginger is doing fine! Our 4 have been out and about this morning, back in their run now - 1 crushed egg this morning so hopefully another will get laid before dark [which is nearly is already ::) ]
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Any news? One of ours has been moulting for weeks, when it snowed recently she took shelter in the hut so I fed her in there and put warmed water with her; the other 3 were out and a bout in the plot but she stayed out of the wind. She is beginning to show soft fluff under her tail but looks nearly 'oven ready' ::)
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We've got the chicken coop, waiting for hubbie to build the run then I want to get 4 chickens.
May wait until early spring now. I want to name them after my old (late) aunties, Peggy, Doris, Emmy and Ruth.
I'll be looking forward to all your expert advice ladies.
Will let you know once I have them. :)
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A hen goes into a library and walks up to the counter and says, 'Book!' The librarian gives it a book and it goes out. Next day, it's back. 'Book, book!' So the librarian hands over two books and it trots off. Next day, same thing ...'Book, Book, Book!' This time the librarian follows the hen to a house just round the corner. The hen goes in and climbs the stairs, the librarian follows. It goes into a bedroom where there is a frog in bed. The hen deposits the books on the duvet. The frog looks at them. 'Read it! Read it! Read it'
Hens are now known as 'book books' in our house :)
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Sorry, being dense on this ???
Somehow I missed the thread, don't think I'm getting to see all new ones this week .....
Where's Meggie?
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Where's Meggie?
I ARE HERE !!!
Meggie
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You are now ;-). Glad to see you up and running, was everything OK on your return?
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You are now ;-). Glad to see you up and running, was everything OK on your return?
Yes, everything ok after our trip.
Chickens went mad and were pacing up and down their garden so we let them out for a run around. OH had to clean out their little house "thoroughly". The neighbours don't clean out their birds so we couldn't expect them to do ours!! However, the job wasn't to daunting and everywhere was "powdered" for red mite - just in case.
How nice it was to get back home, light the log-burner and relax.
Chooks laying well although going through the molt.
Meggie
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Hi Meggie, can you get that red mite powder here in France?
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Hi Meggie, can you get that red mite powder here in France?
Hiya
If you look on Ebay, you can purchase from the UK and have it delivered here. Unfortunately, you can't buy pesticides on line here in France - it is only available here from a Veterinary.
Through Ebay, we found a few company's who would deliver to France eg:-
"Total Mite Kill Powder" from Nettex.
"Home Farm Fowls" - 300g of Mite Powder is 7.99 plus 3.99 postage
Hope this helps
Meggie
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Thanks Meggie xx
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3 eggs yesterday and 4 today :clapping: from 4 chooks one is about 6 years old! :-*
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Blimey CLKD - you're doing well on the egg front, aren't you.
Ours are losing feathers at the moment and the 2 greys are totally different - the new feathers are blue/grey and really quite beautiful.
They're just on their way back into the coop after having their porridge !!! Night, Night Girls.
Meggie
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I love the way they all come running to you when you go out with their feed, as if they are holding up their skirts, bobbing from side to side they are so funny. One of our hens is very tame and sits waiting for you to pick her up but she refuses to lay her eggs in the hen house and wanders off to lay them under a tree in the churchyard next door. We lost five of our hens before Christmas as some of them were nesting in the trees and refusing to go in the hen house and unfortunantly they were attacked by something. it was so sad. Our new ex battery hens are arriving soon, never had battery hens before, need lots of TLC I expect.
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Fox? My sister's chickens free roost in the trees but if they are late going up foxey loxey is soon there >:(
Ex-bats may take a few days to settle, they may not come out initially into the Big Wide World but with encouragement ...... our chickens have moulted and re-grown a different colour combination, the Bluebell looks really pretty ..... what a stupid time of year to lose feathers though ::)
2 eggs so far!
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I would love to rescue some battery hens but being realistic, our schedules wouldn't allow it. Maybe when we're retired........
Bette x
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Definitely when you're retired as you will need plenty of time to watch them ;) - they are Time Wasters ;D
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That's what I've gathered from your posts! :D
Bette x
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Yep - they each have a personality. They each have pretty feathering ........ they each if they are Good Girls lay an egg daily ;)
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Yep, and ours have taken to wandering into the house when the door is open .................. following their dust bath ........................ and have a good old shake leaving the debris all over the floor !!!!
But we love 'em.
Meggie
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We've found out what was attacking the hens !!!
My OH saw a large pole-cat in the garden a couple of nights ago. We knew it wasnt a fox that took them because of the remains that were left. We live in a small town with fields close by but my OH thinks the pole cat was probably a pet that escaped and is now wild. Very worried about our hens.
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There is info here about polecats http://www.ypte.org.uk/animal/polecat/160 Remember that if you can secure your chickens at night (polecats hunt at night and not during the day unless really hungry) the polecat will keep any rats and mice down. Mind you the smell of their scent marking might put you off!
Taz x
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Thanks for that Taz ,OH said he's happy for it to be around as long as it keeps away from the hens.
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If it's an escaped polecat it will be a ferret ;) which are fed on mince, raw egg, milk mixed up with cereal several times a week. As well as odd bits of poultry with feathers on. It is not something you should encourage but if it is a 'tame' one it will come up to you eventually. Do let your local pet shop etc. know in case someone has lost a working ferret.
Cleaned out the chicken run today, will be putting down fresh compost this week for them to rootle in ........
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You mean it will be a polecat-ferret CLKD. It wont be a true ferret. It may be a true polecat of course.
Taz x
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My old lady is either 6 or 7 years old, however for a couple of days she hasn't eaten. She's mooching. I think she has sour crop so have been dribbling Actimel or Live yoghurt into her beak and this morning she's at least in the sunshine rather than hiding in the wendy house. My fault, I gave them too many 'treats' last week >:( :-\ so Hubby is off to buy some Epsom salts to pour down her throat later.
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Our chickens get let our around 7.30 a.m. these lighter mornings. They need access to fresh water and then I let them into the garden. This will continue until Himself sets up the plot with vegies., as they will peck the tops out of parsnips, red beet etc.; at weekend they get a lie in ;) as we tend not to get out of bed until after 8.00 a.m.. They take themselves off to bed at dusk, quietly wandering back to the hut so that predators don't notice. I shut the pop hole down and pull the wire across once I've made sure they are all in or perching. They pee and pooh in the night so roost over newspapers whcih get cleared out each morning. It was hard work in the snow!
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Well! the kitten got in with the quails on Monday morning, sitting purring in a pile of feathers :'( - one quail completely gone, the other died of shock.
NOW: we have 5 girls aged 6 weeks old of various colours, now waiting for them to lay eggs :-*
The 3 chickens are laying well on a daily basis! Omlette anyone ;-)
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We got our 4 poulets 3 weeks ago. Two Black Marans and two Copper Black Marans. I think they must be about 10 -12 weeks old by now but they've more than doubled in size! I love them, so cute and yes, time wasters! I was told that they won't lay until Autumn. They will be called Emmy, Peggy, Doris and Ruth (or Lily, can't decide if naming a chicken after my late Mum is right or not...!) :-\
I often wonder what a shock it must be for the poor little things when they've laid their first egg!!! :o :o
Should I be dusting their coop with the mite powder already or is it a seasonal thing?
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Dust where they are going to lay their eggs, dust where they make their bath .......... better to dust monthly than have to fight the blighters! >:(- so far touch wood we haven't had mites in 5 years. Chickens are usually point of lay at about 22 weeks old, unless they are later maturing birds.
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Our Bluebell began laying on 1 Dec., her way of welcoming Advent? Wonder if each egg will be different inside ;D ???.
The other 2 haven't taken the hint yet. Bluebell [Cinders] went semi-naked for weeks, now she has all her feathers, comb is up, she's crouching on approach to welcome the cock ::) - have told the other 2 to get their laughing gear into action and start laying, 'cos it's That Time of Year :P
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Today our chooks haven't laid. We can only put it down to the weather as they usually produce 3 per day however, 2 of the girls are moulting - there are feathers everywhere. The storms we have had these past few days haven't helped either, we think they've put the birds off lay. The wind was so violent last night it was swirling round the garden and snapped off a 4 year old, 8ft high Red Robin Bush I had in the garden - such a shame but no other damage ........ except the wooden chairs on the deck by the pool had been moved down the garden. Is it possible to buy wellies for chickens as they are squelching around - the wind bought heavy rain today - it was constant?
Meggie
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Chickens hate the wet and wind :(- It is probably hormones more than anything which has put them off lay, they can't produce keratin/calcuim for eggs and feathers at the same time.
2 of ours are laying again :-*
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My four ladies are still laying every day, their eggs are getting bigger and bigger too. Will they stop soon do you think?
They've never moulted - do all chickens moult?
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If they are Point of Lay then they are unlikely to moult hardly during their first year, then a bit the next - or they will then go the whole hog and look oven ready ::) it sounds like yours are young 'uns as the eggs are getting bigger. Any double yolkers yet? or 'ouch' eggs? Ours are slowly getting their laying gear into action again!
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Fresh eggs MMMMMMMMMMM lovely
Watch out for crafty Mr fox
Squirrels will pinch the eggs aswell
Throw in Bacon rind and watch the chase
Ricky
Xx
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Or a tin of sweetcorn, live meal worms, cooked pasta ........ all illegal of course as they have 'passed through my domestic kitchen' >:( ::) - I didn't let ours out of their run today, they would have finished up in the town 4 miles away :D - we are having pancakes this evening for tea :-*
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Our chickens have the complete pellets and maize (half and half) every day but then late afternoon they enjoy porridge (mixed with water), cooked pasta, salad and bits of bread. They are struggling at the moment - only getting 12 eggs per week from 6 birds !!
Meggie
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Hmmmm <scratches chin> ........ I was clearing out our chickens' run earlier this afternoon and found a nest of 7 eggs :o in the deep straw! Himself had to put his very long arm in and pick them up gently, of course we dont' know when they were laid ::) ....... have ruffled the nest box to encourage them back but hey ho!
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Have you got a cockerell CKLD?
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Don't need one to get eggs ;) and our situation would not allow one
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I know you don't need one, but you've had somebody go broody so I wondered, we had three cocks at one time, it was lovely for the children to see the chicks
Ricky
Xx
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Don't want chicks around the place, not enough room for more than 3/4 chickens at a time. No eggs today - yet. Will look under the hut where they sleep on Sat. morning in case they have laid there again ::)
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Went to put my 4 ladies to bed Friday evening and there were only 3 in the coop, Dotty was missing (I always do a count before I lock them in). I searched around until it was just too dark to continue. I was up before dawn on Saturday morning and had a good search around but found nothing. At first I shut the remaining 3 inside the run but they were getting peed off about that and starting to fly over the fences. They stayed close to the house though and didn't wander so far, not sure if they were scared or just aware that one of them was missing.
Today I was cutting back some trees and spotted her body behind an old barn. She'd been decapitated. It was so sad, I was crying my eyes out while I buried her. (Hubby unable to help as he is on crutches still, following a knee op). Bless her little heart, I'll miss little Dotty. :((
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Mink; rats; ferret; fox ............ at least it was quick! but they are always missed. :-\
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What a horrible shock AF. I'm so sorry - poor little Dotty :'( I wonder what happened? :-\
ariadne xx
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So sad to hear that you've lost Dotty - we've been very lucky so far - 3 years on and we still have all 6 but, I probably shouldn't have said this, you never know what's around the corner !!!
OH opened the hen-house this morning - all 6 paraded down the ladder, looked around and went back inside. They were very quiet and didn't even want to peck at the seed on the snow - yes, SNOW !! It's starting to thaw now so they are back outside, scratting in the sludge.
Meggie
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'scratting' - love it! ours are in their run moaning but they won't like the garden, it's 4" deep here :o
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My 3 tumbled out yesterday morning but turned round and ran back in as soon as they saw the snow! Their poor little feet must be frozen although I've cleared away quite a bit of snow in their run and put straw down on the ground so hopefully it's not so bad for them. They enjoy some nice warm porridge for breakfast :)
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I cooked up some old rice, let it cool down and tipped it into the run :-*
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Ginger has got sour crop - poor thing. Yesterday she wouldn't eat - OH picked her up and brought her out of the coup and she threw up loads of water. Today we have noticed she is eating so we put out natural yogurt mixed with the normal feed and corn. She tucked in but is still standing around with her head under her wing. We seriously are considering where this is going and who we can 'call upon' to do the dreaded deed to put her out of this misery.
Meggie
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Sour crop smells awful. Don't give any more yoghurt for now as it's wet and won't pass through the crop. Hold her upside down and gently sqeeze the crop to see if it will empty. Are there any chicken keepers near by? One of ours had it and I with-held soft foods for 24 hours and squeezed sometimes it will pour out :o ........... it takes 2 though ::)
Our quails are back in lay, I shook my finger in the 'Easter Lunch isnigh' fashion last week
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CLKD - it said on a Poultry Holders website that we should feed her natural yogurt and apple cider vinegar, grit too. This would help with the problem with the possible bacterial infection. We won't be taking her to the Vet - they'd laugh at us, the English, worried about a chicken. Over here they'd just neck her and put her in the pot.
Meggie
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How is she now? I fed ours 2 much tinned sweetcorn which was quite wet, after a couple of days I felt the crops and one Girl's was squidgy :sick02: .... once it was emptied I gave her LIVE yoghurt but they won't drink cider vinegar ::)
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Ginger, our chicken with Sour Crop seems a little perkier today. OH let them out this morning and she was the first one to the food and water but she still has the pocket on the side of her neck, not so big though and this afternoon she followed the others into the garden and when she leaned forward to peck at grass about half a cup of fluid came up. This time the fluid looked fairly clear - the last lot was very cloudy, like dishwater. I hope she will soon be OK but we are considering 'letting them go' as they now only give us 1 egg a day BETWEEN THEM !
Meggie
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Give them a few more weeks, ours are coming into lay properly as the days lengthen which is natural. There's no meat on laying birds so you would need a slow cooker, lots of wine and vegies: actually sounds quite nice ? and the feathers could be let go into the air for the wild birds to use for nesting :whist:
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How is Ginger ? :-\ our 4 quails have started to lay intermittently, one chook is laying eggs with paper thin shells >:( and the other 2 chooks seem OK. they have tinned sweet corn as a treat today 8)
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Ginger is back to her usual self but we have had to make a decision as we are only getting 1 egg a day from 6 birds and I am told that it won't improve much, as they are in their 3rd year. They could live a number of years but not lay and although we have 'befriended' them we wanted eggs. When we go on holiday next month a farmer friend will come over when it is dark and lift them from the nest and .... you know (don't even like to put it in words). We have started to detach ourselves a little so we don't have to think about it too much and we won't know when he's going to do 'the deed' - sometime during the weeks holiday. We just have to dig a hole !! We won't eat them. The other issue is that it's costing us a lot for staw, wood shavings, feed and tonic and we could buy free-range eggs much cheaper than from our own hens which is all out of balance.
I sound so cruel.
Meggie
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Not cruel unless the deed is not done properly. They aren't worth eating as they put so much energy into egg making. Our first 3 didn't live more than 3 months once they stopped laying, one stopped then died 3 days later having got herself through the Winter snow looking oven ready ::)
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Sorry to hear your news. Spoils a holiday a bit!
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Sorry to hear your news. Spoils a holiday a bit!
Dismantling everything is so difficult - we have had tears - Mrs Brown, the weakling was our favorite but we miss them all.......don't miss the early mornings though !
Meggie
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Someone was talking about chickens ....... I fancy ducks or a turkey stag around the place. However ........
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? 'Photos ? geese are guards so be wary, my sister's used to run with necks lowered hissing like fury!
For eggs or to eat? Not much on a goose.
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How exciting. How large is the pond? Will you have to shut them out of the way of foxes at dusk? My sister had trouble sometimes, her's would run in all directions ;D. Names? Gander and 2 geese? Duvets/pillows?
A stiff brush and a hose will be essential ..............
We took down most of the chicken run in the Autumn as Himself needs more growing space for veg..
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How old will they be, 'cos cuddles need to be started early ;). Named yet?
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Make sure that they are shut up securely in a shed. Lots of straw and access to water. We under and over wired all our runs to stop badgers and foxes digging into the run and hut.
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So were ours. Chickens in the intergral-garage one hard Winter ...... they would get into the kitchen when possible ;D.
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Our 1st 3 : white: were all 'M's ........ Maud, Mabel and Martha. The next were a Bluebell and a brown type and weren't really named. I could tell the white Girls apart and they were really amusing. I miss them round the garden but the neighbours' aren't keen these days to deal when we are away :-\
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:thankyou: have been googling turkey in the garden ;D but apparently they eat berries ........... and roost in trees if not put in early enough ::) and can be quite noisy which is why I didn't buy guinea fowl ............. geese were used on the Ramparts around Paris apparently and at the Bastille ;-)
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I miss ours in the garden. They hail from Indonesia so are likely to roost in trees as well as shelter under shrubs. They love a dust bath 8)
In the UK we are allowed to keep up to 50 B4 the need to register the flock with DEFRA. That would be a lot of chooks !
Do watch for red mite as they thrive in the heat and it's rare to get rid of an infestation once it takes hold. Checking feathers daily as well as dusting everything B4 they arrive is the way to go. That is: under the feathers and around the vent; spray in between every bit of wood in the shed/hutch especially at the ends of each roosting perch where they touch the main shed; use a good quality straw and compost for dust bathing, LOTS in both. As well as plenty in the nesting box.
They hate the light. 1 knows if they are present by putting a hand/arm in the nest box after dark, they will scurry onto the skin to bite!!!! The critters drain chickens of blood = weakness and death.