buddyboy Posted November 11, 2010 Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 Thank you. Just taken the fencing down to make the space bigger and took Chummy back in with me standing there to keep things under control. She made straight for one of the Zombie Twins to beat her up.... I know they have to sort themselves out and the ZT was giving as good as she got but I broke it up. Will try again later after spreading copious amounts of pasta around (they have some crumb down but have happily eaten the pellets and mealworms in there as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddyboy Posted November 13, 2010 Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 would someone please tell my new chickens they are meant to be scared little girls just out of the battery - not raving monsters! I left the door to the run open to let Chummy out, was pleased to see that 3 of the others managed to get up courage over the next 40 mins to come out and explore the garden. Was on the phone to my friend when the doorbell went - next door neighbour to say one of the chickens was out on the road!!!! It was the 4th one who was last seen quietly eating in the run because she did not want to come out! All back in the run now except Chummy and wing clipping booked for tomorrow by friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 Poor Cacky-Pants is off to the vet's tonight, I thought she seemed a bit slow today and when I had a look she has gunky eye's, so I've brought her inside for a few day's, I'll go out and bring Moomin in for company, Moomin's had a major moult so she could probably do with being inside. Been pondering about what hen's to get next year, I'd still like some Orp's but I also fancy Croad Langshan's, there's a breeder in Stirling which isn't too far away, they look very handsome ( the Croad's, not the breeders ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted December 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 It's a shame you're so far away because I'll be selling a blue Orp pullet after Christmas. I'm keeping her white sister though, I'm a little bit in love with her, even if Georgia did name her Snowy I've got quite a few growers that I'll move on, inparticular the cutest little black mottled frizzle Pekin cockerel He is so cute and only still alive due to the fact he has a really quiet crow and as he's in the garage at the moment he's not disturbing the neighbours. I expect he'll get louder once he gets the hang of things. He's got a little hareem of frizzle and plain feathered Pekin ladies for company, all his sisters though. I'm hoping a friend will take him to use him for breeding next year. One of the frizzle girls is a gorgeous steel grey colour but she's the runt of the litter so to speak and isn't going anywhere for a while. I wish I could keep them all! I'd managed to get down to around 17 permanent residents but what with all the growers and the meat boys it's back up to around 40! A hug for poorly Cacky Pants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 Oooo, I'd love a blue Orp too. I was looking a pic's of Frizzles the other day, they are cute. Cacky's fine, she just has a bit of conjunctivitis ( bloody hell, I spelt that right first time !! ) so she's in for about a week with some eye drops twice a day, I was impressed with the vet Angus, he really seemed to know his way round a hen, and he said she was in great condition , which was a surprise given why Cacky is called Cacky . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Hi everyone We're getting some ex-battery hens soon. Hubby has run finished (just needs some finishing touches) and hen house is built apart from nest boxes. Now I haven't time to read back on 65 pages so just wondering if I can get some ideas on what to use for bedding, what to feed, what spray treatments (or preferably non-chemical treatments) eg flea, etc. I need. I've never had chickens before and I've been reading loads trying to educate myself. At present I don't have a lot of money to start on expensive feeds, etc, so I'd like to get ideas and I can be adding an item or two to my shopping list each week. So far the run and hen house have cost us nothing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Exciting I use horsey bedding from my local feed merchants. My favourite is Easibed but I've tried Aubiose and various other products. It's good for composting too! Ex-batts usually eat layers mash but it's in your best interests to wean them off of the mash and onto pellets asap because mash is messier and they'll waste quite a bit. Don't skimp on the cost of feeders, you need one that they can't get their feet into to kick food everywhere. Worm the girls at least twice a year. Flubenvet is the best wormer, you can buy it online. It's a powder that gets mixed in their food or you can buy pellets that all ready have it mixed in, Marriages sell that one I think. Invest in a good chair too because you'll spend a lot of time sat on it watching them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) I use aubiose for the chickens run and megazorb for their house. Definitely go for Flubenvet and shop around for a good price. We were recommended to use Allen and Page ex-battery crumbs or pellets, at least to start with as they have a better nutritional balance for the hens to grow back their feathers etc. We started with a small bag of crumb as that's what they are used to and very quickly swapped to pellets by mixing the two together. I don't think you need flea treatment, but you do need red mite powder. I bought louse powder but haven't needed it yet. It's worth having some gentian purple spray, but do be more careful spraying it than I was - it doesn't wash off human skin very quickly! Edited to add that the cheapest place for buying food and bedding is our local horse feed place. Edited March 24, 2011 by Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 Thank goodness for weldmesh. We had a neighbours dog break into our garden today, no idea how he got in as we've never had a dog escape. Our immediate neighbours alerted us to loud noises from the chickens and there was an american bulldog alternately trying to break into the chicken run and one of the rabbit houses. The mesh has stretched in places where it's been thumped into, but at least it held. I doubt I would have had any chickens alive if they'd been housed in chicken wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanrossscot Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Eek! That's scary. Someone near me has just got chickens, you can tell by the noisy cockeral crowing for a lot of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesB Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I am away to the vet shortly with Peggy Mount, the last of my three ex-battery girls. She's been off colour since Sunday. I've checked her all over but can't find anything like a stuck egg. She had some yellow and a bit of blood in her poo on Sunday, and there was yolky stuff on her bum feathers but I haven't seen anything since then. She's just standing about hunched up, or sleeping on the rockery. I've been giving her Baytril every morning and she's running to me for treats and eating a bit of feed, and seems to be drinking. She'll be about 4 years old so I'm wondering if it's just age and she's fading away now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) Poor Peggy Edited June 23, 2011 by Mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 Looking for some advice again please. My hens have gone very scrawny looking, they're back to looking the same as when they first arrived (ex-batts). I feed them on layer pellets and maize. Oats are sprinkled on the ground. I put cod liver oil and apple cider vinegar in the food twice a week. They get a bag of spinach once a week. Also can of sweetcorn once a week on different day from spinach. I also put out any cooked potato peels, leftover pasta/noodles, veg. Any stale brown bread is mixed with water and milk. Occasionally they get apples, grapes, bananas. They seem to be eating fine and are laying fine (some of the eggs bring a tear to my eye - they are huge!!). Although, one is laying a soft shell every second day or so (I'm assuming it's the same hen laying this). They don't look sick just seem a bit thin and loosing feathers (didn't expect autumn moult to start yet but they're still laying anyway). Any tips or advice? Meanwhile, the ducks keep growing. They are more like geese lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 I think they're probably moulting already, I know some of my ladies are. The only other thing would be mites as some of those can cause feather loss. It might be an idea to worm them too, I'll be doing mine this weekend with Ivomec. That's good stuff that kills mites too! I quite fancy hatching ducks next year. I've got a solid kids paddling pool they could swim in. I wonder how noisy they'd be though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 (edited) They're not due to be wormed again until the end of October. I put flea powder in the nest boxes and in the sand in the run but not sure that would kill mites too. Must check the packet. Are mites easily visible? We got 2 x 1 year old ducks and 2 x 1 month old ducklings. The ducklings are now about 4 months old and massive, one is a drake. One of our ducks is very loud, she never shuts up lol. We have kids plastic pool for them and they love it. It's ideal. How are your hatchings going? Edited September 8, 2011 by Mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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