My hens are here!!!

Yes, chickens seem to like sitting in the rain. Providing they have the option of somewhere to shelter, there isn't much you can so to stop them, short of keeping them locked up when it's wet. I think you'll find that in a downpour they will take cover! But giving them additional covered space in their run is a good idea. There is nothing as daft looking as a Silkie that's been out in the rain all day - drowned rat has nothing on them!

Poo picking - hmmm. Chicken droppings can be very acidic and will burn the grass, although three of them will take some time to make serious damage. Over winter, when it gets damp and murky, you might be best putting the run on concrete or slabs, which can then be cleaned a lot more easily.

If you have the patio space to do that, I would strongly advise it. If nothing else, it will save you having to make the trek up the garden on dark, wet and snowy mornings and evenings to fed them, unfreeze their water and either let them out or lock them up! They won't suffer unduly from being on concrete either, if you put a layer of hemcore or wood chips down and in winter the lack of daylight does mean they stay in bed longer and go to bed earlier.

 

They are all too cute, and i love the "hair do's"!!!!

 

Thanks for the run advice Aaron - we haven't got any patio space as yet, so I think it might have to be the wood chip option when it gets really bleak. I've just been out, moved the run when I put them to bed and swept off the grass with a stiff brush and dustpan. Felt a bit ridiculous, but hey ho! I presume I'm ok to just fling the poo and bedding on the veg bed...? I gave it a quick hose down and then put the run back - will move it on Saturday after a full week.

The girls are so funny! They tried a bit of cooked potato tonight for the first time - the last of my charlottes from the garden - and they had potatoey beaks - really funny.

 

Chuck their droppings in the compost bin - they might be a bit fresh still for the veg bed unless it's vacant. While it's dormant over winter, you can let them out to play on it.

 

We don't have a compost yet :o

 

Hi Victoria, they are gorgeous! I have never seen those before.

 

Tsk!

Get a bucket with holes in it, throw their droppings (and used hemcore that gets a bit yucky after a while) into it. Leave somewhere sheltered but not necessarily out of the rain for a few weeks. When it's broken down a bit, add to the borders and veg patch.

 

Good job you're here!! Thank you.

I looked up compost bins yesterday and saw that the one which our council are subsidising is £17 for 330 litre. Exactly the same one, on the same website, through different councils is £10!!! That's not fair is it!

We're thinking about ordering one at the end of the month, if the deal is still on.

In the mean time I will start puncturing a bucket! Thanks Aaron

 

A large flower pot works just as well

 

My chickens love lettuce. I have 10 of them and if I chuck in a bolted lettuce they jump on it like a crowd of vultures on a carcase with bits of lettuce flying everywhere. They demolish a lettuce in about 30 seconds. They also love beetroot - we have had a glut this year. When they have eaten beetroot they walk around with red beaks looking as though they have just hacked someone to death. It makes the eggs go a really deep yellow colour as well. Windfall apples as well. Try chicken rugby. You get a snail, show it to the chicks and then throw it in. You might have to train the chicks to eat snails first by cracking the first few snails but they soon get the hang of it and learn to stab them through the foot. I run my chicks over bare soil - the grass disappeared inside the chicks fairly quickily. They prefer soil cause they can dig for worms and they can maither the chicken keeper to get out his spade and help. Dig over a patch of ground and it will keep the chicks happy for the rest of the day.

 

I have no idea how I missed this thread ! Doh :dh:

VP they are absolutely gorgeous :gnthb:
My friends who live in Yorkshire, and whom I visit every few weeks, bought chickens earlier this year. They have 4 .... Maude ( head chook ), Clara, Sybil and Blotto. I am their 'Auntie' and take them treats. :yez:
They are fab and Im so jealous of them ( my friends ) and you ! They will love to see your Silkies pics, so I will point them out when next I go. They are good layers and I come home with a dozen eggs each visit.
They are funny and entertaining aren't they? Blotto is the funniest. She leaps up in the air after grapes ( they love chopped grapes )They also adore corn on the cob. Demolished in seconds. Also love tomato ( or Tommy-Tarto as their 'Mum' calls 'em ) They have certain 'voices' which are funny too, like a purring one when they are content. They keep theirs in a house and run which has bark chippings in. The chippings are over soil and quite deep. They scrat around in that very happily, and when they come out into the main garden they love digging in the borders for worms. My friends have put that low green barrier wire fencing around the bits they dont want 'scratted' :hehe:
I adore yours' hair do's and little feathery feet. Oh Im soooooo envious now :grn:

Blue
0)

 

Silkies are a good breed to have in the garden, as a low fence will keep them contained and off flower borders and beds.

Have you let them out for a wander around the garden yet Victoria? If not, do it not long before their bedtime, so they will return back to their house as they would naturally. If they're tame, you shouldn't have any trouble catching them, but please make sure the garden is escape proof and don't leave them alone for a minute (predators can strike in an instance).

Any sign of them laying yet? They will 'squat' if they are in laying mode (or mood!) - hunching down, wings slightly raised and spread when you approach them. Yes...letting a cock know they are in lay and adopting the pose for one to do the business!

 

How wude ! :hehe:



Seriously though, yes they crouch down if you put your hand over them

VP do you go on the OMLET forum ?

 

Aah so that's what that woman was doing down by the bus stop this morning! :lollol:

Funnily enough we did let them out for a play yesterday. We went to Wickes and bought some of that orange safety fencing. We were a bit paranoid about them clearing a low fence, so we opted for the 1m option! It's just so we can make temporary pens at the end of the run, it makes it easier to round them back in as well - like one man and his dog!

They do this hilarious road runner type thing, where they run like the clappers, flap like hell and jump - so so funny to watch! They only manage about a foot at the peak of the jump!

Fedorie (grey) was squatting yesterday, and I wondered what she was up to. That explains it! Maybe we aren't far off our first egg! Infact they all huddled up together and lay on the grass by the lavender which was lovely to watch. I presume they are happy.

I have noticed a definite pecking order - Betty is definitely top dog, with Fedorie trying it on every now and then. Nessa, the smallest, is happy to just potter about and let the other two get on with their squabbles, but they are inseparable as a threesome. If one goes back in the run and can't work out how to get to the others they get all agitated, pootling up and down until they remember the way out.

We gave them all a cuddle too, Nessa by far the lightest, and happiest to be cuddled making little cheepy noises, Fedorie also happy to be held but harder to catch. Betty had to catch, hard to hold, bit of a rough diamond really! She's got a short spikey hair do so it stands to reason - she was always going to be a rebel!

I have to say, for someone who takes pride in the garden and hates clashing colours, the orange fencing is a total shocker!!! But hey ho - it's only for a while. And the girls are worth it!

Oh, incidentally, I seem to have become obsessed with poop watching. Is that normal? I found a link on another site with masses of pictures of chicken poo - so you can see the boundaries of what is normal. Should I get out more do you think?!

Blue - I have read a lot on the Omlet forum but I have not joined.

 

Yes, droppings watching is normal! But don't fret too much about it - sometimes they eat something and it affects the colour. Wait until they get a bit of beetroot...

Do they have somewhere to take dustbaths? This is important for them - it's social but also their way of cleaning themselves of mites and of cooling down. If they were free ranging, they'd find somewhere, usually quiet, dry, with lots of powdery soil and hopefully in the sun. Ours use such a spot under a leylandii at the back of their run that protects the soil from all but the worst downpours. As yours are in a run, a plastic crate will do fine, filled with dry soil. We use Homebase growbags to fill it. Once they get used to the crate, they delight in digging a hole, sitting down in it and kicking the soil up around themselves, sometimes making purring noises, like a cat, out of sheer pleasure. As they are inseparable, they'll pile in together! The important thing is to keep it dry.

You'll see the advantages of moving their run to somewhere semi-permanent eventually! Probably somewhere close to your backdoor as well.

Great time wasters, aren't they?

Blueroses, Practical Poultry forum is better...