Ex-bats arrive!

[mjnorthing]

My five girls have arrived, some a few feathers down but otherwise fine. After the trauma of yesterday the still managed four eggs! although two they ate themselves How do you stop that

Also do I let them out or keep them locked in the coop? They look wet & bedraggled but the came out on there own so should be able to get back if they want!

I'd attach pics but they are bigger than allowed & I don't know how to make them smaller!

[annafricangrey]

oh good for you

we have some ex battery chickens, they were in such a state when they arrived.

we let them out straight away and they seemed a bit scared of the grass, how sad it that

now, some 18 months on they are glossy and happy and full of energy, we get eggs off them too, an added bonus

my daughter is allergic to cats and dogs so she has them as pets, they are soo funny and entertaining and dont mind the odd cuddle from her

you have lots of happy times to come with them

ann

[mjnorthing]

I found how to reduce the picture size!

[carlseawolf]

lucky you we're not aloud animals of any sort on our allotments , and in council tenancy so can't keep them at home.

[shirlthegirl43]

How wonderful. I am sure you will be astonished how quickly they change. On the egg-eating, not sure how you combat that other than check often for eggs.

Did you build your coop and run yourselves? I am trying to persuade Madmax to build us a place to keep chooks.

[mjnorthing]

Coop is all my own work, Sarah lost me to the shed for a few days over Christmas. I was cheaper than buying one (I nicked the design from photos from a website £300 was their price), probably cheaper to convert a shed though, I wanted one that I could move around that lawn so it could live in Sarah's "pretty end" and not take up valuable space in my veg plot. (The fence you can see is the east west divide between the two!!)

[shirlthegirl43]

Well done you. I reckoned we could make our own from ideas from those online - they are soooo expensive for what they are. Got any tips for me to pass on to the other half please?

[annafricangrey]

we bought a small shed from b&q and adapted it, we have four ex battery chooks and an aylesbury duck so it had to suit all requirements

the shed was 130.00, there are some really lovely coops on sale but 450 quid plus!!!

so ours got lots of room, a big long perch and a snuggly nesting box plus a corner for the duck to sleep without getting pooped on!!

ann

[ChrisB]

Well done on your new acquisitions, they'll pay you a thousand times over for rescuing them.

I'm currently waiting for a rescue to take place in my area so I can increase my flock- think it's going to happen in March

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but you may have to build rollaway nest boxes to stop the egg eating. This was the only way I stopped my eggs being eaten, and I tried everything else first.

Give them a few days to settle and see how it goes before rushing to change anything though.

Most important of all - ENJOY THEM

[kirsty b]

lucky you we're not aloud animals of any sort on our allotments , and in council tenancy so can't keep them at home.

[/I]

Where I live I know of a woman who applied to the council to keep birds. She didn't say what sort of birds and they didn't ask. She has 3 chooks in a little run in her garden. When a council bod challenged her she showed them the letter saying she had permission. Last time I checked, chooks are birds....

mjnorthing - my girls looked very similar to yours when I first got them. 3 months on they are all fully feathered and very very tame and friendly. Have just started laying again after a rest over the winter.

[Snadger]

By the look of your piccies mjnorthing, and looking from a chooKs point of view, I would say they have went from a scruffy doss house to a five star hotel!

Nice to know they will have a bit of comfort for the remainder of there life!

[seasprout]

Those Chickens look really rough, but they can only get fitter , healthier and happier from now on.

With all this lousy weather, and until they get a few more feathers, is it possible to put a rain cover of some sort over the mesh run..?

[mjnorthing]

Thanks for the advice, they are now undercover, just hope we don't take off!!

[madmax]

Well done you. I reckoned we could make our own from ideas from those online - they are soooo expensive for what they are. Got any tips for me to pass on to the other half please?

Yeah, but remember we might be moving soon - and I am a bit reluctant to build a chicken shack and leave it in Honeyborough.

[terrier]

Those Chickens look really rough, but they can only get fitter .....

If you think they look rough, you should see one of our chooks who is in moult at the moment. I keep telling her it's the wrong time of year to lose feathers but she won't listen. I like the run cover to keep them dry, ours certainly don't like the cold rain on them.