Chook chooks

[Ashley1985]

Right so i now have an allotment, it has a humungous "coop" more like 2 stables. The "coop" has pigeons in and only 1 of the 2 coops in use they have a run on them but pretty small but could be extended much larger. None of the pigeons have been stolen by predators from there yet and allotment next door has ducks on that roam on allotment freely. Is it ideal to have some chookies on there? I may not be able to get up to it twice a day.
My plan was to get 4 chookies for my back garden and maybes 10 for allotment.
Anyone got much experience with battery hens i think im gunna go rescue some

[MaureenHall]

Wow, lucky you!!!! Welcome

I'd definitely recommend ex-batts, they're lovely birds and still give you plenty of eggs even though they're supposed to be "retired". Regards keeping them on your allotment though I think Snadger is the one to talk to about that, he'll put you on the right track. Any questions about ex-batts, just ask, there's loads of us that's got them

[Ashley1985]

With Ex batts, do they tend to have health problems?? With the siz3,no feathers and little poorly legs or do they recover quickly from it??

[Suechooks]

With Ex batts, do they tend to have health problems?? With the siz3,no feathers and little poorly legs or do they recover quickly from it??

I've kept chooks on my allotment for about 4 years and now have some ex-batts there. I've had them there a year now. I'm able to go up 2-3 times a day though maybe it's not always essential! Ex-batts do tend do go down quickly if they are unwell due to their previous incarceration. They feather up fairly quickly and just need to be kept warm till they do. Mine came out in January so I put loads of straw in the hut (they didn't perch then) and that seemed to keep them warm enough. Maybe if you can have chooks at home it might be as well to have the ex-batts there and maybe some "normal" chooks at the lottie. I did have others but they were stolen so replaced with some ex-batts and a few POL girls to ensure egg production thro winter. (The ex-batts are still laying anyway so loads of eggs)
The ex-batts are lovely, very curious and friendly though not always to each other! I wouldn't hesitate to have them again. I think you do need to see them twice a day as they need to be put to bed and let out again. Also the water can freeze/get knocked over/run out etc also food needs to be removed overnight to discourage rats. Others do have different opinions on this (pop-holes left open etc) but that's mine for what it's worth!
Good luck with them!

[frias]

Ex-batts are very worthwhile. They grow their feathers back, some slowly,some quickly but the pleasure you get watching them recover and explore their new world is priceless. Some do have health problems but I haven't had any other chickens so don't know what health problems others get. I would have loads more if I had more room.

[RedThorn]

lol you should see mine... the two with the least feathers are the 2 that don't mind the snow! the other 2 just pop their heads out of the run and look at the snow and change their minds!

We got ex-bats two weeks ago and couldn't be happier! Was worried in the beginning as was the first girls we got but would recommend them to anyone!

[dozey1]

Ex Bats

HI I have ex bats and they are wonderful. They have laid nearly every day and have been well and Healthy (touches wood). Thye are great fun and love you feeding them. Gonna rescue some more next month. You will never look back. Well done.

[MaureenHall]

I've been thinking about this thread during the night! I think if you can only get to the allotment once a day, you definitely need to make sure that the run and coop are 100% fox-proof. The chooks will put themselves to bed and get up in the mornings by themselves, but the coop will need some kind of possibly automatic pop-hole closer so they're not sleeping in a draught. Food containers will also need to be 100% rat proof if possible, either that or put food into the coop. If going once a day then late afternoon would be best then they probably will have finished laying for the day and you can collect the eggs, replenish food and water, clean out the poo from the nest-boxes, and check that everything's ok.

Hope this gives you some idea of what's involved and good luck

[HayleyB]

Mind you, ex-batts won't know to put themselves to bed in the first few days at least and could die from cold through not understanding what is best. I've had two die since November probably through organ failure as that is common due to the stress of their first year.

[bluemoon]

With Ex batts, do they tend to have health problems?? With the siz3,no feathers and little poorly legs or do they recover quickly from it??

I'm told that, lack of feathers excepted, your average battery hen is pretty healthy. Obvious when you think about it as they don't come into contact with wild birds so are less likely to pick up parasites or diseases. Also the first thing a sick hen does is go off lay so there's a financial advantage to the farmer in keeping his flock healthy. Having said that they are bred to lay for a year and no-one is particularly bothered about what happens after that, many continue laying, but many others don't so if you are desperate for a reasonable number of eggs then you might be as well getting a few point of lay hybrids to go with the ex-bats. I believe most of their health problems are just the lack of feathering and muscle tone, which improves rapidly once they are living a normal life. They are kept in sheds in vast numbers though, 20,000 is common and in a population that size of any animal there are bound to be some who are ill, it's less to do with farming technique and more to do with the law of averages, so you might be unlucky and get a sickly one; then again, you might buy some expensive birds from a top breeder and be just as unlucky.
In my opinion though allotments NEED chickens and a flock of newly re-feathered ex-bats is beautiful.

[Suechooks]

Mind you, ex-batts won't know to put themselves to bed in the first few days at least and could die from cold through not understanding what is best. I've had two die since November probably through organ failure as that is common due to the stress of their first year.

Likewise - 2 of mine have died of organ failure. I'm convinced it's due to their genetic make-up and the genes which give the maximum output for minimum input are not necessarily those which give longevity. Having only a sketchy knowledge of genetics I'm sure someone will correct me but it's how I've observed my ex-batts both now and many years ago when I originally had them.

[Snadger]

My chooks are at the allotment and I can only visit them once a day. My coop and runs are high enough to walk in. Pophole into run is always open. Runs are totally enclosed with strong wire. Corrugated tin sheeting buried edgeways on all around run to stop foxes or rats burrowing in. Side mesh is about one and a half inch square mesh and roof is about three inch square mesh.
Two runs joined together one of which is covered so there's allways somewhere dry for them.
4 nestboxes filled with straw. Roosting bars at 2 foot and 4 foot.(they mostly prefer the higher of the two)
Two water containers outside, one under cover , one not. With the cold nights recently I have been putting another water container indoors with a tennis ball in it to stop it freezing.
Layers pellets are fed from a self feeder which hangs in the shed about 4 inches from the floor. This is a large galvanised container which takes a full 20Kg bag of pellets.
I get there after work each day to feed and water them. The water comes from a water butt which is inside the run and is fed with water from the chook house roof. No tap water required up til now and water is always fresh as it is constantly replemished.
They get greens from lottie, sometimes hung up for them to peck at. They also get a pint glass full of mixed corn between them strewn on ground for them to scratch for. Corn is all eaten before bedtime so shouldn't attract vermin.
13 healthy chooks...........getting 11 eggs each day!

[Hashette]

Ex-bats are brilliant. After about three days of being walked up the ramp at dusk, mine got the hang of it. They laid eggs from day one, and with the help of rubber training eggs in the nest boxes, they'd worked out what they were for within a week.

Within a month they had us trained to not only open and close the pop hole at dawn and dusk, but also produce treats before going to work, let them free range on demand and destroy the garden and produce more treats at weedends when they peck on the patio doors. So that's the pecking order sorted, then

This afternoon I had "help" spring-cleaning my shed, as a result of which it took four times as long as it normally would. There were three chooks standing in the way of the broom when I was sweeping up (and one standing on it, in Atilla the Hen's case). They're amazing, fearless little things. Every new thing is fascinating to them.

And a potential source of food, obviously!

[MaureenHall]

I had all my ex-batts "helping" me give the chook house a thorough clean out today. They absolutely love standing on the broom, the shovel, the bag of shavings, the bale of straw (which they tried to spread all over the run!). Then I got told off by Hazel because I put upturned buckets in each of the nest-boxes to try and stop them from sleeping in there and getting poo all over the eggs. When I went to close the pop-hole tonight, I could only see 10 indoors, found the other 3 had squeezed themselves past the buckets and were snuggled up in nest-boxes! Hmmmm need to re-think that idea. Better see if I can get some cardboard boxes to put in upside down, that'll fool the little madams (I hope)

[bluemoon]

Likewise - 2 of mine have died of organ failure. I'm convinced it's due to their genetic make-up and the genes which give the maximum output for minimum input are not necessarily those which give longevity. Having only a sketchy knowledge of genetics I'm sure someone will correct me but it's how I've observed my ex-batts both now and many years ago when I originally had them.

I think you might be right, they've been bred to lay pretty much an egg a day for the first year, after that they are replaced (i.e go to make dog-food) and no-one has really bothered about what might happen to them if they do happen to survive past 78 weeks as, until recently with battery hen rescue, none have. I've heard of people who have had no problems and think ex-bats are wonderful and others who say you lose half of all those you rescue in the first months. It's probably a lot to do with how they were originally kept, where and how they were bred and a fair bit of 'luck of the draw'. There's no denying though that a newly re-feathered ex-bat sitting in the sun is a lovely sight.