Quite Simply, Chook Chat

[Nicos]

Yes I am really...just need a bit of time in the freezer for me to be happy with eating them.
OH has 'done' the chooks then left me to pluck and then he finishes off dressing them
I had to help him 'do' the geese so was a first for me.

Not going into the details here- but we put a sock on their heads when they were in the field- and they went quiet- and literally had no idea what was happening and were really calm cos they were used to being picked up and stroked.

Got baby soft hands now!

Hope you get the broadband sorted soon- we had megga probs with ours until the oxydised box was replaced- and the cable from the house to the post..then it was much much faster when it did work.
Still goes slow( ie wind-up) from time to time though
...are you very rural???

[RichmondHens]

Yes very rural, but heavenly not to have cars whizzing by the door or having to listen to neighbours. It's worth putting up with a few service hiccups now and again and mostly, things get sorted reasonably quickly, it's just frustrating at the time.

[Glutton4...]

Hi Chook-chatters!

I had to wing-clip all my babies this weekend - I got fed up with rounding the little blighters up and putting them back in with their distraught Mum! They weren't impressed at being caught, and squealed at the top of their lungs like they were being murdered!

[petal]

they are funny when they do that - i have one that attacks my hand with real venom!

[Suechooks]

A few weeks ago I had 2 surplus compost bins (the ones like black Daleks) so decided to put them in the chook runs as additional winter hidey holes or rain shelters as they have a built in pop-hole! I put a dollop of straw in and forgot about them. Noticed a couple of days ago that in the hybrids run the straw had been flattened and this morning found 4 eggs right at the back!

[Glutton4...]

I noticed, yesterday, that Mummy-chook was no longer showing the young'uns where the best treats were, she was grabbing the biggest bits and running off with them to keep for herself!

This morning, I went in to see them and fill up the feeders, and discovered two eggs in the coop. Needless to say, Mum is now back out with the main flock!

[jessmorris]

Hello grapes!
I've been too busy with automatic door probs to be in touch lately. The wretched thing hasn't been 'automatic' for a month so a lot of running about closing pop hole doors for me of an evening! I think I sorted it this afternoon so fingers crossed now.
My pekins are well grown now, and ready to go. A nice lot and very fit. The d'uccles have come on a lot too, a black, a mille fleur (only without spangles and pearls) a lavender and a lovely cuckoo boy (albeit with brown breaking through on his long neck feathers). They are bonny.
We've had some hard frosts here, water frozen and everything. Still they've been wormed and coxoided so its getting through the long winter til spring, and back to laying (they've all stopped now, even my silkie hybrid).
Is everyone else ok?
JM

[RichmondHens]

I'm still having broadband probs so getting on here is a bit hit and miss at the moment.

Met fellow grape Petal on Sunday and bought two lovely indian game hens from her who are settling in nicely.

Freezing winds and rain up here, not pleasant to be outside at the moment - brrrrr!

[petal]

It was nice to meet you too!! how are horlicks and cocoa, chattering away, I expect! I hate this weather, its the worst.

[Glutton4...]

It's nasty here too, at the moment. My 'Laydees' are still out playing under the trees, but Asbo is hiding from the weather. Poof!

[RichmondHens]

G4 - My cocks can be wussy too. They like to hide in the nestboxes if it is really blowy. I go to collect eggs only to find a great big chap in there, looking cosy, while all the girls are outside!

Petal - Cocoa and Horlicks are doing just fine. They are in a coop sheltered by a large beech hedge so they are not getting too much of the weather and have been happily pecking about, unlike a lot of my others who have been having to find a bit of cover.

[Glutton4...]

I have a question for all you "Chooksperts!" LOL

At what age can I put my "Babies" out with the main flock?

They will be 10 weeks old on Tuesday, and are nearly full height, but have not thickened out width-wise yet. I'm sure I have 4 Fellas, who will stay in the baby pen, which is within the large pen. 3 of the Girls are smaller, and finer boned than the others, possibly Bantam cross? Asbo is a very, erm, attentive, Chap, and I'm wondering if he will try his luck with them before they are ready.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

[RichmondHens]

It's partly a question of diet. The little ones should be on growers until 18 weeks, so you won't be able to feed separate diets once they all run together. But if they have outgrown their pen and/or it's becoming inconvenient to have them separate then mix them together.

The other reason for not running youngsters in with older chooks is disease, particularly things like coccidiosis. Older hens will have developed resistance whereas the youngsters are still building up their immunity, so mixing the two groups will increase the risk for the little ones.

If/when you do decided to put them all together, it's a good idea to worm everybody especially if the ground they are going on has been in use for a while.

Asbo probably won't be that interested in the young girls other than giving them a peck to keep them in their place. Mature cocks usually only get excited about laying hens (who give off the right pheromones) so he will continue to concentrate on his regular girls. You will know when the new girls are going to start laying as Asbo will start eyeing them up.

[jessmorris]

Hello again!
just a quickie for G4 to say 9rightly or wrongly) I put my ma and chicks in with the big girls at 5 weeks old. The ma (a feisty modern english game) protects the chicks and I have both growers and layers pellets out for all of them. As they free range, they pick up a lot of stuff anyway..
And RH I envy your Indian Games! I saw some lovely MEG at a local show, the chap said he also had Twente fowl which also look very nice...anyway, for me, the search for more ground for my hens goes on and until then, I'm at capacity!
JM

[Glutton4...]

How daft of me RH, I hadn't even considered the feed aspect, I'm such a muppet! They are obviously on 'growers' and will continue to be for now. We extended their run this weekend so they have nearly twice as much room now, and as they can no longer fly, due to clipped wings, they spend their time running around like loonies!