"Polly Pocket" the latest ex-batt and her coat

[Jeanied]

More photos please, BP. It sounds like you have a real character there!

[Florence Fennel]

It will be lovely to see a picture of her when she doesn't need her jacket any more. Well done you for taking care of her.

[Bramble-Poultry]

She is only one of twenty i had the other week. I helped at a hen rescue in Oswestry where we had 430 hens turn up to be rehomed. All in this state too.

These were 20 left over that people had promised to take and then never turned up. Couldnt leave them behind so we popped them into a crate and brought them back to our place.

There should be a rescue again in a couple of weeks so i dare say we will end up with yet more!

I have switched them all over to straight corn as i want them to put their energies only into growing back feathers and not to lay egg after egg after egg. So these girls are getting plenty of mixed corn and rolled oats and their egg yield has dropped right off and they are pin feathering nicely. Once the cold and the wet has gone away, and they are feathered up i will move them back onto layers pellets and they can get back to doing what hey know best, but for now they can take a break!

All except one or two who i found up to their knees in a pig feed sack, which means that they probably have had a hefty protein boost and will be laying ostrich sized eggs by tomorrow!

[Flummery]

Will they get stroppy when they find it's only layers pellets for dinner when the feathers are in? Like kids after Christmas who want chocolate and doughnuts for every meal?

I'd love to see another picture when she's feathered up. You can't believe the difference a little love and care makes, can you?

[Bramble-Poultry]

here is a photo of the last lot of hens we had in prior to polly's rescue. they were just as bad. the ones with green rings on are the batch..... so thats one of them right at the front in amongst the ducks

[Gro-Bag]

Aww - that is so clever - and sweet! I helped a friend rehome some ex-bats in the summer. What upset me most about them wasn't the baldness, which I had steeled myself to be ready for (and it was summer) - but that they were so pale and docile and quietly accepting of their fate - made me weep! But then a couple of hours later they were exploring their new home, catching spiders and looking interested in life - and now, they are fully feathered, lovely characters, having a great time causing havoc in the garden and laying lots of eggs (which is great as my girls have stopped for the winter).

[petal]

the people that promised to have them and didn't turn up were rotters. Would you recommend I start to switch my exbatts from the exbatt crumb we were recommended to buy to mixed corn as they are still laying for england and i would prefer they concentrated on feathering up.?

[Bramble-Poultry]

if you switch to corn, then it may take around a week for them to come off lay, however, they will benefit from the corn as it will keep them warm and hel pput down a layer of fat. Be warned, too much fat deposit could cause a delay in laying when you want them to come back into lay.

Also, if feeding "straights" such as corn, wheat and rolled oats, you will need ot ensure that they all have plenty of grit to enable them to grind up the food in the crop.

We have all our birds here on corn at the moment as we dont want any egg laying at the moment due to the wind, rain and heavy frost we experience up in the mountains currently. I would rather the birds came through alive than laying eggs and keeling over in the snow.

If you wish to switch them over from the crumb to corn, i would do it slowly, by introducing it bit by bit. How long have they been on crumb? i would personally move them from crumb to pellet or mash. see how they go on that for a bit before you go onto straights. The downside in feeding straights is its like giving the birds free access to the sweets counter at Morrisons. They will gorge on it in preference to all else, so you need to control it rather than giving free access to the corn.