Virtual Hens

[TPeers]

Hi Garlic Butter and Headfry,


I collected the new hens today! Their photos are below. Welcome to the world of the virtual hen. Should you wish to come and vist 'your' hens send me a PM and I'll try to set it up.

The pale one is a Lavender Araucana, she is about 4 months old according to the people at Perfect Poultry and judging by the colour of her comb and general development I would guess that she is a good three or four weeks off laying.

The darker bird is a Black & White Leghorn, I was told that she is at POL and she is certaintly the more outgoing of the two!

On the way home, a trip of 35 miles, she chatted non stop, no doubt complaining about the motorway! Once home I put the birds into the smaller ark - the one shown in my avatar - 'Hettie' the Araucana was quiet and sheltered in the coop, comming out only to feed. I think she is enjoying having so much peace - or maybe is confused by it - there were 10-15 birds in a 4'x8' area, which seems a little on the crowded side to me. Although I should say that everything was very clean considering the number of birds in the space!

'Rosemary' the leghorn made an immediate atempt at freedom and spent a good two hours 'chatting' through the wire to my other two birds. She seems to have quite a personality!

The Araucana should lay a blue egg, depending on the purity of breeding and the leghorn, who has noticable white ear flaps, should lay a white egg.

More news when I have some!

Terry

[Alice]

Lovely hens TPeers . Thanks for letting us see them. I think the virtual kind is all I could cope with. Wouldn't want to be tied with 24/7/365 care for them - and protection against the foxes. I'll just enjoy yours,

[Headfry]

oooooooh a virtual hen of my own.....
Hettie, you are so sweet! Happy days! now be a good girl and please lay lots of eggs for Terry!
Thank you so much - a happy friday !!!
Garlic Butter- we are sooooo lucky - Rosemary looks beautiful!
Maybe we are the first ever 'virtual hen' owners!!! tee hee
Just going to print the pic of Hettie, for my desk at work!
they think im quite mad......maybe so, but its nice here in my world

[yoanbob]

great hens terry.
congrats headfry and garlic butter on your new pets.

[Headfry]

Hi TPeers,
Have a nice glossy photo of Hettie on my desk at work!
Thanks again

Such kind people, who don't mind a little silly fun on this forum!!! long may it last.

[TPeers]

Delighted to give such fun!

Terry

[daisychook]

Hi Terri

How cute are they!!!
Bless em!!!

My Renee has found a new home on a farm in Shropshire - free ranging with Turkeys apparently (well as well as chooks too!!!) - no doubt she wont be playing any of those up!!!!!.

The lady has a big flock and is able to separate if she starts playing up. They seem very caring, and I am sure she will be fine, its only ever been our SS she has had an issue with, but nevertheless it didnt really want her to go..

She laid a egg today for us too.

I was really sad to see her go, but she is going to a good home..

Love your new chooks!!!

Tracey

[TPeers]

It was the best thing to do if she was going to attack your other birds and peck at the eggs!

At least she has gone to a good home.

[TPeers]

Sorry to have left this so long...

The girls seem to be settling in now, my early concerns over their health seem to be coming to nothing (hurray) the first motions towards a pecking order have been noticed with Rosemary comming out on top at the moment, which I would expect as the older and larger bird.

Which is not to say that eveything is rosy.... I still can't get the girls to 'understand' corn or treats of any kind - they even ignore dandylions! They are still not as active at I would like to see, spending large parts of each day just sitting on the ground, unlike the other two who are constantly on the go, scratching around and wreaking havoc!

However I have decided to try putting them together later this week when the magic one week of isolation is up on Thursday.

Trust me, I will be watching like a hawk on Friday, ready to run and intervene if trouble breaks out!

Terry

[yoanbob]

well terry trouble will beak out, and it take a week or so, the new birds should pick up corn and dandylions from the more established birds, dont worry just takes time.

[TPeers]

Well I've gone and done it! At 9:00 this evening, with Richard to open and close the doors, I transfered the two new birds into the large hen house!

I placed them onto the perch - don't know if they will stay there - and hopefully that will be that. I know, of course, that an adjustment of the pecking order will now occur but hopefully without too much fuss, I will just have to wait and see.

[Headfry]

How's my girl? and Rosemary too?
I hope you ALL got a good nights rest. It must be a worry as you can't watch them 24/7
I will be waiting and seeing with you

[TPeers]

Not looking too good right now, unfortunatly.

I knew there would be the odd problem intruducing the new girls to the old girls but it would seem that Blackie, Marie and Rosemary have all decided that little Hettie should be bottom of the order. As she is both the youngest and the smallest this is not surprising but it means she is not getting a fair deal.

So far this morning I have chased the others (mainly Blackie) off her twice, isolated the two old girls in the coop for 3/4 hr while they laid to give little Hettie a chance at the food and water and watched while Hettie legs it up the ramp to the coop to be out of the way.

Ok, Hettie has found a safe place to be, but there is no food or water up there and I am loath to provide it - not because I can't, nothing simpler, but if I do there is no need for Hettie to come down and 'socialise' if you can call it that!

So far she has not been injured, just a feather or two, but at what point should I step in and take her out? Also if I do that, aren't I just back at square one? I don't want to have to keep her seperate!

It may just settle down over the next day or two and I will, of course, be keeping a very close eye on things ready to separate the birds if needed but I do wish she would show some spunk and peck back - or would that make things worse?

Terry

[Headfry]

Crumbs Terry, you have a job on your hands there. wish I could help, as you say- they might just take time!
Where is Garlic Butter?

[TPeers]

Well - having posted the troubles on other threads 'Hettie' (Kiev) and 'Rosemary' (Kentucky) are together in the little ark and have been since last Sunday.

Given luck and some dry weather I will swap things around either tomorrow or the next day so that the youngsters have the large house and the old girls have the little ark. Then after a few days I will move the old girls back one at a time (with a couple of days in between) in the hope of making the large run the new girls territory and reducing the clash quotient.

In the mean time some good news!

Kentucky is laying, every two to three day at the moment and quite small eggs and Kiev layed her first egg today! No shell, but since Kentucky laid this morning I assume the egg this evening was Kievs!

Can't wait for her next egg - I want to know the shell colour! Will she lay a good blue?

More news after the next egg!