Rescue hens

[Verinda]

I got a text from a friend this evening. She said she's getting some rescue hens tomorrow and would I like a few and on the spur of the moment and the desire to rescue some hens, I said I'd like three! But eeek I have to get the empty shed ready tomorrow morning, put up some perches and a hen run. My mum used to have hens many years ago, but I've no hen experience since then. Perhaps three nest boxes.

Do hens eat boiled potato peelings? Boiled veggies and left overs? And of course I'll buy a bag of hen food. Oooh this is quite exciting! Perhaps I should get four hens, the more the merrier!

[MartinRSharpe]

Hi Verinda,

The British Hen Welfare Trust's website (people who do a lot of the ex-bat hens in England/Wales) have a large amount of information and FAQ with some information specific to ex-batt hens.

Caring for hens


You need a nestbox for every 2-3 hens (aprox) so 3 should be more than enough for 4 hens (one may not get used) but I guess it leaves a spare if you decide to expand your flock and can always be blocked off with a bit of wood/cardboard.

Best food for them in the specific pre made food, I think the BHWT encourage one by Smallholder made specifically for ex-battery hens. In may be the case that they prefer mash to pellets as I understand that is what ex-battery have been fed on while in cages. Pellets + water do mash up though.

Greens etc can be fed to them as well but their diet should primarily be the pre-made stuff to make sure they get all the nutrients they need.

[Verinda]

Thank you Martin. The four hens arrived while we were still madly rushing about clearing the shed and making the run. They positively pounced on the pellets we'd got for them and gobbled them up no problem, they loved their run and when we shut them up in the shed they all wanted to get in the same nest box!

They are extremely bedraggled with bald patches so it will be brilliant to see them growing new feathers and looking healthy. We are going to let them out of their run, but not at least for a week so they realise that this is their new home. And I'm going to get a hen tonic for them.

We are delighted with our new arrivals!

[Scarlet]

Make sure their run is fox proof, treats should be kept to late afternoon- let them eat the pellets first. Get some apple cider vinegar for their water, it works a treat on preventing worms, as a tonic, good for feather regrowth etc, look at flubenvet for worming( at least every 6 months) 2 nest boxes should be enough and best of all enjoy!!

[Verinda]

Thank you Scarlet, we made a covered run and buried the wire and put concrete blocks along the edges so hopefully hopefully its fox proof, however after about a week or so we're going to let them loose for a while every day, but I'll be constantly fretting about them.

I happen to have a bottle of cider vinegar so I'll put some in their water tomorrow, thank you for the tip. We put a second large nest box at the other end of their perch but they all ignored it. I'd love to know if two have settled in it by now.

[MartinRSharpe]

With the apple cider vinegar make sure its the unpasteurised stuff/contains the "mother" in it. Equestrian shops are good for it as they often sell it in big 5-10L containers for the price of small bottles in pet shops.

As Scarlet says, make sure to worm them at least every 6 months with Flubenvet. With keeping them on the same ground they may need doing slightly more often. Flubenvet is the only worming approved here (I assume its the same in Ireland), VermX etc are not actually wormers.
You can get it as a premade feed or you can add it to their feed or even feed it individually in things like grapes. Plenty of info available online or even this forum about it.

[chris]

If they're on the same ground, then every 3-4 months is recommended.

[Verinda]

Well the plan is to let them out of their run after about a week or so, I'm quite worried about it though as we've quite a lot of land with plenty of trees and bushes and undergrowth, a bit of a wilderness. The hens shed is in the trees some distance from the house so I'm hoping they'll come down to the house or stick around their shed, not disappear off. Of course I'm also worried about foxes and stoats, in fact I think I'm going to worrying about them a lot.

I am of course in love with them and addicted to watching them clucking about, it's quite therapeutic. I noticed one particularly bedraggled hen has lost a bit of her top beak, I presume there's not much I can do about that. I couldn't find my bottle of apple cider vinegar so will get a bottle of unpasteurised. They were wormed after they came out of the barn but I will worm them regularly.

Thanks so much for all your help.

[Verinda]

Oh, I just read about beak trimming, so that's why one of my hens has part of her beak missing. It sounds horribly cruel to me, no wonder she keeps scraping her beak on the ground, she must wonder what's up with it poor thing.

[kathyd]

Hi Verinda . Addictive little things aren't they? Don't forget to use apple cider vinegar in a plastic drinker, not a metal one. As far as them wandering off and getting lost goes - all mine have been desperately cautious to begin with, staying in the run until they feel confident enough to leave it, and then extending their wanderings gradually as they find their way around. And once they learn where the house is, you'll be constantly chucking them out of the porch and the kitchen if you're not careful .

[Verinda]

Hi Kathyd, thank you that makes me feel better, I don't mind if they potter into the kitchen, just so long as they don't disappear off! I acquired some pyrex dishes recently so they have a largish pyrex dish as a drinking bowl. Addictive yes, very addictive! I'm getting nothing done because I want to sit and watch them all day!!

Today I bought some hen tonic I thought I'd use this first then get the apple cider vinegar. But I am puzzled by the instructions, it says to add four 5ml teaspoons to 500ml drinking water and change the water every other day. Hmmm, 500ml isn't enough water for four hens...and after just one day the water definitely needs changing. What does everyone else do?

[kathyd]

I don't mind them in the kitchen either, but OH isn't quite so keen because they poo all the time, everywhere.. lol . One popped in the other day whilst I was sat at my computer, and clucked very politely at me to remind me it was lunchtime and I hadn't forgotten had I?

I guess the 5ml to 500ml of drinking water means 5ml PER 500ml - so if you're giving them a litre say, you'd add 10ml. I must admit I don't change their water every day - I use a 'proper' chicken drinker, which you top up into a central reservation and it dribbles out to fill a surrounding saucer. It's metal though, so I put a squashed garlic clove in there and sometimes give them a bowl as well so I can add the vinegar. They do seem to prefer the bowl really, but it gets full of straw and mud and stuff - the drinker does stay cleaner (and doesn't get tipped over when my disabled bird climbs into it to steady herself.. . But if you're changing every day, then you'll obviously just need to add more tonic each time.

[Verinda]

Oh yes, of course you're right Kathy! But the tonic was so expensive I can't afford so many spoonfuls each time I change their water so they'll just have to have a bit less, I reckon some tonic is better than no tonic. I will probably buy one of those chicken drinkers.

Aw, I am looking forward to them pottering round the kitchen, not sure what the dog will say but she seems to like the hens so far...thankfully because we also have five guinea pigs which she reckons are rats and she wants to kill them! She doesn't seem to have the same opinion of birds and she's used to the budgie zooming about the room so I'm fairly sure all will be well.

[kathyd]

What tonic are you using verinda? People on here seem to like Poultry Spice, which is a powder rather than a liquid. I'm sure they'll be fine anyway, as long as they're eating their pellets and have access to some grass and weeds etc when you let them out to free range. I give mine dried mealworms as part of their daily 'treats' - I presume they're full of protein, and the birds love them.

My dogs are both fine with the chickens, even the older one we got when he was already aged 7 and had been through multiple families before - and he's a hunting type dog! The cats are also fine with them - adult chickens sort cats out quite quickly, pecking at them and chasing them off if they don't like them, it's quite funny to watch . One of my cats spends most of her day with the chickens, often under the same bush as them and sharing their porridge in the mornings (and stealing their pellets if I don't watch her!). However, we got a pair of young mandarin ducks recently, and both the cats and one of the dogs is desperate to get at them... they're behind a high barrier at the moment, but I supsect it's going to be a real problem in the future if the ducks ever settle down to the point where we can let them out... so be warned! Chickens OK, ducks maybe not, if you ever had a duck urge!

[Verinda]

My husbands had a duck urge for years! We do have a pond, well a few smallish ponds but they are wildlife ponds so I put my foot down because the ducks would eat all the frogs and tadpoles, of which we have lots. Plus I'm sure the dog would want to get at the ducks, if we had them. Having animals is great though, even with the problems it causes. Lovely that your cat likes to stay with the hens.

My tonic is liquid Johnson's poultry tonic, it cost me about 11.50euros for a 500ml bottle. I think I'd better look out for Poultry Spice. We live in a fairly remote place so don't have too much choice.