Rescue hens

[Feral007]

Have some ex batt's here, as well as two Un-batt's

The batties are quite battie tho. They are always underfoot, very chatty, and they annoy the crap out of the horses at feed time! We had to leave the chooks locked up when the farrier came last time, as they had been under the horses feet while he was doing his work the time before and it was not good!

Ours are free range - they come out of their pen, and straight up the hill to the hay shed these days.
They will follow you around the paddock if you go for a walk.

Ours eat an organic mix or grains and pellets. But when you watch them: it's always - black sunflower seeds first! Corn next, anything else after! We have to fence them out of the garden as it started to look like an archeological excavation site rather than a growing place!

I use the apple cider vinegar (with the mother) from the rural shop. Ours seem very healthy. And the feathers are growing back so fluffy.

[Verinda]

My hens are really friendly too, they seem to want company all the time and I have to be careful not to step on them. We haven't let them out of their run yet but I think when we do they will never be out of the kitchen! And I will also have to fence off my garden or they'll have it up in a heap!

I can't seem to get any organic feed here but would much prefer it, your hen food sounds perfect. I can't wait to see my hens all fluffy and feathery.

[Verinda]

My girls are doing well, they seem happy and growing lovely fluffy feathers and laying four eggs a day. But this morning when I let them out of the shed I saw that their water bowl was full of droppings (it's normally pretty clean in the morning) plus a soft egg also in the water bowl. I wonder is the soft egg due to lack of calcium? And only one normal egg laid today. Not that I mind, I just don't know why today was different. I give them pellets and hen tonic in their water and corn in the evening, plus they've a large run and lots of all sorts to find and scratch about in. Any advice or opinions would be very welcome.

[kathyd]

Hi Verinda . Sounds like you've got a batch of very happy hens there . I don't know why their water bowl was full of droppings, possibly they came from the hen with the soft egg... I don't think the soft egg is necessarily from a calcium deficiency, especially as they've got a varied diet and are eating their pellets OK and things. Some of mine occasionally lay a softie, either right at the start of the laying season as they're just getting back into the swing of things, or right at the end as they're winding down for the winter. One also laid one after she'd been a bit off-colour one day for some reason I never did discover. Her following 3 or 4 eggs were then a much paler colour than usual until things settled down again. Young birds (pullets) and old birds also apparently lay them occasionally as their reproductive systems go through various changes. So unless you have more than one bird affected, or it goes on for a long time, I wouldn't worry about it too much at the moment.

Most birds slow down their laying at the end of the year - a lot of them stop altogether, some continue to lay now and again but not nearly as often. This is partly because they moult in the autumn and they need their energy to re-grow their feathers instead of laying eggs, and partly because they're getting less daylight as the days shorten, and they need a certain number of daylight hours to produce an egg. Having a break over the winter gives their little bodies time to have a rest and regenerate ready for the sping. It's quite normal, everyone's birds will be doing the same thing . Most of mine have slowed right down or stopped now, and yes, it does happen quite suddenly!

[RichmondHens]

My girls are doing well, they seem happy and growing lovely fluffy feathers and laying four eggs a day. But this morning when I let them out of the shed I saw that their water bowl was full of droppings (it's normally pretty clean in the morning) plus a soft egg also in the water bowl. I wonder is the soft egg due to lack of calcium? And only one normal egg laid today. Not that I mind, I just don't know why today was different. I give them pellets and hen tonic in their water and corn in the evening, plus they've a large run and lots of all sorts to find and scratch about in. Any advice or opinions would be very welcome.

Ex batts are ex for the very reason they are coming to the end of their useful laying life, that's why they are "retired". If you are lucky you will get hens that may lay for a bit longer, but the majority will lay sporadically rather than regularly, and soft shells are common. Think of ex batts as pets only, with the bonus that they MAY produce some eggs. If you want lots of eggs, then young hybrids or the more productive pure breeds eg Light Sussex, Rhode Island Red, Leghorns etc bought in at POL are your best bet.

[Verinda]

Thank you Kathy and Richmondhens for your helpful replies. All was ok today, except there was only one egg, but I really don't mind. They are happy hens and they bring us a lot of pleasure so yes they are more like pets. I hope they don't moult too much as they are only now re growing their feathers. I bought another bottle of hen tonic today, as I'm sure they could do with the extra vitamins, I want them to be as well and healthy as possible so they're able for the cold weather.

I am tempted to get some slightly more beautiful hens (no offence girls!) but I wonder if I got a couple of Rhode Island Reds how they would get on with my ex-batts? My four are pretty happy and peaceful, but I don't really know how different, if at all, they are to regular hens.

[RichmondHens]

I wouldn't introduce any new hens to your batties until they are fully feathered and back to full strength. Younger fitter hens could well bully them, although most batties can be pretty feisty themselves. It might be wiser to wait until Spring when your batties will be fully recovered and any new pullets will be just coming into lay.

[Verinda]

Thank you, then that's what I'll do, I don't want to upset them, that would be awful. I see you are from North Norfolk, a beautiful county, my husbands parents lived there, Holt.

[Verinda]

The hens got out of their run yesterday, they were delighted with themselves and marched into the kitchen as though they owned the place. Also raking up the flowerbed. I took this picture which I thought was quite cheerful so I'm posting it here for you all to see and all the weeds too!

[Glutton4...]

Lovely - Hens in their favourite environment!

[RichmondHens]

Thank you, then that's what I'll do, I don't want to upset them, that would be awful. I see you are from North Norfolk, a beautiful county, my husbands parents lived there, Holt.

Yes indeed, a beautiful place, and I know Holt very well, being only 10 mins from there.

[Verinda]

Oh brilliant, we used to love our holidays there, sadly both his parents have died now so we haven't visited for a while.

[Verinda]

Lovely - Hens in their favourite environment!

I'm pretty sure it was the best day they've ever had in their whole lives!

[kathyd]

I don't suppose they had a bit of help 'getting out of' their run did they, by any chance... .

[Dorothy rouse]

The hens got out of their run yesterday, they were delighted with themselves and marched into the kitchen as though they owned the place. Also raking up the flowerbed. I took this picture which I thought was quite cheerful so I'm posting it here for you all to see and all the weeds too!

How lovely, they really look happy!


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