Author Topic: Chickens  (Read 46078 times)

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Chickens
« Reply #175 on: 28 February, 2011, 05:13:57 pm »
We lost Gloria last week. She became ill and just went downhill from there.
Pen Pusher

Re: Chickens
« Reply #176 on: 28 February, 2011, 10:06:24 pm »
Oh dear, poor Gloria.

On a happier note, we are with egg! 2 to be eggsact. Actually, the girls all laid one but decided to eat one... Conveniently leaving one each for me and MiniQ for breakfast :-)

AnthCC

Re: Chickens
« Reply #177 on: 02 March, 2011, 03:01:48 pm »
We're up to four chooks after getting Skye and Ruby about 7-8 months ago



Which also meant an extension to the permanent run being built as the old girls got VERY territorial and it was either this or have the neighbours calling environmental health on us!


Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Chickens
« Reply #178 on: 03 March, 2011, 10:46:17 pm »
Oh dear, poor Gloria.

On a happier note, we are with egg! 2 to be eggsact. Actually, the girls all laid one but decided to eat one... Conveniently leaving one each for me and MiniQ for breakfast :-)

That can be very annoying when they get a taste for their own eggs. Hard to break them of that.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Chickens
« Reply #179 on: 04 March, 2011, 09:59:51 am »
I don't seem to have had a repeat of the hen-eats-egg scenario which is good. I removed the broken egg rapidly so they don't get a taste for it, put more straw down so they're less likely to break one and make sure I'm only putting cooked and crushed egg shells back in their run for them to peck at.

This seems to have done the trick. Also, I'm checking more regularly for new eggs.

 I baked my first sponge cake from the hens output last night  :thumbsup:

Re: Chickens
« Reply #180 on: 07 May, 2011, 09:56:47 pm »
I've got a chicken poo question please. The allotment that I've not long had has had 10 years of chicken manure dug into it and am wondering how "clean" it is? I've used horse muck in the past and am happy working with it barehanded with cuts and scrapes, but am not sure I should be with this stuff.
There'll be the occasional toddlers knocking about too and wonder if we need to keep them away from the bits that I haven't managed to dig over yet?


Re: Chickens
« Reply #181 on: 07 May, 2011, 10:17:56 pm »
Good question - I've never taken any special care when dealing with the stuff - just the usual wash hands after use and immediately if you think there's an open wound that it could get into.  Wearing gloves is shrewd when working on the plot anyhow, and is always recommended for people who suffer from lymphatic drainage issues - e.g. those who've had mastectomy etc.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Chickens
« Reply #182 on: 08 May, 2011, 03:10:43 pm »
I think chicken shit is very strong and likely to damage plants if put on neat. My dad, an inveterate chicken keeper and gardner, use to mix it with lots of weeds, grass clippings and straw and allow it to rot for a good 2 years before using it a a mulch.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Chickens
« Reply #183 on: 08 May, 2011, 04:05:14 pm »
Makes sense as birds don't have a separate opening for poo and pee so chicken droppings will have a high urea (-> ammonia) content.

Re: Chickens
« Reply #184 on: 08 May, 2011, 10:49:18 pm »
That'll account for the smell then. Not being familiar with the stuff I think it's well rotted and looks like it's been mixed with plant material beforehand. The thinking behind my "worries" was that they're omnivorous and if that might make it more likely to pose a risk.


Nick H.

Re: Chickens
« Reply #185 on: 11 November, 2012, 03:01:32 pm »
Here's a tip for increasing chicken happiness and getting some free protein in their diet.  Leave bits of broken tile on the ground for long enough for the grass underneath to die. Worms will sit under the tiles. They like it there, I don't know why. Pick up the tile when a chicken is nearby and hey presto, a free meal and huge excitement. Pretty soon they will follow you everywhere in case tile-lifting is imminent.

Eccentrica Gallumbits

  • Rock 'n' roll and brew, rock 'n' roll and brew...
Re: Chickens
« Reply #186 on: 14 April, 2015, 11:05:36 am »
My mum's eight year old hens have started laying again after the winter, much to her surprise.
My feminist marxist dialectic brings all the boys to the yard.


Re: Chickens
« Reply #187 on: 14 April, 2015, 11:24:29 am »
We have one that's about 14 and it laid an egg last week. It does so intermittently during the spring and summer. She's a rum old girl, a tiny white pekin bantam with only one eye, incredibly tame and friendly but she rules the roost (well the other hen she lives with). She has outlived about six other hens we have had over the years and is one of the original trio we were given to look after "for a few weeks" about twelve years ago.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Chickens
« Reply #188 on: 14 April, 2015, 11:26:39 am »
We're up to four chooks after getting Skye and Ruby about 7-8 months ago



Which also meant an extension to the permanent run being built as the old girls got VERY territorial and it was either this or have the neighbours calling environmental health on us!



Put your new chucks in the hut with the old ones when its dark. They dont fight as much then and by morning its pretty much sorted out. An old farmer who breeds fancy chickens and ducks told me this and its worked for us.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Eccentrica Gallumbits

  • Rock 'n' roll and brew, rock 'n' roll and brew...
Re: Chickens
« Reply #189 on: 07 December, 2016, 12:58:16 pm »
Those of you who keep hens need to check the news today and, er, let them live in your kitchens for a month.
My feminist marxist dialectic brings all the boys to the yard.


Re: Chickens
« Reply #190 on: 07 December, 2016, 01:05:42 pm »
Keeping chooks is not all its cracked up to be.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain