Keeping Hens

Out and About

2013-06-30T12:34:00.001-07:00

So you have your hens and you have a home for them, protected from foxes and badgers. But they want to come into the rest of the garden, what to do?
Letting your hens roam around is not a necessity, but they will certainly thank you for it. Apart from that, they are great entertainment and will follow you around to see what you are doing.

Points to remember, just make sure your garden is secure, they will get out if they can! Also remember to keep a shovel handy!! Also, by personal experience, if you go out, put them away. The fox will know you are at the shops!

The smallest of eggs

2013-05-25T00:43:00.000-07:00

All hens will go through a rest period, where they will stop laying eggs, this is quite normal. You may notice smaller eggs being produced or sometimes eggs with thinner shells. However if your eggs are all getting thinner shells, it could mean your hens need more grit to aid in the shell production.

The hen that thought too much

2013-04-19T08:22:00.001-07:00

Some hens seem to have a spooky ability in making you think they are planning something...unless they actually are!

This naughty Warren has taken to escaping into our next door neighbours garden and has developed cunning ways of being re-captured.

It could be that as being hybrid birds they are further up the evolutionary ladder!

Box Clever

2012-08-30T05:02:00.002-07:00

Hen's always prefer to lay their eggs in a safe space. A nesting box is what you will need or some elevated space with straw or similar material that they can lay on. Think of it as a nest so the other hens (or you) don't stand on eggs on the ground. We have two boxes elevated on bricks and made from nailed together bits of wood, with a lip at the front to stop the wood chips that it contains from spilling out.

2012-08-23T04:43:00.001-07:00

It is amazing how egg production is affected by changes in the weather. Our six hens (x2 Vorwerks, x3 Warrens and x1 Bluebell) were in pretty much daily egg production but a change in warm and dry to wet a chilly weather virtually stopped production. Now it has warmed up a little they are back to full lay mode!!

Hen's take a Bath

2012-05-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hen's are taking a communal dust bath, but why do they do this? Hen's do suffer from parasites and the fine powder of dust (do not be tempted to use sand as this could hurt their eyes) is no good for lice and such, but very relaxing for the girls.

Eggs is Eggs

2012-04-25T03:38:00.000-07:00

But they do tend to come out a different colour! This is just down to genetics as each breed will create different shades and colour tones depending on the breed of hen you have. However, there is no difference in taste!

The First Eggs

2012-04-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

The girls have provided us with the very first egg on Tuesday the 10th and another today on Wednesday the 11th. Probably both from the same, most developed Vorwerk.

The New Flock

2012-04-09T01:52:00.001-07:00

With the demise of the last of our six rescue hens, we have now purchased six new hens. After fitting a new roof to the shed where they roost, we have provided a fine new home for our three Vorwerks ( a traditional German breed) and three Warrens (a Rhode Island and Old Sussex cross).

Down to three

2011-07-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

In quite rapid succession we have lost two of our rescue hens. Their droppings became very runny and they became listless and died. We are starting to realise that these poor birds have been so intensively bred that their life expectancy is shortened. Our bantam Rhode Island Red, who outlived our other batch of hens however is still going strong!!

One down! Yes that does mean dead!

2011-03-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, sadly we have lost one of the girls. It was two days ago and we had noticed one started to get picked on. We took her away from the others during the day, but she did not make it more than two nights. Don't know why, maybe being halfbreed they are just not as resistant to thing? Any advice from others?

Poor Old Red

2010-07-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Poor old Red is no longer number two in the flock! It looks like she has once again been demoted to 'the other one'. This begs the question "can a specific breed be more likely to be dominated by others?"

I think the answer to that question is "yes" as she, like her long departed (a nasty indecent with a fox, almost two years ago)sister, were both bottom of the pecking order.

Nothing like a long hot bath

2010-06-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

Henny Penny

2010-05-31T03:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, hens in a pen, or at least given a bit more space to roam. Melanie came up with a good idea of extending the girl's run by using some of the wire frames (part of the pen we temporarily had them in on day one)to contain them from the rest of the garden.

We still have a garden opening for Wilmslow Wells for Africa to come next month, and judging by their raised earth policy, I think it best we keep them on the 'scrappy' lawn outside their run.

I must admit they seem very happy and when I gave them more water yesterday, they started to try and eat the laces on my shoes!

All Them Eggs

2010-05-23T03:23:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time to show you the results of having eight hens, just look at all those eggs! The small ones are from our two bantam hens Rhodey and Red (Rhode Island and New Hampshire Red)and this is only what was left after we gave a dozen to Lou my mother in law next door. They are really molting quite a lot now, but certainly they are doing well in the egg laying department. Because they have been in small cages, their wings are still quite weak and one was seen to almost fly up to the outside perch, before smacking into it at breast height!

Birds of a Feather Molt Together

2010-05-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

At two weeks and two days, the feathers have started to fly! That is because our girls have started to molt in a big way god bless em! With our garden open this last weekend for the NGS, they did not look quite at their best, but they were still very popular.

I will post another video with some garden highlights, and of course some more pictures of the girls and how they managed all that excitement.

After One Week

2010-05-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

So a week has passed now since we collected our six hens and I must say they have settled in very quickly. We have a hen run that consists of a covered roost that they sleep and lay in, and an outside area where they eat and have the odd dust bath!

The video show them inside and also outside their run. We sort of fence them in, although they are already being very cheeky and getting around the fences we have set up.

There is a power politics taking place with the one new hen who 'got in' with Rhodey and Red, hanging out with them, as if she had always lived there.

Day Four

2010-05-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

It's day four since we collected our six girls and brought them back to Wilmslow. They are settling in very quickly and seem very content, but one! She looks like she has a broken wing as it is hanging down somewhat on one side.
Still she does not seem to bothered by it, apart from not being able to flap like the others. Already a 'pecking order' is being formed, with one of the new hens joining Rhodey and Red where ever they seem to go.

We have been letting them out on the grass at the bottom of the garden to peck around, while being contained by some chicken wired frames from the fold out coup we had them in on day one.

This posts picture was taken on my mobile. You can see what I think is the dominant new top hen, although still ranked as No3. Oh and we also had a very nice follow up email from the BHWT checking all is well and giving some contact details.

The Blog of our Rescue Hens

2010-05-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

This blog is to show how easy and fun it is to keep hens, as well as saving ex battery birds from ending their poor short lives in a can of cat food.

We collected our six hens on Sunday 2nd May from a charity that saves ex-battery hens after they have 'given their best' as egg laying machines for the first 17 months of their lives. They are usually a Rhode Island Red hybrid, as these as super egg layers.

Once we got the girls back to the garden, we kept them in a fold out pen, not with our other two hens at first. We already had a bantum Rhode Island Red and a New Hampshire Red, who are getting on a bit at about five years old.