Today I picked up 4 hens about 1/2 hour away. They are 1-2 years old and all laying and 1 is really clucky broody. Picked them up "at the end of the drive' as she does biosecurity. Now that is just plain disappointing you can't go visit! But its ok.
There are 2 Light Sussex hens from good lines, 1 Double-laced Barnevelder hen, and 1 Golden Laced Wyandotte. The Light Sussex are 1 year-olds, and in their first laying. The Gold Laced and Barnevelder are 2 year olds.
So they are all settled into the pit greenhouse/storage room. They have an apple crate nest box and a round tote tub on it's side. Those are the most popular!
Wyandotte hen has a pooey butt. So I'm thinking I should get out a warm bucket of water and a towel?? Yup, did that and found mites/critters running around. So she got medicated shampoo there and dried. Did her legs with vaseline and tea tree oil. Everybody elses, too!
One hen has very nice smooth skin on her legs and I'm thinking she is the 1 year old. 1 has kinda scaley bumpy legs, and the other two are inbetween. So I'm thinking I should get some DE and maybe see about doing something for those legs. From BYC forum, I see that VASELINE will do the trick to soften the skin and smother the mites. Looks like they are leg scale mites from the sounds of the forum. Got that done today. No DE around but I will be putting in a dustbath bowl of wood ashes for them!
And I already found 2 light brown/dark beige eggs! They came with 5 eggs the LtSussex had been sitting on, Welsummer and Ameraucana hens and roosters, but probably Easter Egger chicks. But they were cold when I picked them up and I split them up between the nestboxes and 2 are broody somewhat on them, but not really.
They have red wigglers in the vermicompost floor, layer mix, ground egg shells, corn scratch, and water. There is fresh straw in the nest boxes. I bet it smells nice in there for at least another day!
Cheers all will post pictures in a while. I had thought that black hen was an australorp, but she was the double laced Barnevelder. VERY PRETTY. She is slimmest of the 4 hens. She laid an egg on the second day. Hers is darker and shinier than the eggs of the other 3, so we can kind of keep track. So far 5 eggs in two days and one is definitely a broody hen that doesn't seem to be laying.
Bonnie in OHIo on her first big chicken adventure!
There are 2 Light Sussex hens from good lines, 1 Double-laced Barnevelder hen, and 1 Golden Laced Wyandotte. The Light Sussex are 1 year-olds, and in their first laying. The Gold Laced and Barnevelder are 2 year olds.
So they are all settled into the pit greenhouse/storage room. They have an apple crate nest box and a round tote tub on it's side. Those are the most popular!
Wyandotte hen has a pooey butt. So I'm thinking I should get out a warm bucket of water and a towel?? Yup, did that and found mites/critters running around. So she got medicated shampoo there and dried. Did her legs with vaseline and tea tree oil. Everybody elses, too!
One hen has very nice smooth skin on her legs and I'm thinking she is the 1 year old. 1 has kinda scaley bumpy legs, and the other two are inbetween. So I'm thinking I should get some DE and maybe see about doing something for those legs. From BYC forum, I see that VASELINE will do the trick to soften the skin and smother the mites. Looks like they are leg scale mites from the sounds of the forum. Got that done today. No DE around but I will be putting in a dustbath bowl of wood ashes for them!
And I already found 2 light brown/dark beige eggs! They came with 5 eggs the LtSussex had been sitting on, Welsummer and Ameraucana hens and roosters, but probably Easter Egger chicks. But they were cold when I picked them up and I split them up between the nestboxes and 2 are broody somewhat on them, but not really.
They have red wigglers in the vermicompost floor, layer mix, ground egg shells, corn scratch, and water. There is fresh straw in the nest boxes. I bet it smells nice in there for at least another day!
Cheers all will post pictures in a while. I had thought that black hen was an australorp, but she was the double laced Barnevelder. VERY PRETTY. She is slimmest of the 4 hens. She laid an egg on the second day. Hers is darker and shinier than the eggs of the other 3, so we can kind of keep track. So far 5 eggs in two days and one is definitely a broody hen that doesn't seem to be laying.
Bonnie in OHIo on her first big chicken adventure!
