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  1. techiebabe

    Prolapsed and bleeding vent, after laying egg with shell that didn't stick

    I posted the other day about my favourite hen having crop problems, but now it's worse and I'm worried I'll lose her. Please help! Nobody replied to my other post :( I've done an awful lot of research before getting hens, but I really need help with this. Or at least to know someone is...
  2. techiebabe

    My favourite hen's crop isnt emptying...

    Ive checked her, her crop is now a lot less full (half full?) - a little fuller than the others but not much, and soft like the others'. However, her neck and belly is a lot hotter than usual and hotter than the other hens. She still seems absolutely normal in herself, but Im a bit concerned...
  3. techiebabe

    My favourite hen's crop isnt emptying...

    Hello! I have 5 ex battery hens that Ive had for 2 months, but they are wonderful and it's like theyve been here forever. Yesterday I noticed that my favourite hen Ginger's crop was full at lunchtime, but I assumed she'd just been overindulging. This morning at dawn they trotted out of the...
  4. techiebabe

    I don't have a compost pile

    Exactly, this is what I was getting at too. Mine was bought via the council for about ten quid. OP, these "tardis" type compost bins are just a plastic bin which you place on the ground. When you want to add stuff, you lift the lid to do so. The lid stays closed so you don't get flies. After...
  5. techiebabe

    Closing coop overnight in summer?

    Thanks for the replies! That sounds good, I was worried about the draft if I left it open, but it sounds like that's not an issue (at least in summer). Yes, I'm sure the run is secure, my builder who created it told me I could keep Tigers in there... And he was right! It is, let's say, over...
  6. techiebabe

    I don't have a compost pile

    Um... Just bin it? i have 5 hens. Every day while collecting eggs i will spend a minute pulling poo out of their bedding (by hand, i do have a litter tray scoop but this is quicker). I use aubiose so the poo is always dried out and not pungent. Then once a week I clean the coop, replace their...
  7. techiebabe

    Chicken Run Predator Proofing

    Aw, that's sad. Until you get somewhere new fixed up (and can then get some friends for your remaining hen) then you could keep them in a cat box overnight. Not ideal but they're safe. A skirt is wire that comes out from the side of the run at 90 degrees, so where the bottom of run or coop...
  8. techiebabe

    Closing coop overnight in summer?

    Hello! Quick query: My five ex-batts are now very well adjusted and doing "hen" things. At night they trot into their coop & put themselves to bed. But with the summer dawn, they are awake at 4am tapping on the door to be let out. Sometimes one of us is up then, but more usually it'll be...
  9. techiebabe

    Slow Website!?

    The BP Ultimate fuel ad just popped up on my screen (Firefox on android) and since then everything is *crawling*. The first thing I saw was a purple loading bar overlaying the page. Then the green ad appeared a few seconds later. The animation in it was moving very slowly and jerking. I...
  10. techiebabe

    Building perches for the run

    Apologies. I understand, some people are more visual! But i havent managed to grab much of a pic with my phone yet :( I think I have a solution now tho! Ill share it in case it helps anyone in future... So, there I was asking hubby how to suspend the branches as perches, either hanging from...
  11. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    Theres a window in the door too :/
  12. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    Ok, so before it was dusk two of them had already settled into the boxes to sleep! I pushed them out, and once all were in the run I put cardboard to block off the boxes. Then I opened the door to the coop and they marched in crossly, wanting to sleep... And werent impressed to find the nest...
  13. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    Thanks Ridgerunner, great points! I will digest them and come back... Cos Im about to go make some perches for the run before sundown :-)
  14. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    One other quick comment, we are in east London where it never gets fully dark. Consequently the hens sleep but never get into that hen catatonic state. So I move them every hour but two of the five still sneak into the nest boxes, and it isnt always the same ones! Im thinking to put a baffle in...
  15. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    Hi aart, yes, I know things are a bit cramped in the coop, but Im removing poo daily and they seem to be happy. Ive got aubiose and zeolite there and it all seems dry etc. Given that they seem to prefer a big hen pile in the nest boxes, theres loads of space they arent using! Anyway they seem...
  16. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    Hi Percheron, thanks! They get a well recommended layers crumble specially formulated for ex batts. They then get a variety of treats: mealworms, mixed corn, veg scraps, ground cat biscuits. Not all at once obviously because they do need to eat their crumble as most of their nutrition, but...
  17. techiebabe

    Building perches for the run

    The run is about 6m long, 1.5 wide. And 2m high as it is a walk in. Basically as you walk down its length then the coop is on left, then along the left hand side has grit feeder, treadle feeder, tyre full of sand for dust, then a good 1.5 metres clear at the end. On the right theres a...
  18. techiebabe

    Building perches for the run

    Hi Lilapot - good question! I have 5 :) I call them the Spice Hens - you can guess the naming scheme...Girl Power! *giggle* also if it helps,the short end of the run where Im planning to put the perches is 1.5m wide. Thanks!
  19. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    Hi, Howard! Yes, "ex-batts" are retired battery hens. Here in the UK they are only allowed in "enriched colony cages" nowadays, but that still means... A group of 80 per cage, with space roughly an a4 piece of paper each... A couple of nest boxes and one small scratch mat for the whole cage...
  20. techiebabe

    How to adapt coop so the hens stop sleeping in nestbox?

    Hiya! You're absolutely right in that their life has turned on its head! I'm actually impressed with how much they've learned and how quickly they've adapted. As I said to my hubby, Sunday was probably the worst day of their lives - taken from everything they know... But Monday was...
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