Hi from Oxfordshire

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7OxfordHens

7OxfordHens

In the Brooder
5 Years
Aug 25, 2014
10
0
22
Hi everyone from Oxfordshire UK. I've newly addicted to chickens, and have been reading and learning lots from this website for the last few months, so though it was time I said thank you, and Hi to everyone!

Currently have 7 chickens: 2 hybrids, who can hear the kitchen door opening for treats at 100 yards! One speckledy (Rhode Island / Maran cross I think) who has been broody and is currently raising her first family of four chicks. The chicks are 2 cream legbars and 2 exchequer leghorns, I think we have 3 pullets and 1 roo if my observations are correct!

We just sadly lost our other speckledy who was brooding a clutch of eggs, but died on day 15. I'm not sure what killed her, she was leaving the nest everyday to eat and drink, and was fine that morning, but I found her off the nest and standing in a sort of stupour, falling asleep standing up, and very unresponsive. She was dead within an hour. I've got her eggs in a makeshift bator, but I don't know if they will pull through, it's day 20 today.

It's been a steep learning curve, but I wouldn't give them up now!

Thanks for reading
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Glad you joined us!

Feel free to ask lots of questions! We're all here to help.
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I'm sorry about your broody hen. Good luck with the eggs!
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Oh, I am so sorry about your broody that suddenly passed.
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These things do happen. Chickens are good at hiding illness. Especially broodies since they look sleepy all the time.

But it sounds like you have a lovely flock! I hope they continue to bring you great joy. :)

Welcome to our flock and enjoy yours!
 
Welcome to BYC!
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We're glad to have you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Sorry about the loss of the hen- I hope the eggs hatch okay!
 
Hi and welcome from the North of England.

Really sad about your broody. Will keep fingers crossed for her eggs to hatch. I have lost a few hens since I started in January and I did a post mortem on the ones which died unexpectedly and found they had impacted gizzards. (I feed my horses grass cuttings from the lawn and the hens had got into the stable and got some of it). I was lucky that the cause was really obvious and I found it helpful to know what the they had died from and therefore try to prevent it happening again, but I also learned a lot in the process. The others got taken by dogs/foxes.
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I'm also breeding exchequer leghorns and cream legbars but I have a very mixed flock. How old are your chicks? My second broody just hatched 8 eggs last weekend and my first broody is on her second batch. I'm getting rapidly overrun with chickens!
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I know it is possible to sex the legbars on day 1 and it looks like I have one male, but when does the sex of the leghorns become apparent? My first brood were mongrels but the combs were a giveaway at about 5 weeks. With leghorn hens also having such huge combs I'm wondering if it will be so obvious.

There are a few threads on here specifically for UK members if you are interested in perhaps making local contacts and sharing more regional experience.

Anyway, good to have you on board and hope your remaining hens thrive

Best wishes

Barbara
 

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