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[paws]

Hi

@rebrascora

&

@LittleGecko .

Having issues getting my broodies to come out from sitting , got 7 little pure bantams thinking they can sit forever. I have had to remove all the eggs from under them as we rescued a neighbours remaining hen from her after she had a fox in which took all her others, However this brown hen has taken it upon itself to be an Egg eater, so looks like i may have to look at rehoming or marketing her. We had 2 little chicks hatch out up there but within a few days both vanished. so defo not a good situ. We built our girls there own home earlier this yr using half inch weld mesh floor to ceiling and wall to wall so no it isnt possibly rodents getting in. so all our chicks are being hatched through the incubator and hand reared for 4 weeks before being introduced to main run and housing.I guess weve nearly had 100 chicks already this yr. as usual hens go so easy but nobody seems to like the little lads... and even by looking on poultry sites its always up country most folk are looking for these birds..... Devon is lovely, got the best of coastal and country as living on outskirts of town. does anyone have any ideas on how to get broodies motivated to run with the flock again? This is Our chicken coop & run we built for about £300, Its 21ft x 9ft and it has to off the floor coops 9ft x3ft for our girls and babies to choose from, best thing we did was to build and worked out far cheaper then buying anything like it. the grassed area behind the fence is solely theirs and we have planted some fruit trees there this yr to offer them shade in the coming yrs.

 

[paws]

This is our beach this evening beautiful watching the sunset

 

[LittleGecko]

That is a great run! Really attractive and your beach is beautiful! I live at the edge of a village in the foothills of the Moel Wynn mountain range a few miles from Snowden, so we ddon't get to the beach very often.
We had no luck with getting our broodies out and about again so we gave them some eggs to incubate! At least I don't have to fiddle about with the incubator.
But I don't know what we will do if we get several broodies again next year, I only have one order for chicks next spring so far.

 

[rebrascora]

Paula, you are making me so jealous!

That beach photo is gorgeous and your chicken set up is pretty amazing too. How do you manage to keep the grass in the run?

Likewise Jo, I live on the edge of a village, but my yard is in the centre next to the shop and opposite the church. Everyone comes to feed my horses and chickens as they walk/drive past. I used to worry about what they were getting, but 17 years later, they have never been poisoned and people get so much pleasure from it, that I couldn't prohibit it. Some people even come from the neighbouring village in their cars to bring them tit bits and the village shop does a roaring trade in mints and carrots. They are totally spoiled! It's older people mostly or young people with small children. It's a nice way to get to know people and develop a community spirit.

I saw a fox last night, coming from the land of a fellow poultry keeper, with something in it's mouth. It cut across the road onto my land as I was driving down the road, so I'm back to thinking it may be the culprit for my missing chickens rather than, or as well as, the dog. My 2 leghorn girls at home have stopped laying. They are obviously not happy about being kept in, but having seen that fox I am being even more careful now.
I need to find where it has it's set and perhaps see if I can get the terrier men to trap and remove it.

Getting so excited about my chicks that are due..... just 2 more days to go!
Did you get your duck hose erected Jo and what do the ducks think of it?

 

[paws]

Hi again Ladies, @rebrascora the internal run has no grass at all, just sand , the grass in the external run has survived our hens really well. i let them out most days, just not when its teaming down. then they get to roam the inner run, lots easier. Last yr we rehomed our ducks, 3 Indian runners and 3 White campbells, all lived with our hens and there was no way of keeping any grass then and sadly with the wet winter last yr, it was worse then some farmers slurry pit i tell ya. As much as the ducks have so much character and hated to see them go, was best for them and our hens we parted company so they went to live somewhere with a few acres and a pond. I'm living although close to country and beach, in the middle of a housing estate. fortunately older houses have larger gardens which is where we are lucky, the picture shown is approx a 3rd of my garden and has been designated purely to our hens. Were lucky also to have raised them amongst our dogs and cats so i don't have no fear of leaving them out during the day, but wasn't taking any chances where the town foxes were concerned, its why we ended up building our own enclosure for them. can so do without a repeat of fox carnage..... nasty blighters !

 

[rebrascora]

Hi everyone

Exciting news today is that one of my chicks has hatched early. It looks like a cream legbar. I opened the side board/brooder for Frances to come out and stretch her legs this afternoon. She only comes off every 2 to 3 days and I give her the option but it's up to her. She sat for a long time before deciding to come out and when she did, there was the chick amongst the eggs all fluffy and cute. It sat for about 10 mins before starting to cheep for her, so I herded her back into the hen house/stable and she jumped back up into the side board and snuggled down into the nest with it. I'm a bit concerned that she would get up and leave the chick like that and I won't risk letting her out again now until they have all hatched. She has food and drink in the side board and this was the last time I planned to let her out anyway, to have a run round. Don't think she is going to be as good a mother as Tasha but we will see. At least she has one chick though and the excitement has begun. Can't wait to check on them in the morning!

Anyway, just wanted to share my good news.

 

[rebrascora]

Chick number 2 is out (it's a leghorn) and several more pipped. Yippee!!

The first chick to hatch was a legbar, but unfortunately it's a cockerel. It looks strong and healthy though. It will be sods law that all the leghorn eggs hatch pullets and the legbars cocks because of course I want them the other way around..... well at least 1 leghorn cockerel and I didn't want any more legbar males.

Jo, how is your hatch going? Any sign of anything happening yet?

 

[rebrascora]

Well, 8 out of 9 hatched which is a great result! The 9th, which was Frances own egg, was not fertile and has been removed. I'm guessing that perhaps the disparity in size between Frances and Harry was to blame or that she is so flighty and he didn't catch up with her. It's a shame because I think she is my prettiest hen and I was looking forward to seeing what the cross might produce.

So I should have 2 cream legbars, 4 exchequer leghorns and 2 cream legbar/RIR crosses.

I'm trying not to mess with them too much, so I haven't really had the chance to see all of them yet, but I quickly lifted her and removed all of the shells and the dud egg.

I could sit there all day watching but the weather forecast is poor for tomorrow, so I must get as much done today as I can. Tomorrow I can play, when it's raining!

Hope everyone is enjoying their bank holiday weekend.

Regards

Barbara

 

[LittleGecko]

Congratulations on the hatch! That is a great result. I have three out of six hatched so far and much to our surprise one of the chicks is black! The other eggs should hatch over the next few days.
The new chickens and ducks are here was not amused to discover that the chickens all have advanced scaly leg mite and had never been wormed or handled and several had matted lumps of droppings and who knows what else in their feathers. So we spent yesterday treating, trimming and cleaning them and starting a course of flubenvet wormer.
The ducks have settled in fine and are loving the pond and the hens have integrated nicely although they have spent most of the day lurking in the coop and nipping out when the rain eases!
The new chickens are...
A barred plymouth rock
A cream legbar
A buff Orpington bantam
A pekin
A light Sussex
A light Sussex cross
A lavender booted bantam
And a plymouth rock/bantam cross.
Am totally pooped today!

 

[LittleGecko]

One of my newly hatched chicks!