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[hxgumdrop]

Thank you Barbara I will definitely keep that in mind! they get more confused with the chicken wire than my other hens so I will have to keep an eye on their eyes! My first three as they was inside for their first 4months I washed them regularly as they tended to get poop stuck around their bottoms, I don't really wash them now as they keep pretty clean free roaming round the garden but I did wash Clarissa a few months back as I took her into the school to meet the children that had hatched Babs and Ginger, I have to say she absolute loved that day! started with a bath which went well considering Iv not done it for a year and shes a lot bigger than she was, then I blow dried her which she like cooed over moving around and showing me where was still wet! Then we went to the school and she was out with the children on my arm for just over an hour and didn't even panic when we got surrounded by the little ones all wanting to stroke her at the same time, I took her as I new she was more well behaved than the others but I just cant believe just HOW well she behaved! Didn't even toilet in the class room she waited until she was back in her cat box, such a clever girl!
My silkies don't really make any noise they do the iv laid an egg song which is quieter than my other hens, they are growling at me atm as they are broody AGAIN and one is still not very friendly so pecks me alot which is not much fun when trying to get eggs from under her lol
I am well and truly hooked to having them I really don't no what I did with out them plus shop bought eggs have now been ruined for ever lol

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Hxgumdrop

You did make me laugh with your description of your trip to the school with Clarissa! Great name by the way.. Can't believe she let you primp and preen her and then to cope so well with all those little people..... really that is just amazing.... and no embarrassing poops! She is obviously a star!.
My silkie, Dippy has never laid an egg so I don't know if she has an egg song. She just toddles around keeping out of everyone else's way (she's bottom of the pecking order) and occasionally makes this "woop" noise. I've not had a silkie before so I don't know if she is typical but she is incredibly cute.

Anyway, it's past my bedtime so I must head off now. Lovely to hear more about your girls.

Best wishes

Barbara

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[hxgumdrop]

All three of my silkies have laid, beautiful white eggs but they are more broody than anything, they have taken to singing their song when i kick them out of the nest box for a run around and tricks me every time I go back down the garden to find they was playing tricks on me! these are my first silkies too, im a little gutted iv never heard them do the woop noise im guna have to spend even more time with them in the hope iv just missed it!
Babs and Ginger are both at the bottom of the pecking order atm even though they are now bigger than the silkies but im sure it wont last much longer once they realise they are twice the size as the little fluff balls! Stubs (the one with the faulty legs)will be back at the bottoms soon im sure of it.
Clarissa definetly is a star, had i taken cluckles she would have sat on everyones shoulders and charlotte would have made a run for it and played me right up as I spoilt her too much (she slept in my bed under my chin when she was little!)
It's lovely to hear about yours too everyone is getting bored of my chicken chat now lol

 

[rebrascora]

Yes it is great to be able to share enthusiasm and experiences of our chickens with people who share our passion. I get the same benefit from another forum about beekeeping. The internet really is amazing! It prevents us from causing our nearest and dearest to get that glazed look when we bore the pants off them about our chucks/bees most recent trials and antics.

Dippy was bought as a 50th birthday present to be a broody as it is a trait of the breed, but so far she's a miserable failure on that score and I can't see it happening if she doesn't lay eggs! Just as well she makes up for it in cuteness. Thankfully, my little Tasha and Frances have opted to fulfil that role, so Dippy is free to just waddle about and "woop" and be a woolly headed pet..... she's very "blond" in her attitude.

My big problem is going to be dealing with my young cockerels. They are 10 weeks and growing fast and I said from the start that if I was going to raise chicks, I needed to take responsibility for the cockerels and since I'm not vegetarian, and waste is fundamentally wrong in a world where people are starving, I would rear them for meat. This is a major issue for me because I am very caring by nature and struggle to kill a fly let alone anything else. I do know people who would probably kill them for me, but I'm not sure it's right to shirk that responsibility.... it's too easy in our modern day world to be isolated from the "dirty hands" issues of our food production.

My first brood of chicks are farmyard mutts, so it's not like there is any breeding potential in them and my yard is in the centre of the village, so I can't keep too many cockerels out of respect to the neighbours, who are brilliant I have to say. And, of course, as they mature (the cockerels not the neighbours!) they will fight.. I have at least 5 but probably 6 of the current brood that are males, and I think about it almost every day and try to harden my heart to them but there is one that comes and jumps up on my shoulder and twitters in my ear and generally charms the pants off me and he knows I can't refuse him! A couple of the other cockerels are pretty friendly too, whereas the pullets are very shy and won't be handled at all.
Anyway, as you can see, come Christmas time I am going to have a bit of a dilemma to deal with and I'm not sure Christmas dinner will be a comfortable meal!

Anyway, that's enough of my trials and tribulations for today.

Hope you have a good day and your chucks give joy to your heart.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[hxgumdrop]

That is strange shes not laid at all and hasnt gone broody, how old is she now? All three of mine laid a couple eggs then went broody pretty sharpish and as soon as they stop being broody they start broodiness all over again its a vicious circle maybe you should borrow one!
I had that same dilemma when Clarissa hatched the silkies as two out of the 5 was roos and being silkies it was very hard for a long time to tell how many of them were indeed roos so I found it very hard and mean but I just stopped myself getting attached to any of them which was a dilemma in its self given how cute they are! Once they had gotten as big as they would get the day came and I went out leaving dad to do the deed. I just couldnt see it happen but I have to say I did eat them although I was a little unsure given I had watched them grow, I just had to tell myself that I eat chicken and who nos what kind of life that lead, atleast these two boys had lived a wonderful life with free roam of the garden and treats galore! Although being silkies there really wasnt much to them and it was very strange eating black chicken they were ever so tastey like the eggs...better than shop bought!
Had Clarissa gone broody in season I wouldnt have had this issue at all but the problem was that she went broody way too late so chicks were very expensive and not close by so not easy for my toget them so the next thing I could do was order eggs which worked wonderfully and my local farm was very shocked she managed to hatch them given the time of year it just shouldnt have worked but again we already no Clarissa is a star! :-D
My neighbours didnt hate the roos as they live in a converted anderson shelter so the noise is pretty muffled until I let them out around 8/9 but im not sure how they would react if it became a more regular thing, if I could id more out of the city and to the country but then my chicken madness would probably take over a bit too much!

 

[rebrascora]

Thanks so much Heather for sharing your experience of dealing with cockerels. It helps to know what other people do. I've researched the actual physical means and since I don't have the necessary skill and experience to pull their necks and would hate to get it wrong, I've probably settled on a chopping block with two nails in it and an axe. I chop logs so I'm reasonably adept with an axe. Still don't know whether I can do it when it comes down to it, but at least I'm giving it lots of consideration before I get there.

Not sure how old Dippy is. She was bought at auction with 2 other silkie crosses for my birthday in Feb and I would say that she was pretty much full grown then. One of her compatriots, Frances, has been laying since May and is currently sitting on eggs... 1 week down....2 to go! Sadly the other member of their trio, Elvira (she had major Elvis sideburns!), died last month, but she had also been laying for at least a month prior to that.

I've had 4 die since I got them plus a chick. 3 died of impaction of the gizzard (I did post a basic post mortem) and it was really obvious as their gizzard was packed solid with fibrous material. They free range and spend a lot of time scratching and picking through my horses manure heap and I guess take up quite a bit of partially broken down hay/straw/wood shavings. The fourth was killed by someone's dog(Boy was I mad!) and I didn't get time or have the inclination to do a post mortem on a 4 week old chick and to be honest out of a clutch of 14 I fully expected more casualties than just 1, so I just accepted the loss but that may well have been an impaction too. They love scratching in the muck heap for bugs and worms and it helps to keep the flies down in that yard for the horses and it helps to break down the muck heap but it does seem to be a double edged sword.

My flock is still in positive figures though as I have produced 13 chicks and at least 7 are pullets, so I accept the losses and rejoice in the positives.

I'm having a bit of a problem with red mites at the moment. I'm regularly dusting everywhere with DE every other day, so I hope I'm getting on top of it but my hen house is an old stone stable and the hens roost on the old hay heck which is riddled with woodworm, so there are plenty of places for the mites to take shelter and I think I might have to bite the bullet and strip all the old timber out.

Had a right run around tonight trying to catch my little chicks and put them to bed. I had let them out for the first time but because they are incubator reared, they have no broody to show them where home is and they clearly don't see me as their mother. I thought I was going to have to borrow my neighbour's butterfly net to get them rounded up. Thankfully my horse stood stock still whilst I chased them around under and through his legs and eventually I got them. Will think twice about giving them their liberty tomorrow though and they were soaking when I eventually rounded them up.

Anyway, that's my day's highlights. Tomorrow I am going to a farm sale and hope to buy a hen ark which will put an end to their shenanighins!

Hope you have a good weekend

Barbara

 

[hxgumdrop]

My dad had never killed a roo before but he's a bit of a cave man when it comes down for it 'man kill food, man eat food!' so he was well up for and I think quite enjoyed doing it. Was lucky he had a friend who grew up around chickens so was able to show him and talk him through what to do so if I do ever end up with roos he is now very much prepared! I was very much in two minds about eating them (I didnt have much choice about them being put down as that was the deal of me getting the eggs if there was any roos they wouldnt be staying) but what helped me most was being reminded that I do eat chicken from the shop or butchers and ok we do always buy free range but you dont no how nice a life its lived but having brought them up myself I new exactly what condition they were in and they was happy and pampered up to their final day. I hope this helps at least a little although I do no it also makes it harder when youv brought them up so it is a tricky one!
Thats such a pain which the horse hair but I can imagine how amazing that grub is for the chooks! my girls favourite spot is under the massive bush and rose bush where I cant actually see them until I call them. I got them all in yesterday then realised Sally was still hiding under the bush so she gave me the run around, shes turned into a bit of a madam since I let her have the chicks. My original three are fine at going in at night now although before I clipped their wings it was awful I spent hours and weeks retrieving them from my neighbours garden! luckily he found it funny and I did go round cleaning up after them.
That is really good going to only loose one out of 14!
Luckily all the wood in my coop has been fine so far even though none of it is new its all made from old kitchen counters and mum and dads old bed. Apparently Vaseline is a life safer when it comes to red mites, cover any open bits of wood with it and also your chickens legs as this stop them climbing up their legs. Ive not tried it as iv not had a problem with them so far but Iv read it in a few different places so it might help a little?
My day has been pretty tame no funny stories from the girls but I have managed to make a Stubs a little more comfortable with me although still no luck with Scrambles she still pecks me like mad, only way to move her is by covering her with a towel and scooping her up! I looked at Sally and Stubs' eyes and they seem to have a gap above their eyes then their fluff starts, is this the same as Dippy? Wondering if mine maybe aren't as fluffy?
What is a hen ark?

 

[LittleGecko]

Hi, I have recently joined the forum and I am from Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales. I used to keep chickens as a child and was delighted to adopt 4 rescued chicks last year. The whole family fell in love with them and soon enthusiastically joined me in caring for them, our flock has now grown and our chickens are a great source of pleasure in our lives. So hello from the mountains!

 

[hxgumdrop]

Hello and welcome
It is lovely that you managed to rescue chicks and give them a loving home. Do they all have names? Were they in a bad way when you rescued them?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi LittleGecko and welcome from me too.

Yes, tell us more about them..... names, breeds etc? Pictures if you can? Has your flock grown as a result of breeding from the chicks you rescued or have you just got addicted and felt the need to have more..."chicken maths" should be a recognised disease! There are certainly plenty of us that suffer from it!
It's great that your whole family are involved and you are all loving it.

Look forward to hearing more

Best wishes

Barbara