- Jun 7, 2014
- 7
- 1
- 11
Hey all,
Annie
I started off with six brown shaver hens, and have loved them to bits from day one. They faithfully laid eggs every day from 4 months old, and have just stopped laying now that they are 5 and a 1/2. I did lose a few bubs on the way to cancer and sour crop and now have three girls left; Annie, Henny and Shirley.
My remaining three babies are absolutely gorgeous. They no longer lay, but are the best of buds, are spoilt rotten and have a great life. I have noticed now theyre older that they are eating much less than they used to, have a decreased activity level and are getting a little quieter. However it wasn't until one of them got sick with sour crop that I started thinking about the future of the girls-- what happens when there is just one bub left? -- Henny has since recovered but I still worry a bit about what happens when there is only one hen left in the coop.
I can't responsibly get a whole bunch (3-4) of new girls-- I am moving out of my parents house in the next few years; getting a flat which allows normal pets is hard enough, let alone hens (I live in central city...). I'm the main one who looks after them; they are most definitively my girls, and neither my parents nor my siblings are interested in taking on full- on care of hens.
I do have a friend who I could give the girls to-- she has hens of her own, lives on a lifestyle block and has made it clear that she can take over my girls. But they do have things my bubbas are not used to --horses, dogs, other hens, roosters... and I kind of want them to have a quieter retirement rather than stressing them out heaps working out a new pecking order in a new environment with different creatures. And, rather selfishly I guess, I love my hens and want to be around them for the longest time possible.
The main thing I am worried about is getting down to one hen and then that one hen getting depressed from loneliness or bored from not having someone to play with all day.
I have been thinking about getting one younger hen once I am down to two and then giving that one to my friend when the older two die-- I think if I was clear from the outset that the hen wasn't going to be with me forever that that would be more acceptable to me. Also I feel a younger hen would cope with it better perhaps? (I have a rescue place in mind that rehabilitates birds and often has a hen for adoption)
Has anyone gone through this and can offer any advice? Or does anyone see anything that I can't?
Any input appreciated
Jamie
Annie
I started off with six brown shaver hens, and have loved them to bits from day one. They faithfully laid eggs every day from 4 months old, and have just stopped laying now that they are 5 and a 1/2. I did lose a few bubs on the way to cancer and sour crop and now have three girls left; Annie, Henny and Shirley.
My remaining three babies are absolutely gorgeous. They no longer lay, but are the best of buds, are spoilt rotten and have a great life. I have noticed now theyre older that they are eating much less than they used to, have a decreased activity level and are getting a little quieter. However it wasn't until one of them got sick with sour crop that I started thinking about the future of the girls-- what happens when there is just one bub left? -- Henny has since recovered but I still worry a bit about what happens when there is only one hen left in the coop.
I can't responsibly get a whole bunch (3-4) of new girls-- I am moving out of my parents house in the next few years; getting a flat which allows normal pets is hard enough, let alone hens (I live in central city...). I'm the main one who looks after them; they are most definitively my girls, and neither my parents nor my siblings are interested in taking on full- on care of hens.
I do have a friend who I could give the girls to-- she has hens of her own, lives on a lifestyle block and has made it clear that she can take over my girls. But they do have things my bubbas are not used to --horses, dogs, other hens, roosters... and I kind of want them to have a quieter retirement rather than stressing them out heaps working out a new pecking order in a new environment with different creatures. And, rather selfishly I guess, I love my hens and want to be around them for the longest time possible.
The main thing I am worried about is getting down to one hen and then that one hen getting depressed from loneliness or bored from not having someone to play with all day.
I have been thinking about getting one younger hen once I am down to two and then giving that one to my friend when the older two die-- I think if I was clear from the outset that the hen wasn't going to be with me forever that that would be more acceptable to me. Also I feel a younger hen would cope with it better perhaps? (I have a rescue place in mind that rehabilitates birds and often has a hen for adoption)
Has anyone gone through this and can offer any advice? Or does anyone see anything that I can't?
Any input appreciated
Jamie
