Bantam chickens, wild mouse, dead gerbil, random stuff...
Discussion
OH's brother gave her a chicken coup this weekend. She has always wanted chickens so suddenly became very excited! And broody! 
On Sunday, we started our search and bought three bantams. If you are a bantam buff, they are:
£20 Orange: Buffrock bantam
£30 White: Red laced wine dot
£20 Black: Chocolate Orpington bantam
No idea if the prices are about right or not, but everyone is happy, chickens included.
The clucking is fairly minimal and they are good layers, just much smaller than normal farm chickens, the eggs being smaller too. The eggs are laid warm and are exceedingly clean when they pop out.
Apparently they need laying pellets as well as the normal feed, which strengthens the shells and helps them produce better eggs, so we are giving them that. Does anyone else keep outdoor birds? We have plenty of space for a nice pond and some ducks, but apparently they s
t absolutely everywhere, so we'll be skipping the ducks 
We came across a mouse in one of our sheds whilst getting bedding for the chickens - Ive never seen one here before. Any idea what kind of mouse it is, field or harvest, I have no idea, but sadly we destroyed his home in the process of shifting things around.
No need to start a new thread, but whilst posting animal photos, I thought Id chuck this one up too. The poor little fellow died at the end of last week, just stopped eating, temperature dropped, then he was gone.
He had been dead some time as his eyes had dried out when we found him, but his body was as warm as toast as his parents had kept him in the nest, trying to keep him warm. RIP and all that, they come and they go, and most importantly are loved whilst they are here.
On Sunday, we started our search and bought three bantams. If you are a bantam buff, they are:
£20 Orange: Buffrock bantam
£30 White: Red laced wine dot
£20 Black: Chocolate Orpington bantam
No idea if the prices are about right or not, but everyone is happy, chickens included.
The clucking is fairly minimal and they are good layers, just much smaller than normal farm chickens, the eggs being smaller too. The eggs are laid warm and are exceedingly clean when they pop out.
Apparently they need laying pellets as well as the normal feed, which strengthens the shells and helps them produce better eggs, so we are giving them that. Does anyone else keep outdoor birds? We have plenty of space for a nice pond and some ducks, but apparently they s
t absolutely everywhere, so we'll be skipping the ducks We came across a mouse in one of our sheds whilst getting bedding for the chickens - Ive never seen one here before. Any idea what kind of mouse it is, field or harvest, I have no idea, but sadly we destroyed his home in the process of shifting things around.
No need to start a new thread, but whilst posting animal photos, I thought Id chuck this one up too. The poor little fellow died at the end of last week, just stopped eating, temperature dropped, then he was gone.
He had been dead some time as his eyes had dried out when we found him, but his body was as warm as toast as his parents had kept him in the nest, trying to keep him warm. RIP and all that, they come and they go, and most importantly are loved whilst they are here.
I'd deff get a lid on that but it is a lovely run, I had one very similar but couldn't deal with the spiders dropping on my head when cleaning it out. Chickens are meant to eat spiders but mine seemed to veggies ;-)
I now keep two chickens, Pinot and Bubbles, I have them mostly hand tamed and they are allowed in the house but after the last winter when I had to keep them in the secure run as the fox had deff got his eye on them to the point of getting one in his mouth it wont be for another month until I'll let them free range and back in the house.
They are very easy to toilet train only the very odd accident and as long as they aren't under the weather it is pretty solid poos. We have tiled floors which makes a difference but if I know they've been out a while they will wander into the sitting room.
Once when I was poorly Mr 13th came home to find all of us on or by the sofa, that's two Dobermanns, two cats and the two chickens.
I've also seen them take a treat off the dogs more than once, they really are such characters.
Enjoy your Ladies.
I now keep two chickens, Pinot and Bubbles, I have them mostly hand tamed and they are allowed in the house but after the last winter when I had to keep them in the secure run as the fox had deff got his eye on them to the point of getting one in his mouth it wont be for another month until I'll let them free range and back in the house.
They are very easy to toilet train only the very odd accident and as long as they aren't under the weather it is pretty solid poos. We have tiled floors which makes a difference but if I know they've been out a while they will wander into the sitting room.
Once when I was poorly Mr 13th came home to find all of us on or by the sofa, that's two Dobermanns, two cats and the two chickens.
I've also seen them take a treat off the dogs more than once, they really are such characters.
Enjoy your Ladies.
Quite a menagerie. I want to get chickens one day but I'd love to get ex battery hens when I do, very rewarding to rescue those poor things and will still produce eggs.
Guess there'll be some reading up going on re: optimum chicken care!
Sorry the little gerbil didn't make it. Do you breed a lot of them?
Guess there'll be some reading up going on re: optimum chicken care!
Sorry the little gerbil didn't make it. Do you breed a lot of them?
Edited by bexVN on Wednesday 20th February 18:50
As said, A fox will decimate that netting - you need decent gauge weldmesh.
We were complacent with our hens, and last year our flock was reduced by 2/3rds thanks to one of the malicious ginger sadists.
You need to feed them layers as they are a complete, balanced food that also contains everything they need to help them produce healthy eggs.
The nasty bits:
Keep an eye on them at this time of year - ours are prone to lice as they can't dust bathe themselves due to the lack of dry ground, so keep getting nasty pooey bums and lice
You're also coming up to one of the yuckiest times for them - spring is red mite season - these horrible little critters multiply incredibly quickly and will suck the life from your birds before you know it. Get some red mite powder, mix it in with their bedding, and keep changing it to keep them at bay. Powder up the coop as well.
On the plus side:
I bloody love our hens - they are great little characters - I can sit for ages just watching them go about their business. The joy is that they are so dim that you feel like a carer, rather than a keeper.
The eggs will be the best you have ever tasted (and work out the most expensive!) - the yolks will probably be bright yellow, and they just taste, well, better than any you can buy from shops!
Collecting the poo gives you great fertiliser for the garden.
If you can, and tehy aren't too flighty (the Orp probably won't be, the Wyandotte may be a bit) they love to free range as much as they can - just seal off the garden and let them out when you're there really - they love a bit of scratching around.
One tip: Mealworms are your friend! Get a big tub of dried mealworms from Wilko's - we've had a bout 10 chooks in total and there wasn't a single one that didn't go mad for them!
We were complacent with our hens, and last year our flock was reduced by 2/3rds thanks to one of the malicious ginger sadists.
You need to feed them layers as they are a complete, balanced food that also contains everything they need to help them produce healthy eggs.
The nasty bits:
Keep an eye on them at this time of year - ours are prone to lice as they can't dust bathe themselves due to the lack of dry ground, so keep getting nasty pooey bums and lice
You're also coming up to one of the yuckiest times for them - spring is red mite season - these horrible little critters multiply incredibly quickly and will suck the life from your birds before you know it. Get some red mite powder, mix it in with their bedding, and keep changing it to keep them at bay. Powder up the coop as well.
On the plus side:
I bloody love our hens - they are great little characters - I can sit for ages just watching them go about their business. The joy is that they are so dim that you feel like a carer, rather than a keeper.
The eggs will be the best you have ever tasted (and work out the most expensive!) - the yolks will probably be bright yellow, and they just taste, well, better than any you can buy from shops!
Collecting the poo gives you great fertiliser for the garden.
If you can, and tehy aren't too flighty (the Orp probably won't be, the Wyandotte may be a bit) they love to free range as much as they can - just seal off the garden and let them out when you're there really - they love a bit of scratching around.
One tip: Mealworms are your friend! Get a big tub of dried mealworms from Wilko's - we've had a bout 10 chooks in total and there wasn't a single one that didn't go mad for them!
13th said:
Once when I was poorly Mr 13th came home to find all of us on or by the sofa, that's two Dobermanns, two cats and the two chickens.
I've also seen them take a treat off the dogs more than once, they really are such characters.
Were you ever worried one of the cats, or dogs, might decide to find out what they taste like? I imagine id be worried all the time!I've also seen them take a treat off the dogs more than once, they really are such characters.
Nightmare said:
13th said:
Once when I was poorly Mr 13th came home to find all of us on or by the sofa, that's two Dobermanns, two cats and the two chickens.
I've also seen them take a treat off the dogs more than once, they really are such characters.
Were you ever worried one of the cats, or dogs, might decide to find out what they taste like? I imagine id be worried all the time!I've also seen them take a treat off the dogs more than once, they really are such characters.
I'd never endanger any animal especially not my pets and my hens are quite fiesty in their own way.
Only one bad thing about my hens/dog mix is that I can teach the dogs not to eat hen poo but the hens like dog poo, I think this is in the hotter months when grubs are there within hours and as I eat and LOVE their eggs all dog poo has to be cleaned immediatly esp if the hens are roaming.
I wouldn't be without any of my fury, feathery, fishy family.
As I don't have a gun despite being a crack shot the foxes live on and if I wasn't so in awe of the majesty of the Heron that I feel almost honoured to visit my ponds he get a shot across his bows ;-) (joking, I'd never risk hurting in any way such a beautiful creature).
There's a few of us who keep Chickens, myself included (ducks too for us)
See this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Where are you keeping feed? Mine are in sealed/lidded dustbins to prevent mice infestations. Where there's one there's dozens. Keeping rodents you must know this!
See this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Where are you keeping feed? Mine are in sealed/lidded dustbins to prevent mice infestations. Where there's one there's dozens. Keeping rodents you must know this!
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