Poultryheads...

[scrw.]

Was looking for some sand in the garden to give the chucks and found an ants nest, chucks are made up, a buffet for tea.

2021-06-13_06-15-04 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

[Tyre Smoke]

Hateful fox. Not the words I want to use.





Not 15 feet from our lounge at about 8:30 last night.

[crofty1984]

All our hens have little coats on for a bit (more of a cape, they're not cooking in the hot weather) they were getting little bald patches at the base of their tail/back, think Penguin the cockerel is being a bit too amorous.

[Evoluzione]

I was reading about feeding them kitchen scraps last night, was quite surprised at the answer to that in the UK.

[the cueball]

My girls out for a evening stroll tonight…

[FredericRobinson]

crofty1984 said:

All our hens have little coats on for a bit (more of a cape, they're not cooking in the hot weather) they were getting little bald patches at the base of their tail/back, think Penguin the cockerel is being a bit too amorous.

Sure they're not suffering from mites and pecking themselves? It's red mite season.

[Hereward]

Tyre Smoke said:

Hateful fox. Not the words I want to use.

Not 15 feet from our lounge at about 8:30 last night.

Urgh. Lost my last 4 hens a few weeks ago. Clever fox had lifted a section of rusty buried chicken wire and got through a tiny gap overnight. They will test the perimeter every single night.

I remind myself that it is the foxes territory, not mine, and the cubs will have eaten well. Just feel so guilty that I let the hens down.

[Tyre Smoke]

Invested in an electric fence. Seems to be doing the trick so far.

[Mr Roper]

Thought i'd update this thread as I finally got around to getting rid of my 8 x 4 shed and converted one of my stables into a large coop..Also quadrupled the size of the run.


So seeing as I now have ooodles of space I went shopping for some POL's

Currently staying in a halfway house (my parents) while I finish off a few bits.

Went for Marans and Cream Legbars because they look fricken awesome....







...Aaaand, seeing as space is no longer an issue I bought some Aylesbury ducks. They'll have their own coop inside the stable coop, effectively all living together. Just need to put in the pool and soak away.
(Mine are the one's with graffiti)

Edited by Mr Roper on Monday 11th October 14:44

Edited by Mr Roper on Monday 11th October 14:45

[AndyAudi]

I liked my ducks, much more character than hens in my opinion. Only pain in the backside is they lay eggs on the ground rather than nest boxes & they get covered in muck. (They also go through a ridiculous amount of water when eating).

Eta the ducks loved veg peelings though

Edited by AndyAudi on Monday 11th October 17:03

[Mr Roper]

Yeah, they make a proper mess so I’m starting with 3 and seeing how I get on.

Getting nearly ready for the residents….

[Mr Roper]

All set.

[Tyre Smoke]

More detail on the 'pond' required.

How big, how deep, plastic liner?

[Mr Roper]

Heavy duty storage box, around 1.5ft x 2.5ft. Was 12” deep but cut it down to 8” so it’s not too heavy to tip out. Made a soak away with old bricks topped with gravel.

[AndyAudi]

I like the idea of a soak away & raised water for keeping the area around relatively clean, I suspect you’d have been cleaning out every other day otherwise!

[Mr Roper]

So far so good. Chateau Roper is open for business….

[AndyAudi]

Just remembered something about keeping hens & ducks together.

At night time hens go to their beds themselves, but ducks needed to be chased in.

[Mr Roper]

AndyAudi said:

Just remembered something about keeping hens & ducks together.

At night time hens go to their beds themselves, but ducks needed to be chased in.

Aye….Ducks have very good vision at night unlike chickens so they will stay out late, even sleeping in the run so I’ll need to herd them in.

Pool party tomorrow.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Mr Roper said:

So far so good. Chateau Roper is open for business….

Your birds have better accommodation than many humans!

[Mr Roper]

Happy birds, happy eggs..Happy Roper.