Chickens

Cathalw123!

I have just got my first chickens and have 2 that are five weeks older then the rest. Will it be ok to keep them on grower pellets of should I move all six on tolayers pellets

DBB

Congratulations!
What age are they?

Cathalw123!

The person I got them of said the two would lay by the first week of may and the rest will lay the start of june

DBB

Cathalw123! wrote: »

The person I got them of said the two would lay by the first week of may and the rest will lay the start of june

Ah okay, point of lay pullets! Yep, layer's pellets will be just fine for all of them
Are they a particular breed you got? Or hybrids of some sort perhaps?

the_syco

Cathalw123! wrote: »

The person I got them of said the two would lay by the first week of may and the rest will lay the start of june

My mum has hens, and found that the ones laying the eggs will bully the ones not laying the eggs, until they do start to lay eggs. Almost like a "you're not pulling your weight, eff off" sort of mentality :pac:

There "comb" (head piece) will usually go red when they start laying. Their comb colour is important, and keeping an eye on the colour can tell you healthy the hen is.

Also, check out the Smallholdings forum, where you'll find people with hens (and cows, and sheep).

florawest

Pop a golf ball in the coop as it fools hens into laying an egg as they seem to think that there's one already there.

Good luck with the hen's I have 3 rescue ( battery ones) girls, one has retired from laying other two girls still going, that are very curious and friendly but took them a while to adjust to the great outdoors after being inside in their past life.

sdp

Congratulations, hope you really enjoy your new hens, their such funny little things

the_syco

Oh, and get one wing clipped every so often. They then won't be able to fly into the neighbours gardens. Doing this when they're young stops them from flying, and after a while they won't know that they can fly.

If building a run for them, try to have the coop inside the run, with a hatch on the side. This will allow you to collect the eggs easier, and also allow you to clean out the coop without going into the run itself.

Finally, you can get mechanisms (eg; chickenguard) that will open the door of the coop in the morning, and close it when it goes dark. This allows you to sleep in, and after a few days the hens will know to get into the coop when it gets dark, otherwise they'll be locked out. My mum used to always get up in the morning, open the door, let the hens out, and then try to get them into the coop at night is not always fun. Especially when it's raining, dark, etc.

Gloomtastic!

Chicken hack: When you lock them up at night, cover any windows with a darkish tea towel. Then the coop will stay darker in the morning and you won’t have to get up so early. Tried this all week and it works! You’re welcome.

DBB

We have 60+ adult hens here, many of flighty breeds, and we never clip their wings. Never had any need to. They simply don't ever attempt to escape! I'm not a fan of wing-clipping... if a predator does get in during the day, the hens stand some chance of getting away if they're still intact feather-wise.
Never had any trouble with hens putting themselves in at night either? I haven't met a hen that doesn't have a strong instinct to head for shelter at dusk, some go to bed even earlier, but they've always gone to bed while there's still enough light for them to clearly see where they're going

the_syco

DBB wrote: »

We have 60+ adult hens here, many of flighty breeds, and we never clip their wings. Never had any need to. They simply don't ever attempt to escape! I'm not a fan of wing-clipping... if a predator does get in during the day, the hens stand some chance of getting away if they're still intact feather-wise.
Never had any trouble with hens putting themselves in at night either? I haven't met a hen that doesn't have a strong instinct to head for shelter at dusk, some go to bed even earlier, but they've always gone to bed while there's still enough light for them to clearly see where they're going

At the time, there was a field next to us, so couldn't take the chance; one had already flown into a next door neighbours garden. The field was a popular place for people to walk their dogs on and off the lease.

There was a few plants/bushes in the garden that the hens would stay in during the day, and when it was dusk would just stay there. Once they the ChickenGuard automatic door system started to be used, they'd go into the coop at or before dusk.

BullBauld

Where is best to buy accessories....feeders etc. Thanks.

Gloomtastic!

BullBauld wrote: »

Where is best to buy accessories....feeders etc. Thanks.

Here’s two I’d recommend.

https://www.maceoinltd.com/
http://lkpoultry.ie/

FileNotFound

BullBauld wrote: »

Where is best to buy accessories....feeders etc. Thanks.

Find your local coop for food and accessories, then again hens don't need fancy.

Best feeder is a sand pit you throw the food on.


As for the wing clipping thing, have done some and not done others, hens love to wander, as long as they can get back and are not annoying neighbours let them off. If the neighbour gets annoyed clip a bit off the ends of the wing feathers.

em_cat

Not a fan of wing clipping either as DBB said they need to have a chance to escape from a predator.