The FastDay Forum

Oh BBT053 thats so sad. Thats the reason I wouldn't have them. I get so attached to animals. My grandad always used to keep chickens but the amount of times the fox would get them...it was horrible. I think it must be wonderful to wake up to fresh eggs, though. Incidentally, how long do chickens live for normally?

We're lucky with foxes so they are passing of natural causes.

It seems to vary between 2.5 + years for the Warrens (bred to lay max eggs) to my Mum's bantam, which was donkey-years old.

I bake and love poached eggs so it's been fab to have them plus they are so entertaining about the garden, it's just been a bit much lately with the bad news.

I don't know what to do, we've had a couple of chooks pass suddenly (one young one, one older one) so I'm back down to one hen as of today. You can't keep one hen but my poor OH who mainly looks after the chooks is getting a bit upset about losing his pets.

We normally keep two or three and it's just unfortunate that the pair of older ones have died but so has one of the two replacements, leaving Wendy on her own.

Hmmm...I'm not sure whether to get another pair, which would be fine or rehome the one...

Oh, that is sad. Wendy can't be on her own, she needs company, but I've wondered how introducing new ones goes to others already there. I have bad memories of introducing new ones to a group and it turned out bad for the newcomer hens.

Maybe its not always this way and others have better stories of new hens being introduced into a group.

I still cannot get the images of the other day out of my mind and it doesn't help that when I go feed the dogs I see her feathers. I will have to do something about that.

I love chooks they are so adorable.

Generally there is some stropping & complaints. However, it can be managed. Never introduce 1 hen to a group or one that's much smaller, that doesn't end well apparently.

Still we need to decide...

[carorees]

Introducing two new chooks to one existing one could work well. The two new ones will be unsettled by the new home so shouldn't feel confident enough to henpeck the old girl while the old girl will be sufficiently lonely not to want to drive the new ones away. I have successfully introduced a singleton to two new girls with no problems. The old girl was the only one left after a fox attack due to our chicken-sitters forgetting to shut the girls up one night...no idea why one survived. She was so grateful for the company the introduction went well.

We have a coop with an attached run. What I did (and do for all my introductions) was to introduce the new girls into the coop after dark when the old one had gone to bed. I kept the coop shut up so it was dark inside and then in the morning when I opened the pop-hole, the old girl came out immediately and the new girls were slow to emerge allowing me time to let the old one out to free-range before shutting the run door to keep the new ones in. At bedtime, the new ones went to bed early and I then opened the run to let the free-ranging old one in. I continued with this procedure for a week before allowing the girls to be together during the day for a bit. The old girl spent a lot of time next to the cage so as to be with the newbies so when they were allowed to be together they were already well acquainted.

Wendy is still young and very friendly, so I think it would be ok as she's big and the new ones would be littler.

We had to do the side-by-side thing last time as the new ones pecked the old hen and it worked well. Daphne the old hen was still top hen though and she tended to put a foot on the next hen down...

Thanks for advice, hen things can be tricky!

[carieoates]

How's everyone's chickens doing. Mine have started to slow down with laying a bit. Given that they started laying last New Year's Day I'm very pleased with my girls to say the least.

[carorees]

We're getting two eggs a day from 4 chickens which is not bad for the time of year I think. I also think they need worming which I must get on to tomorrow...its such a faff mixing up the pellets with the flubenvet as it is such a tiny amount to add to such a lot of feed that I'n never sure I've mixed it evenly enough. Still worming them might result in boost in egg production...I've noticed that before. Also need to clean the coop out again...they spend so long inside at the moment that the coop needs cleaning so much more often than in summer!

We're getting two eggs a day from 4 chickens which is not bad for the time of year I think. I also think they need worming which I must get on to tomorrow...its such a faff mixing up the pellets with the flubenvet as it is such a tiny amount to add to such a lot of feed that I'n never sure I've mixed it evenly enough. Still worming them might result in boost in egg production...I've noticed that before. Also need to clean the coop out again...they spend so long inside at the moment that the coop needs cleaning so much more often than in summer!

Hi Carorees!

I have a dozen chicken but am only getting 3 or 4 eggs daily now, not so much the weather but they are over 3 years old now and some have stopped laying... I just wanted to mention that when its time for worming we use a special pellet mix which contains the flubenvet, so no need to mix anything! If you like i can give you the link, good luck with the cleaning though, its a lain but once its done its done lol!!

[carieoates]

I use VermX it's a natural, non GM pellet which doesn't affect egg eating and done once a month. Never seen a worm, so either they haven't encountered them or this is preventing them. !

[carorees]

just wanted to mention that when its time for worming we use a special pellet mix which contains the flubenvet, so no need to mix anything! If you like i can give you the link, good luck with the cleaning though, its a pain but once its done its done lol!!

Yes, I have used the premix but I've got a tub of flubenvet here that will probably last me a lifetime if I only ever have 4 chickens at a time, so I feel I have to use it up! I bought it before they brought the premix out unfortunately!

Oh ok Caroline!