Recent content by Anni D

I have five hens, all of which get on very well. They are not stressed, they have plenty of things to climb on and play with, but they are pecking each others throat area which as you can see is now quite raw. They seem quite happy to be pecked - they just sit and allow the others to peck, but...

My five girls all get on very well, no aggression at all and they all snuggle up to each other quite happily. However they do seem to peck each others necks a lot - throat area really. They all seem to tolerate this but some of them are really bald in that area. Is this just normal preening...

My poor chickens have frozen water every morning at the moment, so I am out in my dressing gown at 7am breaking the ice. I have heard that a few drops of glycerine in the water stops it freezing. Has anyone tried this?

Just wondering what temporary runs people have set up during the Avian Flu issue. This is our effort - we have made a fairly decent size run with beansticks and netting inside their original run which has electric fencing. They seem perfectly happy and can still run around and scratch at the...

My chickens absolutely love tomatoes, but I now have a glut of unripened green ones and I'm not sure if they should have green ones. Does anyone know?

I thought you might be interested to see how we have set up our electric fence. We have a remote control pad which then triggers a light that we have placed on the shed. So if the light is on, the fence is on. It saves all those worrying moments when you can't remember if the fence has been...

Well after seven months of waiting we were beginning to think Queenie was never going to give us an egg. Suddenly a few days ago there was a beautiful pale blue egg - at last! Not sure we will ever get another one, but at least we know she can do it. Well done Queenie.

Sadly it look as though it could be the end of the road for Blanche, our Light Sussex. She has been limping badly for about a month and the vet seems to think she has had an injury at some point but can't really find anything wrong with her. She has now got worse and can hardly walk although...

My girls are in absolute paradise when we give them a corn on the cob threaded onto a skewer. It doesn't last long!

Does anyone know where I can buy a rain cover for a 3kg plastic feeder without spending a fortune?

We decided to add two new hens to our existing flock of four. Life has now changed dramatically and we have gone from peace and harmony to all out war. I knew there would be trouble initially and it has begun to calm down a little and no blood has been spilt thank goodness. The main problem...

Has anyone tried using a cat flap or something similar on the pop hole door? My hens have a secure run attached to the coop and I wondered if they would use some sort of cat flap to go in and out. That way they can go in at night and out in the morning without anyone having to shut or open the...

Just trying decide whether to get electric fencing. What is the cheapest way of doing this? Any recommendations?

My four hens have settled in pretty well and have quickly established a pecking order. The Light Sussex (Blanche)is definitely the boss and she seems to pick on the Cream Legbar (Queenie) in particular. I have two Lohman Browns (Hettie & Mabel) who are just cheeky and don't seem bothered about...

My girls have a lovely run with lots of grass. Obviously the grass is going to be trashed very quickly. Should I put anything else on the ground i.e. wood shavings, straw, sand etc? or do I just leave it as trashed grass? They have straw in their nesting boxes and shavings on the floor of the...