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I have on two separate occasions observed PInk hen making the sort of clucking I normally associate with egg laying, and then standing with her bum down as though she's straining. What appears is a small amount of watery poo - on both occasions she has been outside the coop. She has been here...

Let the chickens out this morning, filled their drinker and put it back on the block and watched them wander around a bit. Cocky and Henny started in on breakfast but Pink hen was round the side of the house and I realized she was pecking at the snow and swallowing it. I watched her for a bit...

I have booked the "build slot" for my new hen house from the local timber yard. I need to finalise how I want things set out - basically they will do anything I want. It is 6' x 4' with a pent roof. The people door is in the 6' wall, with the shuttered mesh window next to it. What is the...

Here are Cocky and Henny and a picture of Henny's eggs. The shells at the front are from the second egg she laid here, the other shell and egg are the colour she is laying now.

OK, Cocky and Henny seem well settled, Henny is now laying a beautiful dark egg every other day. Pink hen (she has a pink band on her leg), one of my original hens, has not started laying again yet following the moult and the fox hound attack. She still gets chased off by Henny when I scatter...

OH is indulging his parsimonius streak and thinks I ought to make my new (still to be ordered) hen house dual purpose. This is because he reckons that the hens don't need the 5 -6 feet of headroom. I don't fancy having my feed bins up on a shelf 3 feet off the floor, as it would mean lifting...

I'd like to be able to provide the birds with warm mash if it turns really cold again. As I don't want to use soya I'll have to grind the wheat and cut maize. Anyone got any recommendations for a small feed mill?

This may sound really daft but I thought, generally speaking, cockerels didn't crow unitl it started to get light, whihc at the moment isn't until about 7.30 am. I think since their first night here the cockerel has been crowing at around 5.30 when it is still pitch black outside. We're in the...

The pop hole is MUCH too small, I had to let the cockerel out of the back door. First job for OH when he gets back is to cut a piece of aluminium fro a new door and increase the height of the pophole. 2nd job will be to knock up a field shelter so they can get out of the wind and rain. Far...

Collected my Welsummer cockerel and replacement hen when I went to the Fed today (Iwas going to say hello Tim but you were very busy). They were in a large cardboard box that was rather tatty and not taped up very well. OH had gone off in the Focus CMax which would have been the best vehicle...

Brought the plastic Solway house back late yesterday, Went to clean it out at about 11am to get it ready for the birds on Sunday and there was ice on the underside of the roof. The layer of shavings on the floor was about 2.5" deep, and when we collected it yesterday there were 2 Houdans and 2...

I'm bringing my Solway henhouse home to house the Welsummer cockerel and pullet I'm collecting at the Fed. It has a closeable vent at the back and permanently open vents at the front above the pophole. There is also a small hole each side where the second perch went through. The site is very...

I'm hoping to get to the Fed on the Sunday, will have space in the car for anyone from Shrewsbury/Telford or places en-route to Stafford.

I found a website that told you for how long the different breeds of hen were productive, but stupidly didn't bookmark it. I have the opportunity to get some lavender Leghorns which are just over 2 years old. I know Legorns are prolific egg layers, but for how many years? I don't want to get...

Had a 'phone call from my friend who is looking after my Welsummers. A neighbouring farmer has been "puppy walking" for the local hunt and a few days ago the hounds escaped and reached my friend's house. The hounds were spotted quite quickly and although they scattered the hens none of them...

There have been various comments on the forum about whether or not one should avoid chicken feed with GM ingredients. I just picked this up on the net and thought it might be of interest: A two-year long French feeding study designed to evaluate the long-term health effects of a...

Help please!! Some of you will have read my posts about the 2nd hand wooden coop and run that had been (unknown to me) really badly infested with redmite. I have dismantled it and also taken apart all the bits of T & G that formed the nest box. There were signs of a really heavy infestation...

Hi folks, I wondered if anyone on the forum has any knowledge or theories about what determines the size of egg yolks. My Welsummers are with a mix of other hens - Favarolles, Cream Legbar, Barnvelder, unknown bantam and a Silkie cross (there are also Houdans but I don't get their eggs very...

Hi folks, I hope it's OK to put this thread in 2 places - it's in General Waterfowl as well. I need to get hold of a goose or duck pot/dummy egg - plastic would be fine. My hen keeping friend and I want to make some pot eggs at our pottery class but need a large egg to make the mould as...

Hi folks, I need to get hold of a goose or duck pot/dummy egg - plastic would be fine. My hen keeping friend and I want to make some pot eggs at our pottery class but need a large egg to make the mould as there's a lot of shrinkage in the process. I've not had much luck looking on the web -...