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Cocky will have to go to a new home when I move house. Would it better for him to go now so the hens get used to life without him or do I pile all the stress on at once by letting him go when the hens are moved?

I have too many threads open so don't know which one to update about losing my hens: Daylight attack - fox, dog or buzzard? Looks Like Henny's been taken Incubating eggs that have been in the fridge Poultry saddles are obviously indigestible Thank you all for your messages of support. I have...

Right Flop Leghorn has gone broody again! Problem is I am out all day tomorrow and I'm concerned she may overheat. I was out today as well but had to leave her in the nest box as I damaged the drinker that goes in the run of the "Sin house". It doesn't seem to have leaked much so I put her in...

Just before lunch yesterday I noticed that one of the swallows' nest was lying smashed on the ground with 5 fledglings apparently dead, although one of them seemed to be twitching a little. About 20 minutes later I went to see whether it too was dead and found 4 out of the 5 moving their wings...

I have a number of "feral" cats which are a lot less feral than they were. If you read Big Puss's diary you will see the trauma of getting him to the vet. It was nearly as bad when we caught Daisy, the female from the first litter - a necessity as one of her brother had been committing incest...

While clearing a fallen tree in the cottage garden, our workman found the saddle Henny was wearing when she disappeared. One of the straps had been ripped off the main part of the saddle. It was the stream side of the fence but there was no indication of hoe the predator had got through the...

I've been spending more time in the run with the chooks since the attack and, without Pink hen who used to cackle a lot, it's easier to hear the sounds the smaller hens make. I know Cocky's vocabulary - apart from the crow there's a "what's this" and "ooh I've found something nice", but I'm not...

I have two of Henny's eggs, one laid on Monday, the other laid yesterday BUT they are in the fridge as it has been too hot anywhere else recently. If either I can locate a reliable broody (I'm not sure I'd trust the young Leghorn to stay the course) or my friend is about to fill her incubator...

Let the hens out of the enclosure about 8am. During the next couple of hours they were in and out. Couldn't see Henny but assumed she was laying. Went out about 11 to check for eggs, no sign of Henny and all the others were in the enclosure. A walk around their usual haunts revealed only a...

I have fitted external Chick Boxes to my hen houses and have always had a slight nagging fear that they might be too small, particularly for the Welsummers. Left Flop Leghorn has gone broody, but always leaps out of the nest box and rushes out of the house whenever I try to grab her to put her...

I've read quite a few posts about hens and temperature of drinking water, and that the water should not be icy cold. Well no -one's told my hens they don't like ice!!. Not content with eating snow, they now peck at and eat the ice I remove from their drinkers! Our water comes from a borehole...

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice about my Welsummers. I've had them for a year and they were supposed to be the previous years' hatch. I was getting about 9 eggs a week from 4 hens until they moulted. They hadn't started laying again by October 17th when two fox hounds attacked the...

We had 4 inches of snow last night and today we have had a bitterly cold east wind with snow, then rain and now snow again. The hens have hardly ventured out of the houses all day and when I went to shut them up the power cable for the electric netting fell apart. OH has gone away for the...

For those who don't know I have a Welsummer cockerel and two hens in one house, and two Exchequer Leghorns in another. Having been introduced they are now mixing quite happily and Cocky thinks all his birthdays have come at once. The different behaviour of the two breeds is fascinating - the...

Pink hen, one of my original Welsummers, was added to the new hen (Henny) and cockerel (Cocky) and consequently was bottom of the pecking order. Her poo was normal colour but fairly wet which was thought to be because she was bullied off the feed, even when I provided an additional feeder...

Yesterday I collected two POL Exchequer Leghorns. They're housed in the small wooden house with attached run. When I opened the pop hole this morning it took them a while to come out but they flew down from the "veranda" and went straight for the warm food. Then they found the feeder, followed...

Has anyone tried to access Practical Poultry Forum? I clicked on my open tab this morning and get an error message saying the File or Directory not found and the site may have moved,changed name or be temporarily unavailable. I know they were doing some maintenance and then I had strange...

I've really struggled with withdrawal symptoms - not forum since Thursday! I was just about to start cooking breakfast when there was a flah of lightning followed immediately by a clap of thunder and the lights going out. The lights came back on almost immediately, but before I could unplug...

Let the birds out of the enclosure today for the first time. I'll be here in the afternoon up until Friday evening so decided it was a good time to take the plunge. Pink hen, who was used to free ranging up at my friends, found her way after about an hour. I hadn't spotted Henny and Cocky...

I feel as though I'm becoming totally paranoid about my birds. I took their treats and corn out this afternoon and noticed that the cockerel has lost quite a lot of feathers around his neck. I've noticed maybe 4 feathers in the house when I poo pick but thought it was Henny because he treads...