Bad bits and Good bits

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Margaid

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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 from giving the hen a heart attack SHE'S LAID AN EGG!! 65 grams and a beautiful dark brown. When I've managed to download the piccys (of the egg and the chooks) from the camera I'll try and work out how to post them on here.
 
Yeah, I need to keep him out of mischief.

It's pouring with rain but they're both happily scratching around outside.
 
No such luck Icemaiden, it was the two birds. OH didn't get home till after 3pm so there wasn't time to sort the pophole and it was still raining.

I went outside to let the cockerel in through the back door Chris, only to find he had squeezed himself in through the pophole. Must get it sorted though as the hole is only 240 mm high.
 
Ours are 410 mm high for the large fowl cockerels, measured from the coop floor as they have to step over a frame section 35mm high. Bantams and hens are only 320mm, so not surprised he is struggling! Our cockerels can manage to squeeze out of a 320mm high pop hole, but it's funny to watch.
 
He put himself to bed last night and came out of the pophole as soon as I opened it this morning. He came out in a very stately manner, as though to demonstrate that he was using the pophole under sufferance. They tucked themselves up quite early today because it turned cold. When I opened the back door to check they were both in there the hen, who was on the perch, promptly laid an egg. They seem to scratch the bedding up a lot - I think they are used to semi-deep litter system which I can't do in this particular house without making an enormous pophole. Because of that the egg cracked,but it hasn't broken the inner membrane. Anyway we have one each for breakfast tomorrow.
 
You're absoloutely right Marigold. Although I've owned hens since April this is the first time I've been solely responsible for them for any length of time and the conditions are far from ideal.

They spent most of the day inside today, just coming out for short spells. The weather is foul, rain or drizzle all day and cold winds. I want to get a shelter sorted out for them but we'd get soaked sorting out the materials to do it - and the forecast is worse for tomorrow. It's a good job there are only the two of them. Tonight the cockerel was on the perch - first time I've seen him on there, and the pullet was on the nest box perch -it's an external "chick box" which has a perch in front. They looked quite cute as they had their heads together.

If I can't make a field shelter I must make a shelter for the feeder. I have one with a "rain hat", on top of a breeze block to lift it up, but it looks as thought the cockerel can't get his head in the gap. They are used to hanging feeders apparently so I'll have to try that. I've scattered feed on the ground in front of and on top the breeze block to lead them to the feeder, but I'm not sure if they've eaten anything out of the feeder. If they have, it's very little. Because the weather is so bad I'm reluctant to just leave them to work out where the food is. The pullet investigated the pot of grit so at least she knows where that is.

Has anyone any other suggestions as to how to get them to eat from the feeder?

I also need to look back in the forum and see how long to keep them in the enclosure before I let them free range.
 
Could potentially dump food around the feeder, its nit ideal but may get them interested. I woukda thought they'd find it eventually anyways.

Re shelter, it could be worth looking on pre loved etc for an old kennel?

Local?

http://m.preloved.co.uk/m/showphotos/106926268
 
That's what I've benn doing Bickerton in the hope that they'd find it.

Hadn't thought of a kennel - but it means they can't scratch unless I take the floor out. It's given me an idea though for some of the materials that are under cover, so thanks for that.
 
I'd defo ring up about this if you can transport it!!

http://m.preloved.co.uk/m/showadvert/107034002/resin-calf-shelter.html
 
Thanks for looking Bickerton but by the time I've driven to Solihull and back OH could more than half build something using the stuff that's inside. We have various tongue and groove panels - doors etc, and some bits of Onduline I can put on the roof so I'll get cracking tomorrow.
 
Chicken will find food if they're hungry and spend most of their day doing it. It's not uncommon for the males to find it difficulty in eating from feeders of various designs due to their headgear but they adjust. If the feed gets wet it will go mouldy quickly so take care with that one.
 
Will do, Chuck. If I can make a shelter to put the feeder under I'll take the rain hat off so it's easier for him. They've retreated to the henhouse again - the field is waterlogged so there's a big puddle in the enclosure and it's drizzly and windy. It's a good job there are only the two of them - I hadn't realised the house was so small until I saw the cockerel in there, it was fine for Houdans!
 
A good couple of weeks before free ranging. Perhaps a month would be best Margaid. You will know because the routine will be established by them. Good to train them to treats. We rattle a corn scoop before we give them the corn. They then recognise the noise and come running. Ours recognised the green scoop in my hand before I even rattled it. Works great for naughty lambs as well.

I made a very very makeshift shelter for the feeder. My first attempt at woodcraft and I have moved on a long way in 4 months. Took an hour. 4 posts hammered into the ground. Two longer than the others to create a roof slope. Then two nailed across the tops -across the tops of the same sized posts. Then smaller ones nailed to those two posts which effectively run up the roof. Then a bit of plastic tacked over all that. They loved it and ate from a standard feeder underneath it immediately. Tip -bang the initial posts in as far as you can then cut them off horizontally at the heights required.

The weather is bad here if that's any consolation. Little wind, but more rain than they have had for years. Christmas Eve is forecast at 18 degrees though, rather warmer than last year which was -12!!!.
 
Or just find an old table and put a block on top to stop it blowing away? Maybe a bit of tarp to enclose three sides?
Or use a length of bendy wire mesh to make an arch and cover it with tarpaulin? Actually I know you are a brilliant needlewoman, Margaid, so you could move on from beautiful fitted bras to making a tailored cover for an arched shelter out of tarp, with the back filled in and the sides and top covered. I did this last winter and it's very effective as a moveable shelter. Just tie the tarp on to the mesh with lengths of nylon cord at intervals and peg it down round the edges against the wind.
 
OH has been very helpful and has almost finished a shelter made from 3 panels of T & G, which were temporary shutters on the barn, with an Oduline roof and a perch across one corner so they can get off the waterlogged ground. I'll be able to suspend the feeder, without it's rainhat, which is what they are used to. It will take 2 to shift it but I didn't want something fixed to the ground as I will almost certainly be moving the enclosure in the spring. Henny's crop looked full tonight (named by my 5 year great nephew) and she had laid a beautiful egg in the nest box. She had scratched all the bedding out so I'm going to fit the rollaway insert as that is not quite as hard a plastic as the base of the nest box. Cocky (named as above) seems content to crawl in and out of the pophole so I'm leaving things alone at the moment.

I have a Teddy bear to finish for 5 year old great nephew Marigold so all other needlework is on stop.

Thanks for the advice about free ranging Chris, I had intended to leave them for another week but I'll leave it longer. It will help once they have the shelter as at the moment they have to retreat to the henhouse
 
Field shelter works a treat although I have put the feeder back on the ground. I've had two more eggs, one on 30th December and another one late on New Year's Day. The last one is really dark but mahogany rather than chocolate. From what I understand it means she won't be a prolific layer as a lot of effort goed into the colour.

Last night we introduced one of my original 3 hens as Cocky wouldn't leave Henny alone - she flew up onto the external nest box to escape him. All seems well this morning although, just like OH, now Cocky has a new woman so has totally ignored the faithful Henny. Henny has retaliated with a couple of warning pecks - maybe I should follow her example.

My original birds were judged "Breeding Quality" by a Poultry Show Judge at the auction where I bought them. If I remember correctly she was a 2011 hatch, whereas Henny is now about 32 weeks old. There is little difference in size but Henny's comb is bigger and you can see the colour difference as only Henny is in lay. Is that why her comb is bigger?
 
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