Dithering...good or bad sign?

Marigold and Mrs Biscuit, I think you're absolutely right...hybrids are the way forward for me! xx
 
Marigold said:
i think that, once the initial excitement has worn off, your children will be more likely to go on taking an interest if they can collect eggs every day, and for this you need consistent layers. There's nothing like collecting, cooking and eating your own lovely fresh eggs, it still thrills me to bits after quite a few years, and it was a great way to share and talk to our children when they were little, both when helping with the hens and learning good habits of cooking and eating. Let's face it, picking up the poo and filling the drinkers isn't so interesting as finding treasure in the nestbox, and if you get hens who all lay different coloured eggs, you can talk about who has laid that day, and weigh the eggs and keep a chart to show how many have been laid and how they get bigger as the pullet develops. Hens will get quite tame and can be stroked and handled, but being a prey species they aren't so keen on being cuddled, so children need extra (eggstra?) incentives to keep on interacting with them.
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I think my daughter (6) will be the one helping me with my hens, my son (8) isn't particularly interested in any of our animals. Yes, what a good idea to try to get hybrids that lay different coloured eggs! I feel a wall-mounted chart coming on!! :D
 
Here's my last pic that hybrids are the way to go and my ex battery hen, Barbie-doll :-) and me (today) ... I was warned about "morehen" disease by the wise birds on here and unfortunately I have developed it :? :-)10
 

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I know a happy hen when I see one but I don't think Ive quite seen one smile like that before!
 
Tweetypie said:
Here's my last pic that hybrids are the way to go and my ex battery hen, Barbie-doll :-) and me (today) ... I was warned about "morehen" disease by the wise birds on here and unfortunately I have developed it :? :-)10
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Delightful photo! Such love!! xxx
 
Bantams=Banter said:
Tweetypie said:
Here's my last pic that hybrids are the way to go and my ex battery hen, Barbie-doll :-) and me (today) ... I was warned about "morehen" disease by the wise birds on here and unfortunately I have developed it :? :-)10
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Delightful photo! Such love!! xxx
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They're just waiting for you to come and collect them......
 
Well, I've done it! A Rhode Rock (Raven), a Speckledy (Mondi) and a Bluebelle (Margo Leadbetter) ? all settling in and stealing my heart...

First question. What time do I put them to bed? Currently they're all dozing in the sunshine in the coop doorway..
 
Fantastic! Lovely!
You may need to show them where the roost is first night but they will put themselves to bed (otherwise) at exactly the same light level every night. There may be (will be!) some squabbles as they sort out their roosting arrangements but as the light level keeps dropping they have no choice but to settle down for the night.

... I cant remember how you have your set up - If you have a secure run its nice to leave the coop door open so they can get up themselves in the morning at first light. If not you can close the coop door for security when they have settled down.
 
rick said:
Fantastic! Lovely!
You may need to show them where the roost is first night but they will put themselves to bed (otherwise) at exactly the same light level every night. There may be (will be!) some squabbles as they sort out their roosting arrangements but as the light level keeps dropping they have no choice but to settle down for the night.

... I cant remember how you have your set up - If you have a secure run its nice to leave the coop door open so they can get up themselves in the morning at first light. If not you can close the coop door for security when they have settled down.
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It's a coop in a welded steel run with a roof that's on concrete. However, we back on to a railway line that is highly populated with urban foxes, so I'd sleep better knowing they are locked in at night.

I've been in a job for a year now where I get home at 11.30pm and I have got into a bad habit of sitting in front of Netflix until 2am.

Not any more! Straight to bed and up to let my girls out! ?
 
Mine are just making their way up to the perch (Mo turned in first tonight.) Its sweet how they are so dutiful about going to bed :)
If yours seem in doubt about where to go you can encourage them to the right place with a wind up touch in the coop - they will follow the light which then slowly dims out. Or just pick them up and put them in if they are roosting somewhere else - like on top of the coop, thats a favorite trick!
 
Brilliant! Well done, ditherer! Do you know how many weeks old they are? Hybrids usually start laying at around 20-22 weeks, but if they have already started they may go off lay for a week or two until they've settled in, as changing homes is always stressful for chickens, however much they are going to love living with you.
 
How lovely! Just keep an eye on their bedtime habits until you are sure that everyone is going in safely. I had a hen one time that was perfectly fine during the day, but at bedtime, she turned into a right bully. She would go into the house early herself (she was the oldest hen by a couple of years), and would then stand just inside the door and not allow any of the others in! For several nights, I was puzzled as to why the others were all queued up on the ramp as it got darker and darker, but wouldn't go in! And then I discovered madam bossyboots attacking anyone who tried! So, every evening from then on, whatever the weather, I had to go and take her out of the henhouse, and hold her until the others had gone in and got settled, and then put her in last. And then, she would just happily take her place on the perch and settle down without a bother.
 
Don’t worry, that’s not very usual! They’ll be OK once they’ve found the way in, but do sometimes seem to find it tricky to work out where the door is. They go to bed at sundown, so this changes until at the winter solstice they’ll be tucked up by about 3.45pm. and not emerge until around 8.00. In winter it helps them through this long 15-16 hour fast if you give them a warm mash in late afternoon - but more about that in a few months’ time. Anyway, if you look up sunset time for your area you’ll know when they want to go to bed, and it’s very late ATM.
 
Yes, sometimes its a bit embarrassing in the summer when you want to go to bed but you have to stay up to put the chickens away!

Congratulations on your new girls, I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with them!
 
That's why I fitted a battery operated opener. I could set it to work on the later of a light level OR a time, which was brilliant as on a dull overcast day the pop-hole didn't shut early by accident. I used to alter the time about once a month as the daylight hours changed.
 
Yes, I use one too. I've had a VSB for a number of years (though it doesn't work so well with the Green Frog coop- it prefers a door that opens vertically). You can set the light sensitivity so that it closes at or after dusk & lets the girls out in the morning while I'm snuggled under my duvet!
 
The Hensafe, which is what I had, also worked best with a vertical door. I bought it because I could set both light sensitivity and time which allowed for the stragglers (time later than dusk in the evening). When I sold up, I was able to transfer the remaining guarantee to the new owner.
 
LadyA said:
How lovely! Just keep an eye on their bedtime habits until you are sure that everyone is going in safely. I had a hen one time that was perfectly fine during the day, but at bedtime, she turned into a right bully. She would go into the house early herself (she was the oldest hen by a couple of years), and would then stand just inside the door and not allow any of the others in! For several nights, I was puzzled as to why the others were all queued up on the ramp as it got darker and darker, but wouldn't go in! And then I discovered madam bossyboots attacking anyone who tried! So, every evening from then on, whatever the weather, I had to go and take her out of the henhouse, and hold her until the others had gone in and got settled, and then put her in last. And then, she would just happily take her place on the perch and settle down without a bother.
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The Bluebelle, (Margo) is being an absolute swine to the Speckledy (Mondi) this bedtime! Chasing her, pecking her, jumping on her... They were all trying to jump up on the roof of the coop, so I read that as they wanted to go in, so I put them all in the house tonight.
 
Marigold said:
Brilliant! Well done, ditherer! Do you know how many weeks old they are? Hybrids usually start laying at around 20-22 weeks, but if they have already started they may go off lay for a week or two until they've settled in, as changing homes is always stressful for chickens, however much they are going to love living with you.
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Apparently they're 18 weeks old.

I'm stressed already. They're so big! I'm feeling guilty that they're not happy in their run and that they're going to get out of the garden somehow. How do you know if hens are happy?
 
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