getting some ex-batts!

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Fuzzyfelt123

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:D After much thought I am taking the plunge and getting my first hens; decided to re-home 4 ex-batts coming my way on 24th November!!! I would really appreciate any advice on what i need and their special needs! The charity recommend i get ex-batt crumb/layer pellet, however with the cost of postage this will work out rather expensive. Is it ok to start them on this and then gradually change to another food?
Any advice greatly appreciated! :-)17
 
The ex-batt feeds have been compounded specially Fuzzyfelt. You will be able to phase in standard layers pellets after a few months I would have thought. They consume 100 -150 grammes a day each so you can guestimate how much you are likely to need.

I haven't any personnal experience of taking in ex-batts. But I have seen them in extremely good condition on collection and some in very poor condition as well. So I would say their requirements will depend on their condition and how they have been rehabilitated so far. They started life in a tiny cramped cage and have got used to that. It takes time for them to adapt to space, even though it is good for them.
 
You may be lucky and be rehoming some hens that have been kept in less intensive conditions but are being disposed of by the farmer because they have completed their second year in lay and are now in their first moult. Although they will lay once moulted out, he knows they won't perform often enough to make it economic to feed them until they resume. The patchy appearance of new exbatts isn't necessarily a symptom of gross neglect, a lot of our own birds are having bad feather days ATM as they go through the normal autumn moult. At least it will be easier for you to settle them in as they will be your only hens and you won't have to introduce them to any others.
Good luck with your new girls, we shall be looking forward to being introduced to them.
 
I've had my four ex-batt's for around 4 weeks now and they are an absolute delight!

I've fed mine on layer's mash and only in the last few days have moved to mixing in some pellets with their main food. They're not too keen but I think it's a progression that has to be made.

However, I've been gradually introducing some mixed corn with mealworms into their diet and they absolutely adore them along with some spring greens (they love them too). Of course, at the start, they had NO clue what they were!

I think any dietary introductions have to be done very slowly. To suddenly switch to something they've never seen before seems to be a wee bit stressful for them.

For now, I'd stick to what they've been used to and that's probably the very unappetising looking layers mash.

Small steps. :)

Good luck with your ladies, you'll come to adore them!

Post some pics so we can see how they're doing! :D

Shirley
 
Oh, forgot to mention.........

Be prepared for some leg damage/ bruising. Don't be alarmed, it looks a lot worse that it actually is. A wee bit of rest and some TLC and they'll be fine. :)

Shirley
 
No need for any special food, it's more important to feed them what they've been used to i.e. if they've been on meal, stick to it until that bag runs out then change them over to pellets, though they can stay on meal. The brand doesn't matter either. Some have been severely de-beaked and find it hard to cope with pellets at first and may never have had pellets as they will have been fed on meal since chicks. Food and water are the most important things in the first instance. As you start to add other things to the diet, offer mixed grit in a small pot so they can help themselves. As they settle in, they will slowly improve and will moult out into their new feathers. Try to keep them dry as the old feathers have no water resistance and they will have been used to living in a dry, temperature controlled environment but try to keep a sensible road and not wrap them in cotton wool as they are basically hardy.
It doesn't take long for them to re-learn more natural behaviour, remembering that they had 5 months of freedom before going into the cages. Worth bearing in mind too that hese birds will be strangers to one another as it's very unlikely that they will have come from the same cage.
 
I had a couple of ex-batts, Lucky and Chancy, both dead.
I had them over a couple of years, and watched Lucky, particularly, go from an oven ready type chicken to the most beautuful, loving Warren type girl ever, both were a great pleasure to watch emerge form what must have been chicken hell to a normal relatively free-ranging life with 4 other
Warrens, and enjoy every minute of foraging, scratching and a bit of fisti-cuffing in the garden with the other girls.
Well done all you chicken people out there who are still giving these lovely, friendly girls a chance of a new life.
The two rescue girls gave me a great love of brown hybrids which I know may be sniffed at, but most Warrens are so cute and bright and all the family love them to bits.
I will always keep a few Warren types, they truly are bright, funny, companionable, very user friendly and almost daily layer of large brown eggs!!.
When I see that silly ad. from the Happy Egg Company, it says it all!!
 
thank you so much for your replies - no doubt i will be posting a lot more over the next few months!
I think i will try the ex-bat crumb first and grad introduce some layer pellets over a few months; i have a feeling it's going to be a steep learning curve!
I was going to worm them but there seems to be a problem with flubovet supplies at the moment - should I try Verm -x instead? :-)05
 
They are not likely to need worming after being in the cages. Verm X is not a wormer - read the label.
 
i know Verm x isn't a wormer but doesn't it help to keep worms under control ( haven't got any verm x so can't read the label!!) but i won't worry just yet as you indicate worming isn't necessary for a while!
 
I don't think the problem is so much with the manufacturers but with the people that sell it - they are still selling it as a wormer.

Assumed you would be buying from somewhere where you could read the label !
 
hi i run chicken sanctuary animal rescue in staffs area we rehome hundreds of ex batts a month all around country all our birds are mite sprayed and fed on mash graduly to pellts but small ones at first to bigger ones later all bird s come in different stages of condition from good to bad but all recover after moult and continue to lay you may lose some due to stress but most live long lives as :-)08 :-)08 ad on telly :-)08 but it all depends on how they are kept anmd fed they all enjoy a free range life not in gages as were kept before hoping to rehome more next year hoping to get 12 acres shortly to open urban farm :-)08 all our birds dpo not go out straight away but given time to recoup chicken steve
 
well done on getting ex batts , most of my big girls are ex batts and some are over the age of 3 now and still laying .
i never gave mine any specail treatment they went straight out into the run on arival and feed on farmgate layers pellets and mine have always laided even during the winter some do drop down but its only for a few weks then they pick up again just give them the space they need and they wil be fine and you'll be surprised as pretty much straight away they will be digging up bugs and doing everything a normal chicken will do yes be warned that 1 or maybe more might die of stress within a very short time but that is to be expected .
when i first got my girls i had never even touched a chicken let alone know how to look after one and i went an got 14 ex batts :lol: ooops big mistake i lost one within a week and it shocked me on how quick it can happen but it does .part of me is tempted just to stick with all bantams now as they are so simple to look after but i dont think many of my egg customres are happy when i tell them that so looks like i will carry on getting ex batts.
 
There isn't much of a market for bantam eggs Karminski. Even ours at 50g each are too small, but very tasty so they are my breakfast. Most of our eggs are for hatching now. We've had to buy them to eat and they are very expensive here. Could do with some ex-batts laying for us over Winter. We are currently freezing eggs to store in case we get snowed in (perhaps the subject of another post).
 
i quite perfer the bantam eggs to normal sized eggs so for me it would not bother its all the others that have the big eggs :lol: i got 6 regular customers who take eggs of me daily but at mo they are on hold as the girls have dropped by half in laying .
 
Thanks again for all your replies, it's all a bit mind boggling though :-)07 and i think i will be posting a lot in the next few months!!!!!
 
You & me both, Fuzzyfelt. I'm planning to get my first 3 hens, all ex-batts, next month. I've got the run to build first though; just waiting for the wire mesh to arrive. I think we're near the bottom of a pretty steep learning curve ;)
 
Same here Icemaiden - still got the coop and run to build! got most of the materials but still undecided about what to use to protect the coop with - what do you (or anyone suggest) ie stuff used for fences, or paint...?
 
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