New girls

[LadyA]

Was hoping to show you the new girls out in their run. But we're having a storm here, with howling wind and an orange rainfall warning in place, for the next couple of days.So, here they are, just after they arrived, exploring their house. The hens are out, but they're hiding under the henhouse! I thought they'd never go to bed last night! The last two up the ramp just wouldn't go in! I finally investigated, and found they couldn't get in, because the first ones in had camped out in the doorway!! So the last two were there, with their heads poking into the safety of the house, but their backsides outside! :lol: :lol: I had to shift them, and lift everyone onto the perches. I've had four (or is it five? 05 ) eggs so far, which is not bad at all, because they don't look like they are in lay yet! One of them, her comb is reddening up, the others look a bit behind her, but obviously, someone is starting to come into lay. I'm leaving them in the run for a few days, until they are accustomed to life here, and until maybe the weather gets a bit better.

 

[Tweetypie]

They look really well, plus I find the "ginger" girls do seem to be prolific egg layers. I love your nest box hidey holes. Do yours all lay in one box, (mine do), or do they use all of them? It looks so cosy in there.

 

[LadyA]

They tend to all use the one. Or if it's occupied, at a pinch, they use the middle one. Nobody uses the one closest to the door - it's not dark enough.

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[LadyA]

I'm hoping it's just the "trauma" of being bundled into a box and transported home, along with the newness of their environment, and the change in feed (not to mention that the temperature has dropped about 10 degrees, and we've stormy winds and torrential rain last night & today, with more forecast for tomorrow!), but one of the hens, I've noticed, is doing a lot of white liquid poos, so just urates, with very little food in. They were definitely all pooing normally when I got them, so I'm hoping this is just temporary as she adjusts. They all look fine, so I don't know which one it is. Fingers crossed!

 

[Marigold]

I've found it's quite common for new girls not to eat properly for the first few days. Try to encourage them with extra-nutritious treats such as sunflower seeds, crushed hard boiled egg, and mixed corn. Mix it all in with some pellets and chopped fruit such as apple or pear, or a few defrosted peas, and damp it down with hot water to make a lovely crumbly mix. Serve on a big plate for them to share. Hard to resist and will help to tame them!

 

[LadyA]

I've found it's quite common for new girls not to eat properly for the first few days. Try to encourage them with extra-nutritious treats such as sunflower seeds, crushed hard boiled egg, and mixed corn. Mix it all in with some pellets and chopped fruit such as apple or pear, or a few defrosted peas, and damp it down with hot water to make a lovely crumbly mix. Serve on a big plate for them to share. Hard to resist and will help to tame them!

This morning, they had pellets and mixed corn, damped with warm water. This one hen just didn't rush to the plate like the others. She was more interested in poking along the edge of the run, looking for things to pick at, it seems. She doesn't look ill or anything. But she's definitely not as settled as the rest. So, it could be her. Of course, the weather couldn't be worse (short of having feet of snow to welcome them!). Last week was bright, sunny and mild. Friday, when I got them, it had turned much colder and windy. And since then, the entire weekend has had an Orange weather warning in this area for wind and very heavy rainfall. It's dark, storming and the most misery inducing weather! So, not the best welcome for them! They are under cover, but I haven't got the screen on the side of the run yet. It's too windy! Thankfully, the wind isn't from the usual direction, so it's not blowing too much rain in there. And the weather is to improve as the week goes on. Fingers crossed!!
Still, maybe she's a hen to keep a firm eye on, and I may yet be glad I got an extra one! :roll: Or maybe she's hormonal, thinking about coming into lay. There's been five eggs over the weekend.

 

[LadyA]

Glad to report that all six hens were bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning! The weather has been so very miserable that last evening I made a mash of pellets and corn and gave them that, and they gobbled it. The hen I was worried about did eat, but not with the others. She seemed a bit of a loner. This morning, having noticed that none of them seem to be using the feeder much, (it's a grandpa's treadle feeder, locked fully open for now) I put a small handful of mixed corn into the feeder, and they all gathered round and got stuck in. Today, I'm hoping to repair the rusty place on the run. It's just a small patch. But what I'm thinking is: The bit that needs repair is below the henhouse (which is about three feet off the ground). The hens do congregate under there when the weather is miserable, even though the whole very large run is roofed. So I might try and rig something up on that side that keeps the rain from blowing in, rather than just mesh. I'll have to see what can be done. Maybe heavy plastic sandwiched between two sheeds of mesh?

 

[Marigold]

Sounds good, but Monotex trap would be better - just fix it across the mesh area, no need for double layer of mesh, and it will last much longer than ordinary plastic, several years probably. Easy to cut to size and reinforced with a nylon mesh. Use the sort of wide-topped nails sold to fix roofing felt to nail it on. See https://www.tarpaulinsdirect.co.uk/tarpaulins/tarpaulins/monotex-tarpaulin
Ordinary plastic will last a few weeks but let you down by next winter, and it'll be difficult to remove it from between two layers of mesh.
Or anything solid you have to hand that will recycle, really. I've used an old door for a similar job.

 

[LadyA]

I just took off the rusted wire, and put new weldmesh on. With an interested audience of chickeny faces offering encouragement and advice from the inside! Snipping the wire and using the big stapler has made the arthritis in my hands flare up badly - so I took my mum and sister out for a final coffee, before sister returns to Australia tomorrow.

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[bigyetiman]

They all look lovely and settling in well.
I just love the way whenever you do work they stand there like a sentinel of forewomen, offering helpful advice in a clucky sort of way.

 

[LadyA]

They all look lovely and settling in well.
I just love the way whenever you do work they stand there like a sentinel of forewomen, offering helpful advice in a clucky sort of way.

That's exactly what they're like! Of course, there was the added incentive that as I cleared away grass etc from the base of the frame, I was uncovering bugs etc, which eager little beaks were waiting for!

And I got five little eggs today! Okay, one was out on the floor of the run - but the rest were all in the same nest box. Which had been carefully and thoroughly cleared of every scrap of straw that I had just put in there this morning!!

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[LadyA]

I've been a bit concerned about how little feed was disappearing, considering the girls are confined to the run at the moment. Most of them, it's as if they didn't understand the feed. All the pullets I've bought from this poultry place over the years have always been on layer's pellets before being sold, so I never thought to ask.
However I was, as I said, getting a bit concerned, particularly as, when I go to the run, I just about get mobbed. So today I made a bowl of pellets softened to a crumbly mash with warm water, and gave it to the hens. They fell on it like ravenous beasts! So I'll do the same in the morning.

Any hints for moving them onto pellets?

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