New hens arrived today

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DuncanZA

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After a very long wait I picked up my new hens today. A long wait because having moved back to the UK in 2013 from South Africa I wasn't able to have any chickens (mainly because we were in a rented house when we moved back). In the meantime I've had to settle for reading back issues of Practical Poultry and keeping up with all the great posts on the forum!

We moved to Staffordshire in June, and the house we bought needed quite a bit of work. Well, the work continues on the house but I made sure the work in the garden was done as a priority and at the weekend I was able to put up the run with a little help from my brother-in-law.

I chose a plastic coop from The Clever Coop Company and it was a doodle to put together. I did that yesterday and finally everything was ready to welcome the new pullets. So this afternoon I went along and picked up the girls:

2 x Speckled Sussex
2 x Cream Legbar
2 x Cuckoo Marans
2 x Chamoise Friesians and
2 x Marock

They're tucked up in the coop right now so they can get used to their new home - I'll let them in the run tomorrow and when the garden is completely finished and secure they will be able to roam free in the afternoons (after they've eaten their rations). They're on growers pellets still at the moment as they are still only between 13 and 15 weeks old.

Daft, I know, but I'm really happy to have chickens again!




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DuncanZA said:
Well, the work continues on the house but I made sure the work in the garden was done as a priority and at the weekend I was able to put up the run with a little help from my brother-in-law.
Click to expand...

I see you have your priorities right :)

If its daft to like having a bunch of feathered loons running amuck in your garden then there's no hope for any of us! Hope they settle in well.
 
Well done, what an exciting day! Congratulations! And good to have got young pullets, who will grow on steadily, settle in, and maybe start to lay before winter sets in. Looking forward to more news - and photos, please!
 
Hi DuncanZA. That's a bit of a co-incidence as we sold our house in Staffordshire in June! We had big fox problems there so you are right not to let them roam the garden unless all the boundaries are very secure. In retrospect we should have built a secure enclosure inside the garden walls, because the walls themselves were not quite high enough.

Sounds like they will all be laying before Christmas, depending on the weather. Plastic coop was a good choice.
 
Good luck with your new chickens Duncan.

Congratulations on the house sale Chris!. Are you holding fire on what to do re France?.
 
Thanks for all your comments and good wishes. Pleased to say they seem to be settling in. One of the Chamoise Friesians and one of the Cuckoo Marans are vying to be at the top of the pecking order already and have been chasing the others around intermittently all day. They're proving to be right little madams. At first they didn't want to leave the coop but when I checked an hour after opening up three had ventured out and later in the morning all but one were roaming the run (I helped the last one out). They've found the growers pellets and water so at least I know they're fed and watered. This evening, all but one were tucked up in the coop by 7pm with just one little Legbar left out (so I helped her in). I could spend ages watching their antics!


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I'd advise two feeders and drinkers Duncan, as it's all too easy for one or two to be bullied off and then gorge on grass which results in a digestive impaction and usually death. They need poultry mixed grit as well.

Yes we've sold at last Dinosaw and by complete co-incidence, due to a very small change in search area, after 3 years we've found somewhere worth buying and have. Based on our now extensive property experience we have adjusted our criteria yet again and now will be moving to a 2 bedroom 'long house' built in 1760. Plenty of barn and garage space, no subsidence, no damp, no asbestos, no near neighbours (300 metres), no shared access, no termites, no electrical problems, no land drainage problems, no traffic noise and very low running costs. Sitting on 2 ½ acres with fruit trees, so we've bought a very large mower. The purchase system here is very precise, takes 3-6 months anyway and so our date for 'completion' is now set in stone at the end of May 2017 latest, which is OK because the tracks are too soft here to drive loaded-up on until April anyway. Looking forward to our new life at last. Changed our money just before the recent crash, so nothing stands in our way. Moving the chickens will always be a big problem of course.
 
Pleased to hear your good news, Chris. It must feel as though it's taken an eternity!
Here's hoping that everything goes smoothly now.
 
It does feel like a very long time Icemaiden. We've been in France over 4 years now and when we finally complete our move (leave here 15th August 2017) it will be 5 years- not what we were expecting at all. We still have 11 of our original exported chickens and at the moment they all seem healthy enough to be coming with us. Can't say we are looking forward to moving 31 chickens with their 9 coops plus 11 run units and all the other stuff chicken related like netting, rearing units, sheds and spare coops!
 
How are they getting on, Duncan? I'm still hoping to see some photos, I'm not at all sure what Chamois Friesians look like. (maybe a sort of goat/cow hybrid with feathers?)
 
They seem to be getting on fine thanks Marigold and I will definitely post some pictures when I get a chance. Have been busy in the garden all day today and spent some time with the chickens in between lugging plants and bags of compost around. It's fascinating watching them go about establishing a pecking order. The two youngest, the Crested Cream Legbars are still getting a bit of a raw deal but I'm making sure they get enough access to food and drink and all in all they seem content. I've had to block off the nest boxes as a couple started roosting in them but now all but the Legbars are roosting on the perches - I lift the Legbars on to the perch but hopefully they'll get the hang of it soon enough.


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We've been having lovely weather for gardening and settling in a new flock of chickens, haven't we? It's been really good to get out of doors, there's so much to do at this time of year. I'm glad they're doing well.
 
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