New to the pen

[marmaset]

Hello to everyone, I'm new to this forum and have recently purchased 4 ex batt Isa browns. They have adjusted to their new surroundings very well and are repaying me with 4 lovely eggs a day. They are not roosting on the perch I put in for them, but all cramming into one nest box of a night (although I have provided 4 boxes for them). Will they eventually roost or should I take the perch out. I have tried sitting them on the perch but they don't seem interested. I have one that is very shy and will not lay in the box but waits for me to open the pen and has made a private nest amongst the banana plants. I have tried keeping them locked up in their house until they lay but find when I do so I don't get my 4 eggs, only 2 or three a day. Can anyone tell me if this normal and how much time should I let them out for, to scratch and forage. At the moment they are usually out for about 2-3 hours a day, any longer and they destroy my garden. They are very friendly and follow me around the yard waiting for me to turn over the dirt so that they can scratch. I don't have constant access to the net so If I don't get straight back to you don't think I am ignoring your post, just off line. Love your forum, I have found it very helpful.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Marmaset, and a big welcome to the Forum. I'm supposing you are one of our overseas members, as banana plants are in very short supply here in the UK at the moment, in fact we are having a very late Spring and nothing much is growing yet among the snow and frost. Whereabouts are you?

It's obviously better If you can train your girls to roost at night, and there's no reason why they can't learn to do this, although if they've been kept in cages with no perches, they won't do it naturally at first. If you can put large flower pots in the nestboxes overnight, and remove them in the morning, they won't be able to sleep in there, and then they won't make a mess where they are going to lay their eggs. If you can have the patience to keep lifting them on to the perches when they have gone into the coop at night, they will eventually get the idea. It is fairly important to try to keep the nestboxes clean, and its probably better for them to perch, if possible, to avoid them sitting in their own poo all night, but some birds do prefer the floor of the coop.
They need to be let out of the coop first thing in the morning, as they will be hungry and thirsty and will need to eat and drink and stretch their legs. Then they will go back into the coop of their own accord when they are ready to lay their eggs. Is your coop inside a run with enough space for them to do this? For 4 hybrid hens this needs to be a minimum of 8 square metres of floor space, more if possible. If they can be left safely in there for most of the time, they can be let out for a while when convenient, for a scratch around, for short periods. If they have enough space in their run, and have a dustbath and maybe a perch to look out on the garden, they will be quite happy in there and you will know they are safe from predators.
Looking forward to hearing from you when the Internet is working again where you live!

 

[marmaset]

Thanks Marigold, yes you are right, I am in Sydney Australia. I didn't realise you were in the UK, silly me. Still you all have a wealth of information which is very handy. I have my girls in a garden shed about 1800x1500 with lawn scratchings on the floor and feed and water automatic on demand in the one shed.I will have to build a bigger run for them by the sound of it, or fence off my garden so they can forage all day in the back yard. Thanks for your input, very helpful.

 

[Marigold]

Wonderful, to have another member from down under. How do you cope with the heat in Sydney? That might be a problem with your hens, they manage cold conditions well, but don't like it too hot. I suppose you are just getting into the cooler part of the year there. Here in the UK, its still very cold indeed for the time of year, unlike last year when we had a very early Spring, which was marvellous but devastating to some of the wildlife as there was also a long drought. However, it rained all the rest of the year and we had to cope with flooding in most places. This had an effect on lots of our poultry keepers, as the runs got muddy or even under water, and it seemed to throw the hens laying patterns out of kilter as well. Do you get redmite in Australia? This pest is a big problem when it infests chicken coops here. One good thing about a late Spring is that it hasn't really got going here yet.

 

[marmaset]

The weather is not all that hot, just going into Autumn, its been a pleasant summer, hottest day about 35, but averaging high 20's most of summer. Winter gets down to 8 min, but as I live in a valley with lots of trees, sunshine is scarce for anymore than 6 hours in winter. I don't think I could survive your winter with snow as I find winter here quite miserable. My girls will handle the weather o.k. They are out of the wind and have a large window to look out if they ever get up on their perch, and there shed is in the shade. I have given them an extra pen to scratch in of a day as they were leaving bald patches all over my grass, not to mention finding holes in the fence. It seems the neighbor has tastier grass than me. As for the red mites and other pests, yes we do have them but I bought a pesticide (pestine or something like that) and dusted them all over as well as their nest boxes. They seemed pretty clean anyway and no scalely legs so hopefully I won't have a problem. I have just found a fruit market with large bin of scraps so they will get a box full each week, if I feel like dumpster diving. Catch you all next time I'm on line.