We finally have chickens

RedBarnHens

RedBarnHens

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We collected our chickens last Wednesday, 1st June and they are settling in well (I think!) I've made a few adjustments to things inside the run and coop. I had trouble with the drinker as it kept overflowing, but now I have it on a separate slab on the other side of the run and it's fine. There are 2 old belfast sinks in the first part of the run and the girls ate all the weeds in them and then turned them into dust baths. I'm going to put a mix of sand and wood ash in there too today.

Two of the hens (the Rhode Rocks) are older and are laying regularly, but the others are younger and nothing in that department yet.

The first night I had to wait until they had settled and then pick them up and place them on the roosts, but now they have got the idea. However, one has taken to sleeping in the nesting boxes, so I wondered if it was ok to close the boxes overnight and open them again the morning to stop this???

The brown hens are more attentive than the black ones, but I'm working on it.

One of the Rhode Rocks has brown diarrhoea type stools - no blood - so I'm hoping that will clear up soon. Everyone else is ok.

This chicken keeping lark is great, but I feel I've got a lot to learn!
 

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Hooray! They look great :)
I’m just guessing but the 'diarrhoea' might just be cecal dropping if you haven’t seen one before - sticky, smooth light brown to black and very smelly. If so that’s normal as an occasional dropping between the more regular firm ones with a white cap.
 
Well they certainly look like they are enjoying themselves. It's fine to block the nest boxes at night but worth noting that you will need to unblock them quite early in the morning or you risk the hens laying in the house.
Just for your reference here is a link to the different types of chicken poo you will come across.
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/?topic=17568.0
 
Lovely hens, and great accommodation - well done,
How old are the Rhode Rocks? It would be a good idea to worm them all with Flubenvet, esp. the older ones if the diarrhoea continues, as this could possibly indicate worms. Your run is nice and clean of worm eggs at the moment as no hens have been kept there, so preventing a fresh infestation would help
 
Thank you everyone. The Rhode Rocks are 22 weeks old, Marigold and the rest are 19 weeks old. Do you think I should worm them?

You might be right about the droppings Rick....and they are very smelly.

I will block the nests for the next couple of nights, Dinosaw, just to see if I can stop this one hen from doing it. Last night I picked her out of there and put her on the roost, but this morning I could see that a hen had slept in the other box. The hens that are laying don't seem to lay until after 9 in the morning so I can open them early.

There favourite pastime at the moment is scratching up the hardwood chippings in the big run and moving them from one side to the other. I wouldn't mind if they moved them back again..lol.

The other thing I have sent for today is a compost bin! My poop picking bucket is beginning to get quite full and as I have a very large garden I think all this lovely compost will come in hand in the Spring :D
 
Yes, bedding mixed with grass clippings and other greenery makes fantastic compost. The poo acts as an accelerator and fertiliser, and the shredded chippings aerate it and stop it getting too high in nitrogen.
I routinely worm new birds, and around 20 weeks, at this time of year, is a good time.
 
Thanks Marigold. I'm going to order some flubenvet and follow your advice on another thread. I noticed you can buy pellets with flubenvet in them, but wondered if it's a good idea to change their food from the pellets I'm using, even just for 7 days?
 
As I said in the other thread, for just a few birds in the long run it works out less expensive and wasteful to buy a pot of powder and mix up just the amount you need, then just feed the mixture to them until it's gone. For your four, mix 2.5 scoops into 5 kilos, and feed until it's all gone. A pot does 20 doses, so will last you for 2years if you do them every 5 months or so. And as you say, they won't have to change feed, which might actually mean they didn't eat enough Flubenvet whilst getting used to the change. Also, there are often weeks on end when Flubenvet isn't available anywhere, the supply just isn't always available , so if you always have some in store in powder form you don't get caught out at worming time.
If you do prefer to buy it ready mixed, I think you can buy a 5-kilo bags which would be fine for 4 hens.
 
The bags of marriages with flubenvet come in 10kg and are 7.65 + 3.99 delivery from Farm and Pet Place, but you can add an extra 10kg worth of supplies for free as this covers delivery of up to 20kg. The economics of it are now marginal as the powder has gone up so much in price, looking today the cheapest I have found for a 60g tub was £23.99 without delivery, approximately 1/3 of a tub will treat 6 chickens which works out at £8 plus £2.99 so nothing in it.

Haven't had any problems with switching between feeds over many wormings but Marigold is right if you can get your hands on some of the powder it is always worth keeping some in store.
 
Thanks again everyone. I have ordered the flubenvet powder now and will worm them when it arrives.

The one hen still tries to sleep anywhere but on the roost at night! I have blocked off all her little places and last night she finally slept with the rest of them.

I will continue to block the nesting boxes for a few days more until I'm sure she's got the message. The hens that are laying had no problem using the nesting boxes, which are 2 covered plastic cat litter boxes, when I put the little plastic swinging 'door' back on them. They just go straight in and lay and then come out. But it's worked to stop the one particular hen from sleeping there.

What I need some advice about now is the easiest way to train them to go to bed at night :roll:
 
RedBarnHens said:
What I need some advice about now is the easiest way to train them to go to bed at night
Click to expand...

When it gets towards the end of twighlight if they haven't gone into the coop pick them up and put them in and shut the door after them, rinse and repeat until it sinks in.
 
What time are you trying to get them in? Chickens go to roost at sunset, which 9.15 at the moment, and will be even later until after the solstice.
I would just leave them until around 9.30 and then go down and check what they're doing.
Does it matter what time they go to roost? Assuming they've been in the run for long enough to know how to get into the coop you could just leave them to get on with it. They would much prefer it if you left the pophole open at night, for air, and so they can get up again by 4.47, which is dawn at the moment.
 
When I had 5 hens they would all roost on the same perch (some kind of whip imposed by Brownie.) Betty always wanted to be to the left of Aerial and Blaze between the other 2 sisters. No-one wanted to be on the end so for 10 mins before sundown there were squabbles while everyone tried to get in their proffered place. Rather than getting off the perch and on again in the right place, Betty would try to go under the line casing much indignation and pecking. I couldn't resist the temptation to re-arrange them a couple of times but stopped as it was clearly a ludicrous pursuit and let them work it out for themselves.
Now there's 4 they have taken to roosting in 2 groups which is a bit annoying as there's more places to poo pick in the morning but OK.
Chickens are so funny!
 
Ok....I think I'm trying to get them in too early then. My problem is that we often go out for a meal of an evening and I'm a bit nervous about letting them stay out in the run whilst it's getting dark. Perhaps I will try it tomorrow and go and check on them about 9.30pm and see if they have got themselves in. We are out Friday night and won't be back until after 10.00pm so I will try not to worry too much...lol.

The timer on the pop hole door is set to open at 6.45am...do you think I should set it for earlier?? Questions, questions :-)07
 
It all comes down to how secure you think your run is. Let's face it, if you are likely to get a fox attack, he's probably not going to wait until full darkness anyway, they hunt at any time especially when feeding cubs, like now. There's no security in daylight itself, the main line of defence has to be the security of the run. So, if the run is OK, it's kinder to the chickens to set the pophole door to a time that reflects their natural rhythms for roosting and waking. They would certainly like to be up and about at least a couple of hours before 6.45 at the moment, as the coop gets very hot and stuffy once the sun comes up and they'll be wanting to feed and drink and get on with their day. And of course, if you're happy with the run security you don't need to shut the pophole at all, as the coop is just a second line of defence. If you can achieve this, it really makes chicken keeping very much simpler, for you and also for anyone who looks after them when you go away.
I suppose it comes down to what the fox situation is like in your area. Have you had any reports of attacks locally, or seen any foxes around? How happy are you with the security of the run? If not 100%, then they're at risk anyway during the day. Bear n mind that, whenever you let them out, if a fox is around he will be watching.
 
Thank you Marigold. I haven't heard of any local fox attacks, but we are semi-rural here and I don't know if anyone else nearby has chickens. Lots of sheep around us though!

We used to see evidence of rabbits being taken - lots of fur in the paddock - but that was when we first moved in last October. Since then it hasn't been so obvious. Our two dogs have free run of the paddock during the day and they 'check' out everything last thing at night. I do have a security light on the stable side of the barn which will come on and light up the chicken run, but maybe that will just help Mr Fox see what he's doing.

I think I just need to have a little faith in the run we have built. I'm going to make the pop hole open earlier and see what time they take themselves in tonight.
 
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