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Hello, BHWT regional co-ordinator here, also been rehoming ex-commercial hens since 2007. In my experience it is best to leave them be. As long as they have somewhere shady to go (if not, create these spaces), their normal layer pellets and water available at all times, they will eventually realise where it’s best to be. The skin will appear red, but bald patches will also appear red in winter when it’s cold, too. I wouldn't put any sun cream on it and I don’t put Vaseline or woolly jackets on them or whatever in winter either. They don’t need it. It depends on the hen, the weather and why she lost the feathers as to when she feathers up. Some will do it quickly, others will take months. Some ex-commercials are actually moulting when they are rehomed so they’ll feather up quicker than those that have lost feathers due to pecking. Either way, don’t worry about them. They may look as weak as kittens but very few hens need extra care, just time and patience to figure things out. Just feed them a good quality layers pellet and water, and keep treats to a very bare minimum (same for all hens).

So we went back to the tip with an internet booked appointment (all very efficient and organised now): we can go once a week and not more often. Greeted by the same 'jobsworth' at 3 metres, no masks and our window wound down. She spotted our cute dog and rushed over, stuck herself head first through the window of the van to fuss her !! So much for social distancing.

Our boys have these chopsticks, tho they generally give up and go for a fork! Your grandson will be at a massive advantage being able to fluently speak both languages! An aside; I've listed a few items on the local Gumtree and the curse of spelling strikes again. Someone has listed a 'pitcher'. It's a lovely pitcher - of tulips!!!!

We got a cute little video of my grandson yesterday practicing with his training chopsticks. If you haven't seen them they're just like little tongs. He's also starting to talk in both languages which fascinates me. Just the fact that a baby can rearrange all those words into the correct sections seems incredible. I've watched some lectures on YouTube and read articles online to try to understand how they do it.

They all made it!!

Four out of four!!! That’s so good 😊

Aaahhhhh! So tiny

I'm amazed, I thought seramas were hard to hatch especially from eggs that have been through the post!! 🐣🐣🐣🐣

Yay!!!!!!

Awwwww! Little fluffy cheepers!

Thank you. Actually, after a few days it gets better. The Orpington cheats and flies most of the way but the other two got the trick.

Sooo cute!

This is so exciting!!! They’re so tiny!! The eggs I had weren’t fertile - I’ve just put some eBay ones in the incubator today. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻

I think we should add this to the sticky about Fox Attacks. I’m so sorry for your awful experience but thank you for sharing it. The pictures are very useful too so that others can take precautions. You might like to put a post about it on the Omlet Chicken Keeping FB page to reach those who get their advice this way. I hope you do restock. Would an electric fence be another defence worth considering?

And another one of the same chick! Oh you are going to get bored of me!!!! 🙄

Well here it is!!

Can't wait to see your babies!!!!

It's raining but not exactly pouring. The old man isn't snoring but says he's not watering this evening!

No you can just add them by clicking “Click to choose files” below the comment box

Grower feed doesn’t have a lot of calcium in it, so you should switch to layers if they started laying eggs. ACV in the water in combination with hot weather can limit their calcium uptake so be careful with that. When in doubt, limit their free ranging and treats and just stick to layers for while and see if it solves the egg issue. When were they last wormed?

You can put a brick or log in front of the ladder so they can hop on there to get to the coop. I have a perch half way up the ladder and they prefer hopping on the perch and then going into the coop.

I don’t think you can put it on the ground. There are loads that have made their own ramp up to the Cube. A plank and some lattice can make a good ramp.

I thought I would come back on here to thank Dogmother for the recommendation of the Gourmet Grit: my lovely girls adore it ... can't stop chomping. I am hopeful that this will help their tummies. I posted the poop sample off to Westgate this morning so we shall see what comes back from that.

Wow. Thank you. You just made my day.

PL I think that your hair looks amazing - it's a real statement of who you are and looks very elegant.

It obviously rained a little overnight but the sheep were completely dry when they came to 'help' me let the chickens out - didn't even have that soggy jumper smell!

I saw the same meme, but that’s not quite an exact quote, is it..... Family friendly forum and all that.

I wouldn’t worry just about one - see if it happens again

Shame for the sparrow but think how pleased the magpie must have been to have breakfast served up! Got to take the positives in life 🙄!

I'd smother it in Sudocrem

I caught Bluebell 'red handed' with Lily's egg last week. She had taken it out of the nest box and had just started to eat it on the floor of the coop. I took the white egg out and replaced it straight away with a white pot egg (ceramic). Went back a few hours later and the egg had been moved about a lot. Next day Lily laid another and Bluebell left it alone and hasn't touched one since. Guess the memory of a sore beak and headache linger for quite a while.

I have one peony flower this year! We’re normally in Spain now so I’ve never actually seen it bloom. I think last year I came back to the remains of three flowers. It’s now in more shade from another plant which I think might be the reason. I’ll have to cut the overhanging plant back. It’s one I put in at the same time as the peony but has outstripped it in growth. Can’t remember it’s name! The tomatoes, Gardeners’ Delight, are planted out and romping away. They are loving wrapped in fleece each night by OH. The lettuce survived and is growing apace. Butternut squash, artichokes beginning to move. French beans have flowers and look healthy. Just sown some rocket in an old foil dish after watching Gardeners World this week! I water the hanging baskets ( numerous!) evening and in the morning. They dry out so fast!

Yes I would - I usually do a faecal worm egg test first - I get mine from Westgate Labs - as there's no point in worming if there's nor problem. I get the Flubenvet pre-medicated pellets from www.farmandpetplace.co.uk I find them to be competitively priced, and prompt on delivery. You would need to feed those pellets for 7 days and nothing else. Keep them in the run as much as possible too. Guide to worming here. Westgate are also brilliant with advice on poop issues, gut problems and possible endo-parasite stuff.

You will occasionally see red 'stringy bits' in droppings which is shed intestinal lining. Two things bother me though HRJ. Firstly that is a lot of lining and secondly the poo with it looks watery and 'slimy'. That's an indication of sour crop. You need to be sure they are eating and drinking, that their crops are completely empty in the morning and full and not too firm at night. If there is food left it will rot in the crop and go sour. What we usually find (and this is common) is that they ate too much without drinking enough and couldn't digest it all. A hard lump forms in the crop and stays there. The chicken then drinks a lot of water and starts twisting their neck and shaking the crop to no avail. Simple to resolve, if that's the problem. As said, when were they last wormed with Flubenvet? Have they ever been?

That was so cool!! 13 minutes to get to space! Go Bob and Doug. I’ll be looking out for them in half an hour 🚀🛰🛸

I follow Japanese progress and they have a city which has some new cases too. They have teams of people set up to swoop into an area to deal with any surges. It seems like a good idea to deal with it as localised issue. I guess most countries will have similar plans. Our friend in Tokyo has just got out after 12 weeks in prison as he called it. He's pretty happy to be released.

Wow CT your peony is stunning

You need to check all the others for cankers on a regular basis. The stress of a moult is sufficient to trigger it. One option, which we didn't have in France, is to treat the remaining hen with Flagyl, even though she may not have any symptoms yet so she doesn't have to be kept separate; speak to your vet. We bought a cockerel and the stress of the move triggered cankers during his 2 week isolation period. He was treated with Flagyl and made a full and rapid recovery. He wasn't infected anymore so we had no future issues with his hens. The problem is you can easily buy in stock carrying the parasite, or any other diseases like Mycoplasma, which is why a quarantine period is essential.

Generally, whether it is Baytril or Tylan, the advice is to withdraw eggs from human consumption for 7 days.... according to my poultry vet. Interesting that one told you that the eggs could never be eaten - they obviously haven't see the carp that's pumped into our meat!

Hello! so somebody has laid! I’m not sure who.... They did it while I was out walking the dog so not able to witness the egg song! Martie is too chook and she squatted just now but her vent still looks quite dry. The other two aren’t up for being caught..... They look slightly redder though! there was a small blood smear, I take it that’s ok? I have layers food but they are still on growers... Should I switch now? Should I mix? Should I wait for them all to lay? It seems perfect! Not soft or anything 🥰

Not that I've noticed, don't forget that chickens have a body temp of 105deg anyway. We haven't had any really bad winters lately, but it went down to -3 a couple of nights at the end of last year and they were fine.

I've had frizzles - and still do - and they are lovely, ridiculous bundles of fun. Bear in mind that they aren't waterproof and can't fly. Mine have always seemed hardy, but then I have covered runs with waterproof clear tarps. Pekins and frizzles will tend to brood.

.... going round at 17,000 miles an hour!

So, because I’m a sucker for a neat looking piece of tech, and I’ve saved a load of money on not putting any fuel in my car for the last two months, I’ve just ordered one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/SensorPush-Wireless-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Android/dp/B01AEQ9X9I

It is just the outside. I have no idea how she managed it! They had a cheeky day today. Left the house door open As the dog was away and found them inside too!

Couldn’t help myself and made a matching lovey. 😉

Made some gifts for a pregnant friend who loves bunnies. Both have a rattle ball in them.

I am amazed at how lockdown went, everyone staying in, save the NHS , yes I get it and then planes landing ,people unchecked, untraceable. This is an island, look at New Zealand, if anyone could/should have got it right it should have been here. Now vaguely worded messages to shielded people, so they can interpret as they please. My daughter had third liver transplant, this time last year, horrific time, would not adequately describe it, very rocky post op. She stayed alone in her flat,totally shielded. Now,as she has interpreted it she can go out as much as she wants ,while avoiding people on street. Really. She doesn’t wear mask, as she thinks they are for other people. I feel he has reverted to his plan of herd immunity and hoping these young people at beaches get mild cases and boost herd immunity. I live beside beach, deserted 40 weeks of year, and now swarming with teens that should be at school or studying for exams. They stay until 4 am,and of course toilets are shut and they are using rocks, hedges as toilets.

I can literally never win! Red caught a little fledgling house sparrow last night. So I was catching the little thing in the garden at 00:30 in my nighty. Put it in a cat carrier. Gave it some food and water. Let it drink water from my finger and put it in the sectioned off part of the chicken run. This morning it was scuttling around so I went to check. It had had some food, pooped all over the cage and was fluttering around. So I let it go. It flew out of the garden but a bit low. So went after it to check. And could just witness how it was scooped up by a magpie! So I nursed the little sparrow back to health only so it could end up as magpie breakfast! 🥺