iChicken Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Hi, We recently took delivery of an Eglu and on Saturday purchased two hybrid chickens. On Sunday we had very strong winds and the rain was lashing down virtually all day so Dora and Peppa spent most of it huddled in the back of the Eglu. Luckily the weather cleared up today and they have been finding their feet in the run. I had a lot of questions but most have been answered by previous posts on this excellent forum (I was very tempted to type eggcellent but guessed you'd all seen it plenty of times before). One thing thats worries me is them escaping from the garden when I let them out of the run. Our garden is surrounded by a six foot fence, is this enough to keep them in or will they be up and over it before i've pegged the run door open? On the subject of wing clipping, at what age do they first need clipping? Our girls are just over 20 weeks, should I clip their wings yet? Will they be able to flap up onto the fence? will they have any inclination to get up there and escape into next doors garden? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CockADoodleDoo Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Welcome to the forum iChicken i would clip them now if your worried because around 18-20 weeks is when there best at flying, because theyre still quite thin and light. but i fence is about that high and ive never had a problem with them jumping over it hope all goes well Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieMcHen Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Welcome I clipped my chicken's wings at 14 weeks when I collected them. You may need to enlist a second pair of hands The 6 foot fence is fine they wont make a dash up over the top. They will wander around and eat ANYTHING green, succulent and probably precious Can you fence off a smaller area until you are confident that they will come to you for corn or similar inducements when you want them back in the run? I use clear plastic carpet protector, £2.50 per metre from my local hardware center, held on with bungy chords to give mine some protection from the rain. I don't cover the run completely though as they are outside birds and getting damp isn't a problem for them. When they are free ranging they rarely bother about the rain unless it really is stair rods. Hope some of this is helpful. Good luck Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I'd clip their wings asap - I queried with the place I bought my hybrids as to why one of my hens had _2_ clipped wings - it turns out she was a 'naughty girl' and was clipped because she kept jumping over the divide between the pens - which was about 8 feet up. When I bought them I asked for them to be clipped and no one noticed she'd already been done - hence 2 clipped wings! They said that as she gets heavier she won't be able to get as high. I was advised to keep my hens in for about a week before letting them free range and then to initially let them out about an hour before sunset so that they know to come back to the Eglu to roost. What hybrids did you get? Welcome to the Forum - I've only been on here just over a month and the advice is brilliant! Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Hi and welcome! I have 6' fences around my garden too. Although some hens could probably clear this, the ginger/black hybrids are not particularly flighty and prefer large bounces to full flights! Did you get them from Omlet? Just that they clipped their wings for me when they were delivered. Would be worthwhile doing as soon as possible if you are worried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChicken Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 Thanks for the advice. I'll tackle the wing clipping over the next few days before letting them out next weekend. We have ordered some chicken netting so we can restrict them to a certain part of the garden without the need for permanent fencing. We got our birds from a local farm in Sussex and they are Hylines, brown with some white markings. There's a photo of them in the Gallery section under Peppa & Dora. Strangely enough my GF grew up on a farm with chickens but her idea of looking after them is let them run around where ever they please, throw them s"Ooops, word censored!"s from the kitchen and dispatch them when they are large enough to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xScrunchee Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 As for the wing clipping-it has already been mentioned but thought I would add my bit about clipping only the one wing. Simply because that throws them off balance when they do try to fly whereas having both clipped means that they can learn to flap hard enough to take off and balance is not a problem. My fences are 6ft and so far the girls have not attempted to escape. They do however jump up onto things which are near to the fence so it would then not take much effort to make the next leap onto the fence. If I see them on top of something I just get them down! I'm sure that you will love having hens but just keep an eye on your G/F-be wary if she has prepared a nice roast chicken dinner for you in the next few weeks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I bought some clear plastic sheeting from Dunelm last week. It is excellent. Much better than I expected. it is held on with strong pegs and so far has withstood the gales and lashing rain. The Aubiose in the run is a bit damp round the edges....but with the Omlet Winter Shades that I was using before it would have been saturated. Clipping only one wing is a good tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Welcome to the forum! I echo what everyone else has said. My 3 have jumped up onto window sills (about 5ft) but have never attempted to get over my 5-6ft netting barrier thingy. They don't seem interested in the outside world, luckily. The farmer clipped their wings for me at 17 weeks. Dunelm plastic is the way to go to keep the hemcore dry - it's really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 If you keep the birds in the eglu run for a week this will 'home' them and they will associate home with food. Make sure you leave their food in or very near to the run as they will always come back to the same place for it. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Hi and welcome, Dora and Peppa huh? Been watching Nick Jr by any chance? Mine have never tried to escape (famous last words) and the fence at the bottom of my garden is only about 5 1/2 foot, the rest is all 6ft. Once they get used to you and their routine (and the fact that you FEED them!) they won't want to leave. Chickens seem to me to be pretty much led by their stomachs! But yes, clip one wing, it's easy to do but you will need a second pair of hands, unless you're really clever! Mrs Bertie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Hello! Before I got my girls I was really nervous about birds in general I got the farmer to clip my girl's wings when I got them, he went like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Hello!Before I got my girls I was really nervous about birds in general I got the farmer to clip my girl's wings when I got them, he went like this Yup, I got that too . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChicken Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 My daughters two favorite TV characters are Dora and Peppa. She's almost 2 and loves the chickens, we can't keep her away from the Eglu. If we let her she'd stand feeding them corn all day. After reading through the forum we have bought Garlic Powder, Chicken Spice and Verm-X. Each one is added to the food. is it safe to add all three to the food at the same time? On the subject of what's safe for chickens is it safe to put down bonemeal on areas they will be allowed into in the garden? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 After reading through the forum we have bought Garlic Powder, Chicken Spice and Verm-X. Each one is added to the food. is it safe to add all three to the food at the same time? On the subject of what's safe for chickens is it safe to put down bonemeal on areas they will be allowed into in the garden? I add garlic powder & chicken spice to their pellets box at the same time. Sorry, I don't know about Verm-x, I use Flubenvet. Don't know about bonemeal either I'm afraid. Like your forum name, by the way. Simple but effective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChicken Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 Thanks, I just hope Apple don't sue me for using the name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Ooh, you could end up doing 15 days inside for that . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChicken Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 Then who would look after my chickens After a couple of days not doing much, just sheltering in the Eglu and occasionally venturing out for food Dora & Peppa finally started acting like real chickens yesterday afternoon. They kicked their treats bowl over, scratched a big hole into the soil, bit my daughters finger, 1 was brave enough to escape the run. It's good to see them enjoying themselves. We added the winter shade to the run and it keeps most of the rain off them when they are out of the Eglu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChicken Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Managed to get their wings clipped today, my GF proved a bit of an expert at handling the chickens so my job of trimming the flight feathers was quite easy, I took off around 4cms fromt he longest feathers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
