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[Moonie]

Oh and they all took themselves off to bed tonight without any prompting. They just trooped up one after the other and in they went. I was looking at the sky thinking it was a bit early. Then two or three minutes later, I looked out and it had got very dark very quickly. Incredible.

 

I know that this is probably really boring as you've all seen it a million times but I'm just so excited at the moment!

 

*yawn* Only joking!! Don't worry about it, everyone is the same!!

[Egluntyne]

They will love the ash from the fire for their dustbath.

 

They will look a bit scary when they emerge from it though!

[Pinkybijou]

So glad you're enjoying your chooks. For dust bathing mine love ordinary fine compost in their washing up bowl! I keep it in the shed to keep it warm and dry and bring it out and put it in a sunny spot - they LOVE it! Also, I don't mind if they kick it all out because it's good for my garden.

 

Kris

Doris, Welsummer

Dora, Wyandotte

[MedusA]

They've been on a mission to destroy the little flower bed. They haven't eaten any of it, just pecked at it and pulled it apart. Then they started to dig.

 

When I first saw your pics, I wondered how long it would be before that happened!

 

So glad you are enjoying your girls. Chooks are remarkably good-value-for-money entertainment IMHO.

[HRC99]

They've been on a mission to destroy the little flower bed. They haven't eaten any of it, just pecked at it and pulled it apart. Then they started to dig.

 

When I first saw your pics, I wondered how long it would be before that happened!

 

It kind of lasted the day (just about) and then they went to work on it with a vengeance yesterday.

 

Shouls the dustbath be a permanent fixture or put in now and again. I put a metal dish in with the grit and they had completely buried it in next to no time.

 

I took it out and put in a concrete paving slab in the run and parked the bowl on top of that. They haven't managed to bury it yet!

 

So I was wondering about the dustbath as well.

[Egluntyne]

I'd be inclined to leave it as they love dustbathing and it is a good boredom buster.

 

They will scatter the contents everywhere though .

[HRC99]

Sadly, I'm away for a couple of days. Getting withdrawal symptoms that I won't see them for a few days. My girlfriend is giving me progress reports though.

 

I'll sort the dustbath out for them when I'm back.

 

I saw on the HF-W's programmes that they have a football in with them. Does anyone else let them play with a ball?

[Snowy]

Just caught up with your progress! What a great looking set up and lovely hens. Glad you are enjoying them! I had to ban mine from ball games - the children found that hens don't make very good goal keepers

 

Oh, and I've lost 2 metal bowls in my run - they are buried in there somewhere

[HRC99]

Zoe let them out this morning at 7:00am and they were up and almost pecking at the door in a hurry to get out. The girls were giving her dirty looks apparently!

 

I think the door will be left open from now on!

 

Three of them hopped down the ladder and started scratching around immediately. Cheryl, however, decided that flying was the best option and flew straight from the doorway of the Cube before going splat into the run door 2m away and landing in an undignified heap!

 

I think the scissors may have to come out at the weekend! Any pointers as to wing clipping?

[MedusA]

It really is much easier if you keep the door open and they can let themselves out in the morning (especially in the summer). I only close mine if it's forecast to be very cold, so I have shut them in a few times over the last month or so.

 

If you have the book "Keeping Pet Chickens", there is a really good pictorial guide to wing clipping. I have to admit, the first time I did it myself I cut much too little off and had to do it again. It's really a 2-person job for a novice: one to hold the chicken and one to spread the wing and clip it. Good luck!

[HRC99]

Just a quick update and a couple of questions too.

 

The girls have settled in fine. They seem very happy indeed. I was worried that there wasn't going to be enough room for them but there's loads and they are busy scratching around all day.

 

They don't like uncooked broccoli but quite like to cooked. They don't like cooked potato peelings nor do they like courgette.

 

They do, however, love cabbage. I hung one up for them and they went nuts for it. They'd pecked it off the string in next to no time and it was pretty much gone inside a couple of hours.

 

I think that'll be a weekend treat for them.

 

We clipped their wings yesterday morning. My other half was in tears doing it as she was so frightened that she'd hurt them. But it was all done quite easily and a couple of mealworms later, we're all friends again!

 

They were hilarious though once they'd had their wings clipped. Flapping away and wondering why they couldn't get airborne. It was very funny in the evening as they'd taken to flapping their way up instead of walking up the ladder. It took them all ages to get up the ladder by using their feet.

 

It was even funnier this morning as they'd taken to going off one after another like parachutists. Except the chutes didn't open so they all went splat into the hemcore below.

 

We let them out for the first time yesterday. I was very nervous but they to it pretty well having a good nose around. Not too far. I let them out again for a couple of hours this afternoon and they were everywhere pecking at everything. I was getting freezing so it took some serious bribery and corruption to get them back in the run.

 

I noticed that Rosie's toe is bleeding a little and her nail is black. She doesn't seem in any pain with it and is happily scratching around with it. Should I do something with it or leave it to heal?

[MedusA]

I noticed that Rosie's toe is bleeding a little and her nail is black. She doesn't seem in any pain with it and is happily scratching around with it. Should I do something with it or leave it to heal?

 

When one of my girls had a bleeding foot, the advice I was given (on here of course ) was to "paddle" her foot in warm water to bathe off any mud and then put either gentian violet or tea tree oil on it. As I had some, I used tea tree oil and her toe was fine again the next day.

 

Lovely to hear you and your girls are enjoying life!