Pookylover Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Good afternoon! I have had my 10 ex batts for just over a week now and gave their house a complete change of woodshavings and hay etc. They are gradually making their way outdoors more and more but I pop in every day three times and poop scoop with my shovel and pink bucket and they don't mind me at all. Today they watched as I put all the nest boxes outside and feed bins etc and began to clean out the shed. I had to block the doorway so they couldn't get back in to 'help'! I was watched like a hawk . If they could talk they would've been saying "what you doing with that? Where you putting that?" They were soooo funny! When I had finished they popped in to make sure everything was as it should be. Can see where the expression 'mother hen' comes from now. They were so fussy! Clare x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Howdy neighbour!! I noticed you live in St Austell, Cornwall. I live in one of the surrounding villages of St Austell, so it's really nice to finally meet a local omleteer!!! Congrats on rehoming your 10 ex batts... They are amazing little things aren't they? I couldn't imagine my life without them!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pookylover Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 Hey Offspring! Small world! You have loads of girls don't you?? You are really lucky and obviously have alot of room! We are in Treverbyn and have given up our garden to our 10 girls. I wish we had the room for more they are wonderful! Didn't realise anyone else was from down here on this forum. No one ever somes from Cornwall have you noticed?! Clare x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Small world indeed!! Yeah we've got "about" 50 hens, we haven't done an official count for a while now as we let them all free range completely and they just put themselves away, but I think it's probably about 48-52. They were all free and all other peoples cast offs, most of them were going to be slaughtered as they had exhausted their useful laying period!! We paid £2 for each of our 3 bantam girls though and they seem to fit in OK with the heavy breeds. So they are a real mixture of odds n' sods! I guess we get about 35-40 eggs per day at the most, out of the 50 or so hens so they can't have fully exhausted their laying abilities!! Nope I've never noticed anyone else from Cornwall either (I don't believe it though, considering the amount of traffic and people down here now)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pookylover Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 You are so lucky! Do you sell your eggs to a supplier with that many a day? We get about 2 eggs a day from our 10 at the moment. I guess they are still adjusting and moulting etc. I am giving them some poultry spice in mixed corn a few times a week will this help with the moult? I read somewhere it does. They also have the layers mash and veg too. Even if they don't produce eggs they are great to watch and wouldn't be without them at all! Clare x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Oh no we don't sell to a supplier, we just do it for fun... Although we had a batch of 50 or so warran hybrids which were supplying a local spar/costcutter and had become uneconomical to keep for mass production. They are still really good layers and I think we still have around 30 of them left (they have been dying naturally over time). We just sell to neighbours, friends, family and colleagues etc. And we use any ones that aren't up to scratch ourselves. And with this amount of chickens the money just about pays for the food. Sorry if it sounds like some of my figures are a bit vague, I'm just quite laid back and not really into keeping accurate records. Hence not branching out into larger livestock, as it starts to get complicated with identification, strict standards/monitoring and defra! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
