foreveryoung Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hello I dont know if any of you remember me as I dont come on here often these days! I still have all my girls and the chick that broody hatched has grown into a very confident hen that lays basil green eggs or "blue" quite strange considering she came out of a beige one lol. she also sees thedog off when she want the food!! The girls them selves are getting amuzing by the day!, before they are let out they all gather rarther attentively at the gate of their run itching to be the 1st out when the doors open!!! Then the 1st thing they do with hi tail it to the door of the kitchen!! then after a lil bit of roaming they take a curcit of the down stiar part of the house and having to continuosely being escorted out lol I think they are going through a mult but I also thing one or even 2 of them are pulling feathers out at the base of the tial (on their back) on the other 3 hens!!! I have tried the anti pecking stuff and the blue spray with no luck..... I have done the bumper bits but not knowing which one or 2 that are doing this I dont really want to start putting thses on! so I was wondering if Vaserline (so?) plastered ober the bare patch every day might deter them??? what do you thing?? I was also wondering how the girls would fair if we slabed their run as its just mud at the mo and when it rains its sopping????? hope everyones well Emma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 something i said????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Pretty hard to decipher what you are trying to ask TBH. Have you tried a spray called Ukadex. It smells absolutely dreadful, but many have has success with it.....why not give it a try. I can't fathom out whether you have used the bumpa bits or not. They are usually very successful. I'm not sure that Vaseline is a good idea, it is a petrochemical product and they may ingest rather too much as they try to preen it off. I wouldn't use it myself. I have my Eglus on slabs which I find works very well. I put Aubiose on top for them to rootle about in, and cover the Eglu run with clear plastic. I hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura & CTB Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hi Emma I'm not sure that Vaseline would have any effect apart from being very messy. I've had problems with Prada pulling feathers out and a combination of bumper bits and Ukadex spray seem to be working - Ukadex is pretty horrible stuff though - smells disgusting. As for your run - my girls are on paving slabs with Aubiose on top and it suits them and me fine - they love scratching around and I love the fact it's very easy to clean the run. I have paving slabs on top of the patio which helps drainage when any water gets in around the edges ( the run is mainly covered). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 i have tried bumpa bits in the past but i cant actulaay see whos doing what! they dont seem to do it during the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAB Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hi - I have not got chickens yet so can't help re their difficulties (though I greatly benefit from looking through forum to see responses to questions such as yours, to help me in future. I have put my Cube on slabs though (in anticipation for chicken arrival) as I already have a rablu which I have had both on grass and now on slabs and find that slabs make cleaning much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutrix Farmers Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hi Emma sorry you seem to be having a few problems with your chooks. I'm new to this chicken keeping business so have no advice to offer re-bumper bits, other than to say every post I have read about them seems to be positive. Regarding the run on slabs, I think it is kinder to give them something to scrabble around in so topping it with aubiose wight be the answer. Being able to scratch about might take their minds off pecking each other to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 we use purple spray to stop pecking here and find it works very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbey Road Girl Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Hi Emma, I've only had my hens for ten days so I'm no expert (sounds like you've had yours longer!). I noticed a couple of days ago that there seemed to be a little feather plucking and so I sprayed them all with tea tree oil diluted with water. They don't like the taste (neither do I!). All I can say is that things seem to be better instead of worse. This seems to have been a very busy weekend for many people who use this forum as people picked up their ex-batts or worked on the rehoming! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayflower Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Hi Emma, I had a huge problem with one of my hens being a serious bully to others. Not only was she plucking out feathers, but also drawing blood, and going for the back of one of the hen's neck. So I bought anti pecking devices. After fitting one onto Alice, things are much happier now. This week, I have noticed that, even with the anti pecking device she is trying to pluck feathers out of May's breast, but it does'nt look malicious. I've heard that feathers contain protein, so I gave the hens tuna yesterday, and since then Alice has stopped the plucking routine. If I were you, I would spend some time just observing your hens and seeing who is plucking who. However, it is difficult to observe this when it's happening in the hen house at night! Good luck with your dilemma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ's Chooks Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Hi Emma, we had terrible problems with pecking and have now fitted bumper bits to all our girls as others were pecking too.... it has calmed things right down (touch wood) and they can't get hold of feathers hard enough to pull them out. Well worth getting hold of some ... try the Wernlas collection to get hold of them I hope things settle down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...