Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[judith67]

Hello, been a lurker for a year now but got my 3 POL chooks this morning.

i got a sussex star (Lucy), a black maran (Clementine) and a bluebelle (Henrietta)

They have settled in well, ate lots of pellets and grapes and sweetcorn. not keen on lettuce.

 

A question about feeding - i will feed them pellets in the morning, keep water there all the time and when i come home from work give them some treats. When i lock them in the coop at night what do i do with the food and water? Also not sure how many pellets to give them....

 

Should I be worried that Clementine (3rd in pecking order) spent most of the day in the coop or running madly up and down the perimiter fence before rushing back into the coop? Also henrietta ( number 1) keep s going for her sometimes in a flappy kind of way?

I love this forum its been so helpful and you are all really kind.

 

henrietta

 

lucy

 

clementine

Edited July 26, 2008 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations.

 

I'd fill the grub up as often as necessary. and leave it in the run for them to help themselves all day.

 

Many bring the food and water in at night to stop any rodents helping themselves overnight.

 

The hens will be hungry first thing though, so you will need to be putting it out again fairly early at this time of year.

 

The hens will sort themselves out in their own time. Clementine might have found the move a little unsettling, that is probably why she is staying "indoors".

[Olly]

welcome to the forum! You've obviously planned carefully if you've been lurking for a year before getting your chooks!

 

I leave food and water out all the time, all year round - I know some people believe it attracts rats and mice, and I expect if I got a rat problem I'd start bringing it in, but so far I've not had a problem. They stock up last thing at night, and that lasts them overnight and then they burst out of the Eglu in the morning to start tucking in again - once they are in the coop/hen-house, they go to sleep and don't eat or drink, so they don't need anything in there. They do really need access to pellets all day though, so they can feed when they want.

 

I'm sure Clementine will settle down once she's got used to her new home.

[BeckyBoo]

hello and welcome to the forum and congratulations on your chookie hens! I also leave the food and drink out all the time, I top the pellets up as and when they start getting low and just make sure they've got constant access to fresh water. Well, it's fresh when I put it down, within an hour or so someone will have poo'd in it and they do drink a lot so watch out for that one. I could only see one of your pictures the others wouldn't let me, I guess it was your black maran - looks like my Pepperpots!

 

More pictures please!!

 

Mrs B

[Abbey Road Girl]

A warm welcome to the forum, Judith, though I guess that should be an official welcome now that you've gone public!

 

I also could only see one picture, though your lovely hen is so like my Pepperpots. (I have yet to be able to post photos so am lagging behind you in that! )

 

I do see that there is chicken wire in the background of your photo. If it's just used as a barrier while your hens are being supervised as they free range, no problem. But, as foxes can chew through chicken wire, you would probably want to reinforce security for when they would be vulnerable to Mr Fox.

 

Happy henkeeping!

[mrs chook]

Welcome to the forum officially.

 

They will all settle soon, don't worry.

I leave their food out all the time, again, if I thought there was a vermin problem I would remove.

 

Enjoy your new chooks.

[judith67]

Thanks for those replies. I feel more confident now.

 

Unfortunately I only found out yesterday that the whole enclosed run made of chicken wire is not fox proof. So i need to replace it with meshweld which is a bit annoying. And as the run is made of metal tubing its probably impossible to attatch mesh weld to.....

Will the fox climb over my 6 foot garden fence then? They are locked in the coop at night anyway. They may free range at the weekend whilst we are around although OH is not keen

 

I already want a bigger run - is that normal behaviour for a new chicken keeper?? And I can see why so many have the coop off the ground - my poor back lol.

[mrs chook]

Bigger run? Normal behaviour! You'll become obsessed with all things chicken. There is NO going back now.

 

My long suffering OH has constructed an enclosure at the top end of our garden. 5ft/6ft high fencing all round to separate girls from veg patch, lawn/footy area and neighbours.

 

Not sure about fox ability to get up and over that-from what I have read on other posts I don't think you can ever be too careful. Don't worry, just don't be too laid back about them either. It depends where you are and how much of a prob foxes are.

[superjules]

We have 6' fencing all round to prevent our bouncy dog escaping and have had foxes at least 3 times in our garden that we know about. I have it on good authority that a healthy fox in it's prime can scale anything up to 11' (using a bit of guile and a good run up) and can certainly clear 6' from the ground. It only takes a neighbour to leave a wheelie bin within jumping distance of your fence and they're in. I've even heard of one climbing a tree that was overhanging a chicken run, so please don't underestimate them.

[judith67]

I will keep a very beady eye then until i can change the wire

[judith67]

Have updated photos now so you can see them properly

[Egluntyne]

A 6ft fence is no barrier to a fox I'm afraid Judith.

[tiggerlady]

Hi there and welcome! Would it be an idea to use cable ties to attach the wire to the tubes? A fox might not be able to chew through them to get in?? What do you think?

[jomaxsmith]

Hi Judith,

 

Further to the other advice on fox proofing - do not assume the Fox is nocturnal; your hens are at risk during the day as well, particularly at dawn and dusk.

 

Good luck with them!

 

Jo