Single hen

[braden01]

Having lost our 2 Omlet girls a few weeks ago to Sly Fox, we now have adopted 3 ex-bats who arrived yesterday (pictures to follow later). We had fun & games getting them into the Eglu last night and when I opened it up this morning, they didn't want to come out. Eventually 2 ventured forth and had something to eat and drink and now one of the has gone back in.

 

I can't believe the difference to our 2 previous chucks who put themselves to bed as soon as the light dropped and raced out in the morning. They only went back into the Eglu to lay - perhaps that's what our newbies are up to? It must be such a shock to them and we've decided to leave them in the run for 2-3 weeks until they've fully adjusted. We'll only be letting them free-range when we're out with them.

 

I also have a question: has anyone else found ex-bats to be good layers? We've got them as pets but it would be great to get a reasonable egg supply from them as it galls me to buy eggs when we keep chickens!

[*mummy_hen*]

Give them a week or so and you will be shocked at how quickly they pick up the normal chicken instincts!! They soon learn the normal ways and once they have feathered up properly you would never know they were ex-batts!

 

You will get so much satisfaction from them, seeing them progress and improve.

 

As for eggs, we have 4 girls and have always had 2 eggs a day, although they have now stopped for the winter which i am very pleased about as for them to continually lay eggs is bad for their inside functions and can lead to a reduced life-span. I would be surprised if you had no eggs at all, but i wouldn't rely on a certain amount each day as they seem to lay quite eratically, especially to begin with.

 

Look forward to seeing some pictures of the little darlings. Well done you for rescuing those poor girls from such a horrible life and even nastier end.

[Happy chickens!]

Well done for getting your ex-bats!

 

Mine took a while to get used to the routine of df going to bed at night, but they're real chickens now!!

 

Got 4 eggs a day to begin with, then as the less feathered girls started to re-grow them, they stopped laying and I was just getting a steady 2 a day, but on Friday I got 3, Sat i got 3, then yesterday 4, so yey!!!

 

I don't think they will lay as well as some given their rough lives in the battery farm, so every egg is a bonus!

 

Enjoy your new girls!

[Barkisland]

Mine stood around looking bewildered and half dead for days, but three weeks on and they are lively little birds with loads of character. Not many feathers yet, but that will come shortly. They don't know how to be chickens when you first get them - how could they? They will have had such a miserable life in confinement with every decision made on their behalf, no need to know how to scratch, flap, or even walk, no need to get up or go to bed, no choice of what to eat etc. Just give them time and lots of TLC and you will be rewarded shortly with affectionate and cheeky birds, and hopefully some eggs. Mine stopped laying when they first came to me, but one of them has just started again this weekend.

[Alfred]

My three lay almost daily - I get about 18 eggs a week! At first they didn't lay but once the feathers grew back nothing could stop them. Even the very cold weather and short days of winter have not put them off. Actually I would prefer them to slow down a bit - as they are very skinny and I don't know what to do with all the eggs!

 

Give them a week and they will be just as cheeky as your previous ones - even whilst bald!

[braden01]

Thanks for all the encouraging responses. Here are some pictures - apparently they were actually among the most feathered and healthy-looking there. One has a swollen huge pale comb and the others have tiny, pale combs. One in particular (Nebbuch) is rather s"Ooops, word censored!"py looking and small but other two (Sunny & Fatty) are not too bad. Lovely to have chucks again.

 

[Electricbarbarella]

they are gorgeous, they look a lot healthier than my girls, have had mine just iover 2 weeks and the change ias amazing.

[One_Box]

Well done you for getting some ex-batts!!

 

I've had Nora and Dora for three weeks and although they look really scraggy they are learning to be chickens really fast

 

They are now living with my other three in a hen house of similar size to a Cube with a 1m extension. They take themselves off to bed with the others (they had not even seen a ladder until 3 days ago!) and Dora is even laying in the nest box! The two of them have given me 10 eggs each week (including in the snow and really cold weather) so as soon as they have some feathers they will be perfect Dora has even taken over Top Chook duties.

 

Just give your new girls a little time I'm sure they will delight you!!

[Barkisland]

They look great! Lovely birds, I'm sure they will soon find their feet.

[dancing cloud]

What lovely girls and to you for joining the ex-batt fan club!

 

As they come with no concept of "bed" or "out" it can take them a few days to adjust. They've never been able to make decisions before, so it can take a while for them to catch on and once they have you'll soon see them blossom .

 

I've had my six little ex-batt monsters for 9 months now and laying has varied. Mine never stopped laying, except for Dandelion who laid for 2 months, took 5 1/2 months off and nows lays nearly every day again . I've not had less than two eggs a day and often have six-egg days now her ladyship is back on form.

 

As others have said, they start doing chickenny things very quickly and soon become confident cheeky chooks or, in my case, spoiled demanding little madams (and I love 'em for it!)

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Gosh your girls nearly look like my Buttercup, and she's not a Battie !

 

I've had mine the same time as Barkisland & they are so very different to the quivering little s"Ooops, word censored!"s I picked up 3 weeks ago.

 

They still don't like to be picked up & create blue murder if I do (sometimes it just has to be done, they aren't the nicest feeling creatures to hold though as they are very spikey!!), but do usually come running when I call, probably due to the flurry of feathers from the healthy girls & the inherent nosiness which seems to be in all chickens I haven't seen them have a dustbath yet, although they have dug around in it a lot, it will come with time.

 

They are becoming much braver & I watched two of them check out the big run this morning, having a look in the & a nibble from the feeder...and there was even an Orpie in there too!

 

When mine were in a run covered with a blue tarpaulin, they ran to the eglu end rather than come & see me even if I had food bowls, now they are in a bigger run with corrugated plastic over the roof, they seem much more confident. I watched 2 of them peck at each other through or maybe at a bug on the plastic - very amusing to watch, I couldn't work out what the tapping noise was to start with.

 

We've had usually two eggs a day, sometimes more sometimes less & the occasional broken or softie one, and now they seem to all be laying in the nest box thank goodness, I'd never be able to reach an egg laid in this current run!!! I got a china egg & put it in the nestbox, they soon cottoned on.

 

We can already see new feathers starting to grow through, and their yolks are almost as yellow as my other girls are.

These eggs are an Orpie egg - so yellow and a Battie egg - so pale (week 1)

These are my chooks eggs (3 on left) and a Battie one on the right, there's very little difference now - hooray !! (week 3)

 

They seem to hold their own with the others, and aren't phased by the dogs either.

 

Enjoy your girls, they will get better at being chickens once they learn all the tricks!!

 

Sha x

[SAB]

Welcome to your lovely girls! I found mine would not go to bed at first either, same for staying out of rain, and they love the snow - each "first" for them must be amazing - I just can't imagine what it must be like for them. I was amazed at how quickly they remembered how to be hens and that they knew to lay in the nest box and I was almost moved to tears when I first saw them dustbathe.

 

Egg laying for my 6 ex-batts was a steady 3 per day initially, moving up to a steady 4/5 out of 6, which is not bad at all. Even during winter we tended to get an egg or 2 from them.

[Egluntyne]

Mine were very shell shocked at first, but have been excellent layers from the off. In fact, one laid an egg in the box on the way home.

[braden01]

Hooray! Your good wishes have obviously done the trick as we've now got 2 eggs! And in the words of Meatloaf, two out of three ain't bad!

[splodge88]

Wow WildMum your yolks look really big and yellow! Do you use organic feed?

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Wow WildMum your yolks look really big and yellow! Do you use organic feed?

 

Not entirely, at the mo they are on Marriages Layers Mash and Marriages Organic Layers Pellets, can't remember if the corn is organic or not - ditched the bag! They free-range most of the day if I'm here, so chomp away on grass & any bugs they can find and any treats i choose to give them. Sultanas in their teatime mash is a favourite. They also have garlic powder, limestone flour and Bokashi bran added to their mash & pellets.

 

Once the organic pellets are gone, they'll be on the normal Marriages or the ones from our local feed merchant (Bartholomews?) I can't afford the Organic in the quantities they munch through! Apparently I should be going through 2 sacks of the mash a month with my 11 without using pellets at all according to the man at SPR yesterday.

 

Thank you for admiring my laydees eggs, I'm sure they would be most flattered!

 

Sha x

[braden01]

What a difference a day makes! I went out last night to shut them in and they had all already made their way into the . When I opened up this morning, they came rushing out and made straight for the food. All seem to be eating and drinking well today and are definitely more lively. Lots of wing-stretching and self-grooming which I'm taking to be a good sign.

 

They are rather jumpy (my younger daugher sneezed near the run this morning and they all shot up in the air) which is not surprising as it must be like living on a different planet for them.

 

Let's see what happens -wise today...just good to know that their lives have improved massively already. Thanks for all the responses