Willow Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Whilst I do think you make a commitment when you take on a pet we should give him credit for trying to find them a good home AND being open about the problem. I must admit I would probably have stepped in to take them since I'm close as I knowingly took on Justines non-layer chicken the other year but I've agreed to take Ecky's chickens (and am thrilled to get the bonus of two blue/green layers - Thanks Ecky ) . And Ecky's are an easier sell to my OH than 2 egg eating chickens would be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zabboo Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 Thanks for the replies. To be honest, at first i wasn't going to respond because i just thought that my idea of keeping hens for eggs rather than as pets was totally out of kilt with most omlet forumers. But I was relieved to see that i'm not so alone after all. Our chickens are not pets. Our Dog, Cat and Hamster are our pets. The hens are funny to watch and listen to (I dont mind the noise, not that anyone actually asked me about that anyway), but they are there for their eggs. I suppose they are my livestock. I`m not sentimentally attached to them so when there are no eggs, I`ll simply get some more chickens. I hate to break it to one or two of you, no pun intended, but it's been that way for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Having said that, i dont really want to kill them so I thought I'd just stick a note up on here to see if anyone actually wanted them. If not, I`ll just keep looking around a bit longer. I can probably afford to buy my eggs at Sainsburys for a little while longer, even though I curse the little beggars every saturday morning as I'm cleaning out the run! There's no "wake up and smell the coffee" moment as one user, rather unfairly, suggested. I might be new to chickens (about 20 months now) but I`m not new to animals or livestock. Now, is anyone interested in these rascals? Regards Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 .... I knowingly took on Justines non-layer chicken the other year ... that's not me I hasten to add, I'd never give my girls away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Patricia wrote:.... I knowingly took on Justines non-layer chicken the other year ... Poet wrote that's not me I hasten to add, I'd never give my girls away "Ooops, word censored!"ody but "Ooops, word censored!"ody would think you'd give away one of your chickens hon But just to clarify I got my first adoptees from a completely different Justine about 18mths ago who got the opportunity to travel and I ended up in trouble because I wasn't going to let on to OH their non-productiveness thinking I was safe bcause he'd never know who was laying and who wasn't only to have (non poet) Justine tell OH in detail when she dropped them off Andy I'm sure someone will take them - I'm wavering but I think adopting 5 in one week would cause OH to worry where it is going to stop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furryelephant Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 We have 2 lovely Gingernut Rangers. Unfortunately they have taken to eating their own eggs and we dont want them anymore. Does anyone want to take them off our hands. I have a friend who's offered to "deal" with them for us but I'd rather not go down that route if it can be avoided. Andy, If you want to keep hens as producing animals as opposed to pets then you should have been well prepared for what would happen when they stopped laying. I personally don't think that passing them on to someone else who may feel that they have to take them to stop them being despatched by your friend is a well thought out solution to this situation. Your original post (quoted above) has a touch of the emotional blackmail about it. Also just to clarify that I never suggested that the noise was the problem with your hens, I just used that as a relevant example from my own experience. I'm no bunny hugger and I have no problem with people keeping animals for meat production - I felt the tone of your post was of someone who wanted to pass on two problem hens to someone else, not someone who was keeping the chickens simply til they'd finished laying. I hope your hens find a new home, but I honestly think that if the chickens were purely for eggs you wouldn't be faffing about on here trying to rehome them, you'd just have done what needed to be done (for someone in your situation who is not keeping non-laying hens) and got on with it like many others do. No offence meant, you're welcome to do whatever you like with your hens... each to their own way of chicken keeping. Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 The issue seems to be that they have taken to eating their own eggs and we dont want them anymore. and not that they have stopped laying. If you tried to rig up some sort of roll away nest box arrangement (try googling) I'm sure you will be able to sort the matter out. Why not persevere for a while longer with a nest box full of golfballs, and collect the eggs as frequently as possible, cleaning the nest box out every day, so that the delicious aroma of raw egg doesn't linger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzarina Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Sorry Paula, but I think that's a bit harsh to Andy. He's not giving away his chickens because they've stopped laying, but because of an egg-eating habit. I don't see any hint of emotional blackmail in his post. He's just being pragmatic; he probably realises that there are those of us who might be interested in taking on the chickens as pets, and from what he says, I gather he thought he might as well try. Andy: I hope you find a solution one way or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egg Lou Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 After two days of discussion OH did give in and agree with me top take them, however on reading that you have already tried to break the habit I am unfortunatly re considering whether this is the right thing for me to do. I have no problem in keeping seperate for a few weeks to resolve problem and deal with inftro's ...however I am worried that if I also fail to break the habit I will be in a dificult position.. not because of these two eating /or not laying ( as could live with that ) but my 7 others are now all laying well so concerned that I would risk losing all my girls eggs and spreading the habit as would want a single flock eventually. So I'm sorry to now change my mind as would have been happy to have a good go at sorting but it sounds like everything has already been tried... I would rather think carefully now than come upstuck later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furryelephant Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 This is my last word on this as I don't want to get into an argument over someone else's hens... I think that posting on a forum where most people keep their hens as pets and are therefore more attached to them that many livestock keepers are, and saying you are getting rid of your hens and a friend has offered to "deal with them" is basically saying "if someone doesn't take them, they'll be killed". That's how it read to me and to others it would seem... you may think I'm being harsh but I hate to see animals passed on because their owners don't like something about them or don't want to deal with problems. I'm not talking about people who have to pass on animals because of personal circurmstances, just to clarify that point. I just hope the hens get a nice home - in my mind you keep animals as pets (and therefore take the rough with the smooth) or you keep them as a commodity (and dispense with the emotional stuff that goes with keeping pets). All I hope is that the hens have a happy home and a responsible owner, same as I want for every animal. Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*mummy_hen* Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Apologies if i seem to be taking this the wrong way....but what's the point in replacing the two you are trying to get rid of if you may only get 'fed up' with them in the end too!! Maybe they are bored which is why they have taken to eating their own eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
