Used Omlet outdoor rabbit run Width 2.2m Height 2.05m Length 3.1m vgc.

[Valkyrie]

For my girls brekkers I usually dilute some Marmite in hot water (by the time I get down the garden it is cool) then add in bokashi, diatom, lime flour, occasionally some poultry spice - more often during the moult, garlic and Jordans organic porridge (jumbo oats). I will also put in layers pellets for a change, letting them soak up the marmitey water first, and then add fewer oats. I tend to put a couple of raisins in (hunt the treat) or chopped grapes. Then they totally ignore the lot and chomp the grass instead, leaving the blackbirds and robins to mop up the good stuff! Oh and thanks to Claret and her little article ( ) I add a little seaweed to the lot - actually they love that and chomp the lot, so maybe Claret rather than after all! No doubt someone will have something different and I will be trying that too.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Mine get layers mash with hot water, mixed in with garlic powder, limestone flour, bokashi bran and usually at the mo some poultry spice for breakfast. Usually for tea they have a repeat of the above with a handful of raisins or sweetcorn or extra corn or some couscous if there was some leftover & the dogs didn't get fed first !

 

In order to get them all back in the WIR before dusk ( or whenever I go out) they get a couple of handfuls of corn thrown in for them to scrabble around for.

 

They also have 3 grubs of pellets to snaffle all day, everyday, and sometimes some veg stalks, over-ripe fruit, corn on the cob etc to peck at.

 

Must try the marmite one day for a change.

 

Sha x

[Valkyrie]

Ooh I've got couscous and "Ooops, word censored!"ody has eaten it - aha, something else to try, thankies WM (and at least it isn't £8 a time!)

In the evening they sometimes get boiled spuds/pasta or rice along with the corn - and raisins or sultanas scattered in the run to get them inside. Sometimes I add cod liver oil to the pasta - it doesn't smell so bad with that, especially if you add a small amount of tuna - seems to absorb the pong! At the moment there is a seed tray of mixed salad leaves that they have ignored - who wants that when there are geraniums to munch, or lavender, or my blooming hostas (which is very unlikely that they will bloom at all ever again). Pellets were to hand (they are hanging in the run all the time - removed at night) outside the back door, but the pigeons were eating most of those, so now I only scatter a handful when the girls come begging at the door. The blackbird finishes off what they don't eat. I'm thinking of getting one of those trip feeders, so I will do a new posting to see if anyone else recommends them.

[Margaret]

Thank you for replys, next question...sorry...

have ordered

Chicken Spice

Apple Cider Vinegar ( not sure why)

Mixed Corn

Chicken food ( with Eglu package )

Can you suggest any other items I need, also what are Layer pelletts/ Mash.

Promise no more questions for today.

Thanks again.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Question are good - we all asked them, and continue to too!

 

The pellets are the same ingredients as the mash, they have just been formed into pellets which are less messy than mash when thrown to the floor by overeager beaks! I suspect you will get pellets with the Eglu.

 

The apple cider vinegar is supposed to make their tummies less pleasant for worms to live in - mine have it in their water all the time, I also do one glug with Life Guard in too, which is a mineral supplement I think.

 

Get some grit or oyster shell for the girls to snack on as & when they want it. It breaks up their food as they don't have teeth. Once they are free ranging they will pick it up in the soil, but whilst they are confined they should have grit. Some people throw it on the ground for the chooks to scratch around for, we just leave it in a cage cup on the side of the run.

 

You'll find that you have a never ending list of chook goodies, but these and the ones on your list are fine to start off with, as long as they have food, clean water & somewhere safe to live & sleep they will be fine.

 

They will have you wrapped around their little claws in no time at all......just keep their treats in the same kind of ratio as you'd give sweets to children - not too often and only after they've eaten the good stuff - and you won't go far wrong. Corn is counted as a treat, a small handful in the late afternoon is fine for them, they would like it more often, but their egg production will drop if that happens too much. My chooks think that a bowl of mash porridge is a treat - little do they know that it's mainly good stuff with the odd treat mixed in

 

Good luck with your new girlies, you'll be as obsessed as the rest of us very soon !!!

 

Sha x

[Patricia W]

I guess the Chicken Food you have ordered from Omlet are the layers pellets? Growers pellets have more protein in and these are ( as it suggests) for younger chickens.

 

The layers pellets are the basic staple food they need to lay eggs. I use these as they are, but others sometimes make them into a porridge. Mine won't touch anything like that - fussy lot!

 

Layers mash is the same nutritional value, but a different texture to the pellets.

 

It's important they eat their layers pellets before tucking into treats.

 

Tricia

[Valkyrie]

Apple cider vinegar - add a little to their drinking water - good for the tummy and to keep internal parasites away. Although you will still need to worm them (I use Verm X pellets on the first of the month and every 3rd month I worm them with Flubenvet). Layers pellets and mash are basically the same content, just one is pelleted and the other can get a bit messy (I think - I've always used pellets, but when the pellets are watered down they go mushy anyway) - whichever your chickies prefer really. You will probably be getting pellets - chicken food - with your package.

Then there's more . . . Bach's remedy - drops to add to water to ease stress - like travelling or fireworks - or naughty hedgehogs that scare the birdies! At the moment I am adding a couple of drops because they don't like the broody box in their run and they be afraid of it!

Citricidal - good for the tum (a drop in the water is more than enough as I gather the taste is yukky), plus it helps for sneezles. I added some today because the stupid girls got a good soaking in the rain yesterday. I tell you - the list is endless, but just add to it a little at a time, be happy with the basics first.

What you should have is grit or grit mixed with oystershell. This breaks food down and the oystershell is good for the girls to make their eggshells. That would be your priority and the rest can follow later. Otherwise I think I started with more or less the same as you. I did get some Stockholm Tar, but I can't remember why and I haven't needed it yet either! The garlic powder and bokashi helps to minimise pongs and help the gut. Ooh louse/redmite powder - or Diatom does the lot. That is also a must. Oh gosh - getting carried away now. I hope I haven't put you off! Ooh cross postings!

[Valkyrie]

Flyte so Fancy package just arrived - bought up the shop again!

And this is what was in it:

Vetinary wound powder - haven't needed it so far, but now I have it just in case

Redtop fly trap - we had lots of flies the other day, so taking precautions (no flies around now, typical)

Diatom - big tubful. I use that a lot in the dust bath and on the roosting bars, bedding, nestbox, nooks and crannies in the cube - and in their food.

 

An added bonus to hunting down farm shops for chicken stuff we visited a place only to find it was a farm butchers/greengrocers shop etc. Family run business, lovely sausages - animals you can see. Not organic, but looked after exceedingly well!

And if you get too much of something - someone will always be happy to share - and you end up meeting other chicken people too - in my experience very nice (don't know what they would say about me though! ).

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Sorry yes, I forgot the DE and/or red mite powder!

 

I put a sprinkling in their nest box and dust bath, so they self dose on them, the dust bath is just a cat litter tray or similar with a few shovels of dry soil or compost or wood ash or sand or combo of any of the above with a liberal dose of DE or RMP - great fun to watch though quite scary the first time as they look as though they are in extreme trouble - it's ecstasy actually!!!! Mine all try to eat the dustbath before they settle for a bath, daft creatures !

 

I said the shopping list would be never ending didn't I ?!

 

Sha x

[Margaret]

Thanks soooo much, had order all of that so should be ok, brought a lovely pink trug and playsand yesterday for them to dust bath in so am now ready. Even had hubby dig up a flower bed and on Sunday and lay the run area out of the rubber chips and surrounded by a lovely fence. (it must be love) he is not happy about it!!!!

[Suzy]

LOl Koojie.

 

Suzy - you crawled INSIDE? What are you then, pocket sized? I'm thinking you should change your posting name to Tinkerbell! I don't think even one of my butt-cheeks could squeeze in!

 

Well, I crawled into the run. Wish I was pocket sized, but I had my head in the eglu and the rest of me in the run. Thank God no one saw me - well, at least I don't think there were any neighbours peering out their window. All my friends think I am insane and this would have confirmed it for them.

 

Day 2 of Eglu being completely covered... I glanced out the window at 5:45 (bathroom trip, wasn't up especially to check) and one of the hens was up, but hubbie went to see them when he left for work and they had all gone back to bed even though they'd pushed their door open. I went down at 7:45 - they were all up and about (playing with their new tyre) but I'd not heard a peep and there were 3 eggs. All very strange but long may the tranquil early mornings continue!

[Valkyrie]

playing with their new tyre

 

Don't let Ain't "Ooops, word censored!"ody Here see that!

[Doodle]

Blimey - loads to read up and catch up on here!!! I shall do so later, when I've got children & chickens to bed. Number 1 son's 8th birthday today and my feet haven't touched the ground since six this morning! One FULL mug of coffee....that's all I've wished for ALL day!

 

Day 6 - Wednesday

 

I went down at 8.15am. Bit of normal (pretty quiet) clucking going on. Let them out and at 8.30am they were shouting the place down. The guy at the back was using a chain-saw however, so I reckon ALL the neighbours had given up on any more sleep by then anyway!

[Doodle]

Day 7 & 8 - Thursday and Friday

 

Went down at 8.15am on both mornings - no noise beforehand on either day.

 

Fingers crossed, we've cracked this problem. I've updated this thread for a full week, so I'll leave it now unless the noise starts up again.

 

Thank you all for your time, help, ideas, advice and encouragement.

 

Thank you also for the excellent information on food etc. I know you were answering another poster's questions but it was great for me too

[Valkyrie]

Mine were creating this morning. I told them off and went indoors. Made some brekkers for them only to hear them creating half an hour later - pigeons in the cube run (they girls had been let out to range by then). Scared away the pigeons and all quiet on the western front. There was a lot of activity by baby blackbirds, so they might have been landing on the cube roof.

[dylan]

It may be the nesting box issue. I have a similar problem from time to time when two of mine want to lay at the same time and they have a very noisy and long argument (can go on a couple of hours).

I recently heard that someone had taken out the nesting box entrance (bit with hole in it!), drawn round it onto plywood and made a new piece with 2 holes in it. You then attach a bit of wood at right angles to divide nest box into two. I haven't tried it yet but think I will. The only down side would be that it introduces wood into the cube - though I guess you could make it in heavy perspex.

Gill

[Valkyrie]

Yes, could be - they are all being rather broody at the moment - one succumbed and is now isolated, but the other two . . . bah humbug! The separated chicken doesn't help because the other two are concerned (only each other to pick on as she is at the bottom of the pecking order).

[Suzy]

We are back to the drawing board. I got up to visit the bathroom and looked out the window and all 3 were up and scrabbling about at 05:30.

 

To be fair, they didn't make a racket until just before 7am and I think that was because when I went downstairs I saw bird footprints on the path (from teh dew on the garden) and it obviously spooked them or made them shout.

 

Then we had Lottie's usual egg announcement at 07:45.

 

We have had the black backed picnic rug so we're off to Homebase to get some decent tarpaulin today to cover the run and the eglu. Up until now we've had a blanket on the eglu and the omlet winter shade covering the run.

 

Just one question, and I might be worrying unnecessarily. We alwasy shut the door but they've learnt how to push it open, so if tonight I shut the door and lock it, could they cause injury if they're used to pushing the door open and tomorrow morning it doesn't move?

 

I know I have to teach them who is boss, but unfortunately at the moment, they are winning!

[Patricia W]

Personally I call 7.45 reasonable - I think 7.30 is the magic hour at which you are able to make noise.

 

It sounds as though birds disturbed them - which may not happen every day. I would think the thicker cover you suggest will help with light and noise.

 

I always lock the door, as much to make the eglu fox proof as to stop the noise. I suspect they will just give up when they can't open it.

 

See what others think

 

Tricia

[Doodle]

Hmmm - that splitting of the nest box sounds a plausible idea. i wonder if there's another way of introducing a nest box without changing the Cube though - like putting something plastic inside on the roosting bars....need to think about that for a bit.

 

Suzy, I don't think they'll do themselves an injury but it might perplex them for a while. You never know, trying to work out how to open the door might keep them gainfully employed for longer and therefore, quiet!

[Suzy]

Thanks for the replies. That's settled - I will lock the door tonight - guaranteed I will be awake at 7am now wondering what they're thinking about the door.

 

I am sure I've read somewhere that 0730 is the magic hour. I just feel bad!

 

I'd happily install Sky TV in there if it kept them occupied!!!!

[Doodle]

Day ....erm....dunno but all hell broke out this morning!

 

Oooops, introduced two silkie chicks to the situation yesterday (see other thread) and the three established birds are going ape-o! I had to bring all three in to the kitchen at 6.30 this morning (bank holiday as well - no way are the neighbours going to be happy now).

 

Eeeeek!

[Patricia W]

Have you got somewhere separate to keep the silkies? You need to introduce them slowly - for safety reasons and for peace and quiet! The old ones are just defending " their" territory.

[chelsea]

I agree with Patricia, you will need to keep the newbies in a seperate accommodation and run until it is time to intergrate the flock - otherwise the new silkies will be bullied, it will be stressful for you and the hens.

[millymollymandy]

Hi I am having the same problem with my two chickens and it is upseting as I don't know how long OH or the neighbours will put up with it

 

Put a tarpaulin on the cube but it didn't work I don't think it was dark enough and I had also cable tied it so tight i couldn't get to the pully to close the door doh!!

 

Just been out with some old carpet to make it darker and now I should be able to close the door tonight so fingers crossed I am not awoken at 530 like this morning.

 

The problem is that when they make a noise at stupid o'clock I give them food to shut them up so not sure how to stop that noise food association.

 

It is horrible that the early morning noise is spoiling my experiance of keeping chickens I think I anly have another week before OH puts his foot down and makes me get rid of them fingers crossed keeping them in the dark will work as I don't know what else to do