Lewis Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Glad to hear they're all laying, and so early! We've never really thought about getting ex-batts/barns but I'd really like to do it once we have a bigger run ... will mention it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poached Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 my mums just had a call from graham and said he has 6 for me today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Just let mine freerange together all was goo few pecks but then the hevens opened had to put them all back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poached Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 off in about 10 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busybird Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Well done everyone All those lovely pictures of happy girlies making us smile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 (edited) Where did you get your orange fence/net from? we're looking to get some but dont know where to go The run I have made for my girls I hope the girls have had a good week at the BHWT to get strong as they are left overs from last week I hope to have all my girls together after two days If the new girls are upto it! I am lucky as I am at home at the moment so can watch everything. As people have said abit worried about the cold weather but my Rosie is near bald at the moment due to moult so hope they will be ok. Spent all day cleaning feeders, drinkers cat boxes and making nest boxes out of cardboard (disposable!) See you tommrow I will be the large skinhead bloke with aload of kids and a red car!! If you can't 'find' any lieing around try wickes Extra at Perry Barr this is what you want:- http://www.wickes.co.uk/Multipurpose-Safety-Fence/invt/199201 Edited November 22, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Excellent news Poached!! We had five eggs from the barn dancers today and 2 from the old girl so 7 in all!! Bit better than 2 a day I can forsee lots of omlets and quiches again BeckyBoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skye Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share Posted November 22, 2009 Sounds like they are all settling in wonderfully! What good girls all laying eggs too! We have had one from each of ours now Here are a few pics of their first taste of free-range: Dorcas first, she seems the most adventurous of the bunch 'Stop eating for just one minute and come on out Zilla, it's great!' Queenie explores round the back of the eglu Dorcas The Brave eating mealworms out of my hand! Having her first proper cuddle (now that was a bit of a struggle!) What is this green stuff? Little Queenie getting a cuddle too skye x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 mine have freeranged all day together odd peck nothing to worry about! Will put them all in the same coop tonight! FINGERS CROSSED! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 They are all such lovely girls, it is wonderful to see them enjoying freedom. Good luck with yours tonight Slim. It would be great if they could integrate smoothly and quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Shirl Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Good Grief off I go again having a weep. Skye, those pictures are lovely. Luck lucky hens to have you as their chicken mummy. Good luck tonight Slim from me and my chooks in Tenerife. xx Who have had a wonderful day in the sunshine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 (edited) Oh wow!!! Becky, Skye, and Slim - I am SO pleased to read your news and hear how your girls are settling in, if a little bit jealous!!! And lots of eggs too! Hope you've all had a quiet day - how have you managed to settle them in so easily with your other girls??? Skye, your photos are beautiful!!!! Slim, good luck for getting them to sleep together tonight BEcky, 7 eggs in one day Lots of omlettes at your house Poached - you'll have your six by now! I hope they're settling into their new home beautifully. Scarmbled - apart from the noise (sympathise on that one!), how's your day been? As for mine, I couldn't believe the racket at my house at 7:15am In desperation, we hung some plastic sacks along the divide so they couldn't see each other - and finally they went quiet! When we let the youngsters out to FR when there was a pause in the rain... and it was PEACEFUL! They were looking at each other through the mesh without too much fuss and then Ursula went off and laid a LARGE egg in the nest box! The mealwormd definitely saved the day - Ursula eating from my hand, Tallulah just chirped nervously but ate them if I threw them in her direction, R&S had them in an upturned stump in the garden to keep them amused. They've also had carrot peel alongside R&S on the other side of the mesh (team building tactics!). My only concerns are that T & U have done some green smelly poos (hope it settles) and Tallulah pecked at Ursula not to the eyes, so I'm hoping it's just sorting the pecking order? Horrible to watch though. R&S are have now gone to bed, just waiting for T&U to do the same and then I hope we can all settle down for a quiet night Hope you all have quiet nights too. Edited November 22, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skye Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share Posted November 22, 2009 Hi all, Slim good luck with the integration. Becky you have eggs coming out of your ears that is wonderful! Tutti Frutti sounds like you had an eventful morning with your lot, I guess they are bound to make a racket to try and assert themselves at first. I remember the way ours have been with new additions in the past. Lots of shouting and wingflapping! We decided from the outset to keep ours completely separate from the originals until the ex-barn girls settle in, so we've got it all to come! Having said that, our girls can see the newbies (albeit across a 2metre gap through the netting to the eglu) and have barely batted an eyelid! Things might be different once they are up close and personal on either side of the netting maybe! I think poos can be splattery at first just as new girls get used to a new diet so I wouldn't worry too much Tutti Frutti! Maybe keep the treats to a minimum until the poos settle down... are yours eating and eating and eating constantly?? Ours seem ravenous! Our Yolko, bless her, is just coming into her third winter and experiencing a terribly strong moult. She's lost most of her underneath feathers, just the top ones left barely covering her poor soul she seems really down in the dumps. I made her a warm mash out of the high-protein ex-batt crumb, mealworms and poultry spice to give her a boost, then when she'd had enough she shared it with the rest of the girls. Went down a treat! Hope your girls sleep well this evening everybody! skye x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Quick Update all asleep in the coop!! Just checked with torch and they are all together will be up before dawn to see them out OK will leave them to it tommrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Some piccies. After putting them to bed last night, Tallulah seems to have perched on the divide between the nest boxes! Here they are enjoying some Poultry Tonic water - Tallulah on the left (big, feathery ginger one) and Ursula Undressed on the right (darker, smaller, balder!) Just went to check that they'd gone to bed OK - only to find that they'd flown onto the ROOF of their house and were sitting there chirping and looking for somewhere to roost At least it shows that they're both strong! So we've had to put them to bed for the second night... although they might have been put off by the red mite powder that I dusted around in both bedrooms (hoping that if they all smell the same, they'll accept each other more readily). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Skye, they've only had a teaspoon of mealworms and a tiny bit of carrot peel - sharing what we give to the other two - hoping for some bonding between them! Our Barnies are tucking into the ex-Batt feed like they've not eaten for a month! They just don't seem to stop. Is it greed or hunger? Maybe the switch to ex-batt feed from cheap, farmyard feed might explain the splats??? But sound advice so definitely no treats tomorrow and we'll see how it goes! Or rather, how they go Slim, I'm stunned that yours have FR together and then gone to bed together! I must be useless But then, I have 2 feisty 6 month olds trying to assert themselves and this is their first ever introduction.. could that be why it's all been such a handful here? I also wondered when we were given one feathery one and one semi-bald if that meant they were different levels in the pecking order... maybe I should have asked for 2 equally feathered friends but we just took what we were given! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Great pix everyone! Brinjal is clearly our star. She's already memorised the treat bowl noise and learned what it means. She ate out of hubby's hand (to his clear absolute delight). She also jumped onto his shoulder from a standing jump - so no fear there then! Seriously, nothing phases this hen - which to hubby means delight but to me means potential visit to the not-so-chicken-loving neighbours..... Aloo and Gobby are more reserved (and frankly more normal for recently released hens). At least they all managed to find the elgu themselves tonight. The big girls have predictably been a noisy lot today. Ping (top hen, nearly 5 years old, cool, calm seen it all before) went up to the eglu and gave them her usual lecture along the lines of "I'm top around here, don't forget that. Don't mess with me and I'll leave you alone (unless you're eating a particularly good bit of sweetcorn/mealworms/mixed corn/broccoli etc). Capice?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Just went to check that they'd gone to bed OK - only to find that they'd flown onto the ROOF of their house and were sitting there chirping and looking for somewhere to roost. One of mine escaped when trying put all the new ones in and went up on the roof a good 5 feet!! Very amusing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-a-doodle-doo Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 a quick piccy of two of my girls. I know I have put this piccy on my other thread but I wanted to share it here too.. One of my girls is very bare on the neck and chest, one doesn't walk very well but they all looked so much better this morning. They all needed to be helped up to bed. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 One of mine escaped when trying put all the new ones in and went up on the roof a good 5 feet!! Very amusing! WHAAAAT??! Bless her! This morning, Tallulah flew up on the orange mesh divider and was flapping around to keep her balance as it collapsed under her enormous weight But that mesh is only 3 foot not 5 - that's amazing! We've got some clever little chookies! I've just been out in the dark to check on them all - R&S roosting in their house, T&U all in the wrong places in theirs! Tallulah snuggled in the shavings in the nest box, Ursula snuggled... in front of the roost bar Will adjust the bar tomorrow to make it higher and more obvious that you're supposed to stand on it not lean on it! The weather has really settled down now it's dark - typical. If it's dry tomorrow, and depending on how we get on in the morning (!), I'll let them all out together to FR in the afternoon when I get home from work. Not that my girls will have any grass to try out! They need to visit you Slim for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 a quick piccy of two of my girls....One of my girls is very bare on the neck and chest, one doesn't walk very well but they all looked so much better this morning. They all needed to be helped up to bed. lol Oh that's so sad but so cute too! They will all absolutely thrive with you! Such pretty girls too, glad they are getting better already Can you tell them apart, do you know who's who yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Shirl Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Just went to check that they'd gone to bed OK - only to find that they'd flown onto the ROOF of their house and were sitting there chirping and looking for somewhere to roost. One of mine escaped when trying put all the new ones in and went up on the roof a good 5 feet!! Very amusing! Just shows you how strong their instinct to roost up high is even after all that time in a cage/on the ground. Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skye Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share Posted November 22, 2009 Thanks all for your lovely comments Hi Waiting, you're Got My now aren't you?! COOOOOL Your girls look SO adorable. Sorry to hear one isn't walking too well. I'm sure in time she will gain in strength. Glad to hear they were looking better today than yesterday too. Lydia + Slim - your chooks are super athletes already! Jumping up onto your hubby's shoulder, most impressive. And Tutti Frutti - who am I to tell someone to reduce treats... I've given ours FAR too many mealworms today!! Just been up to check on them, I put the roosting bars into the Eglu tonight whereas last night I just put lots of straw in to lie on. They seem fit enough to roost and look very comfy there. It's blowing a bit of a hoolie but both sets of girls seem nicely settled. Night night for now, hope you all have lots of in the morning! Skye x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 I've given ours FAR too many mealworms today!! Well mine won't be having any tomorrow - I've run out It's good news that yours are roosting. I'll have to get mine to figure it out but they're obviously not that bothered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 WELL THEY ALL SLEPT TOGETHER LAST NIGHT ALL WAS GOOD! I NOW HOPE THEY WILL BE GOOD ALL DAY. THE WEATHER IS HORRABLE TODAY! woke up to 5 's!! I have a big interview today so wish me luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
