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Guest Kalico

Hi, thinking of getting chickens

By Guest Kalico, in Chickens, Eggs and Hatching

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chestnutmare All Knowing Superchicken

chestnutmare

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:| Is this how it's going to be for me? :?

 

;) Congratulations on getting another two. You must be so excited.

 

This has gone from 'thinking of getting chickens' to

'thinking of getting more chickens' to

'we are getting more chickens'... in a short space of time. :dance:

 

Do I just buy the (cube purple) and (purple eglu) now along with the !goyellow! ? I'm just thinking it'd be easier on the delivery man just to make the one journey. :lol::mrgreen:

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Woooo...what a day! The girls are here! We went to the farm and had the choice of about 20 hens, they were all very calm and easy to handle. Jo chose one (Poppy) and i chose the other (Thistle) - they have been here since early morning and have settled well.

 

We had the new girls out in their run within the WIR and Ginger and Babs in their run to start with - we then let the original two have a run around the WIR, then put them back in their small run and let the other two out - so far so good, so just before dark and at suppertime (corn time!!) we let both sets out together, as you'll see from the photos they ate alongside each other and only once did Ginger and Poppy do a bit of strutting and puffing with hackles up, there was a few squawks, a couple of leaps in the air and then they went back to eating. The other two just stayed out the way! We only let them out all together for 5mins and the two sets are now in their own coops.

 

A few piccies....

 

The new WIR...all but finished..

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Temporary accommodation to avoid squables..

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Ginger and Babs

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Poppy and Thistle

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Thistle

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Poppy

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Learning to be beside each other

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Harmony...

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Thanks for looking and apologies for the zillions of pics! :oops:

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Don't apologise!!! I have loved looking at the pics... Even more would have been appreciated :wink:

 

The WIR is looking fabulous, well done your OH :clap:

 

The new girls (and old girls) are stunning :D

 

Aww thank you - he has been so busy working on it every day to get it finished so they can run around - i'm so chuffed with how its looking.

 

Should i continue letting them 'mix' for short periods of time every day when there is corn/treats on the go - the two dominant ones were definitely doing a bit of eyeballing etc but it was more noise and gesturing than anything else - we were standing by with a broom and a water gun just incase though! I've covered the front of the old hutch that the new girls are in with plastic to keep any wind out but i noticed they have both squeezed in together into the bed side of the hutch, they seem cosy and happy in there together. Right now, i cant imagine all 4 sleeping together - but i hope in time it will happen.

 

I wondered if in the long term once they are ok together if i should leave the hutch for them to go in/out of during the day? Or will this just confuse things?

 

I had to wear gloves when hand feeding the two new ones as they peck hard to get the corn, Ginger and Babs are both very gentle, these two new ones are a bit rough!

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:lol: You know we like pictures. Run is looking good there'll be plenty of room there for them.

The rhodes are lovely, their colouring is so deep. How old are they? :D

 

The Rhodes are 24w old...my other 2 are almost 7m old. They love the dry stone dyke, they spend ages picking out bugs out of the stones! They also like s"Ooops, word censored!"ing away under the pine stuff. Babs is totally fascinated with an old mirror that leans against the far wall, she spends ages and ages just walking, stopping and staring..the others dont seem to bother with it but she loves it! Maybe she's just very vain?? :lol:

 

Some of the slabs will be lifted and soil will go down and some bark chippings, there is also to be a large terracotta pot for them to have dirt baths in - Gordon is also keeping any worms/slaters/bugs he finds when digging and they will go into another sunken bit full of earth, so they can find their own worms/slaters etc.

 

We are definitely getting there now - it will be great when they can all be together unsupervised and can just have the run of the place. :angel:

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They're a beautiful colour. Did you spend most of the day admiring them? :)

 

I find it fascinating to watch them, fascinating to watch their very individual personalities coming out - it was interesting (if a bit scary) to watch them meeting for the first time, you could immediately see who wanted which role - Babs and Thistle were offski like 'nope, we dont do conflict, we'll just eat...'!! :lol::lol:

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chestnutmare All Knowing Superchicken

chestnutmare

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They're a beautiful colour. Did you spend most of the day admiring them? :)

 

I find it fascinating to watch them, fascinating to watch their very individual personalities coming out - it was interesting (if a bit scary) to watch them meeting for the first time, you could immediately see who wanted which role - Babs and Thistle were offski like 'nope, we dont do conflict, we'll just eat...'!! :lol::lol:

 

Ahhh... good Babs and Thistle! :angel: I remember when we had chickens they had their own personalities, best friends etc. :lol: They're comical aren't they?

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They're a beautiful colour. Did you spend most of the day admiring them? :)

 

I find it fascinating to watch them, fascinating to watch their very individual personalities coming out - it was interesting (if a bit scary) to watch them meeting for the first time, you could immediately see who wanted which role - Babs and Thistle were offski like 'nope, we dont do conflict, we'll just eat...'!! :lol::lol:

 

Ahhh... good Babs and Thistle! :angel: I remember when we had chickens they had their own personalities, best friends etc. :lol: They're comical aren't they?

 

They definitely are! I could sit and watch them all day! :lol:

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Sam Chatty Chicken

Sam

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They are really nice girls! And a really nice WIR! Looks like they have a lot of room in their, maybe so you can get more chooks later? ;) ;) haha. Thanks for the pics - I've enjoyed reading your topic as I'm also new to chicken keeping, picked up a lot of tips :)

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They are really nice girls! And a really nice WIR! Looks like they have a lot of room in their, maybe so you can get more chooks later? ;) ;) haha. Thanks for the pics - I've enjoyed reading your topic as I'm also new to chicken keeping, picked up a lot of tips :)

 

Yikes...no more - so stressful worrying about whether they will get on or who will peck who etc..i am glad they are safe and separate tonight so i dont have to worry about any squabbling!

 

What kind of chickens have you got?

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The place we bought the Rhodie girls from today had Silkies, Marans and the most beautiful Patridge Laced Wyandottes - they also had gorgeous little Pygmy Goats - i could see Gordon visibly paling.... :lol::twisted::lol::lol:

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sparkysmum Effusive Egg Layer

sparkysmum

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Wendy, Hi & what an ab fab WIR Please pass on my deep admiration to Gordon :!: If he's ever tempted I'm sure he'd make a fortune building WIR's. Your RIR's are gorgeous, congratulations :!::!::!: Love them :!: Can't believe how you've gone from "thinking about it" to your present position in just a couple of weeks. Well done :D Alli xx

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