Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[ali-s]

My two original girls arrived here in June 2005 and they have never free ranged,neither have the other two girls I really want them to be able to scratch about in the garden.

 

Anyway, today my Omlet netting arrived (a day early ) and now I am feeling very anxious about letting them out of their run

 

They haven't had their wings clipped. I really do not think I would be able to clip them What if I take too much off and they start to bleed Do you think they will be all right in the garden without being clipped? Our walls and fences are about 5 foot high. The plan was to let them out at the weekend in the evening, but now OH and children will be away saturday and Sunday so I will be on my own What if they won't go back in the run

 

Am I being silly

[Olly]

not at all! The Omlet delivery man clipped my girls' wings, I'm not sure if I'd feel able to do it on my own - but there is a guide somewhere on the Omlet pages that explains how to do it. You should be able to see which bit to cut - if in doubt, don't go too short!

 

I don't know about the 5' fences, mine have never tried to fly and I am not sure they know that they could (and I'm keeping it that way, hee hee ) but some people's do flap quite a long way. If yours have never been out of the run, they may be the same.

 

Don't worry about getting them back into the run, just make sure you have their favourite treat to hand! Mine are bribed every time with mealworms, but I'm sure sweetcorn would do the trick - just drop a few for them to pick up, and then fling a handful inside the run and they'll be in like Flynn!

 

do watch out for foxes if they are free-ranging, though. Omlet netting is not fox-proof.

[Egluntyne]

I've clipped a couple of my girls wings, and it wasn't difficult at all.

 

Just trim the long outer feathers, about 2/3rds should be enough, and you won't draw blood.

 

I knelt down to do it, with the hen still on the floor as I didn't think I could hold a flapping hen and do the job.

 

You need decent robust scissors though, not a little pair of silver embroidery scissors.

 

The hens would probably not clear a 5' fence if they take off from the ground, but if they attempt it from the top of the Eglu, that's another story if the fence is only a couple of feet away.

 

Have a large towel to throw over them if they escape, or better still, an angler's landing net.

 

Good luck.

[Guest]

You may find, if they are used to being in their run, that they don;t particularly want to come out too far from their run to start with!

[Christian]

Just kept their treats handy!

 

I often let mine out for a bit before I go to work (esp if away overnight) and just throw some mealworms in the run to get them back in. Works every time

 

Good luck

[Eggheads]

Well I'm no eggspert yet - we've only had our chickens for a couple of weeks now and have only been letting them for the past week or so. However, in the past week Chocolate has jumped over the Omlet fencing two times. I'd let the chooks out when I got home from work and as I was walking back to the house I heard a flapping and turned to see her landing on the wrong side of the netting.

 

Both chickens have their wings clipped but Chocolate seems to be able to jump the 4 ft fencing quite easily and without having to resort to climbing on the eglu.

 

It's a quite a worry as we haven't mastered picking them up yet and I had visions of having to wait out in the garden on fox patrol until 9pm when they take themselves off to be. Luckily she actually seemed quite keen to get back in the netted off area and with a bit of gentle coaxing she went back in - and didn't make any more attempts to get out.

[Lailapet]

As I've mentioned before, we have no fences at all - and fields for miles around (rape seed this year). My 4 have only been with us just over a week. They're young and this afternoon we just sat there in the garden watching them. They are incredibly entertaining! Two of them scabled up onto the egluand then into a little tree where they seemed to be trying to eat the leaves. I was slightly worried they's decide to go to sleep there. So I chased them back down, Wings are not clipped as I think they do stand a better chance of escape if a fox should happen to pass by - have never seen any in the 2 years I've lived here. The first couple of days they stayed very close to the eglu, but lately they have started exploring the other end of the garden too. My mumhas a phobia about anything with feathers (even feather dusters!) and she even sat outside saying how fun it will be when they get confident enough to wander around our feet. She's quite taken with them. I am now very sure that Nugget is a cockerel as s(he) tried ordering the two girls down from the tree - or at least it looked like it. I don't think they associate me with food yet - and certainly not treats to bribe them back into the run. Must try and devlop a system of some sort. Am I just being too lazy when I wait to shut the door till they're safely off in bed by themselves?

[The Pearsons]

My darling Superman made a run extension today with timber and windbreak material we already had. He put a "lid" on it also with windbreak fabric (it is a sort of green netting not the nylon stuff you see on the beach).

 

Pictures will follow hen I get time.

 

The hens went in right away and have dug up all the weeds and made a nice seedbed for me.

 

All part of the cunning plan as I am using the hens, cube, run and run extension to de-weed and dig over my new garden for me as I'm not able to do it.

 

Superman thinks the hens are ace as well. Only one egg today though.

 

Helen in Hume

[The Pearsons]

I don't think they associate me with food yet - and certainly not treats to bribe them back into the run. Must try and devlop a system of some sort. Am I just being too lazy when I wait to shut the door till they're safely off in bed by themselves?

 

Mine come running up to us when they hear us and love being hand fed

 

They are not fussy eaters but I think sweetcorn must be their favourite - they'll follow a trail of sweetcorn a long long way....

 

Helen in Hume.

[AJuff]

My hens arrived yesterday, the kids love them already but I'm not too taken yet. They seem to make such an awful mess on the grass and letting them free range is now making me feel less than comfortable. They still have another week in the run so I have a bit of time to think. I am now considering making a free range area in the orchard. Some of the apple trees have quite low hanging branches. Do you think they will decimate them, do they like apples?

[ali-s]

My girls had their first taste of freedom this evening

 

They spent a very happy hour eating the grass Dandelions and Geraniums (sp?)

 

The plan is to now let them out for an hour or so in the afternoons, however the Omlet netting took ages to runravel and set up. there must be a knack to doing it quickly

 

Pictures to follow but the fourm is so slow tonight so don't hold your breath.

 

AJuff my girls love apples In the run is an old apple tree stump that we thought had died. It has started to sprout from the base and the chickens haven't touched the young shoots or leaves yet.

[Snowy]

AJuff, I think once they are freeranging the mess will be less as they tend to like grubbing about beneath trees or shrubs most of the time and only short periods actually messing up the lawn.

 

I remember feeling a bit strange when I first got mine - but once they're personalities start to show you'll love'em! I feel a bit like that about my two new girls at the moment - they are still finding their way round and are nervous of me. But I can see them getting more confident and they are starting to develop their own, distinct personalities.

[Guest]

My girls got their first exploration of the garden today....I was petrified that they would fly off. At one point I must have moved too quickly and Shirley got a bit of a fright.....flapped her wings a bit and got about 2 feet into the air. With 6 foot fences all around me I'm pretty confident they won't escape.

 

I also have a cat - Kushka. How have other people introduced their cat to the chickens? I like to let Kushka go out into the garden, and then she goes off exploring the neighbourhood before returning a couple of hours later. If I let her out when the girls are free ranging will all hell break loose? So far the hens have been in the run when Kushka has been outside.

 

Shirley finally laid her first egg yesterday....35g. So I now have two layers

I think she is an afternoon layer though....unlike her AM companion Laverne.

[ali-s]

Here is a photo of the girls on their first day of freedom

 

 

 

 

 

They are getting 1 to 2 hours out in the garden in the evening, today they have been out for 4 hours. The Omlet netting is keeping them away from my veggie patch and they haven't attempted to fly over it.

 

My garden is still intact Very little damage at all. There is a small area just outside their run door where they have scratched about but that is it After their first taste of Geraniums they have decided not eat eat anymore.

 

I was going to get Hybrids for the green Eglu but have now decided on more Bantams as they seem to be more careful when in the garden

[MisHapp]

lovely pic!

 

MH x

[Jools]

What stunning bantams you have! I've had both banties and hybrids and I can absolutely, definitely, no question at all confirm that bantams are much, much, much less destructive than hybrids. Stick with the devil you know !

[Egluntyne]

They are beauties......especially the Partridge Wyandotte.

[chelsea]

beautiful chickens !! adorable

 

My chickens are as good as gold in the garden - we have new turfs and they havent ruined them and I've planted loads of pots/flowers/bedding plants and they are all intact. little sweeties.

[Couperwife]

what gorgeous girls you have

[Jill]

What beautiful girls!