3.6m Omlet Chicken Run for sale, Brand New in Boxes, Milton Keynes (MK19)

[Roobaloo]

I posted previously about a hen found in Bedfordshire....well, no owner was found so we kept her. We've named her 20...she's currently the 20th animal we own....and she was found on the lawn of Number 20!

 

She's an ex-batt...still missing some feathers, her beak is trimmed and slightly misaligned/"scissored"...but she's half the size of my girls. So, therein lies the problem! What to do with her...

 

I can't keep her at home, Suki and Apple are very aggressive towards newcomers. When I got Nutmeg, it was only her size that kept her out of serious harm. So, I took her to the stables to join Oscar and his ladies. I figured Oscar would control the situation and the two girls are fairly timid and young, so shouldn't be too bad. Initially this worked...Oscar and 20 had a face-off, she backed down straight away and the girls all found their place very quickly...until bed time. We used to use a two storey hen house that my Dad built...upstairs consists of a very generous roosting area, downstairs is three nest boxes. It worked well with the three. 20 came along and couldn't understand the ramps...so went to bed in the next boxes...Oscar got very stressed about being unable to round her up, this in turn upset the other girls.

 

With the increase in flock size, we needed more space in the run....if only to allow 20 more room to get away from Oscar's dancing The original house took up a lot of room, so we took it out and gave them the Eglu...all parties had been housed in it before (it was 20's temp housing while we tried to find her original owner) so I assumed it's work.

 

20 won't go in. It's raised on a platform, slightly off the ground (so it doesn't take up too much floor space as they can shelter under it) and there's a lower platform to make two equally sized steps. She'll jump up onto the first step but not make the final leap up.

 

So every night, after dark, I go and put her to bed, I then shut the Eglu door, just in case she IS being forced out and wait 20 minutes...there's never any squabbling when I do, only Oscar's swearing as he thinks I'm stealing his women! I then have to get up at 5am, to go let them out before sun rise...as Oscar immediately gets fidgety when he's aware it's light out and I don't want anyone getting hurt.

 

What can I do with her? I can't leave her out at night without all her feathers...but I can't keep getting up at 5am.

Will she eventually learn to go to bed herself, or does she just assume she waits and gets put to bed? I don't think the light/torch trick would work as it'll keep the others awake and I worry they might peck her when so confined...does the lowest ranking hen go to bed first or last? Would it be ok to leave the door open after the 20 minutes are up and all is quiet or is there a chance they'll chase her out at some point in the night??

 

I'm currently unemployed so a solution involving buying anything sadly isn't an option right now.

 

She is the sweetest hen you could ever meet, very friendly and calm...we let her free range for the first time at the weekend...and while the others wandered off, she shadowed us the whole time, trying to get involved in everything we did. As lovely as she is....my Chicken of fate is giving me a headache.

 

[Egluntyne]

I'd leave her to sort herself out. The weather isn't too bad, so she'll not freeze. Several of mine sleep outside at the moment.

[Roobaloo]

The run is uncovered and quite exposed. She'd either be under cover on the grass (which is quite damp at 5am) or off the grass with no shelter! Will she be ok?

 

I might try putting a bucket on it's side, filled with bedding.

 

Will she learn to put herself to bed?

[Olly]

I think she'll learn, but it won't do her any harm at this time of year (assuming the run is fox-proof, of course). I put a carefully-adapted plastic box into my run when I was introducing new girls, and they totally ignored it and roosted on top of it! Put a bucket in, so she's got the option, but I think she'll be fine and as the weather gets cooler she will probably snuggle in with the others.

[Chortle Chook]

From what I've noticed with my girls, it is the lowest girl in the pecking order who goes to bed last followed eventually by the cockerel. However if my cockerel gets fed up with waiting for his girls to sort themselves out he will sometimes go to bed before the last is in.

 

I have one little Frizzle who is younger than the others and who was given to me very recently as she had a broken toe and it was a bit crooked. She is well and happy now but is certainly at the bottom of the pile. She is always the last in and it can take quite a bit of time before she eventually gets to bed.

 

I'd be inclined to let little 20 find her own way to bed but perhaps you could put a very low branch across one corner of the run as a little perch for her and put something like an old shower curtain across the top of that corner so that she has some shelter when it rains.

[Roobaloo]

It's been raining all day...but thankfully, lil 20 had some sense and took shelter when night fell...not in the Eglu but under the platform it sits on, so she was completely dry. I found an old manger bucket (flat one side to hook over a stable door, the brackets had long since fallen off!) and filled it with straw...with a gentle poke, she gladly stepped into it and I placed it back under the platform to reduce draughts!!

 

I'm looking forward to my lie-in!!

 

Long term (once I can get a job) we'll be extending the run, making a covered section and buying a bigger house...so, hopefully the weather can stay mild until then...

[Chortle Chook]

I do hope you enjoyed a nice long zzzzzz this morning I'm sure that little 20 will be in with the others of her own volition before too long .

Good luck with your future expansion plans

[Roobaloo]

I definitely enjoyed the extra Zzzzz's....I had a few too many as I'd forgotten to reset my alarm clock, didn't wake up until 9:30!! Oops!!

 

Lil 20 seemed to have a comfortable night too, she was very bubbly this morning...the only downside is that they've pulled all the bedding out her bucket!! Useful!

 

According to my OH, the extension is on the strict condition of "No more hens!"...which I think is a little unfair as technically he found 20 and he said she could stay...so I think it's my turn again, right?

[Chortle Chook]

Well, when you land that new job I think he'll just have to give you a celbratory chook don't you

[Roobaloo]

Couldn't agree more...!!