2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[essexhen]

Another thread about hens tapping on back doors has got me feeling quite nostalgic - our first three hens, bought just over a year ago were left to totally FR and they had this little daily routine where they would tap on the back door for treats and then wonder round the neighbours gardens towards a bird feeder where they would spend most of the day until late afternoon, wandering back home for corn and then put themselves to bed.

 

Sadly a brazen fox took two in broad daylight, including mid-morning and we now keep the hens inside electric netting which runs around the back garden, during the day and then shut them in the cube/run overnight.

 

I still miss the two that were taken, a heratige skyline hybrid called nissan who laid blue eggs every day and silverlink another daily layer, both were more interactive than the ones we currently have, i miss the little tapping on the back door - and i was wondering if anyone else still misses their first hens

[Olly]

I don't think you ever forget your first ones, especially if - like me - you had never held or been close to a chicken before! i can still remember the day the Omlet van arrived, I have moved on a lot since then with more hens, a Cube and then back to an Eglu, a walk-in run etc and I worry a lot less, but that first day of having chickens was a really special one.

[counturchickens]

We still miss Maisie, one of our first ex batts who liked a cuddle and would have a snooze on your lap. Sadly she only had a few months with her as she had to be pts due to peritonitis.

[Space Chick]

We still have one of our original 4, although she is an old lady now

 

We both still really miss Rose, our white star, who used to love dustbathing in soil and getting filthy and also Donna, our Warren who would sit on your lap for ages.

[jackian]

I don't think you ever forget your first ones, especially if - like me - you had never held or been close to a chicken before! i can still remember the day the Omlet van arrived, I have moved on a lot since then with more hens, .

I remember putting my first post on here after the OMlet man left my 3 girls...I was afraid of them and everytime they came towards me I stepped away ..Such great advice I got and now of course evrything is fine

Florry was PTS on Thursday and I am missing her and so is her little friend Poppy , she was leader. Another two to be ordered when we come back from being away Christmas and New year..Is this how Chicken owners end up with 100's of Chickens

[jaspersmum]

What a lovely thread!

 

We got our first four ladies from Cotswold Chickens back in April 2008 - we still have our original Speckeldy Matilda who is a grand old lady now. We lost little Martha to a gizzard problem aged only 10 months, lovely Maisie to a very bad fox while FR'ing last summer and Mavis died peacefully in her sleep tucked up in her egg box earlier this year. We are still so grateful to our wonderful original girlies for their patience when we were neurotic new chicken parents.

 

Matilda is now head hen to our three middle aged hybrids and the three gorgeous ex-batts which we rehomed in April this year.

 

Happy memories x

[jennym]

Our first three are still in their prime (knocks on wood), they are coming up to a year old now. I'm already thinking how awful it will be when one of them goes.

 

I'm sure I'll remember them forever.

[goodinparts]

Ooh...my 1st 3 came from Cotswold Chickens too. Sadly, Broody Brigid was taken by the fox earlier this year, but Margot & Barbara are going strong, laying daily and most definitely top chooks in the flock. They make us laugh so much. Their current trick is to come and stand by the patio doors, looking like a pair of carol singers...They've taught me so much about chickens & how entertaining & delightful they can be

[gongladosh]

Nope, you never forget your first hens.

 

Mine were Omlet hens -

 

Kent (pepperpot) - more a force of nature than a hen - if I had to describe her as a person, she'd be Nessa from Gavin and Stacey... She did love to jump - launching herself with maximum effort from any platform. It wasn't about flying, it was about long distance jumping...

 

Kiki (gingernut) - she was a lovely friendly and trusting hen, always into what I was doing, and was never happier than when asleep on my lap. In a weird way I viewed her as much a friend as a pet. There was one time where I banged my head and yelled out in pain - Kiki came over to check I as OK, that's the sort of hen she was.

 

Sadly both died young - Kent developed Peritonitis after 1 year, and Kiki 6 months later. But, had I not had those two hens first, I'd probably not feel the same way I do about hens now.

[Mum]

My first was a liberated ex-batt. She survived her liberation only to become the most hen-pecked of the bunch and very much worse for wear. Cue my role! She was given to me, as a lone chook, to love and to care for.

 

I got her through her first Autumn/Winter; I got her through her soft egg stage, she was adorable and ate her way into my heart - she was the reason I bought an Eglu.

 

Sadly, once she had regrown all her feathers and bulked out, her heart gave out.

 

But, from her, I learned my adoration of chickens; I learned they were individuals with personalities and huge entertainment value (beyond merely egg producers!)

 

If she taught me one thing it is this: one day, I homed an ex-batt and saved her life; in consequence, I have "saved" other chooks and given them a home worthy of a kingdom (as opposed the pot); my original chook changed *my* life (let alone hers!). I thank her daily. I miss her, she was a real character.

 

I've not forgotten the lessons she taught me. She totally changed my life, my thoughts, my perception of chickens and the chicken/egg process! Above all, I've learned that they are delicate creatures, their needs are few, but their rewards are awe-inspiring (who can argue the eggcitement of finding an egg? Be it their first, forth, fourteeth, or fortieth?)

 

Yeah, those first chooks grab you by the short n curlies in the heart department and lead to "Morehens Disease"!

 

Who'd have it any other way

[jackian]

Mum , you moved me to tears .. Chickens have changed my life.We lost our first one Florry on Thursday and nearly everything you have wruitten I could identify with.Thank you for putting it into words

[jaspersmum]

Mum,

 

 

x

[Chortle Chook]

I still have my little cockerel. How could I forget that 1st morning after he arrived? I was SO excited and litterally jumped out of bed just like I used to do when I was about 6 and sped down stairs. I've always thought he is a bit funny looking but he was and is such a character - gentle but pompous, full of himself yet at times so humble - always putting his girls first. What a cheer up he is if I ever get down. I can't look at him without smiling

 

Here he is waiting for me to come out with his elevenses (1 shortbread biscuit between him and his 8 girls).

 

[fluffy chick]

Gorgeous boy!

 

My first 3 were 2 silkies and 1 pekin. I was convinced I wanted silkies but the breeder only had 2 so I took a pekin as well. As it turned out I ended up falling for the pekin and getting 3 more later on. I had a fear of feathers (I'm over it now!) so thought silkies would be the answer.

 

I had to dispatch one of my silkies a few weeks back as she was very poorly and I couldn't let her suffer until I could get her to a vet. I nursed her for ages but in the end it was too much for her It was my first dispatch and it broke my heart but I suffered far more than she did.