Peaches Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Fascinating thread ..... I did masses of research and wanted to give ex-batts a good life (plus my concern about the treatment of chickens by the poultry industry so wanted to get eggs cruelty-free). My husband built a walk-in run and erected an electric net, and we allowed them to free range in our fairly large garden. However, I did want to give up at times because: - local vets not familiar with chickens and how to heal them - one of my springers wanted to eat them (it's taken me time, but I have managed to train her out of this) - the fact we can't go away over night because we need to put them away and get them up in the morning - the fact we can't go away on holiday either - illness - when they are clearly in pain and I can't get them better - when a fox took 3 of them - when my friend's dog got one of them and Bodie died slowly and in pain - the fact that my leg is in plaster and Jackie O keeps flying over the netting! I fell badly yesterday putting her back behind the electric nets - the heartbreak when they die I don't mind the poo or the mud, although chipping off the poo from the frozen ground in winter is not my favourite hobby! I don't mind the fact that we don't get eggs. But I think if I didn't have Omlet forum to post queries and look for advice and support I wouldn't have made it this far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 I don't mind the poo or the mud, although chipping off the poo from the frozen ground in winter is not my favourite hobby! I don't mind the fact that we don't get eggs. But I think if I didn't have Omlet forum to post queries and look for advice and support I wouldn't have made it this far Oh how I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 What's emerging here is the differing thresholds at which people 'give up'. It's different for all of us I guess. We have two mini-lop bunnies, much loved and gorgeous girls, but we won't replace them when they hop off to Rainbow Bridge. I was rather disappointed last year in a friend who gave away her much loved dog, which she'd had for two year, as her new boyfriend didn't like dogs..... I know which would have gone in my house Deciding not to get another of the same type of pet is very different from giving up on one you have. I don't know why but though I'd never, ever, ever give up on a dog I have and have had several 'you go, not the dog' times with OH, and though I'd never have given up on one of my pet ratties, I did re-home some chooks I was not keen on. I have often asked myself why and it still puzzles me as I like to think that no animal is superior to any other. I suppose that I thought that their psychology is so much simpler than a dog's or even a rat's (the latter being very intellegent indeed) that they would not mind. In fact I don't think they did as when I went to visit them, they did not recognise me at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 interesting... the lone chook I took on came running up the garden to greet her first "mom" although they do just get on with life nut then so do all other spieces when their owners go away be it permanent or on holiday... but we all say the ex bats are different, so maybe they do bond more with us than "posh" hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmommasally Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 We've had chooks for just over 3 years now and still love them to bits. Though it is much easier now with a WIR sited on a patio. I'm very lucky that OH is still just as keen as I am so we both sort them out together each day and take it in turns to have a lie in at the weekends. The chooks make me smile on a daily basis We've got 2 bunnies as well and like Clare I don't think at the moment I would rush to get more when they hop off over the rainbow bridge. They are lovely but really messy, and it takes alot of time each morning to clean out their hutch before work - I don't know how people only clean out their bunnies on a weekly basis. I guess if they were cuddly bunnies I might feel differently but they don't enjoy being held so I tend to only pick them up to check them over so as not to stress them out unnecessarily. So I guess I don't feel with bunnies there are the rewards for the work as there are with the chooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackgold Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I started off in 2008 with 3 rescued ex-battery hens. I now have 10 hens. I have 2 eglus and a cube. 2 walk-in runs and have spent a fortune on my girls. i still get about 4-5 eggs everyday. I will never recoop the money I have spent on their equipment but I havent bought an egg from a shop for nearly 4 years and I am lucky in that I have a friend over the road who hen sits for me and I hen sit for them. I was ill with flu a few weeks ago and it was very hard work to force myself to look after my hens but with the help of my other half all was fine. If I couldnt look after them properly then I would give them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Try litter training them Sally - really easy and makes their hutch so much cleaner/easier to clean I empty the litter tray (wood pellet cat litter) on alternate days and clean the hutch once a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I may sound completely crazy, but I actually like the poo There is something quite grounding and wholesome about the hard slog of cleaning up the runs and poo trays We compost all of ours as we have an allotment, makes the best compost ever Maybe it's a goes around, comes around thing, but I see this years poo, as a means to getting next years veg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I have to say we havent replaced our bunnies - last one died in Feb - such a bad winter last 2 yrs and I worried myself sick re 2 ageing buns - they were garaged and snuggle safed on bad nights - might replace in spring. I would replace the hens - I miss my eggs and having 2 girls just aint enough. I have a pack temprement - safety in numbers when 1 dies you have another to love still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I have a pack temprement - safety in numbers ... Now I know what affliction I have I've always had lots of everything from chooks, to dogs to bunnies - my father once said I could have 2 at school - when it got to the end of term I had 32 as I didn't know what boys and gals got up to All my friends went home with a rab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkisland Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I may sound completely crazy, but I actually like the poo There is something quite grounding and wholesome about the hard slog of cleaning up the runs and poo trays We compost all of ours as we have an allotment, makes the best compost ever Maybe it's a goes around, comes around thing, but I see this years poo, as a means to getting next years veg We compost too, and what we can't use we take down to the In laws when we visit, as they grow loads of tomatoes and sell them at their garden gate - all proceeds to charity. Mother in Law is always when we arrive with a carload of poo! (We took 6 sacks for Christmas and put a bow on it ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Barks wrote: Mother in Law is always when we arrive with a carload of poo! (We took 6 sacks for Christmas and put a bow on it ). Barks, you spoil her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Spacechick, I thought of you as I carried a brimming tray of poo out of the WIR this morning! Today there was a heavy frost first thing, then it rained; I've got a million things to do today, and still got a cough from being ill last week, and the last thing I felt like doing was to clean out the chickens. An hour later, I have wet hands and an aching back - but I've been entertained by their silly antics, and enjoyed seeing them in my garden. Being out there reminded me that I still needed to lift the geraniums out of pots and put them in the greenhouse, so I did that, and tidied up a few things while I was in there; I saw one single rosebud still on the bush; my hebe is still flowering, the dogwood is looking fabulous, and the sun came out and was really warm and pleasant. If I didn't have hens, I doubt if I would even have set foot outside the house, let alone gone up the length of the garden and noticed all these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 There is something quite grounding and wholesome about the hard slog of cleaning up the runs and poo trays Couldn't agree more ... and there is a feeling of a job well done afterwards that takes some beating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 There is something quite grounding and wholesome about the hard slog of cleaning up the runs and poo trays Couldn't agree more ... and there is a feeling of a job well done afterwards that takes some beating. Same here, I ache and am mucky but a couple of hours cleaning out the chooks and bunnies leaves me feeling very virtuous, as does gardening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I agree about the cleaning out, i get a strange satisfaction from seeing a nice clean chicken house, they are on Nedzbedz at the moment so it is all fluffy and clean. I did two houses yesterday afternoon, it was freezing but satisfying. Shame the girls have to go and mess it up. I can see why people give up especially at this time off year, getting out of a nice warm bed to let them out and wading through mud in your dressing gown and chicken shoes is no fun. I must be the only person I know that wants it to freeze so that the mud in the run will be solid. I put half a bale of nedz bed down yesterday to try and dry the run out. wouldn't be without my girls though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I'm so proud to be friends with some of you guys it's great that you Get me My sister thought I was nuts when I was all happy when I said I was planning to clean runs tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammiboo Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I I must be the only person I know that wants it to freeze so that the mud in the run will be solid. im with you on that. more so that the mud in garden will be solid!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkisland Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I I must be the only person I know that wants it to freeze so that the mud in the run will be solid. im with you on that. more so that the mud in garden will be solid!! Yep! Nearly broke my neck sliding in a muddy run today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
migsy Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I I must be the only person I know that wants it to freeze so that the mud in the run will be solid. im with you on that. more so that the mud in garden will be solid!! Yep! Nearly broke my neck sliding in a muddy run today The mud - yuck, yes, I know the feeling. I can't eat shop eggs now though and although they poo everywhere at least the poo is not awful like dog or cat poo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 If someone nicked your car Barkisland they would be in for a shock. My dad always takes a couple of bags for his compost heap too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkisland Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 If someone nicked your car Barkisland they would be in for a shock. My dad always takes a couple of bags for his compost heap too I did say to OH on the way, I hope we don't have an accident or anything, 'cos this could take some explaining! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Spacechick, I thought of you as I carried a brimming tray of poo out of the WIR this morning! Today there was a heavy frost first thing, then it rained; I've got a million things to do today, and still got a cough from being ill last week, and the last thing I felt like doing was to clean out the chickens. An hour later, I have wet hands and an aching back - but I've been entertained by their silly antics, and enjoyed seeing them in my garden. Being out there reminded me that I still needed to lift the geraniums out of pots and put them in the greenhouse, so I did that, and tidied up a few things while I was in there; I saw one single rosebud still on the bush; my hebe is still flowering, the dogwood is looking fabulous, and the sun came out and was really warm and pleasant. If I didn't have hens, I doubt if I would even have set foot outside the house, let alone gone up the length of the garden and noticed all these things. Ollie that is exactly how my Saturday went. I started off at about 1.30 thinking 'Bah - got to go clean out the chooks' then by tea time, although I had an aching back, I had a lovely clean chook house, a pirocantha and a climbing rose all neatly tied back to the fence, a brown wheely full of spent stems and a group of chatty chickens still getting the last of the worms. I'd also seen the most beautiful sunset. I felt so healthy and happy Thanks chooks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roobaloo Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Coming into this a bit late...but for me, it's the heartbreak. I can't face it any more. I've been keeping hens for 20 months...at first, I just had my original two and all was well. Toph (a hybrid) turned broody. Suki spent her days stressed that she was alone. I put some fertile eggs under Toph (she'd been sitting on Suki's eggs)...who decided she'd had enough. I then bought an incubator and did it myself...waking up at 5am to make sure I got 3 vaguely even turns (rather than two before midday and one at 9pm!) 10 out of 12 showed life forming...then each candling after that showed failure after failure. Day 18, one remained. I was going to be left with another lonely bird. So I rushed out and bought 3 x one day old chicks, two CLV and a Poland! They'd only be a day older, it'd be ok... After 21 days of anticipation, excitement, disappointment, guilt and a lack of sleep...nothing hatched. I thought I'd give it a day or so extra...By day 25, I admitted total defeat. The chicks meanwhile kept me busy...one had stopped walking. Lil'un. She was bright and alert but seemed unable to stand. The vet couldn't find anything so said it was probably just soft tissue damage, she'd either heal or give up. I made a support hammock for her, to keep her on her legs but support her weight. I slept in the sane room so I could help her if she got stuck, distressed or fell out. She could move her legs, she just wouldn't put weight on them, so I started physio with her. Gently moving the limb to try and strengthen it. It seemed to be working as she tried to stand...we'd encourage her with live mealworms and cooked egg, she'd get so excited and start desperately trying to stand. Then one day she gave up. Her sister was more than 3 times her size and almost covered in adult feathers. Lil'un was still fluffy. We made the decision to let her go. Her sister had developed an issue with her foot, she had wonky toes. We tried to brace them straight but she was too old. She wasn't struggling, so we let her be. Obviously she was now called Wonky. She was doing well, even when she, Pippin (Poland) and their two new chick friends (nicknamed Goldie - Wyandotte chick and Yellow head - Arucana chick) got Cocci. Then my big girls went down too. They all recovered thankfully. Yellow head developed a wry neck, at first it was mild but when we came home one day to find it sat with the top of it's head on the floor, we knew it was time again. Goldie became Oscar. So we had a new challenge... Then Wonky had to be pts. It was my fault. I'd noticed a length of string from that years bean crop had fallen against the run frame. I saw it and dismissed it. Wonky was it too and must've spent hours trying to get it. She did. When I found her, she'd swallowed more than half of it. We rushed her to the Vet. They were amazing, saw her immediately, they valued that little life but they couldn't help her. It was too far through her digestive tract...and it was stuck. I will always hate myself for that. Now we only had a male Wyandotte and a Poland who seemed to change genders daily. Mum took them to her garden so they could gave more space and fresh grass. Oscar started growing too big for Pippin...and too clumsy. He'd get worked up or scared, go to run and wobble, crashing headlong into Pip. A friend was rehoming two Polands, so I took them. Slowly but surely introducing the two pairs. Pip was always very independent and didn't care much, Oscar followed but the other Polands weren't impressed. After weeks, they accepted Pip but not Oscar. Understandable. I took Oscar back home. I bought him a new girl, a hybrid...Apple. They had half of Toph and Suki's run...and very slow introductions were made. Eventually we let them all in together. Toph kept harassing Oscar...who was showing more signs of unsteadiness on his feet. He couldn't roost, climb up the ramps...or run in a straight line. Spring arrived and Oscar found his voice. Time to go. We took him to the stables, bought him two girls (as Apple had found her place with Toph and Suki) and we spend two solid days building a WIR for them. It was hard work...and having the second lot of hens IS hardwork, there's no electric, no running water, no lights, no storage...you have to carry it with you. That wad ok, that was the decision I made when I decided to keep a cockerel. Pippin had blossomed into a wonderful hen, sociable, bold, chatty! My parents moved house and we agreed she would keep the Polands...she'd fallen in love with them. Within a month, Pippin was dead. I will always blame Mum for it. While they were sorting permanent housing, their house sat on a small patch of lawn. The previous house owners had two hybrids that they couldn't take with them and Mum had agreed to keep. I repeatedly told her the dangers of mixing Polands. I warned her again and again. She divided them with electric pig fencing. It was useless as even the hybrids could duck through the gaps unzipped if they were quick. After lining the fence with mesh, so the chickens couldn't get out...and more significantly, so Poppy the Springer spaniel couldn't get in. Poppy had always been obsessed with the Polands...their bobbing heads would send her into a trance. At the old house, Mum knew never to let her out if there was a risk that a chicken might get out (when feeding etc) but suddenly in the new house, she let down her guard. She left Poppy running free whilst she went shopping. Pip somehow walked through the fence. Poppy saw her chance. Pip had no idea what was coming. It was over in a blink of an eye. Since all that, I've had more stress with Toph, who started plucking herself (been treated for parasites etc) and was getting more aggressive. We gave her to Mum to live with her hybrids in a much larger run. She still plucks herself but is much calmer. We found a chicken roaming the village, clearly an ex-batt...we kept her and called her Twenty. Robin (Oscars girl) has developed a tumour or similar, she is blind in one eye. We're just facing the decision of when we take her...she's still bright and active but we worry that the others will turn on her. Twenty is now in isolation. For her safety. Summer ended and Oscar no longer wants her...so turned on her, Raven joined in. I have 7 chickens. I've gone through so much heartbreak and misery. I would keep the girls at home to the end of their days, they're easy enough to look after but the ones at the field...there are days that I quietly hope the fox got through my defences. I wish I had the strength to cull them myself. But I don't. I cannot send a healthy or happy life to its end. So I keep fighting against the fox and the elements, I keep spending money I don't have to keep them happy. I keep straining my already damaged back to ensure their welfare...and I always will. But I know I don't want to do it any more. I know I won't do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Aw ((Roobaloo)) I can totally understand why you feel as you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
