Sooo much pooping

[hotchick]

I've kept chickens (unsuccessfully) for almost three years. I am beginning to wonder why I ever thought it would be a good idea as I have had nothing but bad luck. A few have died of natural causes, with others being abducted by foxes. I've always kept pairs of and point of lay hens but most recently I went for a trio of young hens of varying breeds.

 

When I brought them I was told that at around three months old they were ready to go onto layers from growers and I should get a bounty of eggs within about a month. After I got them home I went from layers back to growers (as they didn't seem to take to the layers) and then back to growers. I'm estimating that they are around nine months old now and while I appreciate it's winter, and I have taken other factors into consideration, I'm still lacking eggs.

 

Despite this, I have been very patient but the feather that broke the chicken keeper's back was the discovery that one of my hens is actually a cockerel - not what I requested from the seller. I called the farm shop about both issues, who I have to say were highly disinterested and attempted to immediately suggest that I was at fault (at least that's how I was made to feel). Despite being advised that I'd get a call back from the missus (the place is owned by a couple) this hasn't happened.

 

As a Londoner living in a residential area I am just waiting for the crowing complaints to start and am petrified that I'll be slapped with a noise abatement order. I've grown fond of Rosey - who, under the circumstances I should probably rename Roy - but am going to have to give him up. The farm shop is a 50 mile round trip from me. I don't drive and don't think it's worth the hassle of getting someone to take me to the back end of Basildon to face the owners as they clearly don't care. I've put loads of time and effort into my girls with no eggy reward and an additional twist of the knife re the Rosey/Roy situation.

 

Can I please have some advice on what my rights are in this situation? I know it's petty but I have a right mind to take the sellers to the small claims court as I feel I have been cheated and disrespected. I brought my stock on the assurance of what I thought were professionals. I have purchased point of lay hens from them in the past with no problem, but as my mum says, people are always nice to you when you're standing there with cash in your hand but not when you're there to complain.

 

What can I do about my cockerel? Bit confused about the advice offered on 'the rehoming of animals' post as this states they are not to be sold on Omlet without their branded houses (and either way cocks are a general no no) but on checking marketplace it seems that there may be exceptions as sellers are pushing hens and cocks without Cubes or Eglus.

 

I'm going to ask my local city farm if they'll take him but without assurances about vaccinations and the like I doubt they'd even consider it - I don't even know the bred I brought it under the advice that it was a battery variety - didn't think to ask which. The other option is Gumtree but I just know he'll end up as someone's Sunday roast or as part of some disgusting boxed chicken and chips meal, and I couldn't bear that. I also fear for my other two chickens - there's loads of feathers in their roosting tray and God only knows what horrors are going on in the Eglu each night.

 

I'm so upset I feel like crying every time I think about it. I don't know what to do. Shall I just give up chicken keeping for good and sell my Eglu and chickens? I'm sorry for rambling on and on but I'd really appreciate some advice - if you can make any sense of what i've written - my head's all over the place at the moment

 

A super-sad chick

[Mum]

Firstly, ((hugs))

 

Second: 9mths and no eggs

Do not despair, this happens and it isn't anything you are doing wrong. I have hens of a similar age who are not laying either and I'm getting excited for February when the days are longer and I get some lovely fresh eggs

 

Third: Feathers in nest box

That could simply be your hens having a mini moult and isn't necessarily indicative of hen pecking/fighting.

 

Fourth: No return call from "missus"

You try calling them again (and again and again and again, if necessary). While you may *think* they didn't return the call deliberately, fact is, people do forget or life gets in the way.

 

Fifth: Small claims court

To be blunt, if you "don't feel it's worth the effort" to get someone to drive the round trip to Basildon, then I doubt very much it would be worth the hassle of attempting to go through the small claims court for a chicken.

 

Sixth: Even professional poultry keepers make mistakes. I bought an Araucana hen a POL. She was beautiful. However, she was a late developer and eventually Agatha became Arthur A very handsome chap, but, like you, residential area. I drove him back to the farm and received a replacement hen

 

Seventh: It seems that you will have to give up Roy. Your real issue is "how". As much as you don't want the hassle of going on a 50 mile round trip, I think that is going to be your best bet. After all, it was worth it to get your trio in the first instance and if the people running the farm are as sensible as my poultry farmer is, they will replace him with a hen. Besides, if it were me and a question of 50mile trip vs noise abatement order, I know which I would choose

 

Finally: Whether you give up poultry keeping is entirely your own decision. I can understand you feel demoralised from your experiences, but unfortunately, those are not uncommon issues in poultry keeping. Doesn't necessarily mean that you can't have a rewarding and pleasant experience in the future.

[Egluntyne]

Re the rehoming policy, Omlet don't allow the rehoming of cockerels at all via the forum. You can, however try to sell him via the Marketplace, which is a separate entity to the forum.

 

The rehoming of hens is only allowed as part of a package when someone is also selling their Eglu or other Omlet housing.

 

It would cost you more to launch a small claims procedure than the value of a hen, so you would be ill advised to go down that route.

 

To be honest, genuine mistakes can be made re the sexing of chickens, so I'm not sure that it is right to say that the seller has deliberately cheated you. You don't appear to say whether you have had any dialogue with them on the situation.

 

You use the word 'trio'. If these hens were sold to you as a 'trio' then you were sold 2 hens and a cockerel. This is what a 'trio' is in poultry terms.

 

I would try local city farm or similar to see if they will take him off your hands, or find someone to cull him for you.

 

You could also try listing him on other poultry keeping fora, as rules may differ.

 

The chopping and changing of feed may have had a small impact on the laying of the other hens in addition to it being winter.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm sorry to hear you've had such a rubbish time . Can't really add to the good advice above but wish you luck in resolving your problem. I hope you can carry on with your remaining girls once you find a home for Rosey/Roy .

[Alis girls]

Hi Hotchick - sorry to hear of your hen troubles - roughly where in London are you? I am in NW so Herts is nearer for me. However a local farm shop sells and as I only really want fresh eggs (although I love my girls) that is enough for me. however I would go north for any other breed ie Herts, I dont know what to suggest re your boy - they are obvioulsly miss sexing these chucks and I would bet you are not the only one with a boy instead of a girl.

Oh and I lost 2 chickens last year so keep your pecker up - it is disheartening - but try to stay with it and you will get eggs. Hugs and good luck Ali x

[Nicola O]

Hi Hotchick

 

Have PM'ed you.

 

Nicola

[Redwing]

I would have said everything that Egluntyne wrote particularly regarding the trio, were they sold as that? Rightly or wrongly people expect the public to know that a trio always consists of two females and one male. Unless you have the original advert or a receipt stating the sexes I don't think there is much you can do especially now they are 9 months old, many breeders would expect someone to notice and then return the bird way before 9 months I'm afraid.

 

If you are sure they are in the wrong then I would take the bird back and ask for another, you could ask for costs of the journey back but I doubt you'd get it. An alternative would be to write to them

 

Its reasonably easy for people to make an error in sexing a bird, it does happen especially if the bird is a late developer but sold at a young age and 12 weeks is young to accurately sex some birds

 

What breeds are they? This would gave some bearing on when they will lay (as well as helping with knowing whether they should have known about the sexes) As a rule no pure breed will lay until about 25 weeks so I'd also suggest that the feed changes have thrown things out a bit but you should get eggs in the next couple of months

[Alis girls]

Blimey I didnt know about the "trio" thing - scarey - i will stick to buying 2 at a time

[craftyhunnypie]

Really sorry to hear your chicken keeping worries. I know the rehoming of cockerels on the forum isn't allowed. I would have helped you out had you lived nearer. Nothing worse than feeling disheartened about your chooks & not knowing what to do!

We are all here to listen & help. Hope you can work something out!

Emma.x

[Lewis]

Apart from contacting the breeder and seeing if they will take him back there isn't much you can do.

 

As others have said, a "Trio" is a Cockerel and 2 hens so if they were sold as they maybe you just didn't realise or misunderstood?

 

If you post a photo of them people may help you identify the breed so you have a better chance of rehoming him

[Patricia W]

It might be that the breeder will take him back even though if you did misunderstand what a trio was, he might not give you your money back. You could suggest that if he had him back he could start another "trio". I'd be keen to make sure he had a good home rather than get the money back in this case.

 

Hope you sort it. I'm sure your others will start laying in February and you'll probably be inundated with eggs!

[Chortle Chook]

Don't despair just yet . . .

 

Have you thought of selling all three of your chooks as a bona fide 'trio' (for collection only as you don't drive) either on the Omlet market place or through the Practical Poultry forum, and then starting again with 2 or 4 i.e. not the famous 'trio' that would include a cockerel?

 

Regarding the egg laying - I believe that it will depend on what age your chickens were when the long dark evenings set in. If they were POL as the light began to vanish, then they will not lay till the spring. Still they will lay like mad then, so it will be worth the wait

[sparkysmum]

Dear hotchick, I'm so sorry to hear of your chicken keeping troubles. Winter is often a hard time for poultry keepers as its often the case that its lots of work for no "eggy" reward. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that mine will come back into lay soon and I'm sure yours will too. Perhaps you might feel differently then.

 

I'm sorry it wasn't explained to you that a trio includes a cockeral as this is often the way cockerals are homed. It was thoughtless of the breeder to do this and I hope you find a solution soon that is acceptable to you.

 

Wishing you brighter days ahead. Alli x

[daxigirl]

Some of mine are nearly a year old and are contented freeloaders. The others are only just coming back into lay just noq so don't give up on the dream of a nice egg for breakfast. I've also bought hers that turned out to be hims so your not alone.

[Lavenders_Blue]

When I brought them I was told that at around three months old they were ready to go onto layers from growers and I should get a bounty of eggs within about a month. After I got them home I went from layers back to growers (as they didn't seem to take to the layers) and then back to growers.

 

Are you feeding layers or growers at the minute then? If you are feeding growers then that may be contributing to your hens not laying.

 

I'm going to ask my local city farm if they'll take him but without assurances about vaccinations and the like I doubt they'd even consider it - I don't even know the bred I brought it under the advice that it was a battery variety - didn't think to ask which.

 

If your chicken is a 'battery variety' then it's most likely a Warren, or at least a hybrid of some kind. These are very, very rarely incorrectly sexed (although it does occasionally happen) as they can be sexed as day old chicks and the sexes have distinct differences.

 

 

I just wanted to add though that I do sympathise with you. At the moment I have 7 hens and am lucky if I get one egg a day from the lot of them!

[hotchick]

Guys

 

THANK YOU so much for your kind words, compassion and advice. It has been a great help - as I knew it would be.

 

I'm going to try to respond to your points individually and as throughly as possible so please bear with me and my ramblings (would have loved to reply sporadically through the day but that pesky thing called work just took over).

 

Mum: I really needed that hug so thank you. I think you're right, I should ring them again - and I will but I'm not going to hold out hope purely because my primary call was not well received at all. It was helpful to know you've had a similar experience and I hope I'm as lucky as you and they agree to take him back.

 

Eglutyne: thanks for your insight and clarification on the rehoming policy, which I clearly misunderstood. It's good to know that there is another option open to me. Also, being largely unversed in much of the lingo of poultry keepers, I used the word trio simple to describe that I purchased three individual, hand-picked chickens at the time of purchase - not that I had been advised to take a particular three or they were sold together in a batch. In fact, I chose my chickens based on what the seller told me about their laying habits, so it was entirely clear what my intention was. I have called the sellers, but only once, and the response wasn't encouraging (when I tried to give them a mobile number to contact me on I was told that there was 'no way' I'd be called back on a mobile). Despite being told I'd get a call back (after giving them a landline number) this has not materialised.

 

Ali: I'm in east London but I'd be interested to know the name of the place you get your chickens from. Please, if you don't mind and if it's allowed, can you share this with me?

 

Redwing: please see my response to Eglutyne re the trio, but yes, you're absolutely right that if they are sold in this way it should be made explicitly clear that you're getting two girls and a boy. I didn't get a receipt from the sellers (and this is not the first time I've brought chickens from them). The only practice is that they have always asked for my full name and address and write this in a diary with, I assume, details of what I've bought. I never considered it to be strange before (this is an actually shop on a main road) but after your comments I can't understand why it never occurred to me to ask.

 

Craftyhunnypie/Emma: you almost tipped me over the edge with your post - I was really touched. I'd have loved you to have had him and just the fact that you suggested it went straight to my heart. x

 

Iwescott: fantastic suggestion. When I looked on marketplace I couldn't identify him but a picture and ID request will hopefully help me rehome him. I'll do this in a separate post.

 

PatriciaW: wish me luck with the seller - I'm sure gonna need it. The money I paid for him wouldn't even cover half the petrol I'd need to get back to the shop and I'm not bothered about that at all. Ideally I'd love someone who wants him to take him on, or for the shop to take him back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that hopefully one of these two things will happen. My other two are supposedly sporadic layers anyway; both get broody and one lays only tiny eggs - she's a pygmy. I got them more as eye candy than for their eggs. I was counting on Roy for the eggs but hopefully my other two will come through for me soon.

 

Cheeky Chook: I just can't loose another lot of chickens - even if it is to start over again. I deliberately went for young ones as I wanted them for the long haul and will feel defeated if they depart. Hopefully I'll have my girls with me for sometime yet. When I got them I was told they were just coming into point of lay so hopefully they'll blossom in spring - I can't wait to see what their eggs are like. Nothing worse than keeping chickens and then having to buy eggs at the supermarket. Grrrrrr.

 

Sparksymum/Alli: if I were to tell you how hard's it's been I'd be here all night (feeding dilemas, chickens changing sex, mice getting into the run etc....). I was hoping that with a relatively mild winter so far I'd get a little something, but nothing except enough poo in the nest box to start to shaping it into fuel cubes for the fire. When I do finally get an egg I'm going to bore you all with pictures of it

 

Daxigirl: freeloaders - that made me smile because that's exactly what they are at the moment. I think because of what I was told by the seller when I bought them August ('they should start laying within weeks') I was worried that they may never lay but, following the advice I've had here, I think the growers-layers ping pong perhaps stifled them a bit but I feel optimistic about spring. I should guessed Rosey was a boy when she started spouting what I now consider to be a beard but I then considered was a cool punk sprout of tiny feathers around her face. We live and learn....

 

Lavenders_blue: they are on layers now and have been for around three months and they get the odd handful of mixed corn over the weekends and sporadic kitchen s"Ooops, word censored!"s, but not that many (I want them to lay before I overindulge them). They all have healthy appetites and are eating normally - which is a good sign. Thanks for your insight on the potential breed. As I mentioned in a previous reply I think it's wise that I determine this and will be posting a new topic soon.

 

I am sorry that this has been such a long-winded response but I appreciated the advice and sentiments of each and everyone one of you and the ones that read this post, didn't reply but felt my pain (as I often do) so much that I would have considered it rude not to address each suggestion. Poultry keepers rock!

 

Watch this space for updates.

 

xxx

[Mum]

So lovely to wake up and see your updated post - you sound so much more positive about the whole situation!

 

Wishing you luck with those phone calls.

[Plum]

I really feel for you, it's something I really dread.

 

 

Blimey I didnt know about the "trio" thing - scarey - i will stick to buying 2 at a time

Bad news Alis girls a 'pair' is a cockeral and hen

[Nicola O]

Hi

 

You do sound much more positive today. It's amazing how just talking through your worries can make such a difference to how you feel about a situation. A kind of therapy perhaps .

 

I hope that my local knowledge of the place you got the chooks from has helped you in deciding how to tackle them - or on the other hand, hasn't frightened you too much .

 

Good luck with finding a solution.

 

Nicola

[daxigirl]

Does Rosie actually crow? Some of mine are bearded ladies. What breeds are they?

[sparkysmum]

Hang on in there, gal. It's getting lighter by the day. Hopefully these won't be far away now. Fingers crossed for you. Alli x

[hotchick]

Hey Daxigirl - yes, he is most definitely a boy. To put it politely, his voice has broken, he grew tail feathers which have drooped and he is crowing in the morning Not sure of the breed but I was told it was a hybrid battery hen.

[Redwing]

It doesnt excuse the breeders handling of the situation but they most likely did not know it was a cockerel, when hybrid chicks hatch the males are immediately identifiable by their down colour and are culled, the breeder possibly bought in all females so wouldnt have ever thought there would be a male in there - males can slip through the net and be brown rather than the expected white (not very common though)

 

Most seller buy in hybrids they dont breed them themselves but if they did attempt it themselves then they possibly got the cross incorrect making the down sexing inaccurate

[Alis girls]

Hi HC - its Totteridge Farm shop on Totteridge Lane - only open Saturdays and they only to my knowledge do . If you decide to come up this way probably PM me first a week in advance and I am happy to check she has some in. I paid £10 for Maggiemay - shes a peach - so cuddly and soppy and laid the first afternoon back and let the whole neighbourhood know which worried me - thankfully shes quietened down a bit. I used to live off Cable Street E1.

[Alis girls]

Plum - I see have a lot to learn - if I buy one and underline the HEN bit surely I will get a girl I have last year purchased one and it lays eggs so am relieved.

 

If I get 4 - 2hens and 2 cockerels

5?

6?

 

i think I will say I want one which produces egg shaped thingyies!!