Rabbit Omlet products for sale

[Clucky the Great]

I am very happy I want to be a vet so I do lots of work experience and from going from not really having a clue about chickens and not really liking them after a week at a chicken farm with 100,000 chickens I was transformed. I fell in love with how friendly they are and how they have their own unique personalities and how some just stand out even with that many.

 

Soo after a few months of badgering my parents telling them how wonderful and amazing chickens are and not having much luck as they value their lawn too much...to which I replied...of course they won't dig up the lawn...I'm hoping they fall in love with them before they recall some of the things I said to them about these chickens. I then got the leverage of my exam results which were rather good. This was what won the battle with my parents.

 

Next week I will have a posh new with a 4m run arriving and I cannot wait! And I am going to rehome 6 of the 100,000 I worked with in December when they come out...garden wasn't quite big enough for all 100,000.

 

So here is as it stands...

I have a bit of experience of chicken keeping from the week, however, I would say that was a lot of knowledge about large flocks and no clue about only having a few. So I have a few questions...

 

1. I live on a flood plain, which means during the winter the cube will have to be either on the paved bit at the side of the house or on the front lawn (which parents do not want digging up). In the summer there is no problem as it doesn't flood I can easily move it around the 1/2 acre at the back. The run does have covers but would you recommend moving it regularly around the front (if so how often would it have to be if it was really really worst case scenario wet) or have some sort of semi-permanent arrangement on the paving?

 

2. Do people put food and water directly in the eglu or is it just in the run. If so are they okay in winter when they get let out at 7am and put in at 5pm?

 

3. When I first get them and it says lock them in so they know where home is. Do they mean in the house itself or in the house and run?

 

4. Dust baths...do they need one in their run or can they just find flowerbeds on supervised free range for 30mins a day?

 

5. How long after I get them should I let them out the run for supervised free range?

 

Will post more questions when I come up with them. Thanks in advance

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Congratulations, you won't regret it, they are so entertaining and easy to look after .

 

Answers to your questions:

 

1. However easy it's supposed to be to move a cube/eglu regularly, in reality it really isn't practical and most people end up having a permanent site. I'd say having it on the paved bit in the winter would be best and then find a permanent site somewhere for the summer. Siting it on a lawn isn't great as they'll destroy the grass within days and the poo gets squished into the grass and isn't easy to pick up. A slabbed area or a bit of unused flowerbed are both options. If you have covers on your run you can put horse bedding down (it's very absorbent and best kept dry) and that makes it a lot easier to manage.

 

2. Food and water are just put in the run, they don't need anything in the eglu/cube. They'll be fine even when the days are short.

 

3. They mean in the house and run.

 

4. You can put something like a cat litter tray/washing up bowl in their run but they often upturn it or ignore it. They'll happily use dry soil (so covering the run is a good idea).

 

5. They recommend a week but most people give in before then.

 

Good luck .

[Luvachicken]

How lucky are you

I can't wait to see some pictures of your new girls when you get them.

[Jenthelibrarian]

Ooooh! How exciting! And well done for rehoming - you're a hero.

 

Some ideas to start you off, I'm sure you will get lots of advice...

 

1. You will need to find some way of keeping your girlies in a fairly dry spot. They will scratch and dig and churn up any ground you put them on. There are loads of solutions to this. My hens are on a permanent site, on a deep layer of bark chippings which is regularly raked over, sanitised and renewed. We also have most of the run roofed with Omlet's own covers and some corrugated acrylic sheet stuff.

 

2. Food and water go in the run. They will put themselves to bed from dusk to dawn, but won't suffer if you leave them shut in for a weekend lie-in. This is also a good way of avoiding annoying the neighbours with the early 'egg song' chorus

 

3. They need to spend about a week shut in the house and run area to imprint them that it's home. If you visit them often with a little 'scratch' corn for a chat they will quickly tame. Call them, rattle a plastic dish with food and then when you do let them out they will be remarkable easy to get back to you. 'Chook, chook chook!' and the rattle of treats works wonders.

 

4. Mine dig their own baths in their run and have favourite spots of bare earth in sunny borders I sneakily chuck a bit of diatom in when they're not looking. Personally I've not had much luck with giving them ready-made dust baths, but you can try. It works for some!

 

5. Usual advice is about a week. I was terrified they'd never go home, but the training with calls and food meant I worried for no reason. For peace of mind you might like to try to restrict them to a small area at first until you are a confident chicken-wrangler, and know which of your girls are the wily escape artists, or the rather dim-witted ones

 

Good luck! Everyone on here is really nice so don't be afraid to ask lots of questions

[Clucky the Great]

Thanks everyone that's really helpful I will be sure to put pictures on and I know I can't wait! Just the problem of getting names...everyone in the family wants to name one and there aren't enough chickens!

[Clucky the Great]

Thanks everyone that's really helpful I will be sure to put pictures on and I know I can't wait! Just the problem of getting names...everyone in the family wants to name one and there aren't enough chickens!

[Redwing]

The paved area would be best, you can either put down a thin layer of bedding and rake it out regularly (Aubiose is good if the run is covered) or a thick layer of something longer lasting like woodchip but then this has to all come out and be disposed of at some point which can be backbreaking!

 

One thing to be aware of is that ex commercial girls can be weak and not very well feathered so they may struggle with getting to the coop to roost so a temporary ramp may be needed. Also they won't be familiar with going anywhere to roost so will have to be put to bed (no mean feat with a 4m run!

 

Most hens are ok let straight in to the run but I would personally try to get your hens late afternoon and put them straight in the coop, that way they will be warm and secure which should lessen any chances of shock and they will be more inclined to come out of the coop in the morning as they will be hungry, once they establish where bed is they will be fine!

[Clucky the Great]

Thanks Redwing. Also if I put them on a paved area with a plastic sheet down and bedding on top, how thick would the bedding have to be because I know they like to scrat?

[Chickabee]

If they're on a paved area, they don't need plastic sheeting. It's easy to clean out, and you can even jet wash or hose it. Would be my favorite. Just make sure they've got enough straw, aubiose or similar to scratch around in. I went to great lengths to make mine a dust bath, they never used it! They like to find their own places. I have lots of holes under bushes that are chook made

[Clucky the Great]

Thank you the comes 7 days today then chucks 2 weeks after hopefully so should have a bit of time to sort things out

[SarahGlymond]

I have had success with a tubtrug for a dust bath Dont use littertrays they are too shallow trust me I have found out the hard way you need something with high sides as once they start rolling it goes everywhere but its amazing to watch !

I have had no problems with them using a dust bath it was inside the run before I got my chooks so they were aware from day one. Make sure you put everything in the run before the girls as it takes them ages to get use to new objects.

Good luck you wont regret it im two months in and love my chooks !!! getting two eggs and a day is a bonus !!!