Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Amanda newbie]

I got my two chickens in August and they started laying eggs a few weeks later, as I had been advised. Suddenly three weeks ago they stopped completely and not an egg has been seen since.

 

I have noticed people have mentioned that this may be because of winter approaching but I was wondering is there anything else I need to check?

 

I also saw someone post about moving the chickens off the grass for the winter and was wondering what would be best to put on the patio, hay or bark or some other material.

 

Thanks for helping me out.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Hello!

 

I've had mine since September - one laid 10 eggs over a 2 wk period then stopped. The other two haven't started yet.

 

It seems that daylight hours have a lot to do with it but it also depends if they're hybrid or purebreed. Hybrids should lay through the winter but purebreeds don't.

 

I'm hoping mine will start soon - I've stopped giving them so many treats so they're filling up on pellets (better for laying, I think I've read).

 

Re ground materials, I use hemcore - it's brilliant. Absorbs poo and smells and doesn't cost too much. Mine's on soil but I believe it works well on patios too.

 

Hope that helps - if I've got anything wrong, I'm sure an expert will let us know!

[Olly]

not too sure about the laying - do you think they are eating enough, or too much (fat hens don't lay, apparently!)? You could try withholding treats to make sure they eat enough pellets. It may just be them getting into the swing of things, though, and the change in light.

 

I can answer the other question though - without hesitation, go for aubiose or hemcore (much the same thing). It stays dry, has a magical ability to make poo vanish, and the girls love scratching around in it - and it composts much more quickly than bark, when you change it. It's also unbelievably cheap - a bale is about £7 and lasts ages.

[puffball]

Where do you buy hemcore???

 

I moved my girls ONTO grass for the winter, bad move...?

[Snowy]

Where do you buy hemcore???

 

I moved my girls ONTO grass for the winter, bad move...?

 

Only if you want to keep the grass ....

[xScrunchee]

Mine were on grass, then on the patio with Hemcore and yesterday they were put back on the grass as I wanted to give the patio a good clean before their new run gets put there in the morning . My point being.... ......after watching my girls on grass and on hemcore I can safely say that they enjoy being on hemcore more. They scratch about in it all of the time. They seem more bored on the grass.

 

I throw a handful of corn in the run when it has Hemcore in it and sometimes mix it in a bit with the rake and it keeps them busy for ages!

[cammy73]

I need to know where to get Hemcore too...

Sharon x

[puffball]

Where do you buy hemcore???

 

I moved my girls ONTO grass for the winter, bad move...?

 

Only if you want to keep the grass ....

 

Only if I want to keep the grass?!!

 

If only I had talked to you on here a month ago!!!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I get my hemcore from a horsey supplies place (Drum Feeds in Edinburgh) which is listed here:

 

http://www.hemcore.co.uk/distributor.html

[Richard]

.

 

I have noticed people have mentioned that this may be because of winter approaching but I was wondering is there anything else I need to check?

 

.

 

I've got 8 hens and haven't had any eggs at all for the last three weeks! The youngsters have never laid, and should have started a week or two ago going by their age. Evil Georgie, who is much older (4), packed up laying for the winter three weeks ago as she started to moult (same as every winter).

 

They'll get going again in their own time!

[Amanda newbie]

Thank you ever so much to everyone for their replies.

 

I have now moved them onto the patio with hemcore got at a local farm feeds store. Mixed in some corn and they couldn't wait to get into their run amazing.

[newlaidegg]

What is the cleaning routine with Hemcore? How often do you need to change it? Having just cleaned my hens out, following this week's rain I can see my grass is going to be trashed in no time!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I think it depends on the surface you have the hemcore on. Mine is on soil so it eventually gets scratched into the ground by the girls and I just throw a new layer on top when it looks more like mud than hemcore. I've only done this once since the first lot was put down (I've had them 2 1/2 months).

 

It might need changing more often if it's on a patio or grass & I suppose you'd have to rake it all out and put it on the compost.

[Richard]

Where do you buy hemcore???

 

I moved my girls ONTO grass for the winter, bad move...?

 

Only if you want to keep the grass ....

 

Only if I want to keep the grass?!!

 

If only I had talked to you on here a month ago!!!

 

I guess I must be much less fussy about my garden than the others here! I let mine out onto the grass each afternoon around 1 pm (before that they are in their run - soil, bark, leaves, twigs etc, but no grass Oh, a few nettles) and they spend the afternoon on the grass. It doesn't seem to get majorly trashed, just a bit readjusted! - but, as I say, maybe my standards are not as high as the rest of the people here!

 

Actually, just looking at my grass, it is pretty trashed - but actually I don't care!

 

And this corner they love - it is really scratched to bits!

 

[little chickadee]

I'm considering putting my run onto hemcore too. How deep do you put it, do you need some sort of edging around the run to keep it all in??

Thankyou everyone so far for all your help and advice!

 

(oh sorry, just read another thread on this!)

Edited November 10, 2007 by Guest

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I used half a bale of hemcore in a standard eglu run the first time I used it. I now have a converter too so might need a bit more.

 

Depends if you're on soil or slabs - slabs might need more so they've got something substantial to dig about it.

 

I would say you definitely need something to keep it in - they love to kick it all backwards & it goes everywhere!

 

At the risk of boring everyone stupid (I seem to keep mentioning them!) I used whirlygig covers tied on with cable ties. http://club.omlet.co.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=18781

 

Others have used plastic garden edging.

[Olly]

I don't put that much in - a layer to cover the earth, and then every six weeks or so I rake out what hasn't been trodden in, and put some more on top. I reckon a bale lasts me at least three months, and that includes using a handful in the nesting box and in the poo tray, too.

 

I agree though, some sort of edging is needed (it still gets kicked out, though!)

[puffball]

I get my hemcore from a horsey supplies place (Drum Feeds in Edinburgh) which is listed here:

 

http://www.hemcore.co.uk/distributor.html

 

Thanks for the website! Only trouble is I live way down south Oh well...

[Amanda newbie]

I got mine yesterday from http://www.wellandvalleyfeeds.co.uk/ they are in Market Harborough.

[Joojoo]

I get my hemcore from a horsey supplies place (Drum Feeds in Edinburgh) which is listed here:

 

http://www.hemcore.co.uk/distributor.html

 

Thanks for the website! Only trouble is I live way down south Oh well...

 

Hi

 

I just wanted to say that the website above shows distributors across the whole country not just Edinburgh You can search for the area you live in.