Psst...

[wafflycat]

... wanna see some down & dirty girl on girl action?
Well look no further

They had an absolute wonderful time scratching out a dust bath in a patch of fine soil and having a good roll about, kicking up a storm.

 

[Melvil]

Hot chicks!

 

[wafflycat]

Heh. It's scenes like these ones that bring a particularly warm smile to me. Considering that 19 April this year was the first time in their just over a year-long life that they'd ever seen daylight, and at that time they were minus many feathers, frightened, unable to walk properly... and look at them now, *proper hens* doing the things hens are supposed to do, and they really do enjoy it.

 

[postman]

Now thats what you call a hen night.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Cluckin good to see. Well done wafflycat. Any plans to get more?

 

[wafflycat]

I'd like another two, but not yet. Once I get the enclosed run area extended, then I'd like another couple of ex-batts to introduce. The current two Laydeez have provided 137 eggs since 19 April, and they don't hang around, as they are *delicious* but I would like to have another two hens that way I could give more to my lovely neighbours Bill & Val in return for all the lovely veggies Bill gives me. But I don't want any more than four hens, as I want to be able to look after them *properly* and although hens are incredibly easy to look after, I like to particularly 'indulge' my ex-batts, as they had such a shi**y start in life and it is increedibly rewarding to see them blossom, develop proper hen behaviours that they just can't in a battery cage, and enjoy what is pretty much an idyllic life for a hen, however long or short the rest of their lives happens to be.

 

[Intelligenthamster]

Good for you Waffly. I live in a rented house right now but will buy before long, and when I have my own garden I'd really like to home a couple of ex-batteries. They really do deserve a good "retirement" and, as a keen cook, the eggs would get used up.

However I may have trouble convincing Mr Hamster, who is convinced that all chickens attract rats for some reason?

 

[Keith Oates]

When I was a boy my parents used to keep some chickens in a run at the top of the garden, they did used to have the odd rat every so often but usually my Dad set traps and caught them fairly quickly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wafflycat]

Good for you Waffly. I live in a rented house right now but will buy before long, and when I have my own garden I'd really like to home a couple of ex-batteries. They really do deserve a good "retirement" and, as a keen cook, the eggs would get used up.

However I may have trouble convincing Mr Hamster, who is convinced that all chickens attract rats for some reason?

Chickens don't attract rats: bad husbandry does. You simply need to think ahead, keep food stored in such a way rodents can't get to it, keep hen house & run clean and don't leave food out at night.

My two: every morning I remove the overnight droppings from the hen house and have a shufty through the bedding to check I haven't missed anything, keeping an eye open for signs of pests & predators. I also sweep out the run of hen droppings & spilt food at least once a day, more in hot weather. So far, no signs of rats. And I live in the countryside where there are rodents about, so I am pleasantly surprised that I've not seen any signs of rats as there are plenty in the fields as I witness from the number seen out and about in the verges of the lanes whwn cycling or driving.. Of course, having three felines about helps deter rodents too. Should I see signs of rats, traps will be set. But seriously - keeping the hens & housing clean & tidy takes less than five minutes a day and then the big weekend clean takes less than half-an-hour. I know of folk who say they only clean the henhouse & run once a week - some once a month - all I can say is no wonder rats turn up if that's the level of 'cleanliness' they give their poultry!

 

[Twenty Inch]

If you get any more, will you keep them in series or in parallel? : )

 

[dantheman]

If you get any more, will you keep them in series or in parallel? : )

hopefully she'll keep them in parallel, it halves the resistance, and in doing so, halves the effort needed to keep them......

 

[wafflycat]

I'm shocked at all these comments. I shall have to think of something to field them off, to have a bit of resistance.

 

[fossyant]

How you are re-using the chicken 'poop' as a great fertiliser for your garden...

 

[wafflycat]

All the waste from the hens goes straight on the compost heap, along with other garden & veg waste. I should be brewing a fine compost in my two big compost bins. The eggshells get baked, crushed and fed back to the girls to help them keep their calcium levels up.

 

[Fnaar]

I knew someone who was so keen to rehouse ex-battery hens that he took n far too many, and had to start keeping them cooped up in cages, for lack of space! I didn't really. Must be the Stella playing tricks with my imagination!