Anyone here keep hens?

[oliveview01]

Our 10 girls have been great, laying 9 eggs a day between them, we have even managed to sell some eggs too Since Monday though and the rain arriving (not that there was much) they have gone on strike So now we are down to 3 eggs a day We have only got 6 eggs for the neighbour who buys a dozen every weekend I think the girls are too busy digging new holes in the orchard to think about laying eggs
We bought 4 more point of lay hens on Wednesday, looked them over, seemed ok, got them home and one was an old bird How come I did not notice?????????? She was nowhere near point of lay- more like gone off lay! Neighbours friend took her for us, as the hen had a fight straight away! It was too far to drive back and complain (25km round trip) for a 4.25€ hen, we just won´t use the supplier again.
Hubby was very against me getting hens, now when he sees how many weeds grow (none) he´s happy.
We have Rhode Island Red hens, I´d like some nice big black or white point of lay hens, anyone know whee you can buy them, in the Estepa-Utrera area? Don´t want to distress the hens by having them travel too far.

[mirandamac]

Can't help with where to get them there. You're often better to get hybrids if you want them just as good layers though. Or pick a breed which would normally lay better than others. One bit of advice - learned from experience!!!!!!!!!! When you bring new ones home, try to introduce them at night. Otherwise the new ones may get attacked. We used to put the new ones into the hen house after dark. Stupid birds didn't notice and would wake in the morning and not be bothered. But on the first occasion we put new hens in during the day time, we lost one and another got quite badly pecked. Also don't worry if a point of lay bird doesn't lay for a while - it's often a few weeks later if the birds are younger than they say (or never if they're older of course!!!!) and even a bird which has been laying regularly may take a little while to settle.
Most hens do go through times when they don't lay, or don't lay as many. Weather can affect them but the main time is when they're moulting as they need the protein to make new feathers. The trouble with ours was that they didn't just eat the weeds, they'd demolish everything. But they're so stupid they're funny.

[La Raya]

Most point of lay are hybrids and as mirandamac says, they are best for laying. I found out the other day that cross breeds also help in sexing (sorting the male and females) at birth. This can be quite difficult, but some cross bred chicks actually colour code at birth, making it easy. We only have 4 hens, but they give us 3 eggs per day on average, so more than the two of us can eat.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/ ... xLink.html

We have found that we can contain our hens using 1 metre high loose chicken wire supported by cane posts. They have a big area - about 100 sq mt per bird - so they live a life of luxury. We can move them to different parts of the garden as they have a portable ark. We have just put them onto veg plot to pick out the bugs from the muck, before we plant for the winter. They had to have a siesta as they ate so much.

[mirandamac]

I love the thought of the hens having a siesta. We eventually 'contained' our hens a bit - in the same sort of way as we had a movable house. It's quite a few months since we let ours go (a friend with 5 acres wanted some more hens so we decided they could go to her) and I really miss them.

[tjtops]

My hens are hilarious. I bought five POL pullets in the late spring and they have 'grown up' with my five ex-feral cats, whom they now terrorise at any and every opportunity -- they pinch the cat food (Mercadona's cheapest dried kibbles) -- from under the cats' noses; well, actually they 'share' the (tiny) food dishes and glare at the cats until they back off. Just one hen on its own can do this -- it's not even gang warfare!
They also chase them periodically, for the fun of it. Mind you, one of the cats, particularly, likes to sleep in one of the nesting boxes, so I suppose proprietorial rights do come into it! I've even seen the hens steal a dead bird from a cat's mouth.....
A neighbour came round the other day to ask for some horse manure and he had his little dog with him...the hens soon saw that off, chasing the poor thing the length of the paddock and then returning looking very smug! What characters (and quite obliging in the egg department too!)

[oliveview01]

The cockeral used to chase our Chihuahua, Sadly both are no longer with us, the cockeral was too nasty to the other birds, he was attacking them and our Chihuahua was killed by another dog The neighbour took the cockeral to eat
Yesterday we had 6 eggs, we were on an up I thought- then today we are back to 3 eggs The hens are in moult though, so once that is over hopefully they will start laying again. Just cos I´d started to sell some eggs to the neighbours and earn enough money to pay for the hens food All our new dogs are interested in doing is eating the chicken poo when they go into the orchard

[daisylulu]

We have 2 turkeys and have just got 2 chickens....are they ok to be housed together and do they eat the same?

Louise

[oliveview01]

Louise, the neighbours cousin (we call her the turkey cousin) keeps turkeys and hens free ranging in the same area- they have a BIG olive grove to wander about in though. They all get the same food.
Do you intend to eat the turkeys?

[daisylulu]

Yes we do but not the chickens, they are for eggs and we hope to get some more. We have kept ducks before so not totally new to it!! We also have a large olive grove and fruit orchard where they wil be able to roam

[mirandamac]

Our son kept his chickens and turkeys together, wandering about in his orchard. But then the turkeys all got eaten last Christmas. I've been hoping he'd have some more for this year, they were so tasty.

[ken2]

Blimey you lot are bringing back memories,i had a small holding in lincolnshire , i loved chickens, i once had a big Rhode Island Red cockrel, i got six light sussex hens, and breed them, you can sex them at birth, the dark ones ,(like dad) are hens, and the light ones (like mum) are the cockrels, its called sex link,ha ha a local man down the pub, in a small place called Wrangle, said it was dead easy to sex any birds,he said you just put plenty of coal in the rayburn, then put the chicks on the hot plate, ha ha sorry about this, ha ha he said the cocks jump off ,but the pratts stay on he he he

[oliveview01]

Ken, naughty boy

Louise, will this be the first time you have eaten the turkeys you have raised? My pal in the UK raises day old chicks for eating birds, they get the chop at around 40 days old I think. They don´t have a name (like Rhode Island Red) they have a number instead J something I think.

[daisylulu]

HI, yes it will....we have a local farmer who has offered to do the horrid bit I will just get it when it's ready to go in the oven!! We have only had them for a few days...do you think they will be ok for christmas?

Oh and have you found anywhere to get the hens because we would like some but don't want to travel too far!

Louise

[Mariposa]

Have six hens now and only the new one (mottled grey Andalucian) is laying (a perfect small ivory egg) two others are definitely on the elderly menopausal side(bit like us really) and the others less than 3 years . All have been moulting for over a month so if they don´t start again soon I am going to have to take some hard decisions. Unfortunately they are not free range-too many tropical poisonous plants and roaming dogs around- so not enough space unless some go. A while back someone said they´d be interested in some for soup. We are vegetarian but have no objection to them being used provided they are killed efficiently and humanely. Sad to see them go but without the space have to do it....
Incidentaly they do have a run- currently more like a muddy pond after two days solid rain, and live under the swimming pool which is a largish space which stays warm and draught free in winter and cool in summer. Re bullying , yes they really can be wicked to new arrivals -it has take the new one three months to be nearly acceptable to the others- but then she is more beautiful, taller ,has a proper beak and can fly!

[oliveview01]

Out of the 4 hens (point of lay) we bought we have just 1 that is any good! 1 we gave away as she wasn´t a point of lay she was an old bird Another just died after about 3 weeks and another is still very tiny and has not been well. She had a wheezy chest so she has been in a big plastic box in the garage away from the other hens and being given antibiotics. She had an eye infection too, which does not look like it is very good, I think she might be blind in that eye now. Her wheezy chest has cleared up and her eye, although closed all the time (I bathe her eye daily) is not red all about it anymore. I tried putting her back with the other hens and stood close by, the older hens just rushed up to her and one pecked her bad eye, so she is back in the garage. Once this bad weather has cleared up I am going to make a portable hen house with a run so she can go back in the garden. We have another hen with a wonky neck, she sits with her head right back against her back This hen (I´ve called her Emu) can´t get up on the roost at night, I have to go and put her up on the bars myself! I will put her in with the hen with the bad eye, hopefully they will become friends. The hen with the bad eye has been such a fighter, I don´t like to cull her just cos she is blind (I think) in one eye. I did ask the vet about worming the hens, he said he knew nothing about hens
Got the poorly hen on catfood mixed with her normal food, to try to get her to put on weight.
The other hens are so stupid, they go outside in the pouring rain, turn into wet rags and stand there looking miserable- why don´t they just stay in their warm hen house?

[Mariposa]

We are now getting one daily layer and three possibly four intermittent layers- when they feel like it, when they think I am making plans for their demise, when its not too hot or too cold, or raining and they've got nothing better to do, when its a full moon, when they are not broody or molting. One way or another there is no reasoning to it. They all look great at the moment-perhaps all their energy went into putting back feathers. So for the moment they are reprieved, but I´m keeping a close eye on them! Re worming, I read somewhere that a mixture of yoghurt, pumpkin seeds and garlic is a natural remedy- they love it-not sure how effective it is...

[oliveview01]

Hens still not laying well They are still moulting- how long can a moult last????????????????????????
The poorly hen is better, we had thought she was blind in one eye, her eye was sunk right into her head. · weeks in the garage sorted her out (on antibiotics) she is still small but holds her own in the free for all when I give the hens the veg scraps. We had 4 eggs on Monday, I dropped one Today just one egg
The point of lay hens should be laying very soon, hopefully.