Anyone keep hens?

I can understand Merlot, they're such characters. I have a mix of browns and fancies and one of my browns is my favourite. She sits on the handle of my garden fork while I'm digging to pick off juicy worms!

I've been tempted since we retired.

But Just Say No!
I will just have to 'borrow' DD's when I visit.

Please stop it, you lot. I managed to come home from the auction with a boot load of plants and no hens.

Now I'm thinking I should have given in to temptation. I love it when they run up to greet you. Ours made a den under a large shrub which would keep them cool on a hot day and cosy on a cold one. The DGCs called it the staff room!

Oh I hope yours come running and flapping!
How exciting to watch them with something new.

Yes Boheminan, just as you'd have it for breakfast.

Mine would go mad for boiled potatoes mashed into bran.

Do you cook the porridge Missterious? My four seem to prefer some food cooked - eg: will turn their beaks up at raw apples but will eat them mashed (boiled up in water).

Cooked but cool.

Now winter is approaching try giving the girls some porridge. Hens absolutely adore it. Mine run flapping their wings if they think I have some.

They may try Fennel, but may not be successful

Ah lovely Fennel I know that Mandarin ducks can only breed with each other and that Mallards will cross breed with other ducks, but probably not another sub species?

Izabella - yes, the routine is worthwhile. And I think I exaggerated the length of time they lay eggs. I used to watch ours too, Bohemian.
At one time we had some ducks as well, I noticed they tend to have one specific mate, unlike hens. We had a pond and one pair was always on it, but didn't want to come in at night. Sadly one morning the female had disappeared (fox?) and her poor husband became depressed, just stood around. Eventually one of the hens took pity on him and they became a pair. I wondered whether they could produce young?

Izabella - I so agree with you, especially about hens being great characters. Sometimes if I'm really stressed, I'll take a chair and sit in the garden just to watch them. As long as they've got food, water and another hen to occasionally have a squabble with, they're happy with their lot.

Forgot to add, Fennel in response to the labor intensive bit, there are automatic rat proof feeders which the hens themselves operate and the automatic pophole openers and closures mean they get up and take themselves to bed too. A sheet of paper underneath the perches is easily whipped out and replaced so cleaning out is easy.

I agree there are many ways of approaching hencare but I did not want anyone put off this delightful hobby by thinking it was hard work. I know only too well how difficult some people make it as I used to run a forum for hobby hen keepers. Hens really make a garden come alive and they are such great characters.

Not sure if anyone is interested but Coursera list a lovely course I did some years ago run by Edinburgh Vetinary School. It looks at all aspects of hen keeping and answers the query many make regarding feeding kitchen scraps to hens.

Hobby hen keepers ARE considered part of the egg and poultry industry and for that reason it is deemed illegal to feed kitchen scraps to hens. Outbreaks of diseases often occur in countries where there is no such legislation. The course is really worth while and I learned a lot from it. Just google Coursera.

Thank you Fennel. I was feeling quite nostalgic and starting to look to see where I could fit a chicken run in!

I never knew the world of chickens was so interesting!
I've been checking in the to see how the egg eater has been behaving..

It's probably because the layers are older, we had some which kept laying for up to 10 years. Old hens are good for chicken soup (sorry to be so explicit!)
I used to be confused by the french words- poules are layers. Poulets are young birds - like our word pullets.

Back again - can't keep off the subject of hens. I've never had 'pedigree' hens, only ex-batts. It's very rewarding seeing them changing from what looks like an escapee from a supermarket freezer, all chickenbumps, no feathers, but a neck, head and legs - to the beautiful glossy creatures they are now. The first time they touch the earth is amazing - they don't quite know how to walk on soil.

The Culprit (now identified) is back in Heningrad with the Gang, as they're all going off of lay now, there's no risk of vandalised eggs.

I've heard say that layers are not good to eat fennel but are very good fertiliser when they go to the Great Coop in the Sky....

They are certainly very labour intensive. You have to be around all the time to feed them, open up in the morning and close them in at night. If you want to go away, arrange for someone else to come in and feed them etc.
We used to eat some of ours (not the layers) and that involved extra work. We did prefer the flavour and texture of our free range though, compared with shop-bought.

Our last hens died of old age earlier this year and we haven't replaced them because with DH's health being up and down I can really do without any extra chores.

But.....I'm going to a poultry auction tomorrow and I will need all my willpower to resist buying some. I'm going for plants because there are some fantastic bargains if you know what you're looking for and master the art of dodging from one auctioneer to the other (there are usually three on the go at once) DH comes with me but he wombles off to look at the machinery so not much use.

Another reason for not replacing our hens is the problem of caring for them during outbreaks of whatever disease blows our way across the channel. Avian 'flu' was a challenge what with having to move them under cover but now there's a threat of Newcastle Disease, which I had to google. I fear there will always be something so it's not worth it even for the delicious eggs - and the manure for the raised veggie beds.

After donkeys years of keeping poultry it's the end of an era for us.

As a child I was told that hens eat their eggs if they are short of calcium, so perhaps you should try adding a calcium supplement to the hen food.

We kept all egg-shells from the eggs we ate, and broke them up by rolling them with the rolling pin before adding them to the hens' mash.

" Izabella Sun 28-Oct-18 10:51:01

Love 'Heningrad'."
Me too .
They're so interesting to watch, and you learn a bit about human nature too.
We had one fine boss cockerel, who thought all the hens belonged to him. Sometimes we bought in young cockerels 'for the pot' and they would try their luck with the hens. But the boss would quickly see them off.
And the young cockerels regularly got into fights, squaring up to eachother, like some human adolescents. Luckily we had a large area for them all.

We used to keep chooks but the one time I took in rescue birds, ex poultry research station , they were problematical.
They'd never seen grass and didn't like it.
The hens we had already were horrid to them and pecked them. Talk about pecking order.
They ate their own eggs and worse still taught our existing hens to eat theirs!
Ours all went off the lay in October because of the cold and dark.
We now buy free range eggs from a local farmer and appreciate them.
It was great for our children though and DD keeps hens now so our DGC are growing up in a menagerie too!

Love 'Heningrad'.