Caro's new Ex-Battery Hens Pictures

Post by **Richard** » 08 Oct 2007, 19:48

Caro sent them to me for posting......

Live long and prosper!

.

melons · Post by **melons** » 08 Oct 2007, 20:25

Oh my god they're adorable, how fab are they, what are their names?
Looks like you got some feather coming too :-D

AnnaB · Post by **AnnaB** » 08 Oct 2007, 21:00

Thank you Caro for sharing your girls photo's - it breaks my heart to see them like this - BUT those girls have gorgeous faces and the feathers will come quickly with all the love and care they will now receive from you.
Anna

Caro · Post by **Caro** » 08 Oct 2007, 21:54

Richard, thanks for putting up the piccies.

The poorly one didn't make it. but the others are getting stronger by the day. I opened the stable door today and gave them the choice to come out. It took two hours for one to summon up the courage..she ran out, turned sharp right, ran into the next door stable and stood there looking totally confused for about half an hour.......I had to go and rescue her eventually.

Post by **Richard** » 08 Oct 2007, 22:47

Hi Caro,

It's a real shame about the poorly one. All new ex-battery hen keepers have to bare in mind that not all can take the change to normality and in no way is it their fault.

It's the fault of a terrible system.

It's strange when they first go out, tragic and funny at the same time. They just bound around not really knowing what they're doing.
The funny side being more happiness at seeing creatures adapting to their natural ways in one short burst of enthusiasm.

Hope all goes well with them.

Richard

Speckledhen · Post by **Speckledhen** » 09 Oct 2007, 10:58

Well done Caro and good luck with your girls

Michele

TassieDev · Post by **TassieDev** » 09 Oct 2007, 13:22

I wish they would put these pictures on egg cartons :cry:
Good on you - thank goodness they will have a great life from here on in )t'

chucky egg · Post by **chucky egg** » 09 Oct 2007, 13:50

Well done Caro fortaking them in and loving them! These are the lucky ones. It IS definitely worth all the pain of the 'bad bits' as watching learn is amazing.
someone (Morph? Mo?) said on here that they want to try and make it up to them. Got that totally.
Wendy (Chucky Egg)

fussymare · Post by **fussymare** » 10 Oct 2007, 07:39

Hello Caro! (Waves - you know me from IHDG forum!)

Lovely hens. Mine all made it to bed last night by themselves (hooray!) and I am just going out to check who has got up by themselves this morning.

Love the photos. Must put some of mine on here, but can't do it now or I will be late for work.

morph · Post by **morph** » 11 Oct 2007, 09:06

Beautiful little things, and it's really worth the wait. It made me go all goose pimply watching those pics!

They'll get used to things eventually, and it's lovely watching them grow more confident and getting happier by the day!

Bless their little cottons...

b_cos_1_can · Post by **b_cos_1_can** » 11 Oct 2007, 11:03

theyre lovely! :mrgreen:

melons · Post by **melons** » 11 Oct 2007, 11:10

b-cos-i-can
Howz your girls now, my sister asked.

Caro · Post by **Caro** » 13 Oct 2007, 07:53

Hi everyone, and thanks for all the kind words and encouragement. Hi also to my Monty Roberts forum friends on here.

The girls are doing really well. Their characters are starting to emerge, although I'm still having difficulty telling some of them apart. There's Big Mama, she's top of the pecking order, larger than the rest and with most feather, which tells me she's a born survivor. Fannie and Annie, because their tail feathers stick up like fans. Fannie was the first to come out of the stable a few days ago. I left the door open and waited...and waited...two hours later Fannie came shooting out of the door, personally I think the others pushed her out....

That was last Monday. I leave the door open almost all day now and they've all got very bold and can't wait to get out in the mornings. They've only got a huge stable yard to roam in at present but they are finding a variety of weeds to peck at. I weeded a part of the garden yesterday and gave them the weeds and grass with the soil still attached and one of them found a couple of worms. All the girls stood round and eyed them with great suspicion until Big Mama stepped in and ate them up....I also gave them a cauliflower and they all ran away from it, but they'd eaten most of it by the evening. I wish I'd been a bit quicker with the camera this week, I could have taken a lovely shot of six of them lined up outside the stable all sunbathing and nattering to each other....like grannies day out on Margate beach....

I'm trying to make a point of picking each one up every day for a minute or so, as I think it just makes it easier to be able to handle any of them in an emergency. trouble is, with 9 of them, I keep forgetting which one I've picked up! I don't want them to be like my bantams which sprint like the clappers in the opposite direction when they see me coming. I reckon they're racing bantams.

I'm getting about six eggs a day from the new girls, which is fantastic, but far too many for me and H to eat, so I can feel a big cake baking session coming on this weekend. )c+

C x

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 13 Oct 2007, 08:15

Hi Caro.. It sound as though your new ladies have found themselves a great new home, and you've found some little beings who should make you feel really good about yourself with each tiny improvement and every single new thing they try.. ie worms! (how do they know what to eat and do after not even being able to walk, let alone forage!! I'm chuffed for you .. )t'

and them!!! :mrgreen:

Post by **Richard** » 13 Oct 2007, 08:17

Indeed, keep up the good work Caro.

When they get all their feathers, they're even harder to tell apart!

Richard