To rehome or not?

[hannah]

I'm posting here, realising that no one can make this decision for me!

Have had 2 ex batts since June. It's been a real learning curve as we started with a bought coop/run which we then bought an extension for. This also has been too small in my view, so i have let them have the run of the garden for a few hours each day. We decided that this also was not ideal and so decided to fence off a section.

then Betty died last week and we are at a crossroads. Do we rehome her friend and cut our losses or persevere. My husband thinks we should rehome her because he thinks when we sell our house in the next year or so, it might put people off. We have also had a rat problem that we can't seem to solve.

But I love Beatrice and would be sad to give her up.

URGH!

[aceface]

this is only my opinion if you keep her she will need at least one other hen or she will pine and they are flock animals so need companions for security ,as for the rats i have had an issue and got rid of it you can either use traps humane or other ! remove all food from hen house at night keep floor free of scraps and food ,lay poison well away from the hens of course or get a rat man in to do the job for you ,if you describe where the problem is we can all get our heads together on the forum and help with a few suggestions , if you decide to rehome well that is entirely your decision the only choice is what breed .colour,ex batt etc ,and lastly welcome to the lane we are a friendly bunch and always happy to help ,if you decide to rehome your little hen its good to provide a location ,no address of course just a rough idea . dont get too upset and think about things you will make the right decision for you and your little hen ,

[bluebell]

As usual, Aceface has given excellent advice.

Whatever decision you make, it will be the best.

[Annie]

Just my opinion but you and OH seem to have gone to a lot of trouble already in your hen keeping hobby and therefore it seems a pity that it will all come to nothing if you decide to try to rehome the little ex batt you are so fond of. Its a shame you weren't given the advice when taking on the ex batts that 3 girls are better than 2 (as we would have suggested) as that would have avoided you trying to make a decision now.
Maybe a starting point could be to recall why you decided to keep hens in the 1st place and has anything changed there and have you been on the whole happy with the whole thing or more disappointed ?
As far as the selling your property in the future question goes - who knows it could equally be a selling point as more and more people are keeping hens. On the other hand ,on the scale of things it probably wouldn't cost a fortune to put the garden back to grass if advised by estate agent to do so for example.
Haven't had rats myself so not able to answer that one but I think Aceface covered that.
As you say, only the two of you can decide but maybe I have given you something else to mull over. Good luck with the tough decision.

[LittleBrownFrog]

When we sold our house last year, no-one seemed bothered by the chickens. We just made sure that their run was extra-specially clean and tidy before viewings & I stopped them from free ranging so much, so that the grass could grow back. I would get her a couple of friends & try again.

[hannah]

This is all so helpful, thank you!

It is difficult and as Annie says, we have invested a lot in this! I think what has surprised us both is how messy the hens are and we have had such an awful 6 months of weather that their part of the garden has gone like a bog. I still don't know the best way around that or how to keep it clean.

We did set out for 3 hens, but when we went to collect them one was very poorly and the lady advised she would keep her and see how she went.

I am still mulling it over

[aceface]

if the area is messy and boggy hannah put some small aggregate down from a builders merchants and sand and let it soak up the bogginess you could move their area frequently and rest the areas they will grow back ,and as said i dont think buyers would be put off really ,whenpeople buy a house they put their own stamp on it and change almost everything anyway ,the lawn will be lovely very fertile