Chalet Girl's Girls

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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

Post by chaletgirl »

bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Hi what is the white stuff on the floor?????
My rear yard , refuse to call it agarden now is just brown and wet.
Bob


Hi Bob :-D We had about .05mm of snow early this morning...my 'yard' is much the same as yours...well the bit of it that isn't under water that is.

bikesandbirdsbob
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Hi , Have not seen a snow flake as yey in Essex /London borders. Expecting it soon. Today was excelent as sunbathing midday in the garden.Love your girls .
Bob
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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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UGH!!! I just don't think I'm chicken owner material! When I dreamed of getting chickens I envisioned an area for them that would enhance the garden. I did consider that the winter wouldn't be a picnic. I guess I'm just weary of the constant discussion over where best to put them, how to keep them high n dry where I want them, how to deal with going away on holiday.

What I wanted was something like this:

Image

Was I dreaming?.....looking through rose colored spectacles?....being a foolish chicken keeper wannabee?

Just to remind myself...this IS what I managed last summer...

Image

Is this normal? Is the first winter just a shock to the system? {cry} I'm sorry folks!! I know I'm ranting here and you all seem like such a cheery lot!

To top off all of the latest flooding issues and having to move the girls and their Wendy house (which weighs a TONNE btw) I now have Miss Kitty breaking out of their new enclosure to lay eggs under a bush in the garden. (I've just got a net up for now because these new digs are temporary) Mouse is moulting! The water keeps freezing and we are leaving for our ski holiday on Friday. I pay a local teen (VERY WELL) to look after them but with everything that's going on I feel like I have to leave him a long list of stuff to do for them. He's not going to be able to come first thing in the morning to sort out frozen water.

Oh I just can't post anymore right now....
I think it's just the winter blues....I HATE these short days!! Sorry to be such a whiner!

At least Pepper's not broody...touch wood!
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KarenE
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Oh dear! I can't say whether you were dreaming as your first pic isn't showing up but I suspect nobody told you that if you get chickens, you can kiss goodbye to a beautiful garden :-D

Yes, winter is a pain when chicken keeping. The slush, the mud, the wet, the poo, the cold... which is why we always encourage people to at least roof their runs as it does make things easier. So once you've settled on a permanent location for them, do yourself a favour and roof the run. Then put woodchips or sand on the floor as that will also help.

Frozen water - fact of life. If your teen chickensitter can come and give them fresh water at some stage in the morning then that's fine - if it's forecast to be cold maybe have them come again in the afternoon in case the water re-freezes. Mouse will be fine with her moult, you won't miss Kitty's eggs while you're away and tell the teen they can hunt out and keep the stray eggs. Put extra netting up higher, extra water and food containers out and really don't worry about them! They are quite hardy and as long as you've got the teen in once a day they will be fine.

I use margerine or ice cream tubs for my water containers, and in winter I wrap them in bubble wrap and garden fleece for insulation (including underneath), put them in an upturned cardboard box and have them against a wall to try and keep the freezing to a minimum. It's not perfect but they do tend to freeze a little less. You could see if you could get some of those foil blankets they use for camping and such, for insulation?

If the worst comes to it, you could always partition their wendy house off and put the water in there for them.

Google frozen water on the forums and see what everyone else does.
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
bikesandbirdsbob
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi
Do what you can
Dont do what you can not
And be wise enough to know the difference.
I am sure you will survive just enjoy your holiday - If you are paying someone -give her/him a list least he /she can follow it .
Bob
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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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KarenE wrote:Oh dear! I can't say whether you were dreaming as your first pic isn't showing up but I suspect nobody told you that if you get chickens, you can kiss goodbye to a beautiful garden :-D

That can't be true! I've seen photos of your garden! It looked lovely!!! )like( I suspect I just need to let them out for a couple of hours a couple times a week. They have enough space in their run. I don't really want more than 3 because hubby and I are pretty much on our own now that the boys have started at uni. Three chickens keep us pretty well supplied with eggs.

Yes, winter is a pain when chicken keeping. The slush, the mud, the wet, the poo, the cold... which is why we always encourage people to at least roof their runs as it does make things easier. So once you've settled on a permanent location for them, do yourself a favour and roof the run. Then put woodchips or sand on the floor as that will also help.

Planning to put A LOT of sand down. I may even try to talk my husband into letting the landscape guys put down some gravel then a membrane and sand on top. If we put in drainage and build up their run they should stay high and dry.


Frozen water - fact of life. If your teen chickensitter can come and give them fresh water at some stage in the morning then that's fine - if it's forecast to be cold maybe have them come again in the afternoon in case the water re-freezes. Mouse will be fine with her moult, you won't miss Kitty's eggs while you're away and tell the teen they can hunt out and keep the stray eggs. Put extra netting up higher, extra water and food containers out and really don't worry about them! They are quite hardy and as long as you've got the teen in once a day they will be fine.

Thanks for the reassurance Karen!!

I use margerine or ice cream tubs for my water containers, and in winter I wrap them in bubble wrap and garden fleece for insulation (including underneath), put them in an upturned cardboard box and have them against a wall to try and keep the freezing to a minimum. It's not perfect but they do tend to freeze a little less. You could see if you could get some of those foil blankets they use for camping and such, for insulation?

If the worst comes to it, you could always partition their wendy house off and put the water in there for them.

Google frozen water on the forums and see what everyone else does.


Today I've been putting up some more secure fencing and I spoke with my chicken sitter's father. He will check the chickens first thing in the morning and the boy can pop round on his way home from school. They seem like they aren't at all put out by any of my worries so maybe I just need a holiday.

I do not want a muddy ikky mess all winter so, provided I get the drainage sorted and build things up with the area the girls have (roughly 10 square meters), I think it all should be manageable....I hope

Thanks again for the posts! It's been an exceptionally tough season! I want to keep my girls and my husband likes having them around. I just don't want all the grief.
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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Image

Image

These are the photos I tried to upload earlier....I don't think this is un-achievable...do you?

Also, I think that three hens can live happily in the space I've given them so there's no need to let them out every day....is there?

Sorry for all the moaning...I really do appreciate your advice and insight.

Bob...you're right! I need to sort out what I can and not worry about the rest. I think I need a good dinner, some tea and a mini-magnum (ice-cream) and a good sleep and all will be brighter in the morning.
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KarenE
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Yes, but they are photos probably taken just after the coops and runs have been put up, or after a good clean and tidy up. Not your everyday hard wearing runs. Plus also notice there are no chickens in those runs! Of course they are achievable but they won't stay pristine like that - even just the weather will wear them. But they are both roofed... :-D

No you don't need to let them out every day, in fact you don't need to let them out at all. Of course they will try to convince you otherwise but if you think they've got enough space in their run then don't let them guilt-trip you! Especially if you do want a nice garden. There's plenty of people on here whose girls never get out, or who are out for an hour or so only while supervised and they are happy enough. You're their mum, you get to decide what's best for them )t'

Thanks for the compliment about my garden - it's a lot less nicer than it was now that chickens have had all my borders, dug dustbaths everywhere and eaten all the plants they fancy. Not to mention the soil-filled paths which I am continually having to sweep up, and of course the liberally scattered poo. These 3 have also scratched most of my grass up which is a first as all my ex batts really never bothered with that. Mine are out most of the day but I have a pretty big garden and I'm not a great garden lover (too much bloomin work) - I'm only interested in the veg patch which the girls destroyed last year when they brought down my anti-chicken fencing }hairout{

I think you're wrong about dinner, tea and a mini magnum. You should definitely go for a full sized magnum! {rofwl}

And don't worry about the moaning - that's what we're here for. We all do it. That's the point of the diaries - so you can look back and remember why you like them in the first place and why you have so much fun with them. They do come with a good side helping of grief, but come spring when you can spend longer with them, you'll forget all about it. Trust me, I'm a chicken owner +f+
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Hi ,
That was my trouble .I have put on 1 stone since November . 2 litres of ice cream a bag of Pop Corn and chocolate watching the tele .Dont share choc as not good for the dogs and cats ????? Pop Corn another story , even the chocks join in .
I am sure they have plenty of room and letting them out supervised is safer than free ranging as any predators can come calling ( peace of mind again )
My girls give the sob story all the time if they are locked up you would not believe their looks and noises . Let them out and it was not quick enough and when their out not enough treats . Not in the kitchen back door staulking . Tell I am a best parent and the chocks andthe rest get more spoilded than enough.
Guilt trips every day .(Ha Ha ) Bob
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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Whew...a good dusting off of this diary is long over due! I'm really awful at forums and lately the Pilates business has been keeping me occupied. I posted some problems with introducing my new girl Honey here http://www.downthelane.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=53544

I just wanted to leave a link here in case I (or another member) need to find it.

sandy...You asked in the other thread for some photos but I've only taken one photo of Honey so far....

Image +f+

Honey is still an outsider but the 'Divas' aren't harassing her so much now. I went out to check on them last night and Honey was on the roost but not next to the others :? Baby steps I guess.....

NEW PROBLEMS!!!! )hlp>

There has been a lot of upheaval lately and I know it isn't easy on my girls but they are now in their new run with sand! It has been built up about 30cm so they should stay high and dry. BUT!!!!....Just when I thought things would get 'back to normal' I went out today to find that my best laying hen has eaten an egg! I'm not sure if it is only the one but when she saw me go to collect the eggs she came running into the coop and snatched the last bit of remaining shell up and ran off with it!

Please tell me I can get her to stop doing this! I've heard that once a hen starts eating eggs they may not stop.

It's really stormy here today but once the weather is better I want to take some nice pics of the girls and their new digs!!

Thanks so much to the lovely members of this forum for helping me out with my questions....Thanks to the 'Lord of the Lane' for this site and all of your hard work!

)w(
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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Poor Miss. Kitty!!! She's the one who ate the egg! I really think that she's just upset about all of the changes lately. I've been watching them a great deal today and she's running up and down the fence making the worst racket!

Ugh! I must post pics soon as I can. The weather today really has been dreadful!

I read somewhere that if you put some dummy eggs in the nesting box that might stop a hen from eating eggs. When they try to peck them they won't break so the hen gives up. The trouble with Miss. Kitty is that she's smart and I'm not so sure I'll fool her.

Still trying to investigate the problem. Maybe the egg just got stepped on and that's why she ate it. Honey has laid a nice little egg today...BLESS!!! She's still young so her eggs are little...cute!!! So I know all the girls laid an egg and that Miss. K ate her own egg. There were two others in the box so it's not like she broke them all and went on a feeding frenzy!

I'm home all day tomorrow so will keep an eye out...hopefully this is an isolated incident >fi<
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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Hi ,
That was my trouble .I have put on 1 stone since November . 2 litres of ice cream a bag of Pop Corn and chocolate watching the tele .Dont share choc as not good for the dogs and cats ????? Pop Corn another story , even the chocks join in .
I am sure they have plenty of room and letting them out supervised is safer than free ranging as any predators can come calling ( peace of mind again )
My girls give the sob story all the time if they are locked up you would not believe their looks and noises . Let them out and it was not quick enough and when their out not enough treats . Not in the kitchen back door staulking . Tell I am a best parent and the chocks andthe rest get more spoilded than enough.
Guilt trips every day .(Ha Ha ) Bob


Ha Bob! I have to limit myself to ONE Mini Magnum....sometimes I do slip and have a nibble on chocolate or (the worst!!!) CHIPS! I LOVE Chips!!! SALTY YUM!!!

My girls are strange! They don't eat anything I offer them in the way of treats! Corn....nope! Veg....not interested! I even bought some 'chicken treat block' thingys from a local shop....they just looked at them and walked off :?
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KarenE
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

Post by KarenE »

Good grief, your girls sound positively angelic compared to mine - my lot will mur.der their own grannies for treats... (you know what I mean)

About Miss Kitty - was it a soft shelled egg? Sometimes if they break they will scoff the lot up, including shell. I've seen my girls chase each other round the garden for a stray bit of softie shell they've missed. As you say, if the egg happened to get broken they will take advantage. It's quite a leap to becoming an egg breaker though so don't judge Miss Kitty quite yet.

That said, it is a very hard habit to break - the best solution appears to be a rollaway nesting box (where the eggs roll away so the girls can't get them - google it?) or I vaguely remember someone putting a curtain up (maybe they can't see the eggs in the dark? Again google the forums on DTL) but wait till you're sure there's a problem first

Is she getting enough calcium and protein do you think?
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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chaletgirl
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Hi Karen,

I don't think it was a soft shell...at least the bit I saw was not.

This morning I went out to find Miss K sitting on an egg. I just reached under her and took it straight away. Mouse and Pepper have 'done their job' this morning as well and although I've taken the eggs as I've found them they did get to lay there for a bit and they were not broken or cracked.

Honey still needs to lay today but being young she may not....what ever....no worries!!!

I've cleaned out their nest boxes and replaced them with clean bedding so there is no trace of egg there...I don't know if chickens can smell but I thought it best to make sure the bedding is deep and clean in the nestboxes after yesterday's incident.

They are all out free ranging now. Honey is still an outsider but I really hope this will not always be the case.

Thanks for the tip about the roll away nesting box....I think I just assumed the worst yesterday. This is my first year keeping chickens and it seems that as soon as I've got one issue sorted I am faced with yet another. Still wouldn't give them up though :-D
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Re: Chalet Girl's Girls

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Hi, You can never tell what nature will turn up next. I try reading up as much as possible so as not to get shock syndrome. But it still can only be a case of watching them and seeing when something different occurs.
The way things are going I will be a chicken quack doctor. I watched a youtube vid on bumblefoot and a scalpale was used . Going to get some tape and iodine from chemist today have another look at reds foot.
They suffer pain a lot better than me . I am crying / wincing at the thought of it all.
Bob

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