New to chicken keeping

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Trev62
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Trev62 »

Thanks for the replies I will purchase some grit on my next trip out. Putting an extra food station down has cooled things and "Blackie", who is now brown! but bottom of the pecking order happily gets to eat. Interesting watching the interaction between them as they grow up.

We never thought five small chickens could amuse us so much.
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Trev62
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Re: New to chicken keeping

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After a busy day and a bad day, one of our Bulgarian neighbours came on a visit (we have not seen them for months), her daughter has returned from working in Greece so to celebrate they brought us some Ouzo, eggs and wait for it........................five chickens!!!!!

They said their “gift” was four hens and one cockerel, they looked at our five and said we have one hen and four cockerels! So I am now totally confused!!! I suspected we may have two cockerels but four?? I have no idea.................Mr Google just confuses me, the guy we purchased them from said they were all hens, another village expert said we had four hens and a cockerel so who knows??? }hairout{ }hairout{

Anyway we have housed their five for the night and will work out what to do with them tomorrow. My question is................Is there a clear cut method of knowing what is what or do you have to wait until they all start crowing???!!!!! >coc<
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kitla
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by kitla »

oh dear, that's the risk of getting chicks rather than older ones. With some breeds you can pick out the boys quite young, with others its harder to be sure till they crow. The squaring up thing could be a clue - but some girlies do that too. By now the comb & wattles should be getting quite red and more prominant on the boys, but smaller & paler on the girls. The boys usually have thicker, longer legs than the girls, and the boys have a slightly more angular head shape - though that's a more subtle difference. I often noticed a difference in the chirping sounds, the boys little voices tend to get a bit husky.
Perhaps you could have another go at putting photos on, did you manage to get them onto photobucket?
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Trev62
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Trev62 »

Good idea, I will get some pictures tomorrow and post them, we thought we had them worked out but people keep telling us different things so confusion rules :?

All chicks should be born blue or pink to make life easier :-D
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kitla
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by kitla »

it would be even better if the eggs were blue & pink!
Once you have the photos on photobucket & you've resized them (I resize mine with Paint.net before I put them on photobucket, but that's just me) Then it's easy, if you
get stuck we'll talk you through it.
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kitla
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by kitla »

sorry Trev I see you've already sussed it, well done you!
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Trev62
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Trev62 »

Okay Folks another daft question!

Am I feeding my chickens enough food?

I now have ten of the feathery blighters and currently they are getting through a 10kg bag of food a week plus a a variety of courgettes, cucumbers, cabbage leaves, fruit etc. They all free range so are also feeding on whatever insects etc they find on their travels, crickets/grasshoppers seem their favourite snack.

So is that about right?
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Mo
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Mo »

Greedy lot, aren't they.
I'm trying to remember how many I had (varied between 3 & 6) when a 20 (or sometimes 25) kg sack lasted a month / 5 weeks.
Sounds about right.
Most of us put it in a hopper and they help themselves. If they have been used to pellets twice a day and you then give them a full hopper they will gobble (get it before it's gone is the motto) but if they are used to it being there all the time they just eat when they are hungry - and rush for treats and anything different.
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi , main think is not to have waste , this will attract mice/rats etc. So as long as it goes and you top up in morning you are doing well. Weigh the lowest in the pecking order and monitor . If she gets lighter she is not getting enough . Also plenty of feed stations so they all get a chance .
Also the water points.
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Trev62
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Trev62 »

Thanks for the advice again.

We have put down an extra feeder today so we now have three down all day with dry food in them, twice a day we put two flat bowls down with the same food mixed with water (mush we call it) and along side that they get a good supply of most things that we grow.

There are countless water bowls everywhere as besides the chickens, the dogs and rabbit use them.

Once the chickens are locked down for the night all the food is picked up, any dried food left in the feeders is put into containers and this is used for the next days mush.

I will start weighing our poor "hen pecked" one as suggested, watching them feed she seems to eat regularly but I would prefer to make sure.

Thanks again.
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bikesandbirdsbob
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi, The weight of a girl is a good indicator of condition . Once you have a note you can check against it . Remember she weighs different at times of day ,after food and if she has a egg in her . If she is getting food I would not be over concerned. She will be a good friend once she knows treats are on offer when she is on her own with you.
Sounds like you are doing well . Like me assorted animals all getting on .
My rabbit has to stand his corner as the girls eat his food .But then he eats theirs so it works pretty good .
Bob
Watch out for bugs as the weather will get them multiplying my the millions.
rear ends are the easy place to see them .
Trev62
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Trev62 »

bikesandbirdsbob wrote: Watch out for bugs as the weather will get them multiplying my the millions. rear ends are the easy place to see them .


Sounds like an interesting task for tomorrow!!!
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Trev62
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Trev62 »

Task completed with much laughter and a lot of clucking (is that the right word?) and all clean at present but a few embarrassed chickens :oops:

Fed them some corn after stripping the corn cobs we collected today, they loved it.

Is it okay to feed them a lot of this or should it be given in limited quantities?
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bikesandbirdsbob
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi pellets in am -treats and cobs pm . Pellets are the basic and like us they will always go for the goodies first.
Told corn is like POP CORN in the heat it expands . Not sure how much to give but I am feeding corn on the cob when I get it and have not had a problem (that I know of.
Bob
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Mo
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Re: New to chicken keeping

Post by Mo »

My hens could strip corn off a cob far more efficiently than my teeth. So I had the sweet corn and they got the cobs to pick over (or would have, but for the regulations about kitchen waste)
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