Phil Black Rock wrote: As for the "RAT" it serves no good purpose on this earth, *

That would be like people, then.

Mine don't bother with greens, I take it that they get all the 'green' they need with grass.

Who won?

I was talking loosely
My shortest lived hen lasted 18 months (mystery sudden death). I have 3 year olds and 1 year olds together at the moment.
I'm not sure that they lay much after 3 years, what do other people find?

Thanks.
I've now signed it.

If some of your old hens are still with you, you may have to introduce new hens to the flock. Hens like to know who's boss, and they peck the ones below them, so if there are new birds it leads to squabbling while they sort out who's who. Lots of threads about this. It is handy to have a spare arc, ...

I got my first hens from Garden Poultry when it was run by the brother of the present owners.
He went into the run and felt the chickens bums to find me 3 that were already laying, so I got eggs the next day.

Shavings take a while to break down, and use nitrogen while doing it.
Books always recommend 'well rotted' manure. I'm not sure if this outweighs the benefit of vreaking up the clay or not.

Gosh willow, none of mine has anything like that.

Mine have grass and what-ever they find all the time. So I give them rations morning and evening. Might do it different if they didn't have grass. War-time 'dig for victory' books said give them as much as they can clear up in half an hour, morning and evening, (food was rationed then for people as ...

It's not always such a hassle adding hens. Willow has been unlucky in that, and in the health of her new hens ( general advice is isolate new stock, and I suppose it applies to hens as well, but none of us thought of that at the time) But yes, getting it right first saves one hassle, though you stil...

If you let them out just before bed time, they will put themselves back.
Or if you feed them twice a day rather than leaving food in the hopper all the time; let them out for a bit before supper, then feed them in the run.

Or you could look at the pages Richard has put on the Main Site. Click on Chicken Keeping at the top of the page, it's very informative. There are pictures of different kind of hen houses, arcs, runs etc. And adverts and links so that you can find out how much they cost to buy (how much you can save...

Seems to vary. Some lose them a few at a time from head down (?) and regrow them, so never look too bad.
Others loose lots at a time and look fairly bald.
My Maran hybrid is a different shade of grey / beige each year, otherwise I'd hardly notice the moult (except she has a bare bum at the moment)

Bet they use the top nest box as a dorm.

Plymouth? That's nothing! I was talking to someone who'd been to somewhere much further afield - Roumania if I remember right. She had some friends there so somewhere to stay and recommend a good dentist. "Where did you go for your hols?" "Roumania, to the dentist" I didn't ask t...