yipee im a hen keeper!

[sunloving]

Hello all
Last week i finally became a hen keeper. I converted on of my sheds to a coop made a big run on the unused grass in my garden and i bought three sussex bantams (2 silvers (13 weeks old)and a light (16 weeks old)

They are gorgeous and have settled in well. I put them together after a 5 day separation and things on the whole are good.

But i wanted to ask advice as the light hen is now the lowest in the flock and doesnt seem to get much food they dont really peck her and there are very few squabbles as she is very cautious to walk around them and so when they rush to get food she just hangs back. They are still cooped up to get them used to the new place so the two silvers tend to eat from the dish and i try to sprinkle pellets around on the floor to get the light one a meal. Any treats i sprinkle such as meal worms andscrambled egg get gobbled up by the silvers (they are like a pair of velocoraptors!).

Anyone any ideas about how to give this more cautious hen more food I cant reach her in the coop to pick her out and give her a feed by herself. . 

Also my light hen seems to have a watery eye not a lot but she wipes it on her feathers this may be the hyper sensitivitiy of a new keeper but do you think i should be worried - theres no colour to it or swelling could i be shes scratched it or been pecked?

Im getting ready to let them out into the run and im wondering how hard its going to be to get them back in. Im confident in picking them up but they are new and skittish and i dont really want to be chasing them around the run. Will food bribery get them up the ramp?

Hopefully all will sort itself out and im so excited to see them pecking around the run they are such lovely things and when they are ready I want to hatch more lights.

x sunloving

[grannyjanny]

Congratulations. Our breeder told us to leave them in the coop for 24 hours which we did. They just take themselves to bed when they are ready, depending on how dark it is. It's getting a bit earlier now. It was 10pmish & now it's between 8.30 - 8-45. It will gradually get earlier. Diet wise ours are a nightmare. They don't like layers pellets not fussy about the layers mash but rush if I put bokashi bran in with it.
I think things will probably settle when they have access to the run & coop. Treats should be given later in the day, corn mealworms etc. I take them a few mealworms before bed. They have a bale of straw in the run & now when they see me coming they jump on to it in expectation.
Sorry I can't help with the runny eye but I'm sure someone will soon.
Have fun
Must dash the girls are wanting their steamed rice with veg & a little drizzle of olive oil .

[sunloving]

can just see your hens standing on the bale waiting for you with their dinner lovely

I was told keep them in a week but maybe that was over cautious? I cant wait to have them outside, thunderstorms not withstanding!
thanks for the advice
x sunloving

[Anisemary]

I would agree with the week being over cautious, they just need to know where to come back to at bed time, they are hard wired to make for their perches when the light levels fall. You could train them to come to the sound of corn rattling in a jar, then if you need to get them in in a hurry (fox on the horizon etc.) you have a back up. I wouldn't worry over much about the odd one not getting food, it's early days and there will be a better level of acceptance as days go on.Not heard of any that have starved to death because they were at the bottom of the pecking order!  Enjoy!!

[sunloving]

Thankyou for the advice, im going to put the ramp down right now!

yipee
x sunloving

[goodlife]

My girls have feeder in their pen which is filled with pellets..and it is available for them all day..so they all get they fed if and when needed..the slower ones have chance then to get their fill  too
And for any treats etc, they have got a cat littler tray..it is large enough to accommodate all my 6 girls without them having to argue about their personal space... ..and food stays cleaner that way and it gets eaten..as any not found food from ground would only attract vermin around.
As for that runny eye..if there is no other symptoms like sneezing, swelling of the eye..non-clear discharge...if it is only clear stuff it might be something totally harmless, but keep 'eye' on that one . You could make cupfull of boiled water with pinch of salt, let it cool down and wipe the eye with dampen down cotton wool  couple of times of day until it start looking better. It could be caused by number of things..like irritation for different bedding, scratch etc..but if it doesn't start clearing out in a week I would contact the supplier and ask few questions..I don't like to dampen your delight with new hobby but keep eye on the others that they too do not start showing same signs.
But other than that.. ....have fun ...nothing makes better henkeeper than diving into deep end to start with
But it is good that you notice these things, one can never be too careful...

[grannyjanny]

Well at least after them being indoors for a week you'll have lots of compost material .

[sunloving]

yes there was! I have to sort out where to put it. Do you have a separate heap for it becuase it takes so lon or just integrate it with your normal heaps?

Last night was a trauma for all! my three dont seem to know what a ramp is and when the time came they tried to fly at it halfway up and then fly at the coop windows! I stuck meal worms on each step with butter but they just ate these from the side. Eventually the clever one made it in but the other two panicked and the pair of them flew on top of the roof (6ft at least) from there onto the fence 8ft both faceing next door..  .

Of course neither of them trusts me yet and so i got the ladder and grabbed one and the other flew into the sycamore behind us! meanwhile the one who had made it in responding to her sisters squarks ran back out darkeness fell with one chicken in the coop! . I went round to the neighbours at the back and tried to reach my escapee in the tree who jumped onto my lilac where i got her eventually with my ladder - i think she was as stressed out as i was and let me catch her. phew both out hearts were pounding her sister just came back in once all was well

Very stresful for all! I was up til after one feeling like a bad hen keeper.

i thought that my fences 5ft would be enough for now until i they were tame enough for me to pick them up and clip thier primaries and that they would find the ramp (which is only to cover a 2ft gap) and be able to figure it out. I was wrong!

So today im looking for some kind of netting to have accross the top of the fences so that they cant panic fly out of the garden. Any ideas.

Feeling very guilty this morning, but ladies are all fine but still in the coop with a grill accross the door until ive fixed the run.

x sunloving

[grannyjanny]

We use hemcore because it rots down quickly, there is now an alternative which is half the price but does the same job. Google hemcore. We mix it in the the 2 bins  with everything else we have. Ours is an 8' x 12' run with the same wire on the roof as on the sides. The run became so muddy we fixed a tarpaulin over the wire & though the rain gathers in a couple of spots we just knock it off. The breeder showed me how to clip the wings when we collected them.
When you say when it came to bed time, was that the time you wanted them to go bed because they usually take themselves to bed as the light goes down & are ready to be let out when it's light. OH lets them out at 6ish & they are very noisy by that time.
Could you put some pictures up with the problem areas so those in the know can see & advise you.
Good luck, it will get easier I'm sure.

[sunloving]

So a trip to buy strong net and a hour later ive rigged up a heavy duty net that closes the gap between the fences and the sky So fingers crossed they wont be able to fly into the neighbours anymore.
I made a new ramp thats 2ft wide with cicken wire over the top to help them get a grip (the last one was around 6in wide) and im hoping that they figure it out. Its covered in mealworms!

I watched it all from the kitchen becuase i didnt want to stress them out any more that nec, unfortunately my neighbours picked dusk to drill some holes in thier masonry which may have contributed to the them being so jumpy.

This morning the hens are giving me a wide birth and it will take a bit of time to get near enough to pick them up and clip thier wings which will really help , i read that it works best if you clip one.

until then fingers are crossed that tonight goes better.
Thankyou for the advice.. i was thinking i have the plastic sheeting from when my greenhouse was delivered that i could now rope accross the run to keep things dry. great!

thankyou x sunloving

[sunloving]

Hooray , after three nights of trying to roost anywhere but the coop because they wearnt familiar with the 2ft ramp my hens finally made it to bed. At last!
All of our stress levels should decline now.

And i had each hen on my knee yesterday to clip one wing and to give them a bug spray and check them over and to try to get them used to me. was lovely to sit and have a ood luck and my handsome ladies! and no problems.
Had a look at the watery eye for grit or scratches nothing, but it looks like the lens in her eye has moved over to the side  dont know if theres anything can be done about that? I bathed the area and the feathers shes been wiping it on.

So everything bar the eye is much better. 
just 6 weeks to first lay now 
Thanks for the advice x sunloving

[grannyjanny]

Well done. It should get easier now .

[Lady of the Land]

We had a problem with some of our new chickens eyes- they were the hens last in the pecking order. Not sure initially whether they were unwell or had been pecked.
As they did not get any better I resorted to using some eye antibiotic ointment that was several years out of date (it had been prescribed for my son and there was some left in the tube )I think it was brolene or could try chloremphenical- not sure whether you can buy anything like this over the counter. I put it in at least once a day, occasionally twice - needed 2 people to do this and after about 2 -3 weeks everything was OK.

Its quite worrying when you first have chickens I found- it was like having children and feeling great responsibility-ours are at the allotment and I even resorted to taking one home overnight and putting it in a large cardboard box in the kitchen when it did not seem well. I fed it on porridge that night. I went down early in the morning and found it perched on the edge of the box. I gave it some more porridge it did a large liquid poo into the box, turned around and about 20 mins later did another one onto the kitchen floor. I asked my husband to keep an eye on it while I went upstairs to get ready - a few minutes later I heard a noise and rushed down stairs- the chicken obviously felt better and had flown into a small side window. She was OK and I promptly took her back with the others and she has been fine since.

Once yours settle down they will be fine- try the trick with the corn/ wheat it works really well and we use this each time we want to put them into their inner run.

[sunloving]

Hi Lady of the land,  , if you could get hen nappies im sure theyd make good house pets! Ive noticed already thier different personalities and your right you get so concerned about them if somethings not right.I'm still noticing every tiny thing that might be wrong!

Thats interesting about the eyes, ill have a look out for something like that cream. It was funny that the hen seemed to like it when i bathed the eye and the feathers.


Today my clever hen "emergency" becuase shes the sentinal of the group just made it down the rickety fox proof ramp for the first time , its made my morning im very proud!! 

x sunloving

[grannyjanny]

We used to have a dog that suffered terribly from hay fever & had gungy eyes. They used to stick together. We used a homeopathic tincture, euphrasia, AKA eyebright. It worked every time. It's suitable for any problem to do with the eyes.

[sunloving]

Ill have a look out for some this morning , it is starting to concern me as ive had her a fortnight now.
thankyou for the tip.
 x sunloving