Topic: New Arrivals - Bad News

[sandersj89]

Picked up my two new hens this moring, they are Speckledy's.

They seem very calm and quite and the old hens are not taking much notice of them yet. In a temporary run for a week or 10 days next door to the old hens so they get used to each other.







Names to be decided but Sparkle is one front runner, and maybe Dotty.

Jerry

[kitty]

lovely jerry!can i ask-did you cur that feeder top so you can hang it as opposed to stand it?

[sandersj89]

No, it is designed to hang. I wanted a small feeder for their temporary run and it awas only £2.50 from the place I got the hens. I prefer feeders of the ground as the hens dont tend to rake out as much food and waste it compared  to floor standing models.

Jerry

[OliveOil]

Awww speckledy's are great!  Hope they give you lots of eggs like my Freckles does!

[Heldi]

I love the name Sparkle! (I like a bit of sparkle and glitter  ;D)

Lovely looking chooks.   The one with the silvery feathers around the neck looks like my cuckoo marans 'cept mine have got big floppy combs.

Hope they settle in well and give you loads of lovely eggs.

[teresa]

Lovely looking hens good luck with them.

[Paulines7]

Super looking hens Jerry.  I hope they produce some lovely dark brown eggs for you.   ;D

[mat]

Very stately  ;D

You'll get some lovely looking eggs.

mat

[sandersj89]

I hope so!

 ;D

The old girls are giving them a bit of a tough time at the moment but things are settling down now. They are lovely quiet hens and already happy to come up to us to have a tit bit or two!

Jerry

[sandersj89]

This afternoon Sparkle was found dead, no apparant injuries or problems, she was fine this morning.

Found lying on her side under a Hebe that the hens use as a dust bath, 4 year old daughter was beside her self as she was "her" hen!

Sparkle is now burried in the field.

Jerry

[supersprout]

So sorry to hear about sparkle jerry :'(

[Paulines7]

Oh, that's really sad Jerry.   :'(    How old was Sparkle and did you get her from a breeder?   

The Speckledy hens you have look similar to the Maran hens I bought as young chicks from my local market.  Many of them died from Mareks disease before they were a year old but it didn't affect the others.  I hope your other chickens will be all right.  I have Welsummers now which give me the lovely brown eggs but are not so susceptable to diseases.

[sandersj89]

Yes, she came from a breeder, this place: http://www.sprcentre.co.uk/ They are well repected. The hens were supplied as 18 week old POL so are not due to lay just yet.

I have emailed them and will be calling them soon. The real pain is we go on holiday in just under 2 weeks time and I am not sure if I want to risk integrating a new hen so close to going away now.

Jerry

[Heldi]

Aw Jerry I'm so sorry. Your poor daughter  :(

[OliveOil]

Speckledy#s do look like marans... they should come with a guarantee so you ought to go back to where you got them from as All cyril bason hens are vacc. I know mine came with a 3 month guarantee!

http://www.cyril-bason.co.uk/price_list.htm

[mat]

I am so sorry for you.  It is sad when any pet dies; especially so for children.

mat

[sandersj89]

Thanks Guys,

The supplier replied and offered a refund or replacement without question so we are going back after our holiday to pick up a new POL 16 week old! Hats off to SPR Poultry.

Now all I have to do is stop my daughters other hen being broody, she has gone down for the second time again this summer today!!!!!! I broke it last time in 7 days so fingers crossed

Jerry