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11-10-2008, 06:49 AM
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 Finally getting our ex-bats today! How am I supposed to sleep??? I'm bouncing off the walls here, after being on the waiting list for months we're collecting our first ever chooks from the ex-batt rescue at 1pm. Just think, the actual rescue is probably starting about now. 7 hours 15 minutes to go..... ***drums fingers***      |
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11-10-2008, 08:56 AM
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| Hashette, I'm not in to chooks, but even I'm getting excited for you!! 5 hours and 5 mins...!
__________________ I am Nobody Nobody's perfect Therefore, I must be perfect  |
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11-10-2008, 09:27 AM
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| Thanks Comfreyfan Thank goodness it's a dry and relatively warm day. It's the first time I've watched the weather forecast and thought "great, cloudy overnight". I'm really conscious of how cold it's going to be for them, coming out of their heated helll hole. Although let's face it, it's the only thing about their new home that isn't a million times better. 4 hours 30 minutes...... |
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11-10-2008, 10:22 AM
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| Hi Hashette Where are you getting them from is it the Essex branch?
__________________ Hayley B  OH is competing in the Macmillan 4x4 challenge (in aid of Macmillan Nurses) partnering Julia Bradbury (Watchdog presenter) in March 2009 http://www.justgiving.com/mac4x4juliabradbury |
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11-10-2008, 12:14 PM
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| I bet you are getting really, really excited now!! Just been out checking ours (seem to have done that lots of times already) and they seem quite happy even though it is raining and their new home is about quarter the size of the shed they used to live in. |
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11-10-2008, 08:10 PM
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| We became a family of 6 this afternoon. The family now consists of me and hubby, Ginger (the brains and obviously destined to be top of the pecking order), Hopsy (has a bruised foot so walks with a limp. Also she's bald, and we have a bald friend called Hopsy who hopefully will never find out he has a namesake!), Attila the Hen (bad attitude.....) and Clarissa Chickenson-Wright. They're amazing, in the space of three hours they went from standing around looking shell-shocked to finding the food container and laying waste to it, wandering around looking interested in everything and making gorgeous contented clucking noises. One even had a go at flying up onto a perch, but that's a bit difficult when you haven't got any feathers on your wings and you've never even had enough space to spread them properly until now. She landed with a horrible thud, but thankfully seems unharmed. We put them to bed when it started to get dark, and have shut off the nest boxes on the advice of the wonderful Thorns Poultry Centre in Letchworth. Tomorrow morning I'll open up the pop hole when it gets light, and open up the nest boxes containing rubber eggs, but I think I'll leave them to make their own way down the ramp into the run (the chook house is a couple of feet off the ground). Unless anyone thinks that's a bad idea? I've never done this before, so any advice would be very gratefully received. |
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11-10-2008, 08:26 PM
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| Your pics are great! They look so happy...as does your hubby & yourself!  I had to help my three down the ladder this morning, because they seemed to be utterly perplexed at the whole 'off the ground' thing! I also had to help them back up to bed...lol...as soon as it got dark they started squawking full force whilst staring in the living room window...lol. I took it as a huge hint that they wanted me to explain the 'ladder' again!Hopefully they'll get it this time! Keep us all posted on your girlies progress...it's always exciting!
__________________ I can resist everything, except temptation! |
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11-10-2008, 08:43 PM
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| They look lovely and I am ever so slightly jealous! Have to say though............ am a trifle worried about the totally bald stiff looking fella with the red head thats leaning up against the fence. Think there isn't much hope for that one |
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11-10-2008, 11:06 PM
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| Congratulations Hashette. It all looks really exciting and rather worryingly tempting! Perhaps next year I'll have to think about it again! Keep us posted on their progress won't you?
__________________ I am Nobody Nobody's perfect Therefore, I must be perfect |
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12-10-2008, 08:34 AM
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| Well done, they look great - as does your set up! To think that's the first time they've ever felt the warmth of the sun of their feathers....You've done a good thing, feel very pleased with yourselves! How did they get on with the ramp? Give them a couple of weeks and they'll be out trashing the garden and pecking on the back door to come in... |
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12-10-2008, 10:00 AM
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| Morning Two of them have managed it Vicky, the other two are still in there so for now I'm just leaving them be. I opened the pop hole when it got light, and not for an hour nothing happened. We'd decided we'd leave it until at least mid-morning, as we really wanted them to work out the relationship between the place they'd spent the night and where they were yesterday where the food is. No surprisingly it was Ginger who stuck her head out first, and after looking around for a good few minutes, took a few steps down the ramp. And guess what - whilst we were standing around watching her there was an odd clunk sound and to our absolute delight and amazement, she produced our first egg right in front of us! It landed on one of the concrete slabs supporting the legs of the chook house, but thankfully it didn't break. We're both grinning like lunatics! |
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13-10-2008, 09:25 AM
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| Wow. 48 hours ago, they were still in their cage at the battery farm. This morning we opened the pop hole and three of them came straight out, Ginger walked down the ramp, the others flew brick-like off the end, but landed in the big pile of straw I'd put there. Peering in, and Attila the Hen is quite happy - roosting on a perch. It's amazing how quickly their instincts seem to be coming back. Adopting these girls really is a wonderful experience, I'm sure me and hubby are getting as much out of it as they are! |
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13-10-2008, 09:27 AM
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| Hi all, got my ex-basts on Saturday and in love with them. Already doing hen things and are out and about. 2 are quite tame alreay and the shyiest one was out of the door first this morning. Gonig home lunch time to check on them. Hope you enjoy yours as much as we do and we have already volunteered to have a few more if they need a home. I was so excited on Saturday we had a long wait to but got ours from Hen rehomers who saved 2,500 at the weekend.... |
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13-10-2008, 09:09 PM
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| Hi Dozey, I know how you feel! Going home at lunchtime wasn't an option for me, so I've asked our IT geeks how webcams work and am seriously thinking of rigging one up in the run. Mixed news. Ginger's doing great, and put herself to bed as well! Clarissa and Attilla are getting themselves up, happy all day, but need to put put to bed at night at the moment, I suspect because they don't have the leg muscles for the ramp. I'm really worried about Hopsy, re-christened Tottie as we decided naming her after a short, bald bloke wasn't quite right. We got home and she was just sitting in the run looking miserable, her comb is extra floppy, and I got pecked when I went near her. I really hope she makes it - I don't suppose we can do anything more for her than we already are, but every instinct tells me she's really not well |
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14-10-2008, 01:22 PM
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| Try putting her beak insome water, they don't always know how to drink from a bucket or normal drinker cos the ones in the battery farms are really odd!! We had to do it for some on sunday cos they just didn't seem to know what it was there for. Hope she's feeling better soon. |
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16-10-2008, 09:06 AM
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| Wow - these girls are incredible, their natural instincts are really coming back. You know how ex-bats are supposed to have no concept of a nest box and just drop eggs wherever they happen to be? Well I bought a couple of rubber training eggs and put them in the nest boxes. According to the food supplier, it teaches them the general idea. It didn't even occur to me to even bother looking in there to see if there were any eggs, as they're dropping them in the run, and besides they're stopping laying now their feathers are growing back. I went to clean the coop out this morning and guess what I found next to one of the rubber eggs! Someone must have gone back in the coop yesterday and laid it. Amazing considering they were only rescued on Saturday |
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16-10-2008, 09:21 AM
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| Just Great Hi Hashette, The rubber eggs really work don't they, my first 3 eggs were laid on the floor but Matilda the brave went straight into the coop while we were their and laid her egg. I really love these birds and think people should really have a go at keeping them. They are so relaxing, we go in their coop every night for 1/2 an hour just to give them treats. They love grapes and mealworms well what can i say. You have done a really good thing and so pleased you are having as much fun as we are. I will post some pics soon. |
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16-10-2008, 02:39 PM
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| Please do. Grapes? Right, I'm off to Morrisons. I've been giving mine mixed corn that they're supposed to love, along with cabbage and apples. They're not really touching it, I suspect it's because they don't recognise it as food. They're laying into the growers' mash like there's no tomorrow, so I'm not worried, but isn't it sad? Mealworms - eeew! You do mean dried ones, don't you?  |
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16-10-2008, 02:59 PM
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| I bribe mine with dried mealworms to ge them back into the run if they've been out in the garden, I just have to shake the tub now and they come running from whatever corner of the garden they've been in! They are quite fatty though, so they shouldn't have too many, although as you have ex-batts they could probably do with a bit of extra weigh on them! |
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17-10-2008, 09:03 AM
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| i gave mine still-warm porridge with some mixed corn and raisens in last night - it was so cold i was worried about Molly, my ex-batt with no feathers... they loved it! got it all over themselves so i had to clean them up! mine have also worked out how to lay eggs in the nex |