Grow Your Own Magazine

I've been meaning to post for a week, and just been too busy! Our lovely hens arrived a week ago, and have settled down into their new Eglu home very well. They are sooooo gorgeous, and the children are besotted - they spend hours with them (as do I!). They have one each, so the three are: Dusty, a Black Rock (and the only layer so far), Heather, a Calder Ranger, and Snowdrop, a white East Sussex Star. Dusty laid us our first egg two days after arriving, which was a double yolker - then two days later she laid another, also a double yolker which had a shell like paper and split open so was unusable. After adding some grit to their food, we had another egg, which was very big and when used, turned out to be a triple yolker! I didn't even know they existed! We were all very impressed.

Now for a couple of questions - we need to clip the hens wings, as they will be living inside an electric fence, so I don't want them to fly out and Fantastic Mr Fox to get them. Has anyone done this? Is it as tricky and stressy as I think it's going to be? I know how to do it (in theory - have studied pictures, diagrams etc), but I can imagine that holding the hen still during the process could be tricky. They aren't very tame yet.

Also, does anyone keep their hens 'away from home'? Ours will be at my veg patch, which is a mile away - I don't fancy the dusk forays down to put them to bed at midsummer and wondered how anyone else deals with it?

Off to see the hens again now.....

You need Sue - she keeps her birds at her plot. I am tempted to think that an electric fence will not be enough to keep Mr Fox out so you will need to go down before dusk each evening - get the girls into their house (use corn as bait) and lock them in. And, obviously, go down early in the morning to let them out and feed them.....

If they are in an eglu - they have a wire run? They should be in there if you are not around, with the eglu locked down to the ground and immoveable and the hatchway paddlocked - Foxes are not the only vermin!

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The weeks and the years are fine. It's the days I can't cope with!

Just realised that my earlier post made it sound as though I wasn't intending to shut the chickens up at night, which isn't the case - I just wondered if I could 'tuck them in' a little bit earlier maybe, as dusk is so late in the next month or so.

I had visions, TPeers, of a weasel with bolt croppers attacking the padlock! Luckily we live in such an isolated rural part of the world that the people-with-ill-intent type vermin are virtually non existant. At least I take it that's what you meant? Or do I need to do this because of foxes?

No - you had it pegged, weasels with bolt croppers - what a picture! Love it!

Your best bet it to use a bit of 'bait' - some form of treat so.... eglu's are quite small arn't they, would you have room for a heavy china cat bowl?

You could put some corn or dried mealworms or cooked pasta in the bowl, put it in the house and watch them scrum in, then shut the door! Expect the bowl to be turned over and the have to clean the house a little more often but it should work.

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The weeks and the years are fine. It's the days I can't cope with!

I keep mine on the plot with a big run. The run is roofed and gated. The shed they sleep in is outside but attached to the run by way of ramp and pop-hole. I go down about 7.30 at night to check them, say hello and collect the eggs but due to the way the run and house is set up, they put themselves in when they are ready.
Inside the shed I have barriers in front of the pop-hole to make it difficult for anything bigger than a chicken to get in.

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I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

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updated 14 May 2008

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