[Lindeggs]

I notice some of you refer to your hens as "ladies".  Well I don't know what posh school yours went to, but mine definitely aren't ladies!  I have had them for less than 24 hours and have so far observed:

• They poo A LOT
• They poo in their water dish
• They walk in their food dish
• They elbow each other aside so they can get the best bits of food
• When they eat, they splatter food down their fronts, all over each other, and on their faces
• Then they wipe their faces on the floor
• At nap-time the one who isn't sleepy will tread on all the others and wake them up
• They never say "excuse me" or "sorry I stepped on your tail"

My grandmother would not have approved. 

[ManicMum]

Well, I've come across a variety of "ladies" of the human kind, but....

I agree - I cannot believe how something so small can produce SO MUCH poo!!!

[Springlands]

Congratulations on finally getting your ladies/hens Lindeggs. They sound perfectly normal to me. Just wait till they all rush you at once when you open the coup in the morning. You will soon forget their bad habits once they start to lay. 

[joyfull]

but when they come into lay they will (well some of them anyway) will curtsy as if they are ladies  . However when you see them go into a rugby scrum after a mouse or frog (or any other equally disgusting tasty morsel any ladyness will soon disappear again 
Congratulations and looking forward to seeing your girls 

[New shoot]

Mine aren't ladies either    Sometimes they are the girls, sometimes the stinkers and sometimes the little monsters - they are always pooh machines 

[rachelr]

Definitely not ladys you should see them go into a rugby scrum for baby tomatoes.

England would be proud lol

[pigeonpie]

So pleased you finally got your "ladies".
Mine are always refered to as the girls.  They show no lady like characteristics, very much like their owner actually!!!

[Brambles]

Aaahhh.... But all that pooh is soooo useful for the vegetables!

[hillfooter]

Well done Lindeggs, but didn't your ladies tell you chickens shouldn't be eating and drinking out of dishes and their feed should be at back height so their little indiscretions don't end up on the menu

HF

[LittleRedHen]

My hens are 'girlies'.  They poo for all of England, peck each other for meal worms, splatter the breakfast mash everywhere, and scream very unattractively when they hear us arrive home from work.  They also have learned to look very endearing when the next door neighbour comes to the fence.  I swear if they had eye lashes, they would bat them. 

[Rhiannon]

You want to try Tortoises, keeping baby ones clean is a nightmare and they have to live in the house for many years too....!!

Yep poo in the nest boxes poo just about anywhere...i never realised my life would contain so much poo when i was growing up   

as for nice manners, well im going to see some of that when i pick up some new hens in about a week , seperated yes , but the evil stares thru the puppy panels  is a sight to behold from past experience !

[jinty1911]

And they are vandals and hooligans and trash the garden.     Oh and bullies.  They bully the rabbits and dog!!! 

[alancane]

Mine tend to be called Ladies or Aunties - they were named after my partner's 3 Great Aunts from London - Bess, Gladys and Doll.... so they are called the Aunties by our friends.  

[Fisherman]

They sound like all the ladies I know
Enjoy

[Lindeggs]

Well done Lindeggs, but didn't your ladies tell you chickens shouldn't be eating and drinking out of dishes and their feed should be at back height so their little indiscretions don't end up on the menu

HF

Yes, the 'ladies' did tell me those things, but reality got in the way!  I put the extra water dish in the coop because the journey home in the car was very hot and they were 'glowing' when I took them out of the boxes.  (Horses sweat, men perspire but ladies only glow.) I wanted to make sure they could all get easy access to water, so doubled up with the extra dish.

I do have their dry food in a hanging dispenser, but it was too low.  I didn't know how big my new chickies were going to be until I got them home!  They're going to be enormous when they're full grown!

Also the breeder suggested feeding them damp porridge-consistency food as that's what he does, and they certainly got stuck right in.  Theyir on-demand food is still in the (now raised) hopper.

See, I have been listening!