Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Lilac on June 26, 2007, 13:02
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Hi all,
I am getting a couple of Ex Battery Hens in a couple of weeks. I have never kept hens before, and although I have done loads and loads of reading up on them, I would be grateful if anyone could offer me any more info. I am especially keen to know what I can feed my girls, other than their normal food, to enable them to become fit and healthy. Thanks very much
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hello lilac, welcome to the site, i can only tell you how i feed my hens, i give them pellets in the morning, and corn in the evening, and greens in between, i also give them, organic cider vinager in their water, on this diet, my hens thrive :) :)
Ps, where abouts in the country are you, it helps when giving advice :)
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Make sure their house is warm and cosy, as many of them are very bald when you get them. They may also have trouble walking at first. I feed very much as Mercury does, they soon get used to 'other' food as they have been used to layers mash and nothing else. Try to give tham some food and water inside at first, as it may take them a few days to venture out. Wait until you watch them come out forhte first time though!!! They look at the sky and the grass in wonder because they've never seen it before. its amazing
It didn't take my girls long to start following me around whenever I appeared with a bucket or bowl. I still feel like the pied piper at times! And they love most of the weeds I dig up too, like chickweed and Good King Henry (okay, herbs not weeds!!! lol) And I occasionally give them a bit of my comfrey. But they'll soon pick up.
Some are very stressed and don't live too long though, as they are bred purely for producing eggs which they do with a vengance, but once they are past 72 weeks old, they are living on borrowed time. Some live for a couple of extra years, but we have lost some of ours after only a few weeks. But its a few weeks of sheer bliss to them. Don't think I'm being negative, but at least if you are prepared for the worst, then you'll get more joy out of them while they are with you. Which hopefully will be a long time yet!!!! :D :D
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Thanks for the advice. its really appreciated. Aw you are not being negative, I realise that sometimes they do not live very long. poor little things. I am prepared for it. But if I can make them at least have some nice times on this planet then I am happy to do that.
Mercury, I live in North Yorkshire, if that helps :)
One more question, the greens that you give them, do they like them cooked, uncooked, or are they not to bothered? Thanks
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Mine have both cooked leftover veggies, and uncooked. Whenever I pick a cabbage or whatever, they get the outer leaves, and because we have 60 of them (we've lost 10 over the past 9 months!) I cut the leaves up small, so they all get a bit!!!!! Plus our garden is full of dandelions and clover too!
It's hard to fill the compost bins sometimes. the dog gets the leftover meat and the chooks get the leftover veg!!!! lol
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Once again, thanks for the info. Hopefully with your advice and what I already know my girls will be fit and healthy in no time.
lol at the state of your compost heap! :lol:
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Then in the winter, I buy them some of the cheap Tesco porridge oats, but you can use their layers mash or pellets too, boil up your potato skins and other veg peelings like carrots, drain, but leave a little liquid, then mix in the oats or mash or pellets. They have this mix late in the afternoons. They go mad for it, you'll see them pick up a piece of peeling and rush round the run, closely followed by the others who are trying to take it off them. gives them some exercise, and me a giggle!!!!
I've got some pics on my photobucket if you would like to see them??
http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l33/grannieannie_2006/Chooks/
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hi ga
been nosy i had a look at your pics ,loved the one of hen peeking out there house :D
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Smashing pictures Grannie. I love this one, points out what a hideous crime keeping battery hens is:
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l33/grannieannie_2006/Chooks/BatteryChickens13.jpg)
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Lovely photos. What lovely run and shed they've got.
Hi Lilac I've had four battery hens for three months and they seem to be doing well, fingers crossed. I feed them on layers mash. It took them a time to eat any greens but they seem to love baby leaf spinach. As Granny says, it's so lovely to see them happy after what they have been through.
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Thanks, the pic of the one peeping out of the pop hole was her first look outside, but it took her 4 days to actaully step onto the grass. (grass, what grass????) lol
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Aw I love your pics. I really am grateful for your advice everyone. I am so looking forward to getting my girls. I am so thankful that the BHWT exists and gives people like us a chance to make a difference to these poor animals lives.
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Aw I love your pics. I really am grateful for your advice everyone. I am so looking forward to getting my girls. I am so thankful that the BHWT exists and gives people like us a chance to make a difference to these poor animals lives.
Hi, I have been keeping battery hens for 3 years and they make lovely pets after a while. I also give them porridge in the winter and they like wheatabix just as much! We have just taken delivery of another 10 and they are now very much at home. They've been with us 10 days and love it. Don't be disheartened when you get them, within a couple of months they will look smashing and it's all down to you! Also you will notice the difference in the quality of the eggs. By the way, in the summer they love watermelons - just don't stand too near them or you will get covered when they flick the juice at you!
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thanks for the advice Nikki. When you give them porridge and weetabix in the winter, do you give them it with milk like we have it or do you mean you give it them dry. I am sorry if these questions seem a bit dumb to some of you, but I really do want to know the right way to do things
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Another (silly?) question from me. Are all Battery Hens the same breed, or do they use all sorts of breeds of hen. :? Thanks
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They are generally all the same. the quintessential brown hen. I think they are probably meadowsweet rangers.
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Thanks Aunt Sally, I am just going to see if I can find any more info about them :lol:
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Thanks again Aunt Sally
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Oops. I didn't mean to post twice :oops:
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:lol: Click happy :roll:
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Battery hens are usually either ISA's or Warrens or Llohmanns
As Aunt Sally says, they are basically your standard brown Hen. They are called hybrids and are bred purely for egg production, that's why they don't normally live too long. They are only kept for egg production for 72 weeks, whether they are battery or free range. The supermarkets don't want them once the shells start changing shape or colour and you get more watery whites with older hens, its not just because the eggs are old like most people think.
I must admit that the ex free range hens we used to have when we lived in Essex lived longer and laid better than these poor little mites we have now.
Once the 72 weeks are up, so are their lives normally. They get carted off and what meat they have is used in dog food etc.
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What age is it (in weeks) that they come out of the Battery Farms? Poor little things, they probably aren't going to live very long are they? But I hope I can make their time a happy time while they are here
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They are 72 weeks old when the battery farms are finished with them. I hope you don't get the ones that are really bad, like the one they showed on the BHWT site. I can't remember her name now.
They are very stressed when you first get them, so an extra bit of TLC won't go amiss. They are used to layers mash, but that is very wasteful as it flies all over the place. our BHWT Co-ordinator told us to go straight onto layers pellets. They do soon get used to pellets instead of the mash.
We've had our first lot since last September, so they are now about 27 months old. We've lost about 15 now from the 2 lots we had, but they can live for another 2 maybe 3 years if you are lucky, but even if they don't live long, you can be proud that you have made their last days, weeks or months happy ones.
You'll find you get eggs with different colour bands on them, or even almost white ones, or very dark brown, also many with lots of winkles on them, and just lately we are getting some very elongated eggs, and I've had eggs weighing in from 15gms to 107gms!!!! Don't worry about the watery whites if you get any, they are fine.
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The poor little hen in the BHWT gallery is Yoko. Bless her. She was in such a state when she was rescued wasn't she. But she managed to survive for 8 months at least. But yes, I hope mine aren't as bad as Yoko. Of course if they are, I will nurse them and give them loads of TLC. Thanks for all your help.
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You're welcome Lilac, I just wish more people would try to do their bit to stop these battery farms, but we are all to blame. I used to work for the National Farmers Union years ago, and I asked my boss why don't more farmers go for free range and he said 'money' but its the consumer who continually asks for cheaper and cheaper food that is the biggest culprit.
Free Range farmers lose more eggs than battery farmers because some eggs are laid outside the sheds, and when you've got thousands of hens laying, you can 't be going around all the acres looking for eggs, although I do believe some of them are kept inside until they lay, but our friends in Essex who are free range farmers don't, they just trust the birds to lay in their nest boxes. But a free range egg producer, doesn't get much more for his eggs than a battery farmer does. They only get about 45p a dozen for their eggs, the processor/packer gets about the same, and the supermarkets gets more than either!!!!