[Julie in Somerset]

Thanks linzechris for your kind words. I cried again when I read them but then decided I must buck my ideas up. My hen, Duffy, fluffed her feathers out and hunched up but made no attempt to go inside. I still wonder if she was ill so she got cold or cold so she got ill. If this happens again I am planning to bring the hen into the house for a while and see what happens.

Has anyone else tried this? successfully? I am still feeling a bit guilty that I didn't try it with Duffy but with her history of being bullied, which was so much better recently, I was frightened I'd start if off again. I really didn't know what to do so any advice would be helpful.

Thank you "too many girls" for making me realise that almost anything! is better than being killed after months in a cage and that there are plenty more to rescue.

[Aunt Sally]

maybe just 15?

25 or 50 sounds better to me  

[too many girls]

25 or 50?  well i suppose it'll only take the same amount of time to let them out, Sam has made 2 lovely hen houses for the cobbs (my daddy said we had to get them out of the stables) so he could always make another bigger one............(he combined it with a woodwork project at school and got an A+) the only down side is that when i leave the house i can't get across the yard, i get mugged by 81 birds, they come from all directions, it can be almost impossibe to get as far as the car ( i take food with me, throw it to them and whilst they're busy, make a run for it, my dad say's i should keep the cobbs penned up as they're not pets but they always get out anyway, and i must admit i like to give them freedom, it always amazes me that they stay in their own breed groups, the cobbs stay together, the laying hens stay together (all over the farm, they like to wander but do so in groups) the Silkies and the 3 Amigo's (Littlefoot, Petree,and Eddie) stay together, i mean how do they know? even Pip's Polands have their own patch, we've got roughly 10 adult cockerals and apart from the odd squabble they all respect each others patch,
Aunt Sally, if you had the room i can imagine you doing the same "SCARECROW'S WIFE RESCUES 3 THOUSAND EX BATTERY HENS".........
my daddy has just read this post and said i can have no more than 20, when i asked him why he said "too many eggs as it is.................

[Aunt Sally]

I guess it's chicken sociology they know who the members of their flock are.

I sounds as if they have an idyllic life

[too many girls]

Aunty, after my son James was born they took him to the nursery at the hospital, when they brought him to me to feed i saw  him and said " that's not my baby" the midwife looked at me and said " oh, i'll go get another one" that baby's mother was in stitches as she said she was so tired she wouldn't have noticed if they had taken James to her.............we are still friends now, 18 years on. maybe it's the same for chickens.........

[Aunt Sally]

:shock: Good job it was just for feeding and not to take home  :shock:

[too many girls]

Luke was 10 lbs 2oz at birth, James was 5 lbs 13oz, i think Sharon may have eventually noticed, now, James is twice the size of Luke.

[linzechris]

Julie in Somerset I have sent a post to you, look in your messages file.

[Aunt Sally]

I've recieved this PM from Julie and she does sound desperate.  I've given her feeding advice - layers pellets/mash and fresh greens only, but I'm sure she'd be grateful for any other advice !
I'm not experienced with ex-bats.

Hi Aunt Sally
I adopted 4 ex batts last September, I fed them layers mash, damped, in the morning and odds and ends at lunchtime and layers pellets are always available. They are confined to their run most of the time - urban foxes and husbands a problem! They are on wood chips that I clean,rake and change when necessary. 1 hen has already died, 18 Jan, vet gave AB but no good. She just stopped moving around and died within 2 days. Amy is unwell at the moment with a very hard swelling between her legs. Again the vet has drawn a blank but gave calcium and a stimulant. She 's still alive but I don't hold out much hope.

2 others are OK but not laying as well as they were before all this happened. The scraps I get from work are uneaten school dinners. Bread, veg, pizza, chips etc. Do you think my feed regime is the problem? I thought hens could eat almost anything. My hens don't seem a lot fatter than when I got them but I would welcome some advice. My run is being extended soon and I plan to get some more so would like to get it right if I have made mistakes this time.

We did a course at the Domestic Fowl Trust b4 we got the hens but it was next to useless so are planning to go on one near Swindon - The Chicken School - have you heard if they are ok? Thanks for your time reading all this and for helping other hen owners - I've had cats for years and find them a lot easier than hens!

[poultrygeist]

Do you think the scraps may be overloading their renal system ? Extra salt maybe ??

Otherwise, can only think eggbound which I know you'll have thought too. Would a vet miss that

I'll leave it to teh ex-batty folks.

Rob

[Vember]

I have found that Julie has another thread here

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=31122.0

If you can offer any further advice please post it there

Sarah