[Scrumptious]

(am not sure where the best place to post this is.... have put it in the welcome bit too... sorry if it's duplicated but i'm new to this forum business!)

Hello,

I'm SO excited! We are hoping to get 4 Hens this week.  I have a few unanswered questions and since this seems to be the place to find answers I thought that I would trust the experts!!

I have got my House coming tomorrow, a water thing, a food thing, Layer Pellets, Corn stuff, Oyster stuff, grit stuff, wood chippings, Straw (not hay as advised by the chicken man), some powder stuff for lice etc. (although not sure what i do with it!?), a shovel for pooh, and a couple of buckets for transporting it to the allotment.

We have 4 names... (Mrs Johnson, Aunty Mabel, Pippin and Matilda) and from the reading that i have done I think I know roughly what to do.  I plan to let them out in the garden when i am at home and put them away when I go out... is this best? will they pooh anywhere or just in their house and if they do pooh in the garden is it easy to clear up?

So in their nest boxes i put the straw and the wood shavings in the living room? do i put newspaper underneith it to make it easier to clean? we haven't got a house with a pull out floor.  When i clean it out do i just sweep the floor or is there some disinfecting required... the lady in the supplies shop didn't give me a definitive answer!

How high can they can jump or fly with clipped wings?

We are getting Point of Lay Warrens... when can i expect to start getting eggs? ( i need to tell my daughter as she is really excited but want to manage her expectations!)

I read that i suspend the food off the ground to prevent pests... how far off the ground? I am planning on bringing the food in at night when i tuck them up... do i put the water in their bed rooms?

I didn't buy the chicken drink from the shop, i've not read about it... should i have?

Sorry to sound like a complete novice but the books don't say it straight!

Really appreciate any help or advice you can offer me..... thanks!

Sarah

[Fisherman]

Hi Scrumptious

Best to keep them in a secure run when you are out.
They will trash your garden as they like to scratch about and dig holes for bathing.
The pooh is easy to clean up unless the weather is wet and damp.
Its best to clean the house out every couple of weeks and disinfect it. Jeys fluid is OK to use.
I wouldn’t bother with the newspaper but I guess it would be OK to use. You could make a tray for under their perch which it makes it easier to clean up.
I just use Hemcore on both the floor and the laying boxes. Hemcore can be bought at farm shops that sell horse products. Straw and shavings will be fine as long as they are dust extracted.
Some don’t bother trying to fly at all and some love to escape as soon as possible. Just clip one wing if they start trying to fly. Search this website for guidance.
They will start to lay eggs at about 24 weeks.
Don’t give them too many treats as they need the layer pellets to produce good eggs. Layer pellets and greens (lettuce, cabbage etc) during the day and a handful of corn at night before they go to bed.
Clean water is all they need but tonics are good to use when they are molting or off colour.
Don’t forget to worm them. Fubenvet is the best.
Keep an eye out for external parasites. If you want to prevent them altogether then use Frontline that’s sold for cats. Just a little drop on their skin at the back of the neck 2 or 3 times a year. Its very effective. Again search this website for further advice.
Diatom powder is good to put in the house and nest boxes to kill off any parasites.

You will spend hours and hours watching them and they all have different personalities.

Enjoy

Post a question if you have any concerns and you will get a great response. There a re some very experienced chicken keepers on here who have provided me and others with great advice.

[Fisherman]

Forgot to mention: -
They don't need water in their house overnight.

I use a treadle feeder that keeps vermin away from their food. They are a bit pricy but worth it as you can give 4 hens enough food for a couple of weeks in one go. Maybe one for the future.  Its a good idea to take their food off the floor though as mice will eat it.

You will soon tell if one of your chicken goes off colour in the way they act. If this becomes the case ask for advice as soon as possible and if in doubt take it to a vet as in my experience they can go downhill pretty quick. Its worth having a vet in mind should you need one (hopefully not).

When you get them home leave them in their house say from mid day and overnight so they get familiar with it. You may need to leave some water and food in for them just this once.

They will soon settle down. Its quite funny to see them running to you especially when they know the corn is coming. Mine free range in the field at the back of the house and I just give them a whistle when its corn time and they leg it accross the field taking off occasionally - most amusing.

Hope that helps.

[Scrumptious]

Great advice thanks!

So... is it the corn that encourages them back into their house at night? It sounds like they get into quite a little routine!

[Fisherman]

Mine just toddle off to bed when it starts to go dark with or without corn.

A friend of mine has four Warrens and they never go to bed in the house they just roost in the trees and won't come down.

[grumpydad]

straw can be ok, as long as it does not get wet, if it does it can harbour spores in the stems, which can cause respiratory problems in the chucks.

we use, and i know lots more besides who also use, hemcore or aubiose, this is made from a hemp plant, and is readily available from any good animal food or equstrian centre, it is very absorbant, and is great for the coop and nest boxes alike.

we have no paper on the coop floor, just poop scoop the hemcore from under the perch in the morning, it rots down very quickly in a compost bin.

layers meal or mash available all day, no restrictions, only a small amount of grain at night if you need to.
oyster shell and grit available all the time in case they need it , you may find that the smaller grit available from a pets at home or similar is eaten rather than the huge pieces
that you can buy.

they will go to bed on their own, when the realise the coop is where they sleep, make sure they go on the perch and dont sleep on the floor or the nestboxes.

they dont need food or water in the coop at night.

try not to use too much powder in the coop when cleaning, it can harbour diseases, we now only use virkon s, a liquid bacterial disinfectant to spray the coop with, and poultry shield to get rid of red mite.

[Scrumptious]

Great... have only bought a small bag of straw so will use that then when it's gone change to hemcore.  The shop where i bought the stuff from were a specialist farm animal shop so i should think they sell it.  So i would use the Hemcore in both the bed room and the living room? one size fits all....  i like.

If they sleep on the floor do i just pick them up and pop them on the perch?

So the plan is to put this powder stuff (anti everything it seems) into the dust bath and a light sprinkle with the first lot of wood shaving in the bottom of the living room, then when i clean them out (weekly?) i shovel it all out, sweep around then wash with Jeyes fluid.  Is that killing all the beasties or do i need to do frontline and the other sprays too?

When you say a small amount of grain (i'm presuming it's if i haven't givn them any other treats in the way of cooked potato peeling etc) are we talking a handful for all 4 chucks or a handful each?

[Fisherman]

Yes, just pick them up and put them on the perch. If they decide to sleep in the nest boxes just close them off at night and open them up in the morning. They are much easier to handle when they go sleepy and are almost transe like.

I just use Jey's fluid to disinfect and Frontline on the birds. Virkon S is another disinfectant. There are many different sprays for all sorts of critters. Red mite live in the coop and come out at night to feed on the roosting birds hence the reason for keeping the coop clean. Poultry shield and other sprays can be used to get rid of them and other bugs.

I have also made a dust bath which I put a little Diatom powder in so it gets in their feathers when bathing. My dust box is about 2 foot square by 6 inches deep which I fill with soil, sand, compost, ash etc which they love.

Just be very vigilant and check your birds over regularly for parasites. Main areas are under the wings and around the vent. The little devils shift pretty quick so you need a good set of eyes.

About an egg cup of corn per bird is all you need to give them at night.

Wait until you get your first egg, you will be thrilled to bits. I doubt I will ever eat another shop bought egg again as home laid eggs are so much better.

[grumpydad]

jeyes is a general purpose disinfectant. virkon s is a specialised bacterial disinfectant to kill herpes virus and other nasty agents that can transmit disease.
stalosan f is a powder bacterial disinfectant, that can be sprinkled around the run, does the same job as virkon s, but will absorb smells as well, ideal in the run.

hemcore for all the coop, just try to cut down on dust inside the coop as much as you can.

you will also need flubenvet to worm the chucks with, frontline for mites and fleas.

it is possible to use ivermectin on your chucks, for both internal and external parasites, and you can get it from a good vet.

fresh sweetcorn always goes down well, if you buy tinned, make sure it is in water with no added sugar or salt, grapes will be welcomed, most fresh fruit, but not too much citrus.

[otis pony]

straw can be ok, as long as it does not get wet, if it does it can harbour spores in the stems, which can cause respiratory problems in the chucks.

we use, and i know lots more besides who also use, hemcore or aubiose, this is made from a hemp plant, and is readily available from any good animal food or equstrian centre, it is very absorbant, and is great for the coop and nest boxes alike.

we have no paper on the coop floor, just poop scoop the hemcore from under the perch in the morning, it rots down very quickly in a compost bin.

layers meal or mash available all day, no restrictions, only a small amount of grain at night if you need to.
oyster shell and grit available all the time in case they need it , you may find that the smaller grit available from a pets at home or similar is eaten rather than the huge pieces
that you can buy.

they will go to bed on their own, when the realise the coop is where they sleep, make sure they go on the perch and dont sleep on the floor or the nestboxes.

they dont need food or water in the coop at night.

try not to use too much powder in the coop when cleaning, it can harbour diseases, we now only use virkon s, a liquid bacterial disinfectant to spray the coop with, and poultry shield to get rid of red mite.

[otis pony]

Hi, my girls still sleep in the nest box, I have three of them, will it do them any harm? They are approx 25wks, offspring of ex-batts.

[grumpydad]

only if they keep pooing and it sticks over them, and you will need to keep the nest boxes clean for when they lay eggs in there, to make sure the eggs are not covered in poo

[AmandaH]

My ex-batts sleep in their nest box.  I know they're not supposed to but, being ex-batts, I figured I'd let them sleep where they like.  When I let them out in the morning, I just have a two-minute clean-out of the nest box and then, when they lay their eggs, they don't get dirty.

It is very easy to get totally confused by all the different products available but start off with a clean house, fresh water and good quality food.  If you have that then you are off to a flying start anyway.  Buy other bits as you find a need for them (i.e. I have had my girls for a year and have only today made my first mess with gentian violet) or you'll just end up staring in complete bewilderment at a shelf full of stuff that you are not sure what to do with.  Yes, do the preventative stuff such as worming but, for anything else, come back here and ask and one of the Wise Owls, who will point you in the direction of the right product.

Good luck Scrumptious - you'll soon become addicted to your gorgeous feathered friends!   

[Craig69]

I've sort of given up putting mine on the perch at night.
One sleeps on the perch & the other two on the floor.
I pick the poo up everyday & have noticed they don't mess in the nesting boxes which is a bonus.
Keeping the poo to a minimum will help keep the birds clean.
Mine look very clean even though they sleep on the floor.

[otis pony]

I clean the nestbox each morning and give fresh straw when the girls are out for their breakfast, its a 2 minute job, and nice and fresh for when they return to lay, eggs are rarely ever pooy.  Glad I joined the site, reassuring to know I'm doing the right thing!!