[ActionFlack]

Hello everyone,
I stumbled across this site in search for information on keeping hens and have enjoyed reading some of the forum items.
I have just ordered a hen coop and once it arrives in a few days I am hoping to get a few rescue hens (two or three to start with).  I'm new to this, so was hoping some of the experienced members would be kind enough to share some advice on what food/medicines/treatments etc I should look to get.
I've read a few articles etc about keeping hens and have a book or two, but I'm a great believer in speaking to others who have hands-on experience and have learnt through their own mistakes, trials and tribulations.
It's a bit of an open ended request I know, but any help would be hugely appreciated and willingly accepted.

Thanks in advance,

Adam

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Adam and welcome.

You will find so much info on this site regarding chicken rearing, and if I was to write down everything I could think of for you, I'd be here all night! 

Have a read of the info on these pages:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?board=13.0

I admire you for wanting to rescue hens, but please bear in mind, you need to be quite hardened in a way.  They often come to you in quite a state, some of them have health problems and don't live very long, whilst others may be very stressed.  Most of them don't lay many eggs either as they are all 'egged out' which is why the farmers get rid of them.

Saying that, if you think you can handle it, rescued hens can be very rewarding.  It is wonderful to see them taking their first steps outside.  I've had some who wouldn't come out of the coop for 4 days!

[grinling]

Put up your location as someone nearby might be able to help you.
Make sure you have a secure area which is dry and rat/fox proof.
Have feeders which can hang and easy clean.

[ActionFlack]

Thanks for the thoughts GrannieAnnie. 
I have to confess that in one of my first jobs at high school I held a weekend job working in a chicken farm - it was one of those horrendous 10,000+ chickens in a shed places     
The thought and memory of them never seeing daylight and living only a year or so before being sent away, being crammed in quite horrible conditions and their general poor treatment/health has stayed with me ever since.  Annoyingly I was brought up on a small holding and don't think I took the time to recognise the difference in welbeing between intensive farmed animals and free(er) range livestock.  Whilst it won't change the battery farmed culture, adopting a few rescue hens will (I hope) improve the lives of those few...If I get some eggs, great. If not atleast I'll enjoy some happy hens exploring the garden... (Hopefully this will also help alleviate some of the guilt thats followed me over the years)

Grinling -
I'm in Norfolk - do I put these details in my member profile?  (probably a silly question- I'll take a look after posting this!)
I'm assured by the coop makers that it will be rodent/fox proof - which is handy as I live in the countryside and there's plenty of them (and pheasants) about.
I've got a hanging feeder and water pot on order - but I think in my haste I've probably got ones that are too small (1/1.5L I think).  I may get another set and have 2 of each? or a bigger one of each

I've had a look in my local pet store (Jollies) who sell some chicken feed (layers pellets) and accessories.  Does this seem okay to feed them, and are the grit pots a good idea or is loose grit better? (pictures att) or should I be looking for a specialst/better supplier?  I want to feed them good quality, non GM food and avoid chemically enhanced stuff etc.   They will have room to forage in the garden.  I plan to have 2 pens set up, one that they will use immediately and the other will be grass, seeded with (fast) growing things like lettuce, cabbage, raddish, cress, spinach etc.  They'll then be let into this pen once some growth is there and I'll seed the old pen and keep rotating them so there should be plenty of greenery and grubs to keep them going...I'm also planning to let them roam the garden once they've settled in and when I'm there to keep an eye on them.

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Adam.

Going to Norfolk tomorrow hopefully!  OH has promised me a trip to Bircham Mill, and Hunstanton and maybe I'll get my little visit to Norfolk lavendar if I promise to buy him a coffee! lol

If you are West Norfolk, take a look at Bearts of Stowbridge.  Their chicken feed prices, even retail are quite good.

The battery hens are usually fed on layers mash, but when we first got ours, we were told by the rescue co-ordinator that they soon get used to pellets, and as pelleets are slightly less messy, that is what we've always done.

Got our first rescues ooooohhhh about 15 years ago, but those ones were actually rescued from a free range farm which wasn't so bad.  Since then the ones we've had were ex battery.  Yes it is awful the way they are kept, but we as consumers must take a lot of the blame as over the years we have demanded cheaper and cheaper food.

Hopefully now more and more people are coming to realise the cost of thsi cheap food to the animals involved.  But I will get off my soapbox now, sorry!!

Some people use grit pots, some people scatter it around.  I've actually got mine in a very expensive feedeer that I bought last year as a try out, but it is too small, although it carries 10kg of feed, for the 20 hens if they all want to eat at the same time, like first thing in the morning!

We use 10kg feeders and 12 litre drinkers for our girls, but if you say want up to half a dozen birds, then a 5kilo feeder and 6 litre drinker is ample.

Again everyone is different.  Some peeps on here use the smaller sizes but thinking about the 1.5 kg feeders I've got, I only use them for chicks.

DEFRA recommend at least 1sq metre run space per bird, but we try to get people to give them at least 2 sq metres each.  Do you have enough room for that?  Would be lovely if you can arrange it so that you can rotate runs.

[ActionFlack]

Norfolk Lavender is great - but the last time I went there I spent a fortune on dozens on different lavender plants!
I'm in central Norfolk, near Dereham so thats a bit of journey (though not too far).  We've just moved to a house with a large garden, space shouldn't be a problem - I'm aiming for 2 to 4 metres per bird min...

I think I need bigger feeders... 

[ANHBUC]

Welcome to the site Adam and don't feel guilty.  As GA says we are all responsible but I don't think many people knew the needs of farmed animals.  Things are slowly improving so we all look forward rather than to past practices.

Well done in rescuing some hens.  You are better having more than one drinker and feeder out in case of spillage.  Even ones hung up seem to get knocked about and emptied.

I can recommend THESE style of drinkers.  I have one large one and two small ones as well as some of the normal 1 and 6 litre drinkers and feeders.  Have a good search for the best price and do check the postage costs, some don't charge if you have a larger order.   

[grinling]

A rat/fox can gnaw and pull apart most house unless concrete. Raise the house on bricks to raise it further off the ground as diggings are more noticable. Enclose the house in a run area, some prople use weld mesh, I use chicken wire depending on fox location. The wire needs to be dug into the soil at least a spade or 2 depth, mine also comes out a spade depth, so L shape.
The run with the house has a roof and food and water is suspended, I have 1 feeder and 2 water., there is another attached space which is roofed with pea/bean netting. It did have grass/spinach, but 5 hens(2 are bantams) and it disappeared quickly. They roam the garden.
If you add to the hens at a later date the new ones will need quarantine for a few weeks.

[ActionFlack]

Thank you for the information.
I'm waiting to hear back from a hen rescue place I've contacted. I also work with someone who ive found out in conversation breeds and keeps chickens!!  He's offered me a couple of "Appenzeller spitzhauben" hens. The pictures of this breed look really good and he's been giving me some advice. It will be a few weeks before they are ready, so I've got some thinking to do - ie do I get them and then introduce rescues or visaversa, or just one or the other... And I still haven't got the coop yet!!

[Sassy]

It is unlikely that you will be able to coordinate your rescues with these other youngsters. If you are going to keep them together the youngsters will need to have been vaccinated as the rescues will have been. It is not good practice to keep vaccinated and unvaccinated birds together. If they are all vaccinated you can introduce them to each other following a period of 2/3 weeks quarantine as long as you do not try to introduce only one to an established flock which is more difficult. To be able to quarantine this does mean having the housing etc to keep them separately first.

[GrannieAnnie]

Thank you for the information.
I'm waiting to hear back from a hen rescue place I've contacted. I also work with someone who ive found out in conversation breeds and keeps chickens!!  He's offered me a couple of "Appenzeller spitzhauben" hens. The pictures of this breed look really good and he's been giving me some advice. It will be a few weeks before they are ready, so I've got some thinking to do - ie do I get them and then introduce rescues or visaversa, or just one or the other... And I still haven't got the coop yet!!

I had a trio of Spitzhaubens, lovely birds, but the cockerel hated me!  Nice eggs too, not large, and they go off lay a bit in the winter being pure breeds.

I love their hairdo's.  We called our cockerel Beksy as it reminded me of that haircut David Beckham had that time! lol

[ActionFlack]

Yeah their 'punk hair' looks funny
Are the vaccinations a standard thing that a vet does, or is it applied in the food?

[GrannieAnnie]

Normally vaccinations aren't done by backyard keepers as they come in large doses.  Vets won't normally vaccinate chickens for the same reason as once opened the vaccine needs to be used up within an hour.

When I was breeding chickens I did try vaccinating, but then the vaccine only came in doses of 1000.  That wasn't so bad for me, but no good if you only have 3 or 4 chickens.

Most vaccines start being given at day old too.  If you are lucky, you will buy from a breeder who does vaccinate, but then you shouldn't really mix vaccinated and non vaccinated chickens as the non vaccinated ones can get ill from the others who have been vaccinated!

Have I lost you yet?  Vaccinations for poultry are a bit of a minefield. 

If your housekeeping is good, and you worm your chickens regularly and keep their coops nice and clean, then you shouldn't have any problems.

We have one member on here who bought 'vaccinated' chickens, and lost 5 of them to mareks which they should have been vaccinated for. 

If you do buy from a breeder who says they vaccinate, then ask for the vaccination details.  When I did mine, I typed out little notes for the buyers telling them what vaccinations the chickens had.  when it was given and even the batch numbers so any problems and I could trace the vaccine back to the manufacturer!    Many don't do that, so how do you know if they have been vaccinated, or what they've been vaccinated for?

So it's really not worth it, they could catch something they haven't been vaccinated for.

Oh and I forgot to say the Appenzellars don't take kindly to being penned up, they get very skittish if they are not free range, and they can fly over 6ft easily!   

[ActionFlack]

I will check with my friend regarding vaccinations. I was going to clip their wings to stop any great escape escapades....
I've put a picture of the area I am thinking of letting them roam and roost in. Once they've been there a little while ill move them to the other side of the garden to let the ground recoup. I've got two areas of about this size put aside and one that's a bit smaller (about half that size) that needs sorting and could be used as a temporary spot. My neighbour is going to let me have a large dog kennel he has which I'm going to set up as a safe space Attached to their coop (i wouldnt keep a guinnea pig in the run that came with it, it's so small! - and was advertised as for 5 hens? The coop and nest boxes seem fine though).  Ill use this kennel space for any short periods if I can't let them roam for any reason.

Picture fixed by Aunty

[ANHBUC]

Your photo is upside down. 

Ah, I remember having grass where we keep our hens!