The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: G0MZS on May 11, 2009, 11:19:10 pm

Title: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: G0MZS on May 11, 2009, 11:19:10 pm: I have taken in 10 ex-bat hens and want to ask about bed time. I have constructed a coop inside the stable part of my barn to allow them running room until I can allow them to free range. The problem I face is that they don't go back into the coop to sleep and I find four of the huddled together in the corner of the barn. Will it click and they start to go inside the coop or do I have to learn them where bed is?

I want to let them free range soon but feel I have to get this sorted before I do.
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: doganjo on May 11, 2009, 11:23:20 pm: I feed mine inside their coop when I first get new hens. They then learn that is their home and will go back there each night. I also feed them same time every evening. When you first let them out do it in the evening about an hour before normal feeding time. They should come running looking for their tea even if they have fed on vegetation.
Hope that helps
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: Maddox on May 12, 2009, 08:13:23 am: Aaah I remember it well,

I have 6 x barn hens and when I first got them they all huddled toghter in the corner of the shed, dispite having a fab new hen house, so at dusk, i went in and picked them up one by one and put them in there new house, it took just over a month (I nearly gave up) for them to get the idea and now they all take themselves off to bed where they should.

I then let them free range. ;D

Maddox
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: shetlandpaul on May 12, 2009, 08:43:12 am: like any new chuck keep them in there new coop for 24 hours. then make a small run for them until they are ready to go wild and you should not have a problem. Stick a bit of board across the corners as with chicks and turkeys they could end up killing themselves.
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: G0MZS on May 12, 2009, 10:38:35 am: I did keep them in for 24 hours when we first got them and the hen house is in the middle stable pert of our barn that acts as a run, it's not huge but bigger than the average run, I would hazard a guess of 10x7ft. I have kept their feeder topped up all day for the past couple of days to help them settle in and make sure the runts get their fair share but now I will feed them one scoop each in the morning and put some in their hen house at night to try encourage them in. Not all of them stay out and I've notice one sits in the entrance so maybe this is the issue....

I want them to enjoy freedom soon as possible because I feel guilty keeping them in looking out at the fresh new world. Thanks for all your advice.

Picture is of them looking out at the sunshine, made a tear come to the eyes of this grown man :'(

(http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww26/sueandmark09/IMG_8398.jpg)
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: jameslindsay on May 12, 2009, 10:48:16 am: Well done you for giving these poor animals a better life. Such a shame that it is allowed to happen in the first place.
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: doganjo on May 12, 2009, 11:51:26 am: I agree, James - we must do everything in our power to stop it. I am known to stand beside the eggs in Morrisons and Tesco telling people about the where the 'eggs from caged birds' come from. I have put a number of people off buying them. We must support Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall in their fight for the freedom of these poor souls.One of mine that I got last year looked exactly like that one of G0MZS' She looks beautiful now.
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: Maddox on May 13, 2009, 05:57:53 pm: I kept mine in for 48 hours didnt make a blind bit of difference, as long as they know where home is (ish) just pop in every night and put them in there cop, they will soon get the idea (3/4weeks ish)of where they are surposed to sleep.

Maddox
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: G0MZS on May 13, 2009, 06:46:13 pm: Quote from: Maddox on May 13, 2009, 05:57:53 pm
I kept mine in for 48 hours didnt make a blind bit of difference, as long as they know where home is (ish) just pop in every night and put them in there cop, they will soon get the idea (3/4weeks ish)of where they are surposed to sleep.

Maddox

The main thing is that they know where the barn is and that where I keep the hen house. They have been out half the day yesterday and all day today. All the hens stay close to the entrance and love to be out, one had her first dust bath today :) Yesterday I shut the barn door just before bedtime because they were all in and they went mad with me, jumping at the door for a while....

It's one of the most rewarding things I've done.
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: shetlandpaul on May 13, 2009, 07:53:09 pm: amazing what the commercial farming industry can get away with. if the sspca turned up and i had chucks roaming like the bats above i would be done for animal cruelty. we have one missing a lot of her feathers and if i was not treating her i would have killed her. this is just not exceptable. we have enough land for the true free range chicken to produce our eggs. The joke is that the new welfare rules from Europe make there conditions worse. Why is it just the UK that seems to be bothered how we treat the animals.
Title: Re: Advice on ex-bat hens please
Post by: jameslindsay on May 13, 2009, 08:07:14 pm: I have to say that we treat our animals to a very high standard and if for any reason we suspect a problem with any of them the vet is instantly called. Because we are a business and the animals are on "display" it would only take 1 person/trouble maker to see a duck with a few feathers missing or the Pygmy goat with his scabby nose to phone the RSPCA and report us. We do enjoy a brilliant relationship with all the vets in the practice that we use and as we now know the Fife Council lady in charge of Animal Welfare we are pretty well protected. However, on the positive side none of our animals are looking poorly but when Rosie and Toggi first arrived we did think "oh my god" but again the vet was called instantly and they were treated and within 2 months were looking well again.