Anyone remember my old thread asking if any of you ladies keep chickens? Well just wondering if any of you are hatching chicks this year? I will be, just waiting on one of mine to do the work for me and get broody. Just cant beat a sunny day watching wonders of life (fluffy chicks) in your garden amongst the daffs.
Anyone?
Vanessa (five bantams wrecking my lovely muddy garden!!!)
Hi vanessa,
i wasn’t one of your original chicken ladies so-to-speak but we have three geese here and i am hopeing to hatch some of their eggs later this spring. Never tried it before with geese so it is a bit of a learning curve but it would be lovely to have some little fluffy goslings around here. Any idea how long goose eggs take to hatch?
cheers
caroline
No chickens here, but reading your lovely post I’m tempted …
Used to keep chickens but the last one died a couple of years ago at the ripe old age of 9. She was one of the chicks we had in 1997. We had never intended to hatch chicks but then one of our hens disappeared. We thought the fox had got her, but she turned up again with 12 chicks following her! They were lovely, but the problem is always what to do with the male ones. We have been wondering about whether to get some more hens or even some ducks. It is lovely to go down the garden and hear them clucking away and you can’t beat fresh eggs.
Cheers
Gwyn
Not a chicken lady, but I do grow my own veg and salad and I try to recycle like crazy! I find eating things from the garden is lovely - when I was very ill last year my OH would bring in really fresh salad and I was very appreciative of having such healthy organic food. It was his way of trying to get me back on my feet again and I felt very loved and cherished. Funny how the really simple things are the most joyous - I would think it’s the same with keeping chickens and having fresh eggs.
I would love to keep chickens if I had the room. A friend of mine recently bought some ex-battery hens. When they arrived she gave them all a bath and gave each one a name and now they seem very happy enjoying their freedom on her allottment.
Please keep us posted on the chicks. Shame we cant post pictures on here.
Happy Easter.
Oh Vanessa, you lucky girl! We used to have some - a Polish Crested trio, 6 Silkie girls and lots of adorable, tame, cuddly Pekins, who’d perch on an arm like budgies. Sadly lost them all to the fox, who visited whilst I was out on the school run each afternoon for a week. The cresteds were crazy birds who often spent the night high in a tree, playing peacocks. Nothing beats sending children out to collect eggs for their tea, and chicks are high on my list of ‘my favourite things’.
I stupidly accepted the gift of a large hen-house which was said to have been steam-cleaned. It was harbouring red mites and all mine got infested, to my horror and their distress - horrible. If I ever have them again it will be a brand new raised house, with no roofing felt, and I hope I never have to deal with mites on anything again… and I suppose that’s another major consideration after axillary clearance? There is SO much that will never be the same… Lyn xx
Hi all
First of all Caroline: 35 days for Goose eggs!!! There is lots of info on the web.
I would like an eglu Lyn, have you seen them? No wood or felt and very easy to clean out. I managed to clean my big house okay but the top (which I remove) is very heavy and the 25kg bag of sawdust! Hubby did it all for me whilst I was poorly and now I do it all (they are my chickens)!!
Still awaiting for Lucy, Honey, Bossy, Marjorie, or Winnie to go broody in the meanwhile lots of lovely eggs.
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa
I’m not sure about the Eglu - apart from the lurid colours, I wonder if they’d get damp or if they’re really that well-ventilated? I’d probably like them better if they did them in brown! The little ones are a bit silly, too fiddly, but the big one is a better shape. I prefer a walk-in shed, really, (no bending!) but at least I’d like any house to have a short, wide ramp instead of the long, narrow ones that large fowl find difficult; wheels to move it around; a slide-out tray for cleaning under the perches; nest boxes I can get to without bending. We had electric netting sectioning off a part of the garden but it wasn’t really successful, as soon as the grass grew around it the shock diminished, and the strong winds here used to bend the posts over so the fox actually jumped it. We gave up and let them free-range the garden and paddock, but of course then the fox had no deterrent as the dog lives indoors! Needs a lot of planning, doesn’t it? I hope you have fluffy bundles soon… Lyn xx (love the names!!)
Hi Vanessa,
We now have 12 lovely white goose eggs in the incubator - just hope the daddy goose has done his stuff or that’s an aweful ot of scrambled egg!
cheers
caroline
Wow, lucky you Caroline and Good Luck. Are you going to candle them occasionally to see if anything develops inside? Let me know how many are fertile as you go along. 35 days is an awfully long time now. Do Geese have to go broody too to incubate their eggs? I cant believe they will sit on 12 as they are massive arent they.
Still waiting for one of mine to go broody. Dont have an incubator and dont want chicks in the house with two cats so I will have to let nature run it’s course. Nice long sunny days to come…
Vanessa
I have 9 Araucana eggs under my broody ‘Honey the strawberry blonde’, and 3 in a borrowed tiny incubator. They are due on the 5th May. So eggciting!!! Chicks in the garden, yeah…
How are the Goose eggs Caroline?
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa,
Afraid the goose eggs turned out to be no good when we ‘candled’ them (starting to sound like i know what i’m takling about ha ha!) . Not sure if the incubator was too hot or the eggs were infertile a shame. One of the geese has gone broody and made herelf a nest with seven eggs - perhaps we will have more success when it’s done natures way - hope so. Hope your chicks hatch sucessfully it’ll be so much fun for your children.
cheers
caroline
Hi there,
I was just wondering where the chicken thread had gone.
We got our chickens on Good Friday but are not going to do the chick thing yet. We got a Rhode Island red (Marigold) a magpie (Black Bess) a white Sussex (Lucy) and a Maran (Miranda) and they are dutifully earning their keep at the cost of an egg per day each. Yesterday we had omelettes for lunch with purple sprouting brocolli from the garden and home made bread. Quite delicious! My daughter runs home from school each afternoon to collect the eggs. The contents of our recycling bin are now far less as any waste food goes straight to the birds, (much to our dog’s consternation as he used to benefit from all the left-overs). They are so therapeutic and delightful, I would recommend keeping a few to anyone. think we may be getting a few more soon…
Jenny
Hello
I would just like to say that I have been keeping chickens for about 4years I have 7 at the moment all different. We had some chicks last year (I had to get some eggs off of a friend 'cos I don’t have a cockerel) but unfortunately we ended up with 3 cockerels so we had to find homes for them!!! So not doing chicks this year.
I love my chickens when I was first diagnosed last year all I was worrying about is who’s going to look after my chickens (never mind my children)
I am getting 6-7 eggs most days and sell a few to my friends. My son has made me some labels for my egg boxes.
They do seem to be getting very popular and I can see why.
Caroline
Well we have three lovely little chicks. Life is fluffy! Six more due Sat/Sunday and lots of pipping from them as they rock in the incubator. They seem to like Jeremy Vine on the radio! Loving watching all this wonderful life going on. Mother nature is brilliant.
Will let you know the final outcome after Monday.
xx Vanessa
Oh so far the chicks are called: Dusty, Cocky Locky (though if it turns out to be a girl Henny Penny) and the last one is called Sunny. My girls age 8 and 5 are to blame for these names. xx
Hi Vanessa,
We now have two little fluffy chicks a white one called vanilla and a stripy one called chockie chip ( my children eat a lot of ice cream!) It is so lovely to have baby animals around the place isn’t it - kind of gives you a feeling of hope. Have you tried giving yours mashed boiled egg - sort of canablisim i know but they go mad over it!
cheers
caroline
Well we ended up with seven: Dusty, Cocky Locky, Sid, Sparkle, Cherpy, Singy, and Fluff. Kids eh. Yes mine like the boiled egg too… Got my name on the Bournemouth two day forum, yahoooooo holiday!!
We have three lovely hens, a Sussex, a Moran and a Speckled. Used to have another speckled but she popped her clogs last month. We miss having 4 and are thinking of a Skyline. We love the eggs, they have a big run and house so we don’t let them into the garden. I am afraid they will stray. Haven’t named them yet!
GraceT