COLLECTED OUR HENS!

[sunflower]

Well, what an afternoon and evening. We took a three and half hour round trip to collect our hens this evening in torrential rain. We set off to collect 3 and returned home with 5 hens !!!
We have named four of them after my family who emigrated to Canada in the 1900's to start a new life. So thought that was fitting for ex bats hens. Their names are, Suki, Alice, Annie and May. The fifth hen is called Lucy. Out of the 300 hens rescued she is the tiniest....weighs next to nothing and no feathes on head or breast. We have'nt actually really SEEN them as it was getting dark when we collected them and pitch black when we arrived home. I managed to quickly dust each one with red mite powder before tucking them up in their penthouse cube. One of them is really feisty...fighting us all the way and a very loud cluck. She will be called Annie,as my Aunt was feisty too.....only without the cluck.lol. Looking forward to tomorrow when I can see the girls

[franbee]

Ooooo Sunflower, how exciting! I bet you can't wait for dawn, to see them in daylight!

[Oola]

WOw!!!! Excellent! For some reason I thought it was tomorrow that you were picking them up.

What a miserable day to go and get them! Oh well, I'm sure they'll be fine in the conservatory, in time they'll realise that this isn't what weather is :) How have you got on today? Be sure to take loads of pics, you won't believe their transformation in a few weeks. BTW my name is Lucy ;) I think I may have a favourite here lol.

Can't wait for your update to find out how they're all getting on. Mine are tucked up in the greenhouse together today, not too interested in going out thanks to the weather. Have you had your first eggs yet??????

YEY!

[Crocus]

This is going to call for very interesting conversation for us - two hen ladies! We would like to hear anything and everything about the hens' progress Sunflower. Fortunately you have experienced Oola to help where its needed! Congratulations with your hens!

[jazzactivist]

Congratulations, sunflower. It mst be so exciting to have your hensat last, and will be even more exciting to watch them develop. You have done a marvellous act in giving them a loving home, so they are lucky girls. Hopefully they will reward to with lovely, fresh eggs and lots of entertainment.

[sunflower]

Well, I have spent a lovely day on and off with our hens. The first hen to venture from the house was Lucy who, at the moment, looks like she been half plucked with her plucker taking a coffee break! She was so hungry that she has'nt stopped eating. Eventually, all five were in the run and learnt very fast how to use the glub....teats where water is obtained. They are all very sweet and quite docile. Even when they saw Kayte my collie for the first time, they clucked their disapproval then ignored her. And to top it all we have had three enormous eggs...2 laid in the nest box and one this afternoon in the run. One of them weighed 3 ounzes. Will get pics n here as soon as possible. Thanks for your interest.

[Oola]

EGGGGGGGggggsellent!

I remember when ours first saw the cats - that was when Tubby was alive and he was the size of a (big) small dog! They sort of peered at him, clucked a bit and then ignored him. I think he was more wary of them than them of him!

Can't wait to see the pics and here daily updates of how they're getting on :)

I imagine that Lucy has probably been stuck at the back of the cage and has had to fight for her food, so getting to it freely has probably been a bit of a welcome revelation :)

[sunflower]

Hi Oola, I know I'm not supposed to have favourites, but Lucy is really adorable. She is so friendly. I thought that last night, Feisty Annie could be top hen in the henhouse...but maybe not. The other hens were taking the lead from Lucy today.
We'll have to wait to see what tomorrow brings.

[Oola]

Any pics yet? ;)

We had to take 2 of ours to the vet, one has sterile EYP but the vet seems to think she's getting on ok with it at the mo, and another we've discovered has some sort of 'mass' inside her that could be blocking her egg functions. We've got to wait a month or so to see how she gets on with her antibiotics and then she might have to have a minor surgery to discover what it is. Could be a tumour (although our vet says she's quite young so it could be something else), a funny egg that's wedged or caused an abscess (they 'wall off' things like that and go on as they were) or something entirely different. Poor Cyn, no wonder she keeps getting unwell.

I would advise you to look around for a vet that really knows about chickens, as it can make all the difference. Our vet has been good with our hens, but it took us three goes to find a vet that seemed to know what they were talking about! :)

[sheddie]

Well done Sunflower on getting your chooks, hope to hear about their progress. X

[Crocus]

My goodness Sunflower, your girls are quite good eh? Laid eggs, the works!
It seems they're very happy with their living accommodations! xx