Chicken Update

[Shelli]

Hi everyone

thought you might like an update on our "girls".

Last weekend we had our first experience of the negative side of keeping animals.

The hens free range in the garden at the moment - they are doing a spendid job fertilising the ground and eating all the ground elder around the fruit trees. Last saturday (the 8th Nov) my daughter and I were in the house. I was having a cleaning frenzy upstairs - When I took the vac downstairs to empty the bins there was a loud knock at the front door. I answered and there on the doorstep was a chap from the village who I had not yet met. He looked very sheepish and upset as he told me that one of his dogs had got into our garden and got one of our hens. the dog is a 4 month old springer spaniel - the neighbour didn't know we had chickens in the garden as, even though they live almost opposite us, they dont regularly walk past our house to exercise their dogs - (if he had known he would have put the dog on the lead as they came down the main road). I was in shock as we walked around the back of the house to where the sad little body lay - it was awful - it was my little boy's hen Shelly - the smallest of the 4, neck broken, dead.

it wasn't a great way to meet the neighbour - however he was a very nice man - very genuinely sorry and offered to replace the hen (that's great I said - but we'll need a bigger hen hut - how are you at laying eggs !! - this broke the tension a bit).

I didn't know whether to tell a white lie to the children or give them the truth - I opted for the truth - my little boy wasn't home - he and dad were out so I told daughter 1st - she wanted to see the body and she had a little cry. she was very upset for her brother too. Although her tears were upsetting i was pleased that she showed empathy for how her brother would feel (my daughter has autism and this can be a tricky emotion for her).
I phoned the OH and told him what had happened so that he could begin to explain to our son on the way home. OH called me back with our son's instructions for the funeral service.

Son was very upset and we dug a hole and had a little ceremony - he said goodbye and was very sad for his pet hen.

I dug out a leaflet from the place we bought the hens and my son and OH went to see our neighbour - the neighbour was great with our son and son met the dog and saw that it was just a pup - son left the leaflet with neighbours with details of the type of hen so that they could contact the suppliers.

The next day I was out for the day on a breadmaking course. When I got back in the evening there was much excitement from the children. The neighbour had arrived that afternoon carrying a big box and presented my son with a replacement hen - they had travelled a 40 mile round trip on a Sunday morning to get it for him (what incredibly nice people). - The new hen was MASSIVE compared to the other 3 with a bigger comb and wattles - so son has named her Big Bird!

She has settled in well and after a few days of homing is now out with the others in the garden. My son was highly delighted this weekend as his new hen has given us our first Egg !! - we fried it this morning and all dipped into the yolk - delicious.

we feel very pleased to have had such a positive outcome from a sad situation - and are thankful to our thoughtful and sensitive neighbours who have shown themselves to be lovely people definitely worth getting to know.

Shelli X

[Oola]

Lovely pic shelli - is it a bovan nera?

RIP Shelly, I imagine whatever happened was very quick and up until then I imagine she would have had a fantastic life. That's what really counts.

It's great that something positive has come out of this situation. We had a rottweiler pup break into our garden, into the rabbit and guinea pig run. When my sister and I got home from school our Mum had to tell us what had happened, and I just remember seeing my sister get really upset, which upset me a lot too.

The policeman came to our house and asked us if we wanted to take any action or request to have the dog 'destroyed'. My sister and I were horrified and made it very clear that it wasn't the dog's fault, it was the owner, if anyone at all.

Although your neighbour made a mistake and was a bit presumptive, it's great to hear that they were genuinely sorry and made such an effort to make it up to you. I don't think that happens nearly enough these days, as shown on jazzactivist's thread. Also, it sounds as though you played a large part in being gracious and accepting when many people would have held a grudge or flown off into a rage. Also I think it's great that your son and daughter got to understand the whole story, meet the puppy.

Although it was sad, it's a great example of two decent people just being...well, decent to each other.

Hope you're enjoying Big Bird's eggs. We're probably going to get a couple more hens quite soon, looking forward to having some eggs again as Maureen has decided to stop laying, probably for the rest of her moult and throughout the rest of the winter. Yoko hasn't laid for over a year and a half!

[eleanor2]

arrr shelli what a lovely story.i know it was sad but it was also very positive.how nice of your neighbour to be so thoughtful.how nice of ou and family to be so understanding.that is a good way to be .all happy in the end.bet the neighbour will nip round to se how the hen is doing too.

[Shelli]

thanks Oola -No she's not a Bovan Nera - she's a Black Rock (mother plymouth barred rock and father Rhode Island red) - she's got lovely colouring - many more brown feathers than the others -

thanks E2 - he will be very welcome (but he can leave pickle the dog at home!!)

[Shelli]

Looking at the new hen again Oola I can see why you said Bovan Nera - shes very much browner than the others and in my chicken book the colour seems to be the only real difference between the black rock and bovan - I had thought the parentage was different between the two types but on checking again both are crossed Rhode Island Red and Plymouth Barred rock - so now I am wondering??

The top of her beak is shorter than the bottom beak as well - OH said that it looked damaged - but on closer inspection it's intact but short.
- doesnt seem to stop her eating and she is healthy - wonder if it's a breed variation - do you know?

Shelli X

[keepersdaughter]

Lovely, though sad story of the poor little hen Shelli. Glad to hear your neighbour did the right thing by owning up and taking responsibility for replacing the lost hen.

Horrible, but an important lesson for your children in all areas of dealing with responsibility, loss of a pet, etc. So glad to hear everything worked out well and your hens are accepting the newcomer into the fold.

[Shelli]

Thanks KD - I was just glad it all worked out so positively for the children - and the neighbours have shown themselves to be thoroughly decent people - so have added them to the Christmas drinks invite !!

Shelli X

[Oola]

Hi shelli, it sounds as if she's had some 'de-beaking' - takes the short sharper point of the beak off. Our ex-batts have it, sometimes the de-beaking is sloppy and they do a bad job. Do you know if your breeder de-beaks? Is the beak quite blunt at the end? I know that a lot of people think it's cruel and it's not favoured in a lot of places, I don't know enough about it to form a conclusive opinion on it yet.

I think Black Rock and Bovans Nera may be the same hybrid bird; or at least, very similar as there is a Black Star by Meadowsweet too: http://www.meadowsweetpoultry.co.uk/poultry.htm

Might be one those things, the RIR and RIW cross is also known as the ISA Brown, Ginger Ranger, Meadosweet Ranger, Gold Star etc. (I think).

[Oola]

Actually, thinking about it, it's probably just something to do with breeder names, e.g. Meadowsweet call it the Black Star, whereas Bovans (who I suspect are a breeder) call it Bovans Nera...possibly?

[sunflower]

So glad that 'Big Bird' has settled in her new home and has presented you with an egg.

[Shelli]

Hi shelli, it sounds as if she's had some 'de-beaking' - takes the short sharper point of the beak off. Our ex-batts have it, sometimes the de-beaking is sloppy and they do a bad job. Do you know if your breeder de-beaks? Is the beak quite blunt at the end? I know that a lot of people think it's cruel and it's not favoured in a lot of places, I don't know enough about it to form a conclusive opinion on it yet.

The breeder doesn't de-beak - the others came from the same place - she may have been injured before we got her though.

Yes the meadowsweet black star looks to be the same hybrid but to add to the confusion Meadowsweet say on their homepage that they are now agents for Black Rocks - ?!!

[Shelli]

Hi Oola - got clarification from the chicken lady at the weekend (don't ask why we were back there!! - long story) -the BlackStar/Rock differential is to do with licenses - theres a chap in scotland who holds the license for Black rocks and he authorises various breeders around the country to produce the hybrid under the Black Rock name - so it's like a brand name. Other breeders can produce the same hybrid but can't call it a Black Rock - they have to use another name like Bovans have.

While I was there I took a look at a group of ex batts that Rick had bought . They were going to be sold for £1.00 each to an Indian Halal meat merchant. They are only 1 year old - Rick bought the whole vanful and drove off just as the meat merchant turned into the farmyard - what a horrendous state they were in - and the smell was pure ammonia - my eyes were watering and hair bleaching just after a few minutes - they have had them for 2 weeks and they are now able to stand up and move around - Never have I seen anything so pitiful in my life - what we humans do to animals in the name of production is frankly disgusting. I will NEVER EVER eat a processed cake again (I think that was possibly the only place where there was a chance i could be eating a battery farmed egg).

shelli X

[Oola]

Hi shelli...yep I can well believe the state those ex-batts were in. Ours weren't too great (apart from Maureen) and I can safely say that getting them and watching them blossom into 'proper' hens was one of the most rewarding things I've done in my life.

I think us having ex-batt hens has made a lot of people around us aware of just how bad the conditions they're kept in are. Good on your friend for getting them before the meat merchant.

You might want to check everything you buy - and I mean, almost everything - as it's surprising where dried egg, egg white and normal eggs can appear in ingredient lists. It's a minefield and makes shopping take a bit longer, but ultimately worth it I think.

Thanks for clearing up the name issue, I suspected it was along those lines but it's nice to know for sure.