I am getting some oven readies next week

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

I am so excited, my mum is going to knit jumpers for them as it is far too cold to have no feathers.
Actually I havent called the rescue coordinator yet but there are still places. going to get 3 as 3 is always a good number for company isnt it.
anyone got any pearls of wisdom I should know about?

Message withdrawn

ahhh
youre a Good Woman.
i should get some exbatts.
lol at jumpers!

that's fab - I'm currently coveting cubes and wondering about blue egg layers

My mate has got 5 hens from the Hen Rescue Trust. She did have 6 but sadly on died last week, she only had her for 5 days but she was a very weak chicken .

The Hen Rescue place she goes to will only rehome them in multiples of 3. She said she had to queue to get them and then you get what you are given so to speak. The second trio were in MUCH worse condition than her first 3.

Was about to come and mention the cold. One thing I'd like to mention is that they may be quite distressed at first and freaked out by the amount of space they have. Also ime they screech a lot at first (a hangover from struggling to get their voices heard) but this wears off after about 3 or 4 weeks when they get more used to being in a small group.

You may need to show them how to get in and out of their coop, as they may be unused to anything but horizontal, and also they may not know how to perch and may need showing for a week or so.

Apart from that, don't expect them to lay until their feathers are fully returned- they are using all the protein for feathers, and that's why they are chucked (snigger) out by the farm when they start moulting. It may take a couple of months for them to start laying again, but when they do they will lay well.

I've found my oven readies came with lice, so having no feathers may be a boon. Honestly I would treat them against parasites and worms as soon as you get them. Also they seem more prone to leg mites etc.. Apart from that, they're lovely and always seem fascinated by trouser hem seams...

Yes, mates hens all huddle together in the corner of the roosting box. Poor little things.

awwww, feel so sad thinking about the lives they had, when I look at our mrs bokboks bokkalokkas doing their thing in the garden it really brings it all home.

mine were out all day yesterday, they normally only get a couple of hours because I felt so sad looking at the pictures of ex batts.
they are going in a rablu to start with that a very nice lady is loaning me. they will go in the cube with the big girls in about a month when they are up to full strength. I dont care if I never get any eggs from them.
I am trying to work out the logistics of next week now as dd1 has dancing class and a party as well as hopefully getting the girls, I think I may need to call in the back ups.
I was goingt o get red mite powder as I heard that can be a problem and I already have lice stuff as we had an infestation last year.
wormer is a good idea though I hadnt thought of that, actually my girls could probably do with a dose as well.
cant wait to see there jumpers
I know they will be ok in the rablu but am worried about how they will deal with thew ladder once they go into the cube, I suppose we will sort it when the time comes.
I am so excited.

Oh and I will be needing help with names.
currently on the shortlist are
marth
rose and donna

linda
mary and
pam (my mum gran and aunty who always bicker)
me and dh thought that would be really funny.

or valentines themed names,
juliette
honey
need a 3rd.

oopsy daisy
iggle piggle
makka pakka

sockmonster, I've just bought some wormer and could send you a scoop if you like - I think I only used a small teaspoonfull for my two girls, just a grape with a slit cut in it and a pinch of flubenvet in each grape every day for a week for each girl.

Like the names - hard to choose!

(my girls are on my profile)

they are gorgeous. my girls are currently digging the flower bed that I have exposed by pulling down a pointless fence which hgas been there fr 11 years. was stressing about getting rid of the fence as only have small car, so dh and I stamped on it to break it all up and had a massive binfire last night, was the most fun I have had in ages. Thanks for the offer but I think I ought to buy some (plus might be a bit like anthrax and royal mail may be scared ) I am so excited, I cant believe you just mention something on the omlet site and by the next day everyone has organised it for you. Is definatly my 2nd favourite forum (although I think most of us chickeny ladies are there too anyway arent we )

How lovely! We're done the omlet thing and put a clear shower curtain over the eglu run ready for the snow - at least the girls will have somewhere dryish to scrat around whilst we're at work - they freerange when we're around due to cats and foxes.

pmsl at the royal mail thingy!

sockmonster,don't know where in the country you are but if you're in the NW and if you're anywhere near Frodsham/Kingsley in Cheshire there's a suppliers called www.4petsupplies.co.uk/ & they sell flubenvet for around £15! They also do the organic omega 3 feed which my girls are currently on.

can I ask where they have been rescued from, neglectful owners or elsewhere?

Usually from the jaws of death or the sausage factory, CarGirl. Egg farmers stock their sheds with 6 month old hens that lay very reliably for their first season (ie pretty much an egg a day), but dispose of them all at 18 months of age when they go into their first moult (they stop laying while rebuilding new feathers). Since the average life expectancy of even these chickens is around 5-6 years (much longer for ones not bred specifically to lay lay lay), you can see they are indeed being "rescued" for another few years happy life.

I see, our garden is too small to have chickens although it would be nice to.

OMG just got confirmation that I have 3 girls to collect on Saturday. Right now I need to order all the stuff I need for them.