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Post by 4pygmies on Mar 16, 2008 13:19:50 GMT 1
He says he likes animals but I have come to the conclusion he merely tolerates them...I shall keep nagging about the kitten though.....I might just get it anyway! Wouldn't that be terrible? ;D
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Post by debbiem on Mar 16, 2008 14:45:29 GMT 1
Oh you will definitely get eggs! They are egg factories after all - but they do have the occasional day off. My two old girls last year, who I think must have been over 9 years old at that point, were still laying 3/4 eggs a week all summer. Glad Lola is better. I still haven't decided whether to get any more or not.......I can't decide whether it would upset Hilda or give her a new lease of life.. :  Any sign of the rodent hordes yet? ;D I think with some new young hens Hilda would probably be a right old dragon at first and exercise her matriarchal authority left right and centre, but then when that's all over I think it'll be a happy little group with nobody in any doubt about who's boss. And she'll have more hens for company - go on, do it! Before she starts talking goat. ;D ;D Our hens are breeds and cost £9 each, wormed and vaccinated. We've always got ours from a place in Devon near Sidmouth and they've always been good healthy hens so it pays to shop around. The PP mag has a list of breeders in the back of it. I haven't had the mag for yonks but I've still got some old copies - shall I look and see which breeders they have in the Norfolk area? It's probably on the forum somewhere too.......YES! That's a good idea, you could advertise on the forum, they have a section for it, and see who in the area's got what you want and for how much. The prices vary so much from breeder to breeder. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Mar 16, 2008 16:07:20 GMT 1
I'm not allowed though......  No more animals.....I don't seem to be allowed to do anything but housework, childcare, work and the occasional bit of gardening if I'm lucky these days... not fun is it? And he wonders why I'm grumpy? ;D Thanks for the thought though Debbie X |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 16, 2008 17:31:28 GMT 1
He says he likes animals but I have come to the conclusion he merely tolerates them...I shall keep nagging about the kitten though.....I might just get it anyway! Wouldn't that be terrible? ;D I remember when I was about 7, Mom and I went to one of her friends house for a bonfire party and came home with a kitten. When we got home we snook in and hid in the hall, Mom opened the door a little and shoved the kitten into the sitting room, Dad wasn't impressed!!! ;D But Marmalade stayed, and turned into a big fluffy ginger tom ;D Then Mom started complaining about his hair all over the place after a year or so and gave him away to my Nan's neighbor! (she couldn't have kids so he was her 'baby' and very pampered) I went on hunger strike in protest, I think it lasted 20 Min's, but Dad never stopped going on about what a great cat Marmalade was, it became a family joke,'ohh stop bringing marmalade up' |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 16, 2008 20:55:24 GMT 1
He says he likes animals but I have come to the conclusion he merely tolerates them...I shall keep nagging about the kitten though.....I might just get it anyway! Wouldn't that be terrible? ;D I remember when I was about 7, Mom and I went to one of her friends house for a bonfire party and came home with a kitten. When we got home we snook in and hid in the hall, Mom opened the door a little and shoved the kitten into the sitting room, Dad wasn't impressed!!! ;D But Marmalade stayed, and turned into a big fluffy ginger tom ;D Then Mom started complaining about his hair all over the place after a year or so and gave him away to my Nan's neighbor! (she couldn't have kids so he was her 'baby' and very pampered) I went on hunger strike in protest, I think it lasted 20 Min's, but Dad never stopped going on about what a great cat Marmalade was, it became a family joke,'ohh stop bringing marmalade up' I remember reading a big picture book about a ginger cat called Marmaduke when I was a child...sigh...I loved that book... ;D I wasn't allowed a pet when I was a child...my brother had a dog, but it had to be put down when it had 'hard-pad' ...the whole family was distraught altho I only have a dim memory of it as I was only 4 years old at the time... My OH wouldn't let me have any pets when we got married either, and in those days I was VERY subservient and allus did as I was told (ooooh but I've changed)...then he went to work abroad leaving me at home with a 3 year old and a baby...in the middle of a town miles from family and friends...so within about 2 months WE HAD A CAT!...and the house has only been without a pet for about 2 months in the past 28 years or so ;D |
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Post by Sleepy on Mar 17, 2008 10:00:50 GMT 1
I'm not allowed though...... No more animals.....I don't seem to be allowed to do anything but housework, childcare, work and the occasional bit of gardening if I'm lucky these days... not fun is it? And he wonders why I'm grumpy? ;D Thanks for the thought though Debbie X Is this relationship modelled on a victorian system? I thought when a couple get married they become equal partners. Or is it me that is now becoming old fashioned? |
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Post by 4pygmies on Mar 17, 2008 10:28:17 GMT 1
It was an equal arrangement (I think...although my OH has never acknowledged the need for housework : ) until smallest came along - and OH started spending a lot of time with Orcs in pubs.....seems to have got a bit Victorian now doesn't it? The balance of power is always with the money earner when couples have children...and my OH does work 6, sometimes 7 days a week... Never mind, I am NOT going to spoil the chickens thread with my whinging ;D |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 17, 2008 11:47:42 GMT 1
Watch the birdy   |
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Post by Sleepy on Mar 17, 2008 11:48:58 GMT 1
Watch the birdy What is PoppyCat doing at your house Emsey??? |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 17, 2008 11:59:37 GMT 1
Thats our socks, she has a perfect tuxedo, even down to a black waistcoat and white shirt. She has little white eyebrows, (what is it with my pets and eyebrows!) And a Hitler mustache!
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Post by bogmyrtle on Mar 17, 2008 12:26:46 GMT 1
Watch the birdy What is PoppyCat doing at your house Emsey??? I looked twice! Emseypop what does he/she make of the chickens? |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 17, 2008 12:39:20 GMT 1
What is PoppyCat doing at your house Emsey??? I looked twice! Emseypop what does he/she make of the chickens? She thinks she's on the Serengeti, her brother couldn't care less and the hens are totally oblivious to the pair of them ;D |
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Post by debbiem on Mar 17, 2008 13:22:15 GMT 1
No I can't...it's all been vetoed by OH - a flat 'no' to a kitten (to give smallest something else to think about besides how much she hates school), a puppy (ditto - although I don't really want one either...it would upset Tobydog too much) or any new chickens....  Sometimes I wonder why OH married me - he doesn't seem to like my chosen lifestyle much.....  You know, chickens have this habit of wandering into your garden and you just don't know where they've come from or who they belong to, and nobody seems to have lost any.........funny that, isn't it? ;D What's the worst that could happen if you came home with a kitten? So OH will protest a bit and puff and blow, but you have the best of reasons for getting it. |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 18, 2008 18:25:10 GMT 1
I descovered last night all 4 of my hens are sleeping in the nesting box! |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 18, 2008 18:57:05 GMT 1
I've put perches in the main henhouse, but I was expecting them not to use them really, the foor of the henhouse is large enough for 8 or more hens really, the nest box is the floor span of a closed newspaper!
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Post by debbiem on Mar 18, 2008 20:09:47 GMT 1
I don't think it matters one bit Emsey - loads of ours have done that in the past. Maybe they'll get the hang of the perches later on. We used to have a henhouse that OH made with six nesting boxes and perches galore. Some chose the perches at night but others squabbled over particular nesting boxes which were the faves. Each to their own! ;D |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 18, 2008 20:20:15 GMT 1
I don't think it matters one bit Emsey - loads of ours have done that in the past. Maybe they'll get the hang of the perches later on. We used to have a henhouse that OH made with six nesting boxes and perches galore. Some chose the perches at night but others squabbled over particular nesting boxes which were the faves. Each to their own! ;D I've noticed top bird Flossie makes sure she's first to bed, so she gets the best spot She's a bit of a bully but you cant help but love her, she's got pluck! |
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Post by debbiem on Mar 18, 2008 20:30:08 GMT 1
She sounds like our top dog Pearl - unfortunately her pluck includes plucking out the feathers from all the others! And they let her. She's no shrinking violet and so sly - her and Tiny got the cat food AGAIN tonight, I went out into the garden leaving OH and William in the kitchen. They both went out of the kitchen forgetting about the open door to the courtyard.....seconds later I hear the familiar tink tink tink of beaks on china - they are such opportunists! Whoever coined the phrase birdbrain wasn't talking about chickens were they! ;D |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 18, 2008 20:38:01 GMT 1
She sounds like our top dog Pearl - unfortunately her pluck includes plucking out the feathers from all the others! And they let her. She's no shrinking violet and so sly - her and Tiny got the cat food AGAIN tonight, I went out into the garden leaving OH and William in the kitchen. They both went out of the kitchen forgetting about the open door to the courtyard.....seconds later I hear the familiar tink tink tink of beaks on china - they are such opportunists! Whoever coined the phrase birdbrain wasn't talking about chickens were they! ;D I love the idea of ours wondering into the house and pinching catfood. They had all the leftovers of the guinea pig food today ;D The skip is coming thurs so I can clear the garden and then let them out again. I let them out for a bit on saturday, but got scared after Flossie ended up down the side of the GH, she was pressed flat against the glass like of of those garfield toys on a car window It was such a small gap, dunno how she got down there! There was spare glass wedged down there too!! |
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Post by debbiem on Mar 18, 2008 20:47:09 GMT 1
Oh, she'll learn - eventually! ;D
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 23, 2008 8:03:26 GMT 1
sounds like you're having a wonderful time getting to know your birds emsey...it's nice that MrsB, OB and 4P have all got chicken experience ;D
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Post by emseypop on Mar 23, 2008 8:21:41 GMT 1
Its a great help Cheery, There some questions that can only be answered by people who keep them, and don't make you feel silly for asking! Like today, its snowing, there is a light dusting on the ground, I've kept the hens in. I suspect this is the right thing to do, but I do feel sorry for them cooped up (even though they have at least 4 times more space than they used to) but for all I know hens may be as hardy as a mountain goat, and love a bit of snow? Mind you mine have little naked necks, I could put their jumpers on........do they do hen Welles?
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Post by debbiem on Mar 23, 2008 8:25:57 GMT 1
We've just put a new cat flap in as the last one was letting in the draught and was just flapping in the breeze. Oh no they've mastered it! Pearl and Tiny - again! In they come through it and polish off the cat food in no time, I've caught them in the kitchen so many times now. : I think the cat food'll have to be relocated. |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 23, 2008 8:30:14 GMT 1
emsey...have you tried the chook cosies on them yet? I need to see it if you have...I'm in just the right frame of mind.... and MrsB.....  |
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Post by emseypop on Mar 23, 2008 8:32:14 GMT 1
I'll bet you have no snow where you are mrs b, would you let the hens out in snow? Sean'll love hearing about your hens comeing in through the cat flap ;D You'll have to get a video! No Cheery, I cant bring myself to force their little wings through the arm holes-shudder, Flossie has had a fall from grace and I looking quite.....henpecked and has a bright red bum, as she's the smallest she would be the one i'd be most likely to put a jumper on.
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No more animals.....I don't seem to be allowed to do anything but housework, childcare, work and the occasional bit of gardening if I'm lucky these days... not fun is it? And he wonders why I'm grumpy? ;D Thanks for the thought though Debbie X
Sometimes I wonder why OH married me - he doesn't seem to like my chosen lifestyle much..... 