Hens and Chickens

[debbiem]

It does, it really does! The first thing I thought of (no, really! )was a Barred Wyandotte because of a lack of all the wattles and cheeks. But compared to some chicken people I'm a novice, I'll do my best to identify her C3D.

[The witch]

Just emailed my neighbour - they are indeed Barred Wyandotte ;D

[chickadeedeedee]

Thanks all. I too thought Celestia looked like one of the visitors.

The witch, may I copy your photo and send it to my Florida friend so she can compare?

C3D

[Sleepy]

Hello C3D - sorry but I'm just off to bed.

[debbiem]

I don't think we'll get anything closer than Barred Wyandottes C3D, but if it's OK with everyone I'll still have a further delve into my chicken book, any excuse!!!

[The witch]

chickadeedeedee said:

Thanks all. I too thought Celestia looked like one of the visitors.

The witch, may I copy your photo and send it to my Florida friend so she can compare?

C3D

Of course you may or I can email the original photo to you if you prefer.

[chickadeedeedee]

Hi Mrs. Beige and your chickies. If you could give me a little bit of care ideas for her it would be very much appreciated. How many eggs to expect and diet change needed... Stuff like that and how long they live. Thanks!

Hi The witch. Thanks. I'll e mail my Florida friend your picture and let her compare. Sure looks like that is who she has.

Thanks all so much for your help!

C3D

[debbiem]

Well, according to the book C3D, if she is indeed a Barred Wyandotte, the book says that they are a friendly and trusting breed - and 'their placid nature also makes them very suitable for people who would like to have a couple of tame chickens. They are not really keen flyers and therefore can be kept very well running free in the run or in an open run. These are strong and vigourous birds. The hens are easy and reliable 'broodies' and look after their offspring excellently. The eggs have different colours ranging from a light shade to brown. As the hens get broody rather often, you must take into account that they need a bit more personal care during these periods.'
It also says;' The tail section itself is made up of short, firm tail feathers.When looking at a Wyandotte from the back, the tail has the shape of a V turned upside down. The hen's deep backside shows that she is a good layer.'
It also says that they have a typical round and short head. The breed has a rose comb, which has small rounded points and the earlobes are bright red and the colour of ther eye is a reddish bay. Is this Celestia? What an exquisite name!
She's not a Bantam chicken, is she, C3D? Which is a smaller version of the larger one. They both should have yellow legs anyway if we are right about the breed. The Wyandotte I'm describing should weigh around 6 and a half pounds. If she's much smaller than that she could be a Bantam Wyandotte but the shape and face is much the same for both.
If she was mine this would be how I would care for her. She would need a henhouse with a run if she wasn't going to be let out free ranging. If she was going to be let out some of the time I would still give her a run of some kind for the rest of the time. She would need to be in a secure area where foxes, minks, etc couldn't get in. I would give her the company of a few other chickens too, but whether you had a cockerel or not would depend really if you wanted chicks, as some cockerels can be downright violent towards the hens in the nooky department! Straw is the best bedding for them which would have to be replaced when it gets mucky, but hey great for the composter.
Chickens must have access to fresh water and fresh shoots of some kind. If they don't they need a plentiful supply of lettuce or soft greenstuff. They also need sunshine for the whole eggmaking process to work properly. I started giving mine poultry corn as their staple until I realized that laying pellets were better for them and for acquiring eggs! Some of each is a good compromise but they do prefer the corn so I wouldn't always have that on tap until they've had a feed of some pellets. They are great disposers of scraps - if you give them bread make sure it's soaked in water. Mine loved pasta, especially spaghetti, anything! Apparently you shouldn't give them leftover meat but somewhere in my head that's to do with if you're selling the eggs/ showing them, something like that. But since they thrive on foraging for bugs and slugs and love cat food they get that too. They're not so keen on uncooked veg though. You'll find out what they will and won't eat.
They'll go indoors and roost at dusk and wake up at dawn to be let out. They must be shut up securely because when foxy gets wind there are some chickens around he'll be waiting for his moment......
They love scratching around but don't put let them on anything delicate in the flower bed! It'll be destroyed/eaten/scratched to bits.
I didn't change their diet when they were broody, but getting them out to eat or drink now and again wasn't easy! If it gets really mucky underneath them try and remove what you can without upsetting them too much. If you're feeling underneath them all you'll probably get is a gentle peck but the odd hen might have a bit more to say than that!
When mine went broody and where we lived at the time, away from neighbours, meant we could keep the chicks and it didn't matter so much if we hatched some cockerels, I used to put a cross and a date on the eggs that I decided could be hatched and took the rest away to be eaten, as a lot of the non-broodies would lay in the same nesting box as the broodies and that saved the eggs from getting mixed up! I have moved the broodies before to a small dark quiet run so I didn't have the bother with feeling under them all the time in the main henhouse but while some accepted this it would disturb other ones so badly that they would give up on the clutch.
There - you do know I've got an Olympic gold medal in boring for England don't you? I could go on and on and on.............4P might pitch in with some more - if you want to know anything more please ask and I'll try and condense it!!!!

[4pygmies]

Exemplary, my dear Mrs B. It sounds involved but it isn't. I've had chickens for over 25 years now and they are a constant delight to me...plus their gorgeously tasty eggs of course. My Maran ladies have never gone broody, never stopped laying from Spring to late Autumn and they are well over 9 years old now I think. And their slug killer skills are second to none. I know I've said all this before but aren't chickens GREAT?
I hope your Florida friend gets as much pleasure out of her chook C3D.

[debbiem]

4P, it's time you came out of the closet!!!!!!! You MUST know more about chickens than me, since you've been keeping them for at least 10 years longer than me! THANKS for giving me the stage, and I'm really pleased you've agreed with me and not gone along the Puritan path with looking after chooks with disinfectant, disinfectant, hermetically sealed etc etc.

[chickadeedeedee]

Ooooooooo! ! Thanks every so much for all the information, Mrs. Beige and your chickies! My friend does indeed think it is a Barred Wyandotte too!

Thanks 4P for your help with this international chicken drama.

Thanks so much, The witch for your help too!

I'll send my friend the information.

Thanks all VERY MUCH!

[4pygmies]

Me? In a closet? Would have to be rather a big one....I'm quite sure I don't know more about chickens than you Mrs B! I'm of the "Let them get on with it school" as I am with so many things......I do NOT disinfect very often, I clear out the house when necessary and I leave my girls to eat what they want by free ranging all round my garden. They decided years ago they preferred the bird's Wild Bird food to their own corn (much more interesting) so that's what they get first thing in the morning and late afternoon. They love the goats dry rations so they fight for a few bits of that too. They love our leftover peas and sweetcorn and pasta as you mention. In the winter I cook them very starchy rice when it's really bitterly cold. I don't leave many scraps about because of the rats but they always come when I call my special "chicken shriek" cos they know I've got some food for them.
I have occasionally lost chickens through illness but I'm afraid I personally feel it's better to kill them quickly if they show no signs of recovery (that's OH job). I think taking a chicken to a vet for treatment is much much too stressful for them. I don't know if C3D would approve of that! But as I try my best to give my girls the most natural, danger free life I can, regular food and a good shelter, I think that's a fair balance. Generally speaking most of them have lived to a good age. Actually I don't think any creature (including us) can ask for much more in this life! But that's another whole ramble........

[debbiem]

Thanks, 4P, that's my philosophy too , all of it.....

[chickadeedeedee]

Sounds like a whole lot of sound advice to me! I have treated chickens, ducks and geese as a vet but the ~ultimate~ decision to have your animal seen by a vet is up to YOU! Only you know what is best for YOUR animal.

Some cats, dogs, chickens, ... who ever ... may get very stressed with a road trip. When it is your time, feathers, fur, scales ... it is your time. We need to make the best of the time we have.

Thanks again!

[chickadeedeedee]

I have heard some very sad news. Celestia has died! Her people believe a fox managed to get to her enclosure and ate her. Nothing left but her head and little yellow feet. They buried her remains and planted some flower, Forget-me-not, on her grave.

Poor little Celestia!

[4pygmies]

Oh dear....that's sad. That is the fate of many chickens sadly. All part of the great pattern of life......foxes are very determined aren't they? I've been fairly lucky (touch wood) I've only lost two (maybe a third) to them over the years and I have no fencing round my garden. Although I still miss Beryl, my RIR, now she was a chicken with personaliity. We had a special bond, she and !.

[sweetleaf]

OOh dear, what a shame, do you think theyll get another Chicken? I hope they do, all they need to do is beef up the security, it wont replace Celestia (great name) but it may help their daughter with her grief.

[debbiem]

Poor Celestia, I'm really sorry to hear about her, C3D. We've lost a lot of chickens to foxes over the years and at all times of the day and in all kinds of ways. I once found our young cockerel chewed to pieces in the henhouse when I opened the henhouse door one morning. There's no way a fox could have been small enough to get through the vent so I can only assume it was a mink or weasel that time. I've also gone hurtling down the garden screaming blue murder at a fox with one of my Light Sussex in its jaws at MIDDAY. But they ARE so wily, they may have been watching Celestia for days before striking.

[chickadeedeedee]

I had not thought of the fox watching Celestia for days as he planned his attack. That must have frightened her to know a fox was near! I don't know if they will get another chicken. The daughter took the death of Celestia better than her Mum!

Sad as it is, the fox needs to make a kiving and maybe had young to feed too.

[debbiem]

Can I just mention that we'll be picking up our six chickens tomorrow? Excitement and trepidation abounds.....

[4pygmies]

OOH! OOH! OOH! Pictures as soon as possible? Sadly I am NOT getting any more chickens as things are not going well but I shall thoroughly enjoy you getting yours Debbie.

[sweetleaf]

Me too!

Will you give them names Debbie?

[debbiem]

The children'll be naming them(!) - they named the cats Dodgy and Snowy, so be prepared to hear about Fluffy, Spot etc etc!!!!!!
But somehow the names always seem to fit, saves me taking ages thinking up something clever and completely wrong.
Of course there'll be pics 4P, stupid camera allowing - it's a very snobby camera and refuses to work with anything other than Duracell batteries. I'm sure you'll be getting some more chickens one day, and sooner than you think.

[sweetleaf]

Our camera is snobby too, it only works properly if its being used by OH!

I get along fine with my phone camera.

[debbiem]

This one's also longsighted - it takes close-ups like a longsighted person looking closely at something without their specs.
We've REALLY got to get a better one!