Bare arsed chickens

[Chantal]

Most of our eight girls have completely bald bums. We checked the perches for mites and although we didn't find any, treated them just in case. Have upended the girls and dusted their bums with mite powder and even sprayed them with anti peck (that stuff tastes NASTY - don't ask), but they still have bums that glow in the dark.

Any ideas anyone?

[Diane]

Do they have enough room? Do they free range during the day? If they are confined in a small area then feather pecking can sometimes be caused by overcrowding stress and boredom.

[peter]

Perhaps they're trying for a date with Lembit Opik?


I'll get me coat.

[Chantal]

Thanks Peter!

Hi Diane, they don't free range and we are planning a run extension as they're not packed in, but we feel they could use some more space, so perhaps that is the problem.

I'm spraying everyone's (chickens!) bottoms on a daily basis, plus Jelly Bean's various other bald patches, so if we can extend the run soon, maybe we'll be OK. I have a husband down with a very heavy cold (man flu plus), but he may be OK by the weekend for a little chicken project, especially as the weather forecast is for warmth and sunshine

Cheers

[John]

Hello Chantal
Sorry to hear about your b-a'd chickens.
If pecking is a problem the old trick of hanging a cabbage or large lettuce upside down in the run works very well. It gives them something else to work at and some extra green stuff. Birds can be very picky about cabbages. Anything with green leaves is great in chicken world but when it comes to brussels, cauli leaves, kale and so on mine will walk away.

John

[Ricard with an H]

I have a husband down with a very heavy cold (man flu plus), but he may be OK by the weekend

I just recovered from that, took me a week. Only the third time i've been poorly in 25 years (At a guess) so why did I have to get the dreaded 'Man-Flue'. Everyone else gets norovirus or other stuff I never heard of like dyslexia when I was a child and had to cope without help, so why do I have to get 'Man-Flue'.

I called the surgery just to check I might make it to the end of the week, they asked about symptoms and gave me a possible diagnosis which included my quarantine period (In the event I had 'Man-Flue'.)

In the end I recovered, I lost 5 kilos and i'm built like a pencil.

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Richard, glad you are are on the mend.

[Ricard with an H]

Evening Richard, glad you are are on the mend.

Thank-you O.H.

I'm always interested in what goes on around keeping hens, I always fancied keeping some hens but my partner keeps reminding me about the extra difficulties and do I have the time.

A pal who lives close by has hens and whatever he does he never quite manages to keep the fox out if the hens are free-ranging. This last attack saw the fox get into the hens area but he had locked them in their little cabin. All-in-all he tends to have to replace his hens on a regular basis down to the fox and that for me is what stops me keeping hens.

The idyllic picture of hens roaming around my place it just-that, an idyll. How can some people allow their hens to wander around freely, is it just for the photographer ?

[Chantal]

I had chickens (plus Rocky the cockerel of course) roaming around my garden for some years without incident from foxes. This in itself is amazing as I back on to a nature reserve and my neighbour feeds the things every evening not 10 feet from the end of the garden!

What I did hate was the crap everywhere, especially in the summer months (I think I remember those) when I'd open the door to a multitude of flies rising from the heaps on the paths. Worse, because Rocky had been brought up in the house, he brought his girls indoors to say hello all to frequently. Picking your way through chicken s*** in garden is one thing, but to pick your way through it in the kitchen is quite another.

They were very good in the garden, they didn't dig up the lawn, just ate the grass to the extent that I didn't need to mow it for several years, but I could never have grown veg there and I found they just love geraniums.

The new batch are therefore in a totally enclosed run (which we will be extending shortly) to contain the flow of s***.

I feed them lettuce and cabbage, but I've never tried hanging it up. Will give it a go as it may slow down the eating a little.

As for Sean, his man flu + is no better after a week, so he too could be like a stick insect as he's eaten little but ice-cream and trifle for most of that time.

[Diane]

MAN FLU - The facts! Essential reading for all men!!
http://manflu.info/index.htm

[Ricard with an H]

As for Sean, his man flu + is no better after a week, so he too could be like a stick insect as he's eaten little but ice-cream and trifle for most of that time.

Poor-sod. he has my sympathy. I'm still struggling to eat properly and can't raise the energy to complete my wind-break hedge planting whilst the weather and soil is perfectly dry.

OK Chantal, you steered me away from chickens. I couldn't cope with poo everywhere along with regular murder scenes. On the subject of the fox, another neighbour had all his ducks and chickens murdered, the fence was as impregnable as was practical with the mesh buried a foot under and inwards but the fox still dug under it.

[Flanjamin]

I used to have hundreds of hens all bimbling about all over the place, very rarely lost any to the fox, despite being in foxy areas and occasionally forgetting to shut them up, or doing it well after dark. There was lots of other easy food for the foxes, either rabbits or pheasants, and because it was also a market garden we tended to be around most of the time (plus the dog). But I think luck has a role to play - maybe some foxes aren't interested in chickens, others are, and that determines whether yours can range freely.

It may be worth giving the girls some kind of vitamin tonic, as they often eat each other's feathers when they're lacking vits & mins (especially during the moult, but can happen at other times too). Another trick may be to switch them from pellets to meal - it is the same stuff just not formed into pellets. It's like eating peas with a knife and keeps them occupied for longer so they have less time to undress one another!

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Chantal, maybe your girls have been reading the trendy womens magazines.......

[Chantal]

It may be worth giving the girls some kind of vitamin tonic, as they often eat each other's feathers when they're lacking vits & mins (especially during the moult, but can happen at other times too). Another trick may be to switch them from pellets to meal - it is the same stuff just not formed into pellets. It's like eating peas with a knife and keeps them occupied for longer so they have less time to undress one another!

Thanks, a couple of good ideas. I have some meal in stock for medical emergencies so will give them that for a few days and get some vitamins tomorrow. I now find that spraying them with AntiPeck and then moving through the mist with my mouth open is much worse than licking my fingers (even a day later with lots of washing). I MUST try and remember to wear gloves and a face mask.

[Flanjamin]

Ha ha ha, vajazzled hens, very good.