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Apr 2015
7:48am, 17 Apr 2015
4,469 posts
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CStar
Result! Don't be worried if they go off lay for a few days as they settle down. they'll be back at full production soon enough.
Chick update - Settled in and fledging up nicely. She is out in a run during the day now in this good weather and will go out permanently this weekend. The other chickens seem utterly uninterested in her! She is very attached to DD2 
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Apr 2015
12:25pm, 17 Apr 2015
67,794 posts
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Hanneke
Let the girls out in their run again this morning and stood there watching them with my breakfast drink. I can see myself spending a lot of time just looking at them
Also can't wait to check when I get home tonight if they have laid another egg
What do you guys do about the old chickens? When they stop laying eggs? I am already attached to my three so would not be able to cope killing them off. I am a vegetarian so I don't eat them... I can see myself ending up with endless old non-productive chickens
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Apr 2015
12:25pm, 17 Apr 2015
67,795 posts
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Hanneke
The colleague suggested to simply leave them out at night, so the fox will get them
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Apr 2015
3:07pm, 17 Apr 2015
158 posts
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tonyp2604
Mrs Shanks - just make sure that whatever you keep them in do not underestimate the power and cunningness of foxes and rats. We have learned the hard way after losing five sets of chickens to foxes (admittedly once my eldest dauughter forgot to lock up their pen after she was asked so that was open season for our local fox); also once we let them out to roam the garden and a fox sneaked in and killed them in a few minutes when we were inside. I am just saying make their pen mega secure - It is like an arms race against all these things trying to kill chickens all the time. Our first attempt was a one metre fence! Now we have double chicken wire plus additional heavy duty wire all the way round and the pen is completely covered,There is also wire covering the ground splaying out from the pen itself both inside and out. The other day I filled a rat hole with pea shingle to block it up. The bloody thing then bit through the wire and I noticed that our two chickens were in the garden when they shouldn't have been - they squeezed through the gap the rat had made! You really need to be on the ball with them!
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Apr 2015
3:26pm, 17 Apr 2015
67,797 posts
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Hanneke
I bought a heavy duty fox proof coop and run. Bit more expensive, but well worth it IMO. My sister has never had any issues with foxes, as she religiously keeps her chickens in the completely covered run. It has a floor of chicken netting too, underneath an inch of soil, so the whole thing is enclosed.
I am going to let mine roam free, but only when I am actually there in the garden with them myself.
I have never seen foxes, but apparently, we have a straying terrier that was seen going mad in my orchard and veg garden the other day, chasing something. It has been known to catch and kill chickens
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Apr 2015
3:47pm, 17 Apr 2015
2,058 posts
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Ceratonia
Don't have chickens at the moment (felt a bit broody when I saw Hanneke's pictures though ) but never lost any to foxes. I think they're mostly fine if/when they can roam completely free - you might lose the odd one, but the others will be up a tree when the fox comes. In a pen, there is nowhere to run to, so they all get killed.
You do need them locked up at night and for the coop and run to be secure both from things going under and things going over the top, though. Chickens are generally pretty competent at dealing with rats for themselves in my experience (and it's surprising how many dogs will take fright at a couple of determined chickens coming towards them). They're also quite good at exploiting any slight gap in the pen to escape and dig up the garden.
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Apr 2015
3:57pm, 17 Apr 2015
67,798 posts
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Hanneke
Been told that they are more at risk of being snatched by a red kite when roaming free than anything else
I won't clip their wings, so they stand half a chance if Mr Fox decides to appear. I may invest eventually in some electric fencing all around my half acre of land, to keep rabbits and foxes out. Going to roll it into the set up costs for my herb growing business.
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Apr 2015
8:41pm, 17 Apr 2015
3,258 posts
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Pou Pou LePhÔõk
My lovely new chickens
[IMAGE]
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Apr 2015
8:53pm, 17 Apr 2015
4,472 posts
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CStar
We have loads of Red Kites - Our chickens are far too large for them to bother with!
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Apr 2015
9:37pm, 17 Apr 2015
67,799 posts
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Hanneke
Oh wow Phook! What are you going to do with all your eggs?
Will you introduce them to your 4 existing chickens? Or will they be kept as separate flocks?
I had another egg today, from Bruna again, as it was pale blue. But just before locking them into the coop I heard more egg laying noises. I wonder if Bianca has laid as well...
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