Omlet are delighted to announce the global launch of the new Eglu Cube chicken coop.
The design of the new Eglu Cube was focused on just one thing, creating the ultimate chicken coop. Made with advanced manufacturing technology, this coop is extremely strong and durable yet surprisingly light, making it effortlessly manoeuverable. Aesthetically pleasing, the clean, functional lines not only look great but also make cleaning the coop a breeze.
The new Eglu Cube is also the safest chicken coop on the market. It has a patented locking mechanism that will outfox any predators and includes a steel weld mesh run, complete with Omlet’s unique anti-tunnel skirt, designed to keep any unwanted visitors at bay.
Comfier, more discreet and easier to clean – the Eglu Cube makes light work of a large flock. Inside the Eglu Cube, chickens will find a spacious roosting area with contoured bars to provide plenty of perching opportunities. The nest box, complete with sliding door, is discreetly positioned off to one side for privacy during the crucial egg laying moment.
With space for up to 10 hens you could be collecting a staggering 60 eggs a week. Your family will enjoy an abundance of cakes, quiches and dippy eggs galore!
Omlet’s Head of Product Design Simon Nicholls said “With the new Eglu Cube we really wanted to push the boundaries of what a chicken coop could be. This is definitely the most advanced chicken house we have ever designed, it’s safer for your hens, more comfortable and even easier to clean. It really is the ultimate hen house.”
Whether you live in a town or the countryside, are a first time chicken keeper or an experienced breeder the new Eglu Cube will delight owners and their hens alike.
This entry was posted in Chickens
She’s got the keys and it looks as though Mrs Barbara is ready to move in… 1 more sleep until we can reveal Mr and Mrs Barbara’s new home. Who’s eggcited?! #MovingDay
This entry was posted in Chickens
Mr Barbara has followed the chickies and has managed to send us a clearer image of where they’re headed, he sounds very excited about it and can’t wait for you to see it.
“I can see clearly now”…..well not quite but almost there! Hang on, only 3 more days until the big reveal….
This entry was posted in Chickens
It appears as though our little chickies have seen something intriguing….can you work out what it is? Their camera can’t quite pick out the details from this far away but we hope to bring you some clearer images as they get closer over the next few days.
#WatchThisSpace
This entry was posted in Chickens
Meet Guirec Soudee, a 24 year old man from Brittany, France and Monique, his pet hen. This unlikely pair are currently sailing around the world, they set out on their voyage 2 years ago and they haven’t looked back since.
Monique is the loyal pet hen of Guirec, who had originally planned on keeping a cat on the boat for company but changed his mind and opted for a feathered friend for companionship. Guirec said that he chose a chicken as they’re very easy to keep, plus he gets to have fresh eggs whilst at sea. Win win.
Others doubted whether this new found friendship would work but Guirec said that Monique took to sea life very quickly and was laying straight away.
The dynamic duo are currently in Greenland but are heading to Alaska soon, Monique continues to lay eggs even in the colder climates, according to Guirec she lays on average 6 eggs a week.
“She follows me everywhere, and doesn’t create any problems. All I need to do is shout ‘Monique!’ and she will come to me, sit on me, give me company. She is amazing.”
We wish Guirec and Monique good luck for their continued travels, we’ll be keeping a close eye on their Instagram and Facebook.
This entry was posted in Chickens
As the weather starts to heat up we have created a list of our top tips for keeping your chickens cool in the summer months. Chickens can suffer from heat stress and stop laying eggs therefore it’s incredibly important to take measures to ensure their temperature stays as cool as possible in the heat of summer.
When chickens become very hot, you will also see them holding their wings out away from their bodies and ruffling their feathers, this is to help the heat escape. Unlike humans, chickens don’t sweat to release the heat, they pant, similar to a dog. Please keep an eye on them so that they don’t suffer from heat stress.
Signs of heat stress include:
-panting with beak open
-laying around with wings outstretched
-loss of appetite
-slow to respond to stimuli, unresponsive
Top 11 tips to help avoid heat stress
- Make sure you provide plenty of shade for your hens to escape the sun. We have a variety of heavy duty and shade covers for all our Eglu runs.
- Keep your hens hydrated with plenty of fresh water, why not add a few ice cubes to their glugs to keep the water nice and cold for as long as possible
- Create a dust bath area for your chooks to nestle down and find a cool part in the ground.
- One key tip is to look out for the signs of heat stress and act fast, if you think one of your chickens is suffering, dunk them in a bucket of room temperature water keeping their neck and head above the water. Keep them inside in the air con and make sure they get plenty of water.
- Use a sprinkler/mister- the hens won’t like the water very much but it’s for their own good.
- Freeze fruit and veg in ice blocks so that your hens can peck at it. Or just freeze pieces of fruit, Watermelon is a popular favourite among chickens.
- Avoid foods such as corn and scratch as they require longer digestion processes, which creates more body heat.
- If your local climate stays warm at night simply place a large ice block in the coop, your hens will enjoy sleeping near it at night.
- Add vitamins to their water to make sure they are replacing the lost nutrients.
- Pay close attention to bigger/heavier hens
- Plan ahead for next year and plant a tree or bush to provide extra shade!
This entry was posted in Chickens
Truffle is a 5 month old Cockapoo. She lives with her owner Lynn and her family including 2 chickens called Octavia and Florence. Each morning Truffle races out to see the chooks although her devotion is not entirely reciprocated! Truffle enjoys a fresh raw egg twice a week thanks to her feathered friends.
Lynn said “Truffle’s delighted to be pet of the month! She was bought from an excellent breeder – Anzil Cockapoos in Knowsley near Liverpool. We got her in January and she now lives with us in Chester along with our four cats and two chickens who are lovely Pekin Bantams.”
“She has a wonderful personality and has almost got us trained to pander to her every whim. She is fun loving and very devoted to us.”
Apparently her
favourite toy varies but is currently a small teddy bear made for dogs. She also loves squeaky toys!
“Truffle has bags of character. When she is hungry she goes into the kitchen and looks pointedly at her bowl. As you can see she has very expressive eyes.”
According to Lynn she’s funniest when she has a mad half hour and races frantically around the garden. Much to the concern of the chickens watching from their
Eglu.Look at how photogenic this dog is, we <3 Truffle!
If you think your pet deserves to be ‘Pet of the Month’ please email sam@omlet.co.uk with a picture of your pet and a short description.
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Omlet Newsletter January 28th 2016
The BHWT has Rehomed Half a Million Hens!
Saturday was a day to remember for Omlet and the British Hen Welfare Trust. The hen charity celebrated a world first by rehoming its 500,000th chicken, and we were there to share the eggcitement.
The half millionth hen was named Dee, as ‘D’ is the roman numeral for 500,000. Following life as a commercial laying hen, she was lucky enough to be rescued from a sad ending by a new family that will love and look after her. Not only will she eggsperience a new life of freedom and happiness but she will do so in the luxury residence of an Eglu Cube, donated by Omlet.
BHWT local coordinator Laura McCulloch said: “To think the BHWT has given 500,000 commercial hens this opportunity is mind-blowing.” And we agree. It is fantastic to think that half a million hens have been rehomed and we were proud to be involved in the big event!
If you’re interested in rehoming a hen or two, please visit the BHWT website. See more photos of the day here!
Beatrix and Clan Star in Prize Painting!
In the last newsletter we revealed the winner of our ‘Win a Personalised Pet Painting’ competition and now we are eggcited to be able to share a sneak peek of the prize… Artist Nicola Metcalfe captured the characters of winner Wendy’s menagerie beautifully. (See photos of the gang here.)
The story goes that Wendy’s chickens terrorise her giant Maine Coone cat Beatrix. They go in the back door while she is out of the room and Dotty and Delilah distract Beatrix while Maggie steals her cat food. Apparantly even the runner ducks Jemima and Josephine ‘egg’ her on with a chorus of quacking.
What a cheeky bunch of so and so’s! Wendy loves her prize and we hope it makes you smile too.
Is your hutch looking worse for wear? It’s time for an upgrade!
Treat your Guinea Pigs to a New Hutch and Save over 10%!
Looking for a stylish new home for your guinea pigs, or thinking of keeping some for the first time? The Eglu Go Guinea Pig Hutch could be the answer! This is what Suzanne Locke had to say about her recent purchase:
“I bought two Eglu Go guinea pig hutches, one with a 1m run and one with a 2m run. I was lucky enough to live in the delivery and home setup zone, so no assembly difficulties for me, and my pets were enjoying their new homes in no time at all…. The hutches and runs are well-designed and a joy to clean. I’m so glad I made the investment.” by Suzanne Locke.
Good news! Order your Eglu Go Guinea Pig Hutch with 1m Run today for only £249 (usual price £299).
Use promo code: UKUPGRADEGH (valid until 29/02/15).
We also have great savings on our Eglu Go Chicken Coops and Rabbit Hutches – click here to find out more!
Eglu Protects Chickens from Catastrophe!
Eglus are built to survive all sorts of weather and last for years but we recently heard from one family whose coop withstood dramatic flooding! Paul told us:
“As you’ll have seen on the news, the flooding in Aberdeenshire since the turn of the year has been awful and when there’s heavy rain, the water runs down the sloping field behind our home and backs up against our boundary wall forming a little loch. After a week’s solid rain, that ‘little’ loch stood about four feet deep and held about 40 tons of water.
A 30ft section of the wall collapsed catastrophically last Thursday night in the middle of a snow storm, sending all that water flooding into the garden and the area at the back of the house, spilling masonry all over the place and creating a temporary new river down our driveway. Our Eglu classic sits about 15 feet in front of the fallen wall and must have taken the full force of the deluge as all the grass around is was flattened, and the chickens’ enclosure was filled with debris. But not only was the coop unmoved, it seems to have stayed completely intact so our girls saw the turbulent night out, dry if a little spooked by all the kerfuffle.
On reflection we thought that the Eglu’s aerodynamic shape and robust build must have been what allowed it to cope with our mini-flood, so with that in mind, we feel you can safely add ‘flood resistant’ to your list of the Eglu’s eggcellent qualities…. 🙂 “
More Strange Eggs in the Gallery!
Following our ‘egg within an egg’ feature in the last newsletter you have been sending in your weird egg pictures. Rosemary found a teenie tiny pekin egg which she fried and fed to her Cavachon puppy – it was just the right size! Amy discovered another tiny egg, but this one had no yolk. Ingham was another lucky recipient of an egg within an egg, and perhaps the strangest one so far…a shell less egg that looked more like a snake’s skin.
Keep your weird and wonderful pictures coming in! Send to stephanie@omlet.co.uk
Tom’s Tasty Cauliflower Fritters
Transform one egg (and some cauliflower) into something tasty!
Ingredients:
300g cooked cauliflower
2 tbsp chives
1 medium onion (finely diced)
1 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
salt and pepper
panko breadcrumbs
(or fresh breadcrumbs if unavailable)
Method:
1) Once cooked and cooled, mash the cauliflower with a fork or potato masher.
2) Add the onion, chives, flour, nutmeg and salt and pepper.
3) Whisk the egg and add to the mixture (if the mixture is very wet, add a tablespoon of breadcrumbs).
4)
Chill for 30 minutes.
5) In a large frying pan, add oil (sunflower or similar).
6) Heat oil on a medium heat, until a few breadcrumbs added start to bubble and brown.
7)
Form small parties from the chilled mixture and coat in panko breadcrumbs, or similar.
8) Shallow fry for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.
9) Drain on kitchen paper.
10)
Serve with a squeeze of lime and sour cream.
New Products and Special Offers
Syn-Vital Bokashi – Great for your chickens’ digestive system and now on special offer due to a best before date of March – now £6 (was £8)
Little Miss Princess – A cute egg cup for the little princess in your life (or is that you?) – £5.95
Woodland Crumble -A tasty treat for garden birds and chickens. Discounted due to a best before date of 02/16 – now £1 (was £2.89)
This entry was posted in Chickens
Planting Greens for you and your Hens
No one can deny that the delicious orange yolks from your own hens’ eggs is a sight to behold. Allowing your hens to free range in your garden, feeding on fresh grass is the best way to get those wonderful yolks, but this isn’t always practical in the winter when the grass stops growing. Feeding your hens green vegetables helps them produce these amazing eggs and keeps them happy, so why not try growing a few veggies at home and both of you benefit?
Winter isn’t the best time for sowing crops, but if you start planning now, there are a number of greens that you can grow at home to feed your hens over Winter.
Swiss chard
Soak the seeds for 15 minutes in warm water to give them a head start, then plant them 1/2″ deep in previously water soil. I plant around 6-8″ apart to allow the plants to grow well as they can reach quite an impressive size. Water well for the first week or so and protect the emerging seedlings from slugs and snails. The seeds are in a cluster, so you will get at least a couple of plants from each seed.
You can also plant them into individual seed trays and plant out when the seedlings are large enough to handle.
When the plants reach 8′ high, start by pulling a couple of leaves from each plant. Pull the stalk at the base of the plant and they should snap off easily. They are classed as a cut and come again crop, so only take a few leaves from each plant at a time and they will crop over several months.
Swiss chard is very tolerant of cold weather, but if it is very cold where you live, they will benefit form a cover of horticultural fleece to give them added protection. It also grows well in a pot, placing 3-4 plants in a 14″ pot. There are many different types of Swiss Chard, but my favourite is ‘Bright Lights’ which has dark green leaves and thick stems coloured red, orange, yellow and purple. They also make attractive plants in a mixed border.
Kale
Kale is a member of the cabbage family and is very tolerant of cold temperatures. Most garden centres now have this winter vegetable as small plug plants available now. For around £2-£3 you can pick up a tray of kale and that should last your hens for the winter.
Kale isn’t demanding, but can grow quite tall, so place them in a sheltered spot or make sure you stake the plants when they reach 12″ + high to prevent them being blown over in the wind.
Plant the plug plants deeply, up to the first layer of leaves and this will help anchor them down. Firm the soil in really well and they don’t do well if rocked around and the roots are disturbed.
Water well for the first couple of weeks and the plants soon start producing dark leaves, that can be harvested in the same way as Swiss chard.
Varieties to try – Red Russian is one of the quickly to start producing leaves. Nero di Toscano produces large dark green leaves and plenty of them.
Salad Mache or Lambs Lettuce
These little plants grow well in cold weather, but run to seed when it gets too warm, so perfect for growing as a winter crop.
Plant the seeds thinly 1/2″ deep and allow 6″ between plants. Water well and they will soon form little rosettes. Harvest a few leaves from each plant and they will continue cropping over winter.
They are also called Corn salad.
Any cut leaves should be placed into a wire wild bird feeder, similar to the ones that you can put suet blocks into. This keeps the greens off the floor and allows your hens to peck at the leaves.
Dedicating a small area of your garden or a few pots to vegetables, will keep your hens happy all winter. Don’t forget that planting a few extra plants and you can be picking fresh winter crops for your kitchen too!
If you have any questions, please contact me at Tom@Omlet.co.uk
This entry was posted in Chickens
The Chicken Swing has Landed!
Following its huge success in the USA, The Chicken Swing has finally landed at Omlet, and it’s ready to bring fun to all our feathered friends.
All chicken keepers know that birds love to perch and they will hop on to anything they can lay their feet on to give them a good view of the world. The Chicken Swing provide more than just a place to perch though – it actually swings! Ideal for hanging in any chicken coop, enclosure or run, The Chicken Swing will reduce boredom and keep your pets hentertained. They’ll love being able to hop up as they please, stretch their wings and swing back and forth above their pals.
The Chicken Swing is suitable for poultry of all ages and breeds and it is a fantastic accessory for every chicken keeping area. You are sure to henjoy watching your pets in action as much as they enjoy using it!
Order your Chicken Swing today for £19.99!
This entry was posted in Chickens
Hello,
We’re very eggcited to finally unveil our latest chicken house to join the Eglu range. Introducing the Eglu Go UP – a coop with all the benefits of the Eglu Go, on legs!
A design speggtacular, the Eglu Go UP has the best features of the other Eglu products, under one roof, making it our favourite chicken house yet. Perfect for the first-time henkeeper, this looks fabulous, is easy to clean, straightforward to use and suitable for up to four chickens. Hens will love the plastic roosting bars and integrated nesting box. Simply fill with straw and look forward to collecting your first eggs by opening the door at the back.
Great Height for you and your Hens
The height of the Eglu Go UP is a real bonus. Your hens will love to roost up off the ground, sleeping in a warm and cosy hideaway, and having a private area to escape to lay their eggs. They will quickly learn how to use the ladder to climb up to their home, and the house will act as a sheltered spot for hens to play under too. It’s not just the chickens that will love the Go UP though – you will too! You’ll find that the convenient height makes chicken keeping a delight! There’s no need to bend down to clean the Eglu or collect the eggs.
Easy to Move!
The Eglu Go UP is available with optional wheels. This is highly recommended for anyone wanting to move their Eglu regularly, particularly if you are living on your own. Although you can choose to keep your Eglu in one place, you may want to move it around the garden regularly to allow your grass to recover, and give hens a new patch of lawn to nibble at. Using the easy foot operated wheel mechanism, one person will be able to simply push or pull the Eglu go UP around their own. The wheels can be used with your Eglu Go UP whether you have a run or not. You just need to have the frame to attach them to.
Convert your Existing Eglu Go
Do you already have an Eglu Go Chicken House? Convert it into an Eglu Go UP with our easy add-on accessories. Choose the Frame and Ladder to raise your existing Eglu Go off the ground, add the Wheel Set to the frame to make your house manoeuvrable, and choose the 2m Run to give your hens a secure area to roam in. These parts are simple to add to your Eglu Go. (Please note, they are not compatible with the Eglu Go standard 2m Run).
This entry was posted in Chickens
You can usually tell if a hen is broody or not fairly easily. If she goes into the nest and doesn’t come back out again and starts making a very strange noise whilst puffing herself up like a football she could be broody. The noise they make is obviously different from the usual range of sounds and can vary from something like a very deep cluck-cluck-cluck rather like horses walking on cobbles to an ear splitting screech! Another sign of broodiness is feather pulling and you may notice that your hen starts plucking them from her breast to line the nest ready for the eggs resulting in an embarrassing bald patch on her belly. You may also spot a strange habit of picking up leaves, twigs, feathers and bits of grass and throwing them over her shoulders in an attempt to make her nest! A normally placid hen can turn aggressive and will peck you if you try to move her and the opposite can happen to a very flighty bird who will suddenly let you cuddle her till the cows come home as soon as she turns broody!
If you act quickly, you can get her to resume egg laying much sooner so try to restrict her access to the nest if possible, although this is usually very difficult if you have other hens who are trying to lay. If she sleeps in the nest, you need to encourage her to sleep on the roosting bars to allow lots of nice fresh air to circulate around her to keep her cool as she’ll get wonderfully warm and cosy overnight and that will just prolong the broodiness. If you put a brick, upturned plant pot, football or even a garden ornament into the nest, this will stop her from roosting in it but remember to remove it during the day so that your other hens can lay eggs. Keep her out of the nest if you can during the daytime. If you spot her in the garden sitting on a nest she’s made from leaves, twigs and feathers, make sure this is quickly removed and move her on or tempt her away with a treat or two.
The urge to go broody is usually caused by a rise in internal body temperature so a quick cold bath usually brings her back to normal and should stop the urge. Dunk the hen’s rear end and abdomen in a bucket of cold water until feathers are soaked. You can do this several times a day. Continue soaking until she stops being broody which should only take a couple of days depending on how long she’s been broody for. It sounds horribly cruel but they actually seem to find it soothing as they are so hot, bothered and cross that a cool bath makes them feel a lot more comfortable. Some people use an old towel to wrap an ice block or fill a plastic bag with ice cubes and put that under the hen in the nest and the coldness soon drives them from the nest. If your hens are in a run and she is determined to sit on the eggs at every possible opportunity, a trick we have used on our own hens might work for her too. We sectioned off the end of the run for our broody hen and put food and water in it. We popped her in there as soon as they woke up in the morning and kept her there until our other hens had laid. As soon as they all had, we removed the barrier, closed the coop door and let her socialise with the others. It took about a week of isolating her out of the way of the nest to break the broodiness but it worked and she’s been fine since. If your hens are free ranging, it’s even easier. You can make a separate run for her using some fruit cage netting or chicken fencing and leave her in there with food and water until the others have laid then you can let her out to join them.
You can let her sit it out if you like as it won’t do her any harm but you won’t get any eggs until she stops being broody and if she’s been sitting for a long time, this could mean no eggs for weeks afterwards. If she does stay put in the nest, try to encourage her to get up once a day to eat, drink and go to the toilet. Broody hens can lose a lot of body weight while they are sitting. It’s important that you check her regularly for lice and mites as they tend to infest broody hens because they aren’t dustbathing and preening as regularly as they normally would. A bad infestation of red mite can kill a broody so it’s also vital to check the coop carefully too as these mites live in crevices and corners of the coop rather than on the bird itself. If you happen to find anything on her, a dusting with a suitable powder or spray, repeated a week later, should remove any stowaways and there are various red mite treatments available for treating the coop. Once she’s lost the urge to sit, she’ll come off the nest and start socialising again and hopefully the eggs should start to arrive again.
A sick hen may also give a false impression that they are broody so be aware that she may not be feeling hormonal at all. A sick chicken will look completely miserable – head tucked into its neck, eyes closed, hunched up shoulders and a droopy tail. They withdraw themselves from the other hens and look unhappy and listless. A hen in lay or even a broody hen should have a bright red comb while a sick hen’s is yellowish and droopy. If you are concerned that she may be ill, it might be a good idea to take her to see a vet to get her checked over properly.
This entry was posted in Chickens
The eglu for schools has been designed to support teachers in using the outdoor classroom as a resource across the curriculum for pupils of all ages.
Keeping chickens can help reconnect young people with their environment, food and animals in both urban and rural settings. Omlet can provide you with the expertise, resources and information to make keeping chickens in your school easy, fun and rewarding.
Children can be fully involved in looking after the chickens so that no additional staffing time is required. The eglu and chickens are creative and distinctive aids to teaching the National Curriculum. They can be used in lots of different ways both practical and theoretical to stimulate and enhance learning across all abilities.
Use the next button below or the left hand navigation menu to find out about the service Omlet provide, the fantastic award winning eglu and why your school needs chickens!
This entry was posted in Chickens
If you find blood on the egg shell or little spots in the nest, she may have ruptured a little blood vessel in her vent as she attempted to lay an egg or passed a particularly hard dropping. This happens sometimes and is usually just a one off event but if you notice that she is continuing to pass blood or if she develops a protuberance around the vent area, you may need to take her to see a vet.
If there is anything sticking out of the vent area this could be a prolapse and this is where the oviduct or egg laying tube has been pushed out of the body in an effort to lay an egg. It is imperative that you separate her from other hens as they will be attracted to the redness and peck at it which can cause your hen distress and even serious injury.
If there is obviously anything unusual hanging out of the vent, wash the prolapsed area with warm water with some antiseptic in it. You may see that there is an egg in the prolapse and you’ll need to carefully remove this without breaking it. If you do happen to break it, make sure that you remove any pieces of shell as they may lead to an abdominal infection if they are left. Once the prolapse is clean, tuck the hen under your arm with her head covered to keep her calm and gently push the prolapse back into the vent cavity with clean hands or wear clean rubber gloves or even use a clean wet cloth to help you push it back. Keep the hen in a darkened room or box to recover and allow the prolapse to settle back into her body. Applying haemorrhoid cream to the prolapse can help shrink it so that it’s easier to pop back into the body. You will need to stop her laying for a while to stop the prolapse from just popping back out again so make sure that she has water to drink but starve her for 24 hours. You can gradually begin feeding her again with a very bland diet such as Weetabix after that or you could try to encourage her to go broody by sitting her on a few false eggs. This doesn’t always work but it’s worth a try. She may need veterinary treatment if it keeps happening and if it does, I’m afraid that the prognosis isn’t good.
If she has ruptured a little blood vessel in her vent because she’s struggling to lay a large egg, you may be able to help her to pass it by warming up the vent area either by sitting the hen in a bowl of warm water or on a towel covered hot water bottle or by gently blowing warm (not hot) air from a hairdryer onto the area. This, accompanied by a little Vaseline or olive oil rubbed onto the vent is usually enough to relax the muscles and allow the egg to be passed. It’s probably best to bring her in to the house so that she’s nice and warm and you may find that she lays an egg and returns back to normal soon afterwards. If you give her a towel covered hot water bottle to lie on and keep her calm in a darkened room, it might not be long before she lays if this is the problem. An egg bound hen will look miserable, hunched and fluffed up. She may appear to be straining to lay an egg and she may also be panting and breathing fast. If you feel her abdomen and vent area, you might be able to feel the egg.
There’s a chance that bleeding has occurred because your hen has been pecked in the vent area by another hen as this is a prime target for bullies. If you find that this is the case, you can get a variety of sprays to use on the bullied bird which make her feathers taste unpleasant to the other birds and these are usually enough to deter pecking. When the skin is red, sore or broken, it is important to separate the injured hen straight away and you can use Veterinary Wound Powder on them to help stem the bleeding and promote healing. Hens are morbidly attracted to the colour red and will peck at wounds until they are in a dreadful state if nothing is done so Gentian or Purple Spray is very effective as it stains the skin purple and this makes it a much less obvious target for the bully. If a hen develops a wound of any kind, remove them and allow it to heal for a few days before reintroducing them to prevent the wound being pecked. All these products are usually available from animal feed merchants or farm supply warehouses – usually in the equestrian section, and some large pet shops.
This entry was posted in Chickens
Some hens like to sleep in the nest and while this isn’t necessarily a problem, it can mean that the eggs get very dirty as chickens produce copious amounts of droppings overnight and these can accumulate in the nest, making it very dirty indeed.
Also in warm weather, the nest is a wonderfully cosy, warm place and this can encourage a hen to go broody as this is triggered by a rise in body temperature. If the hens sleep in the nest and get warm overnight, they may like being there so much that they refuse to get off the nest!
A good way to encourage them to roost on the bars where it is cooler and their droppings will fall into the tray beneath the bars is to put something in the nest to block it overnight. A football, brick, upturned plant pot or even a garden ornament will do the job nicely and if you remember to remove it in the morning to allow them to lay eggs, this should do the trick and they’ll learn that the roosting bars are for sleeping on.
This entry was posted in Chickens
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