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| Hello! I'm Bridget - chief hen, I love spending time with my companion humans in my new home :) |
In part 1 I looked at the potential costs associated with caring for ex-caged (battery - now called 'colony'!) hens. This is probably one of the most important issues in the current economic climate.
But time, as with caring for any animal, is just as important - and there's no point in rescuing hens only to leave them at the end of your garden all on their own.
Hens love good interaction/s with humans - they are great companion animals to care for - inquisitive, amusing, talkative and helpful in the garden.
So aside from the time necessary to keep them clean, safe, healthy, well fed and watered, it's good to consider how much time a day you can spend enjoying life with them.
It's quite difficult to estimate overall how much time I devote to my girls here at Secret Cottage, so I've broken it into daily, weekly, bi-monthly tasks with them and the rest is pure fun time!
I'm no expert by any means, but I hope that my experiences can help you to make a more informed decision before bringing some of these wonderful animals into your lives.
*All times are approximate and based on a small flock of up to 12 ex-bat hens.
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| Amy knew where the treats were in the shed & how to get up to them! |
DAILY
Letting them out, locking them up at night (colder months only), refreshing water, refreshing food (including making them up any food from kitchen scraps etc), collecting eggs, quick coop/run clean/tidy up.
Observing hens for any signs of unusual behaviour / potential illness. (This can involve simply watching them come out in the morning, if you are up that early, as well as checking on them later in the day looking out for lethargy, lack of appetite, depression, lone hens separate from the flock etc, and also examining any hens that, for example, appear to still have a full crop in the morning. This is all good animal husbandry and can prevent serious problems and illnesses from developing).
Other health care such as protecting combs and wattles in winter and summer with barrier creams etc.
Checking coop for signs of infestations such as red mites.
30 minutes
WEEKLY
Cleaning and sanitising all feed and water containers (water often needs doing more regularly in summer).
More thorough cleaning of the coop if you have more than 6 hens or so in your flock.
Refreshing of coop bedding and nest box bedding.
Health care such as checking each hen's skin for any signs of mites, legs for scaly-leg and beak for any discharge.
40 minutes (more for flocks larger than 12)
BI-MONTHLY
Thorough cleaning and sanitising of coop (you may need to do this more often with a larger flock - particularly in summer - droppings and ammonia filled coops are neither healthy or fun for your girls).
Refreshing chippings in fixed runs, sanitising ground and refreshing dust bath soil etc.
Necessary maintenance of coops, runs, equipment etc.
Purchasing of feeds, healthcare products etc.
Longer term healthcare such as worming and clipping longs nails etc.
180 minutes
MISC
Free ranging: If like us, you live in an area where foxes are prevalent and active during the day you will need to keep your girls as secure as possible and either have them in an electrified area or a fixed run. We have a fairly small fixed run but a large garden, so I make sure that the hens come out with us every day and have a chance to free range. Sometimes this is for an hour - sometimes it's for half a day. However - I also spend this time multitasking i.e. doing some gardening, walking the dogs, eating meals outside etc - so it doesn't really add up to much extra time in a day at all when you treat it like this. (NB I advise against letting your hens free range if you are not in the vaccinity - foxes are clever opportunist killers and will even watch to see if you break your routine and go indoors leaving your hens unattended.)
zero minutes if you multitask
zero minutes if you multitask
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| 2 of the girls doing a spot of gardening with me |
Illness: This is probably the one time when naturally you are going to devote more time to a poorly animal. On about 6 occasions in 3 years we have had to bring a hen into the house with us for 1-2-1 care. Time wise, this has meant sometimes administering medicines, feeding by hand, watering by hand and simply cuddling in a blanket on the sofa. Whilst it seems labour intensive - I don't need to tell you that this is the commitment you make when taking on the care of other animals. It's like having children and you need to do what is necessary. What I can say is that in 5 out of 6 cases we have managed to successfully nurse hens through a period of illness to see and enjoy another day. Every second is worth it to eliminate suffering.
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| a poorly girl recuperates in our kitchen next to the aga until she's well enough to rejoin her friends |
2 days a year (approx)
Trips to the vets: Following on from dealing with illness in the section above, there may be times if one of your flock is poorly that you do need to spend time travelling to and visiting a vet. This will be more likely in the early days while you are still learning about your hens and the various illnesses that can befall them. Unfortunately, it is still the case that most vets do not know an awful lot about hens, because they are seen as a 'low value expendable commodity' by farmers and so vets simply don't get the practice in. However, as more members of the public are starting to keep and care for hens, this has started to improve and they have started to gain experience. Before you launch into rescuing hens I would recommend spending a little bit of time finding out which of your local vets has someone with experience of working with hens - diagnosing and treating them when they are ill. (NB if a hen is poorly and you don't know how to treat her - please don't delay in getting her to the vets. As prey animals, hens hide illness very well, so by the time you have noticed it, it's likely that she's already been under the weather for a few days. They lose weight very quickly if they are not eating and can in fact die in just a few days.)
6 hours a year approx
Trips to the vets: Following on from dealing with illness in the section above, there may be times if one of your flock is poorly that you do need to spend time travelling to and visiting a vet. This will be more likely in the early days while you are still learning about your hens and the various illnesses that can befall them. Unfortunately, it is still the case that most vets do not know an awful lot about hens, because they are seen as a 'low value expendable commodity' by farmers and so vets simply don't get the practice in. However, as more members of the public are starting to keep and care for hens, this has started to improve and they have started to gain experience. Before you launch into rescuing hens I would recommend spending a little bit of time finding out which of your local vets has someone with experience of working with hens - diagnosing and treating them when they are ill. (NB if a hen is poorly and you don't know how to treat her - please don't delay in getting her to the vets. As prey animals, hens hide illness very well, so by the time you have noticed it, it's likely that she's already been under the weather for a few days. They lose weight very quickly if they are not eating and can in fact die in just a few days.)
6 hours a year approx
THE MORE FUN TIME
Here's the thing... if you don't want to spend time with your rehomed hens, then please don't have them.
I'm not saying that they need you to be there with them 24/7 - simply that I believe they deserve some special treatment given the horrendous lives they've had up until the point they've been rescued and rehomed. Show them humans can be good and they will literally repay you with hours of fun.
It's an absolute lie that chickens aren't intelligent. Spending time with them - even just a little extra every day - will soon help you to learn that they are. They also love routine and if you can give them one you will hear them calling you if you miss a time-slot!
Spending time with them will also allow you to get used to their different noises and calls. Egg laying induces a very triumphant clucking (and why not? - its hard work!) and we are now familiar with calls for danger, feeding time, let me out time and excitement [I must try to capture this noise on video - because it is truly a beautiful sound.]
Also, if you can get to handle each hen every day initially, and call her by name, they WILL learn their names! And getting them used to (gentle) human handling will pay dividends at times when you need to catch them for any healthcare treatment. It enables you to look for and feel for any signs of illness at all. Be warned though - until you are really familiar with your girls don't hold them up to your face - they can and will go for eyeballs (although mine never have)! Whilst they aren't cuddly animals having them on your lap and a treat or two in your pocket to hand feed them is a lovely way to interact with your hens. [NB try not to handle in the morning before they have laid and never hold a hen tightly - their lungs are complex delicate organs and can be easily crushed.]
As much time as you have - but.....leading to a happier life, less stress and living longer!
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| the girls enjoying a treat on xmas morning (yes, they do get stockings every year!) |
So, over and above the (timed) necessities noted above - the more time you can spend with your girls the more fun you will have with them. Interacting in this way with other species is so beneficial to them and to us.
I can promise you now that if you've either had a bad day or your mood is low, for whatever reason, 5 minutes into being with your hens will have your spirits lifted again and your mind far away from your troubles. [You can read about one of our special hens - Amy - here.]
This is the power that these wonderful animals have. While we continue to abuse billions of chickens every year on this planet you can at least play a small part in giving a few of them a 'happy ever after'.
Big clucks
Chantal xx
If this has clinched it for you, then you can source your beautiful girls from:
Your local animal rescue centre / shelter.
A local farm - many farmers are happy to notify you of days when they are due to send all of their hens for slaughter and you can usually buy hens from them for 1GBP each (just be warned - you will want to take ALL of them home with you!)
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| this is how your girls might look when you get them... |
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| and this is how they will blossom with your care and time xx |
@vegsoup4thesoul @SundayBrunchC4 Great blog on getting started keeping chickens!
— Get Chickens London (@ChickensLondon) August 18, 2013
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