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Here's a nice wall mountable one (that actually looks a little like a bottle opener):
Either way, whether manually or using a dispatcher, I don't think I could bring myself to do it.
It was not that bad, because you are just putting it out of it's misery... Well that's what I keep telling myself
We have chickens , bloomin lovely little girls they are.At our max we had over 30 hens and cockerels, mostly rare breeds.We have had ducks too which lay lovely eggs.Sadly over time we are now down to 4 hens.After a very nasty fox incident.Pekin bantams are lovely to have as pets, smaller, very docile and easy to handle ideal for kids to look after.All mine free range all day, they love a dust bath and a sunbathe.Its been lovely when they have gone broody and hatched chicks too.I,ve had some very tame ones over the years so much so that they wandr in the house and jump up on the kitchen table.
I have 4 lovely birds who entertain me and the kids no end. One word of caution is be careful adding new birds to the flock as your existing ones wont like it and will beat up the new ones especially if they are smaller.
I added a beuatiful french skyline (called Nicole) to my existing three and they had a field day bullying her. She even had her own coop inside the run for the night time but they still sat on her and pecked her head feathers out during the day.
It took a good couple of weeks before they stopped picking on her so if you have a spare coop put the new ones in there and make it so the others can see them but not get them and they will soon become friends.
You will find its the lowest of the "pecking order" in your existing flock who will be most aggressive to try to climb the ladder as such with the others.
In my case Nicole grew very quickly and soon overtook Marge who was bullying her and one day turned round when being chased and stuck the nut on her. It soon stopped.
Another good tip I got was put the head hen or most placid in the coop with the new ones on a night and she will put her scent all over them whilst cuddling up and your more flighty existing ones will get confused by this and accept them even quicker
I love my birds especially when I'm out pottering in the garden and I turn round to find them all aleep in the veg patch on their backs getting some sun on their bellies.
Our poultry numbers are greatly reduced following a fox visit in the autumn. We keep males and females, allowing the girls a relaxed retirement when they stop laying (ours yend to lay up to about 5 years). The males are eaten at about 6 months old - the flavour beats even the free range chicken from our butcher.
Don't use those dispatcher tools! They kill by crushing the neck rather than breaking it. The traditional method is quicker and less traumatic. If, like me, you don't think your wrists are strong enough, use the broomstick method. (You don't need to cut and bleed the bird - hang it for a day and the blood drains into the neck (makes good stock).
Keeping hens.... best decision we have made! Definitely do it; we only have one hen left, the others died of old age and are in the pet cemetery!
But watching her wandering around the garden is priceless fun. She has all the majesty of a member of the aristocracy and the brains of a... well chicken really! At the moment I am having a spring tidy up and she is having a field day jumping on the garden creatures exposed, she is good company, sunbathing and dust bathing. The dogs initially saw them as prey (when they were caged) but now accept them and probably protect the hens from foxes, cats etc.
One problem... rats. No solution works for me other than the trusty rifle!
No idea how but we have avoided rats.
our garden is fully enclosed apart from a gate which is kept closed they could go under the gate but that is only way in.
well, time for brekkie, then got to dig out two boxes and get the 4 new hens. Looking forward to seeing them, not looking forward to the bullying, but hey it's called "the pecking order" for a reason!!
Ohh what is fun is getting the eggs whilst they are still warm and quite soft.
Smaug just gave us a nice eggy pressie
We have kept hens for a couple of years now, and have just introduced 2 new warrens. They have been kept in a separate run for 2 weeks, and then allowed to free range with the 2 old girls late evening. This cuts down on the bullying as they are just so excited to be out and about
Thinking in the next week we might be about to merge them.
Nothing better than an egg for brekkie from your own hens.
Wished we got them years before and never bothered with rabbits for the kids to be honest.
I agree hope to... Hens are much more fun than rabbits; I think of them as pets with benefits!