Animal Farm comes to a garden near you.

[Deleted]

Just a few snaps from their first free ranging

[Shrubrose]

Jul 24, 2008 21:28:28 GMT Missredhead said:

I went to a large GC today and they had chickens for sale....there were some pekins and some other type (can't remember what they were called.....all only £22 each.....I thought that they were more expensive than that...The coops that they were in didn't look big enough IMO.
But what do I know?
They did have bigger ones for sale though.

Oh Missy, I hope they know how to care for them. Did they look ok? And £22 is awfully expensive I think?

They're lovely-looking girls RM? Bet you cant wait for those eggs, eh? ;D

[Deleted]

And introducing....Alice! ;D

[Chuckles]

Oh bless her she's cute too. My middle name is Alice ;D So, are you all set up now RM ?

[Deleted]

Pretty much, Chuckles ;D I just have to be brave and stick them all in together now Bit worried, as whenever the pekins come over to say hello, Alice kind of honks at them! Also, Alice isn't tame. At all.

[Amo]

We have the ceramic eggs and have tried them. Not sure if it made a difference though.

OH also boots the broody one out and locks the coop over a few days, that can work but again, it stops the other(s) from laying.

Someone suggested plonking her into a bucket of water to cool things off....

Chicken in a bucket

Didn't seem to make any difference either.

I'm please to say that we're now not worrying too much about it but OH will do the kicking out think if it's going on for too long, mainly so the other can lay. Maybe another little hen house just for the broody one would help??

Hen hierarchy is a law unto itself I'm afraid!

Had a good tip from the lady in the farm shop that, when they've scratched up all grass and vegetation in the run cover the ground with bark chippings. It gives them something to scratch around in, lots of small insects and invertebrates move in for them to find and it looks much better. I also scuff the corn in a bit for them to find and there are even a few bits sprouting and they like their greens. ;D

[nightowl]

My granddad had a "broody coop". Just a nest-box sized crate with upright wooden railings in the front. just enough room for the hen to get her head through.

[Chuckles]

We ended up putting the broody chicken in an old log basket, it had wire netting/netting in the bottom so it was uncomfortable for her to sit and wire mesh over the top to keep her in. This was placed inside the run during the day and was put in a shed over night. Two days later she was cured. It sounds awful but she had food and water all the time and it did the trick. It took a good week for her to be fully excepted back into the group though bit of squabling went on

Although our pen is just over 7m long and 3m wide and plenty big enough for 5 chickens to roam in it is now very bare on the ground. We've moved it twice now but they soon demolish any vegitation on the ground and with all this wet we are having it soon gets like a mud bath in there. Can't say as I'm looking forward to the winter and the ground being bare and yukky Oh the joys of owning chickens.

[Amo]

Ooo, I've missed all this chook activity!! What lovely gils you have RM. How are the eggs?

Sadly we lost one of our Bramahs a few weeks ago. Clarissa was a bit lonley and as we have this lovely nursery nearby that also has poultry, last week we had to buy a couple more. (I just about refrained from ducks!) They are only Warrens but they are up for laying 300 eggs each a year, twice as much as a Bramah, and we had our first pair of eggs the day after they were in with Clarissa.

Meet Clarissa and the Cluckettes.



Now..... Whilst we were there they also had a couple of Cochins. Only 13 weeks old, but OH has been a bit strange since he saw them. Today, he could restrain himself no more and we now also have Cochins. (All this from a man who doesn't eat eggs) Anyway, one we all think is a cock and the other his sister, they are still a little on the young side to tell but one is a bit bigger and has pinker and larger wattles.

This is Dick and No 42.

[Missredhead]

Great footwarmers by the look of them. ;D

[Deleted]

At our meeting on Monday i asked again about chickens and i think from the response it will be a no.

There are lots of things to look into we would have to get intouch with DEFRA also a point was brought up about bird flu and the allotments would have to be shut down so i was dissapointed but the committee decided it was a no no.

[Chuckles]

Just seen the chicken in a bucket Amo ;D she don't look too happy does she ;D Thats a good tip about the bark chippings. Wee are you anywhere nearer getting any chickens. Rosemother got some a while back but we've not heard how she is getting on with them lately

My girls moved home 2 weeks ago now we had a few problems with the other owner since June with the setup. Basically we made and supplied the run and they made and supplied the coop. The coop had been letting wet since it was built and there was only enough room on the roosting pole for 2 chickens. Try as I might to get the other person to sort it, gentle hints etc, it never seemed to be a priority to them. Well I care about the welfare of the chickens and there were a few other things going on like food being scattered in the pen after the chickens had been shut up for the night, electric fence being left off etc etc etc, I won't go on but with all these niggles I couldn't stand it any longer.

So, I went into action and I emptied out my poly kennel of all plants and 5 lots of racking, took the front and inside dividing polycarbonate sheets off, built a raised bed on part of the floor and filled it with soil, put shavings down on the rest of the floor, made a nest box and fixed a roosting pole in the old kennel part at the back. It took me nearly 3 days to sort it all out and set it up but Bessy and Joycey are very happy in thier dry new home and I love having them nearer. I haven't fallen out with the other person, I just said I'd move my girls out because I wasn't happy with them not being able to roost and wanted them to be in a dry coop over winter.

I have plans to move them out of the poly/chicken kennel after winter and into part of the garden. I'm afraid it will mean part of the veg garden will have to go to make room for them but they are worth it

[Chuckles]

Now the girls have settled into thier new home I thought it was about time they had a little leg stretch ;D

What am I saying chickens loose in my garden.

Armed with a container of corn which I know they go mad for I opened the old poly kennel door and rattled the container, they followed me on to the lawn and the rest is history



Teal had a little look as if to say OMG I've got to share the garden with my feathered sisters. They don't bother with one another at all, they have been beak to nose at the pen front and several times they crossed paths in the garden and neither batted an eye.



After about 30 minutes on the lawn they decided to explore further Mmmmm what am I doing thats one of my borders



Heyho they have certainly found something they like in there, wonder if they put back what they scratch out ;D or maybe thats my job.



After 40 minutes Joycey (the grey) went back in the poly and got on the nest box to lay me a lovely egg. I was pleased she knew where to go because my garden is a bit of a maize. An hour later Bessie went back up the path to the pen and went in so I shut the door. All went well and I didn't have to use the corn to entice them back in so I'll be letting them have a wonder about more regularly. I won't leave them in the garden alone just yet though, I'll only have them out when I'm about.

[Amo]

This time of year, what's there to disturb? Oh a few nesting earwigs, cranefly, etc, they won't do that much damage that you can't sweep up. It's when it gets warmer and they want to dust bath you have to have nerves of steel!!! And they will always be in the coop before sunset, never fear. You can not give your eggs a better start then nature herself!!!

[Chuckles]

The girls came out again yesterday for a short while, they stayed mainly on the top bit of lawn. Like you said Amo "what's there to disturb" and they are worth the bit of mess they make. The dog cracks me up though, she pootles about on the lawn with them and she's sniffing at the grass and wondering what the hell it is they are finding thats so exciting on there, not her sort of food for sure. Mmmm warmer weather, dust baths, whats the betting they will be my raised beds ;D At some point in time, hopefully over the next few months I'm hoping to have a big pen up made from the sections we had in the other place and a new shed which will be adapted to have a section built in it for them to have a nest box and to roost at night, you know me and my mad woman ideas and plans ;D

Have Clarissa and the Cluckettes, Dick and No 42 settled in together. I recall Rosemother was worried about introducing Alice to Maude and Mabel wonder how she got on. I took a particular liking to Alice it was my Nans name and is also my middle name

Not sure how many other members have chickens, I reckon Carolann has some. Oooh how I'd love to have a couple more but must restrain myself.

[Amo]

Well it's a right tale of woe Chuckles. No 42 died with a rat bite. It later turned out that her and Dick were probably quite a bit younger than at first thought so she was a bit susceptible.

Clarissa went into moult and the Cluckettes started to take great delight in pecking out her emerging feathers. After a morning where she looked like she'd been in the Chain Saw Massacre we decided to give them away! I wasn't willing to put poor old Clarissa through all that stress and it was horrible to see. She's fully recovered now and in full plumage.

And a couple of Saturdays ago, when it was bitterly cold, we found Dick dead in the coop. Again it was his young age and it was freezing.

Anyway, Clarissa wanders around the garden all alone at the moment and I hope she's not lonely. She and Dick were quite attached. We will wait until the spring before looking at new ones. OH still would like a cockerel. A Brahma this time perhaps. I just hope Clarissa will be OK now.

[Chuckles]

Oh Amo I'm so sorry to hear the sad news, wished I hadn't asked now I'm sure Clarissa must be happier than she was, even if she is all alone. Roll on spring when she can have some nice new mates. Ooooh just thought, if you have a cockerel you could have babies at some point

Rats are a problem, we've always had them but I've seen them on a daily basis since moving the chickens into the poly kennel at the top of the garden. The cheaky gits nip in the run and eat the pellets so I've put bait around the outside of the place in those special covered bait boxes so that nothing else can get it, like the dog or the chickens when they are out. The rats are eating the bait wholesale so there must be a few about. I've got a new feeder for the pellets today, one that I can hang from the roof in the run, hopefully that will stop them getting the pellets so easily.

[Amo]

OH likes to have a pop at the rats and Tully is good at seaking them out too but we have a feed box now that is supposedly rat proof. The chickens (chicken) has to stand on a platform to open a shutter where the pellets are and rats aren't heavy enough. Dick used to flick the pellets everyewhere so there were still just as many for the rats but Clarissa is a little more tidier!

And I don't want babies ;D ;D ;D I just miss my living statues teleporting around the place.

[Chuckles]

Clarissa is a lady Amo and they eat proper and are more delicate ;D

I've now got 4 lots of bait about, the council rat man dropped me off 6 bags of treated corn. I've got my muck fork, a hay fork and a long handled small garden fork all outside all at the ready. I can grab them quick and maybe make a kill ;D I'm not so quick as I used to be though and my eyes ain't what they were so the air rifle is out of the question, probably get a pellet in my foot ;D

Bessie and Joycey are just loving being out and about with me in the garden and my nerves are bearing up ok for the moment. The dog still can't quite way up what they are finding so interesting to peck at on the lawn ;D They had a field day today as I moved pots about, loads of bugs and tiny slugs lurking, yum yum.

[4pygmies]

Hello...here I am for a catch up after months away and what do I find? Chickens! And the rodent hordes poking their horrid little noses in......why I feel right at home..........! Your chooks are gorgeous, Chuckles!

[Amo]

Nov 8, 2008 17:21:50 GMT Chuckles said:

Bessie and Joycey are just loving being out and about with me in the garden and my nerves are bearing up ok for the moment. The dog still can't quite way up what they are finding so interesting to peck at on the lawn ;D They had a field day today as I moved pots about, loads of bugs and tiny slugs lurking, yum yum.

They are not so daft as funny looking are they??!!?? They know exactly what's going on and where the good stuff is and it's usually where you are doing something interesting! ;D ;D ;D

[Chuckles]

Oh yes 4P the rodent hordes are poking their horrid little noses in. Have baited up in 4 places now around the top part of the garden and they have had a right good feed ;D Bait is hardly being touched atm though so hopefully the masses have been exterminated. Did find a little dead mouse in one of the bait boxes today always feel sad when I find a mouse. They do cause lots of damage though.

Chickens learn quickly don't they Amo ;D as soon as they hear me they wait at the pen door to be let out, they are having at least a couple of hours a day around the garden now, not too much damage, well not yet. They do come and find me every so often to see if I'm doing something interesting. They have had a right good time today because I've been moving stones and bricks, loads of goodies lurking for them. Cracks me up when they can't find me, if I've gone in the house it's not long before they are at the window peering in, the room window is only a couple of inches off the ground and they now peck the glass to get my attention They have even learnt what to do if I point my finger at them and shout OFF ;D they bugga off and find mischief elsewhere ;D

What fun ;D

[Amo]

I'm glad yours have moved in to the garden well. ;D You will get it in the neck when you have to pen them in the summer though ;D ;D ;D Or you will have to be very brave. Yes, there is definitely intelligence behind those beady little eyes ;D

[Chuckles]

Earlier in the week when we had snow on the ground for a short time I had such a laugh with Joyce and Bess ;D It was thier first encounter of snow and they didn't reckon much to it at all.

I let them out of the run daily now for an hour or so, sometimes all day depend on the weather really and what I'm doing too. Well they wouldn't walk across any amount of snow and managed to pick thier way around the garden by jumping on to snowless patches of path, the edge of the raised beds and bricks on the garden edges. I even put a heap of corn on the snowy path and they weren't having any of it, pair of whimps ;D





Until soft head sweaped the paths and then they were happy



A habit they have now got is to follow me down the path to the back door, dog does it to. They stand about and look at me through the window and sometimes even get settled on the door mat and preen themselves for a while.




Bess found her twin the other day in the greenhouse and that puzzled her a bit



All in all they are being pretty well behaved in the garden, odd bit of scratching about but no real damage. They like primrose leaves and pansy leaves and flowers the odd chive leaf goes down well too

Just caught Joycey as she'd laid an egg

[carolann]

Lovely pics Chuckles your girls are very settled. We have had the fox around it took one of the chucks at 2pm the other afternoon even though OH was knocking about in the yard. Went out this morning and there where fox prints all over the place even outside the small GH where the young chicks are, put some bricks up against the door hope they will be enough might put some rope round the handle as well.

[Amo]

Awwww Chuckles! ;D

I miss my others. Can't wait for the spring and to get some more perhaps.

[Shrubrose]

Well, what a lot I've missed Chuckles. Your girls are lovely - fine and healthy looking and obviously very attached to you now. It's wonderful to let them potter round the garden, isn't it. Makes it feel really homey. I really miss that in my garden and they never did much damage (maybe I was just lucky - never saw any of the rodent hordes either but we have cats ) Glad to see your's enjoying themselves.

The pic of Bess admiring herself made me laugh. They are such inquisitive creatures and such a delight. Everyone should have hens ;D

[4pygmies]

Hi Shrub! How are you? I, too have really enjoyed catching up with this thread - that picture of Teal looking beseechingly through the window made me really laugh - 'Mum, what are you doing.....? Pleeese let me back in......I ent no chicken.....' ;D

I only have my ancient Hilda left now...she wanders about looking like one of those poor souls you can see in the streets - a poor old lady, not sure what's going on but determined to keep going....I have to take her food to her sometimes as she's a bit deaf but she lives with the goats now so she keeps warm. In this recent weather when it was so bitter I found her crouched down on the bit of lawn where I'd stood the watering can full of hot water....(to defrost the goats water bowls). Now I try and take a spade with me so I can dig her a bit of earth to have a poke about in first thing. I think she's OK really but I do feel sad she hasn't got any other chook mates to have a chat to.

Rats eh Chuckles? Don't you just love em....? Do you want a pair of teflon pants..? And a mega death ray........? You know it makes sense... ;D

[Chuckles]

The girls are very settled Carolann, probably too settled ;D Do keep those young chicks safe from Foxy won't you, being a country lass I know how determined a fox can be as I'm sure you do too.

Perhaps get some more Amo come spring I'm going to nag you till you get some more ;D

Ooooh Shrub you've missed some fun and games As far as pottering goes Amo has reliably informed me I will need nerves of steel and I'm beginning to understand what she means. It's great to have them pottering about but I start having palputations when they are out of site and quiet Mmmmm If I want to do any sort of work on the beds they are now put in the run. They are a delight though and yes, everyone should have hens

You'd love it when I go up the garden with scraps 4P you should see the look on Teals face when she has to share bits with the chickens, shes a lovely gentle old lady now and will quite happily share stuff like rice and pasta on the lawn with the girls. Can't quit imagine her sharing her bed though like Hilda with the goats. I bet Hilda loves her life with them, her own snuggly heated bed mates ;D I'm happy to say I won't be needing the teflon pants or mega death ray, all is quiet on the rat front again.

[Chuckles]

Joycey and Bessie have been having a field day today in the garden. I've been having a pot move around and moved a big pile of bricks too. All those bugs and critters that lurk underneath and between things yum yum. They do slow me down a little while doing this sort of job but when I think of all the slugs and bugs they've eaten today ;D less to nible at young shoots as they are poking through ;D

Found out MrG has three Bantams the other day and he's gonna see what pics he has of them