Not sure what happened with this little blighter….
Bonding continues with the chicks…. July 24, 2008
A warm welcome after work or after a hot sunny days’ walk - to come back to a pecking chook.
I still love their desire to join us in the house – by window, stable back door or just the right opportunity presented….
chicks antics July 14, 2008
I had heard of dust baths by chickens but never really knew the process or reality until yesterday!
They look a bit dead (as do all my herbs!!!) but they’re not. They’re like dogs rolling around in bird poo – never thought that chickens would roll around like that getting totally covered in dry dirt! Then after about an hour of that, they strutt around fluffing themselves to shake the dirt out! Quite bizarre and a very good reason to get chicks and to give them lots of free range space! We just need to decide if a kitchen-handy herb garden is more important??!!!
The girls are getting cuddly…. June 2, 2008
A chick update – a few times recently I’ve caught the 4 chick girls lounging somewhere in the sun, and this particular time there were three cuddled up together!!! Well cute. The white one – toot identifiable due to more brown flecks on her back compared to Cindy – got up as I got the camera out but the other two stayed all relaxed and cosy!
[bugger.... can't upload the pic at the moment. will try a seperate post]
They’re doing very well – fairly reliable 1 egg per day each (so we’re building up 4 per day nicely) – and haven’t escaped much recently. We’re currently debating the main plan to build a coop to more securely house them while we’re away in the summer. Plus now have the shed which should form the basis of winter accommodation and possible increasing the flock for some for food.
It’s a free(cycle) world….. June 2, 2008
Wow, freecycle is pretty good – or at least the mentality behind it. See the widget down to the right of the page for what we’ve had free. I can’t believe people actually pay for stuff. Especially things like sheds and greenhouses. Ok, effort involved if you’re an old lady or something or if you’re really poncey and need a brand new swanky thing….. but come on….
So this now procured:
(shown in it’s previous owners garden)
….. with a bit of effort to re-construct it with a bit of patching up to do but not too much.. mostly due to:
….. the immense amount of fun it is dismantling this kind of thing. For a start it’s honest hard work, but so satisfactory as it’s quite quick to achieve something (as opposed to building something over weeks/months/years – like my friends doing their flat/homes that is taken them ages and ages so the benefit so long awaited and painful during the wait). I ripped down the chicken coop last year, and this was similar. So a few injured pieces of timber and a snapped hammer (!) but a few scrapped knuckles but lots of fun.
I commented at home too, that this whole new life since we moved here is finally making start to feel 1) useful beyond my IT techie career and 2) quite blokeish (as never previously been in a fight or had a ‘proper’ job!
I highly recommend both free stuff and trashing things.
BTW – shed is intended to be a chicken house at the bottom of the garden – target date 15 September 2008.
Part-way through weekend update…. April 26, 2008
Random wanting to post with some updates-:
- Finished raised beds with ends and top soil procured previously from freecycle.
- Admired many shoots now appearing in the potato area
- Transplanted many things including peas, brassicas, nastersiums etc
- Put up some more fencing to sort out the chickens who keep escaping next door!
- Syphoned waterbutt off to stash some rainwater for the coming anticipated dry spell
- Completed a nigeybodge/cunning solution for collecting rainwater off the greenhouse. [another post with pics to follow shortly]
- Completed a nigeybodge to replace some glass in a shed thing here.
Busy busy busy……
interesting pea in transition to the outside world:>
And a funny find whilst emptying the waterbutt->
Toddler admitted to putting a flowerpot, a small gardening kids’ rake, and an egg-box in there a few months ago!!
chook update April 21, 2008
First egg!! and happy hens – well…. the one that laid this one and a second yesterday (Cindy) seemed a little bit barn-sick and mopey. :< watch this blogspace as we try to cheer her up ……
One of the brown ‘uns seemed to like a little space at the foot of a tree in the garden, they also escaped a few times to next doors’ garden – meaning we had to contain them a little towards the end of the day!
They survived all a-ok April 13, 2008
All the new ladies are fine this morning so we at least have had one good night fox-free. I did pop out late before bed and it all seemed so quiet I can’t see how a fox would pick up on them being there – sense of smell I guess and probaly more so once they’ve started to be out and about.
Today will now be focused on building a coop. The design will be fairly ad-hoc!
further chicken thoughts April 12, 2008
[Nige blogging logged in as barbara!]
Quite funny thinking about these chooks that are snoozing down the garden. It’s a bit like when we we brought home the now toddler from hospital after she was born – the traditional feeling of ‘wow, we’re taking this think home with no support really there, all up to us….’.
Well with the chooks it feels wierd to be allowed to be responsible for their welfare, life, happiness etc. I want to keep going down there to check them but her indoors says that a bit over the top. I went at dusk cos I wanted to catch them asleep – and they were – brilliantly sleeping on the perch. wot an amazing feat of science. I would like to find out if it’s perfect balance/center of gravity or whether they are awake enough to grip on continously?? Answers by comment please.
The family joked about the fact that we have even more girls in the house now for me, but I do feel a fantastic fatherly vibe for the chooks – they won’t leave the washing up undone, or strop about my comments of how messy they room is!!
Right, off to wee around the hen-house now (desperate to at least get one night without a fox attack on them!)
