Essential autumn preparations for your chickens (part one)
When I went into our chicken run this morning I spotted that we had intruders. There were three neat front doors behind the chicken house. These doors are about 1 ?” wide and mean one thing. Rats. This is an invasion that cannot be ignored. Rats clearly enjoy a great social life and breed very rapidly. They are intelligent and if they find a good supply of chicken feed and fresh water they will not leave willingly. There was an old guy in our village who would point a shotgun into a hole and fire. I use poison. A lot. Starting when I see...
read moreSome of our chickens are moulting
I went down to the run today and it was covered with a light sprinkling of feathers. My initial gut reaction was slightly panicky. Had a fox got in or a giant rat? Then I remembered that sometimes chicken moult at this time of year. As chickens get older they are more likely to moult. It’s never the whole gang and that is why it’s a bit disturbing. We have three hens, looking great with bright red combs stepping about perkily. The other two look as if they haven’t seen a hairbrush for months. My bantam book is reassuring. As...
read moreHow many eggs does a chicken lay each week?
“How come there were only four eggs in the basket this morning?'” Danny asked when he brought in my breakfast tray. Admittedly I had given John Coe four when he came to mow the lawn this week, but only eight in a week! Danny was concerned, “What are we going to do about our fry ups?” Danny’s mother kept chickens when he was a child and as a Poultry Instructor, passed on her knowledge. Despite this both of us were a bit naive when it came to keeping chickens ourselves. Just before we collected our chickens three...
read moreWindfall apples for the chickens
Chickens are strange creatures. I tossed in some windfall apples this morning and they fled behind their coop, peering at them suspiciously. After a long minute or so, Mrs Boss picked her way over to the nearest apple and regarded it closely with her head on one side. She took a quick bite and then another. By the time she was really tucking in, she was joined by the others.I can’t understand why Mrs Boss, a small bantam and bottom of the pecking order, is our most courageous chicken when ‘new food’ is introduced. The two...
read moreMrs Boss is broody. How to stop a hen being broody
Mrs Boss is one of the original bantams that we bought three years ago. A bantam is a breed of small chicken. As you can see from the photo she is white with pretty black and white feathers around her neck. She reminds me of the portraits of English cavaliers sitting so proud in their lace collars. She also has feathered feet. When she arrived she was boss, ticking the other hens off if they stepped out of line. But gradually the others fought back and now her demotion is final. She is right at bottom of the pecking order and has a tough...
read moreKeeping chickens in our garden
We have kept chickens for three years and we love them. A lot of my clients keep chickens and I got the longing from watching them. Danny was encouraging but I overheard him telling his brother to make the run no taller than 5’4″, my height, so as to avoid chicken cleaning duties! I didn’t care and still don’t. I quite enjoy cleaning them out each week. There is definitely a Wendy house element in keeping a small flock.Ideally, chickens are locked up at night but allowed free range during the day. Unfortunately our min...
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