Ok so i have cannibals in the garden, i am starting to think that chooks really are a descendant of the dinosaurs! Poor Specky has been bullied again and her bum is red raw, separated from the others, brought some violet spray, apparently heals and covers the sight of blood and stop the others from pecking her, well see.
I have discovered the bad girl is Rocky (as i have named her) she has gone mad....little bitch, constantly plucks feathers from all of the others, i tried poking her with a stick, you know as the dog whisperer gives a bite mimicking another dog, thought she might realise I am the pack leader. yes i know I'm mad....
I now have more chick manure than i can handle, phone my local allotments to see if they would like it, the man from delmonte say YES. his name actually is Derek.
I have now found names for all the chooks:
Becky, Specky, Rocky, Ginger, Suzi, Quatro, Amber, Maggie and Bluebell.
Louri said we eat less eggs now than before we got the girls, I've been selling eggs to friends and clients at work, his suggestion, that way the girls earn their keep and it pays for their food, good idea i thought. So he has suggested we get some more chooks, like i need any persuading?
Its amazing how much these girls grow on you, i now find that I am missing them, I leave them in the morning and by the time I get home at night, they are already tucked up in bed, don't get to see them at all it seems.
27.12.10 Today we picked up 4 more chooks, it was dark by the time we got home so put them straight to bed.
They all seemed fine in the morning, so we went out Xmas shopping.
To my horror, on our return I found one of the new girls dead in the run, they had pecked her so badly she collapsed under a hanging feeder, I cant understand how they can do this to each other, I was really shocked. Three days later I found another new chook dead in the coop when I let them out in the morning! I will never again introduce new chickens to the group again, I know its mother nature and how it would be in the wild but its hard to stomach.
All in all, not a good December either!
Here's looking forward to a better 2011
Thursday 6 January 2011
November 2010
The egg laying is slowing down, think its after the girls are moved, it upsets their systems, a delayed reaction, hope they settle in soon.
Found a farm shop near me, great for getting feed, straw etc.
Roxy, one of my girls is not well, acting strange, all haunched up and not interested in anything, she has lost loads of weight, she stayed like this for a few days and finally passed away, how sad :(
I tried everything i could, nothing worked. Had been in touch with farm for advice, when i told her of the sad news, she very kindly offered to replace her, didn't think it was a good idea, but Louri said yes, so along we went.....didn't want to replace her with another black rock so got another speckaldy instead.
Arrived home and placed her in the run, OMG, it was like Raptor showdown, really scary, poor little girl, they all pecked at her like mad, she ran up into the coop, her crown pouring with blood! WOW I felt so guilty....apparently this is normal and is where Hen Pecked came from.
After a couple of days she settled in fine yay!
14.11.10 Woke up this morning to find husband had cleaned out the coop for me....will wonders never seize?
The cold has really come, the fish pond frozen over, melted a little hole for them.
Specky is limping, he foot is badly bruised, think she may have twisted it coming down the ramp.
Cant believe how stressed out the girlies are keeping me, maybe I'm not cut out for all this, have I made a mistake?
have put cage wire all around my veggie beds, JD keeps insisting to use it as her toilet, not for much longer.
30.11.10 and we have snow!!! everything is covered, poor veggies, poor fish and poor chooks.
Altogether not a good November.
Found a farm shop near me, great for getting feed, straw etc.
Roxy, one of my girls is not well, acting strange, all haunched up and not interested in anything, she has lost loads of weight, she stayed like this for a few days and finally passed away, how sad :(
I tried everything i could, nothing worked. Had been in touch with farm for advice, when i told her of the sad news, she very kindly offered to replace her, didn't think it was a good idea, but Louri said yes, so along we went.....didn't want to replace her with another black rock so got another speckaldy instead.
Arrived home and placed her in the run, OMG, it was like Raptor showdown, really scary, poor little girl, they all pecked at her like mad, she ran up into the coop, her crown pouring with blood! WOW I felt so guilty....apparently this is normal and is where Hen Pecked came from.
After a couple of days she settled in fine yay!
14.11.10 Woke up this morning to find husband had cleaned out the coop for me....will wonders never seize?
The cold has really come, the fish pond frozen over, melted a little hole for them.
Specky is limping, he foot is badly bruised, think she may have twisted it coming down the ramp.
Cant believe how stressed out the girlies are keeping me, maybe I'm not cut out for all this, have I made a mistake?
have put cage wire all around my veggie beds, JD keeps insisting to use it as her toilet, not for much longer.
30.11.10 and we have snow!!! everything is covered, poor veggies, poor fish and poor chooks.
Altogether not a good November.
September 2010
Bought a "Tidy Tent" and have placed it just outside the french doors, finally i have somewhere to put all my bits, should make the kitchen a bit tidier.
Built a raised fish pond for the girls/boys? used log edging and planted herbs around it, really cute in my opinion, transferred the fish over, hopefully they'll settle in with no problems.
Finally the chicken coop arrived, i had it assembled in about an hour and went to Linda's (lady with chicken farm near me) and have bought home 9 girls, Louri helped me from the car, it was already dark so we put them straight to bed, I'm a bit nervous of handling them, I'm sure ill get used to it soon....goodnight girlies xxx
Well, in just 3 days, the girls have eaten every shred of grass in the run, unbelievable?
Rachelle and Stu came to visit, said i am mad for getting so many compared to their 3.
Well its reached freezing point, i was well prepared, ball in the fish pond, all the girls seem ok, none are bothered by the cold at all, i suppose they are wrapped in quilt :)
24.10.10 Well what a palaver today.....whilst cleaning out the coop I started to feel a bit guilty having them shut inside their run, so i decided to let them out and have a little wonder. Half way through I started to panic thinking "if a fox should jump into our garden theres absolutely no way i can protect them" so I decided to get them all back in (she says) OMG!!!!!
why did i let them out? slowly one by one I managed to persuade them with bird seed etc apart from Amber, she had me running round the garden for 2 hours, until I decided to just stand by their door and hold it slightly ajar, she calmly just walked right in....go figure? God knows what the neighbours think, it really was like a Benny Hill sketch, i can even hear the music!
Harvested peppers and aubergines and some more potatoes.
Finally found hardwood chippings to put inside the run so the girls will have something to scratch at, you know, do their Essex 2 step! put them in....they love it, lol, they look so funny!
Built a raised fish pond for the girls/boys? used log edging and planted herbs around it, really cute in my opinion, transferred the fish over, hopefully they'll settle in with no problems.
Finally the chicken coop arrived, i had it assembled in about an hour and went to Linda's (lady with chicken farm near me) and have bought home 9 girls, Louri helped me from the car, it was already dark so we put them straight to bed, I'm a bit nervous of handling them, I'm sure ill get used to it soon....goodnight girlies xxx
Well, in just 3 days, the girls have eaten every shred of grass in the run, unbelievable?
Rachelle and Stu came to visit, said i am mad for getting so many compared to their 3.
Well its reached freezing point, i was well prepared, ball in the fish pond, all the girls seem ok, none are bothered by the cold at all, i suppose they are wrapped in quilt :)
24.10.10 Well what a palaver today.....whilst cleaning out the coop I started to feel a bit guilty having them shut inside their run, so i decided to let them out and have a little wonder. Half way through I started to panic thinking "if a fox should jump into our garden theres absolutely no way i can protect them" so I decided to get them all back in (she says) OMG!!!!!
why did i let them out? slowly one by one I managed to persuade them with bird seed etc apart from Amber, she had me running round the garden for 2 hours, until I decided to just stand by their door and hold it slightly ajar, she calmly just walked right in....go figure? God knows what the neighbours think, it really was like a Benny Hill sketch, i can even hear the music!
Harvested peppers and aubergines and some more potatoes.
Finally found hardwood chippings to put inside the run so the girls will have something to scratch at, you know, do their Essex 2 step! put them in....they love it, lol, they look so funny!
August 2010
Ah....discovered out resident frog is living in the veggie patch, good to see him back, alive and kicking!
After much surfing I have found the perfect chicken coop with a double run....only £294.98 + £17.49 bargain! the run is only 70cm high, so it will fit nicely under the apple tree at the end of the garden, cool.
All my seedlings inside the mini greenhouse are absolutely covered in caterpillars, what the ......? Saw fly larvae, bastards!
8.8.10 flying ants everywhere this afternoon, makes my skin crawl, but fascinating to watch!
Ive been having caterpillar salad nightmares, when will i have decent sleep again?
Have potted all strawberry runners, taken box cuttings.
22.8.10 Plucked my first Braeburn apple, delicious, cant wait for next year, the new tree only have x2 apples on it, and yes i know i should have snipped them both off, but couldn't resist.
Harvested the sweetcorn, maybe a bit too early, not very big cobs.
Most of the different courgette plants have been absolutely useless apart from the normal green ones and the yellow kind, next year will only plant them.
All in all, a very wet August! but good for the plants.
After much surfing I have found the perfect chicken coop with a double run....only £294.98 + £17.49 bargain! the run is only 70cm high, so it will fit nicely under the apple tree at the end of the garden, cool.
All my seedlings inside the mini greenhouse are absolutely covered in caterpillars, what the ......? Saw fly larvae, bastards!
8.8.10 flying ants everywhere this afternoon, makes my skin crawl, but fascinating to watch!
Ive been having caterpillar salad nightmares, when will i have decent sleep again?
Have potted all strawberry runners, taken box cuttings.
22.8.10 Plucked my first Braeburn apple, delicious, cant wait for next year, the new tree only have x2 apples on it, and yes i know i should have snipped them both off, but couldn't resist.
Harvested the sweetcorn, maybe a bit too early, not very big cobs.
Most of the different courgette plants have been absolutely useless apart from the normal green ones and the yellow kind, next year will only plant them.
All in all, a very wet August! but good for the plants.
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