Worming Time

As the weather is getting better (what planet am I on?) and the ladies have finished moulting and are at their finest, I have decided it is time for a good old purge. I have spent a while mixing some Flubenvet into a 20 kilo bag of layers pellets. I would much rather buy it ready mixed but getting hold of feed with Flubenvet in is like find a mouth full of hens teeth. I have to travel over 30 miles which is silly. Very few people stock it, and I dont see why. You need to be suitably qualified to "dispense" it. If the wormer is already incorporated into a feed which presumably is done in a properly controlled fashion then this has to be safer than me mixing just 24 grams (just about 5 teaspoons) into a 20 kilo sack. As it is, I have to put it into a drum and with my finest washing machine action to churn it backwards and forwards in my efforts to make sure it is dispersed evenly into the feed. Flubenvet is my wormer of choice as a) it kills all known worms - dead and b) you dont have to do it very often. I do it about twice a year. I herbal worm my older chicks as I think that is kinder to their systems and they all get a top dressing of horsey garlic flakes about once a week. Garlic is a good vermifuge (wormer to you and me) and all round good tonic. You can tell they have been eating it when you go into the run cos they all get garlic breath. Lovely!!!

RIP Lopsided Lulu

A really sad day. Lulu who has already escaped death earlier in the week was found in the pond today....drowned. As she could not fly she could not jump over with enough force to clear the obstacle. I found her floating and this time she was beyond recovery. Poor girl. I imagine she was chased there by a duck and was maybe cornered so she had no option but to risk the pond. Ever since she was hatched I have had a soft spot for her. Although she was not suitable to sell, she would have had a good life with my own laying flock I think. I am devastated. Poor poor Lulu. I can take comfort in the fact that it was good she was one of mine, she would have been culled by any other breeder I would think. Chickens and ponds definitely do not mix.

On a high note, I got 5 eggs today from my laying girls, the most since late October. They obviously know that spring is on the way. I am looking forward to the weather becoming less damp soon, all the rain is getting me down and I have plans for the garden this summer. I am going to hang sails from the pergola as sun shades so I have a nice big area to sit in so I don't get burned. The lobster look is not for me from now on. Once the Jasmine and Kiwi vine is really intertwined in the pergola I can sit out and smell its gorgeous perfume lingering in the air. Bliss.

Yay Lulu

Good News
Fearing that Lulu was overcome by her emergency episode last night I thought that I might come downstairs this morning to find her dead in the cat carrier. However, joy, I went shuffling in the kitchen in my slippers and dressing gown and peered expectantly into the carrier on the floor and she squeeked at me. Yay.

I have had the new shed built today so it has been rather messy in the garden. Lots of tools, chicken paraphernalia and garden fixtures not where they should be so a little chaotic. The 12 weekers spent most of the day hiding in their coop especially as the ducks had free range of the garden whilst we were coming and going. They obviously didn't want to feel the wrath of the ducks again and I don't blame them. They settled in the coop and scattered the nice clean bedding I had just done for them and they surveyed the chaos from a safe distance. We caught them having a crafty dig in the earth where we had been working to see if they could uproot a tasty worm and then when we came out again we found them back in the coop with 7 pairs of eyes peering out as if butter wouldn't melt.

Two of the 12 weekers are boys and they have been practicing their crowing. A very pathetic affair. A bit like an adolescent boy going through pubity where the voice just won't behave. They haven't got any power in the crow yet so no rush to rehome. They are a Black Legbar and a Speckled Ausbar both crested and very handsome they will be.

Ah Poor Lulu

Just had a bit of a shock. It was dark, and a bit drizzly. Keith had just gone outside to make sure the chickens and ducks had all gone to bed. He shouted to me to come down quickly, he added, a duck has attacked a chicken. I ran to get my coat and met him outside to find Lopsided Lulu lying in a puddle on her back with her legs stretched out looking rather dead. I picked her up and she squeeked at me (a good sign) but she was sopping wet and cold and looked very bad. I feared the worst. I took her inside and wrapped her like a burrito in an old towel hoping to dry her out and see if I could revive her. She was breathing heavily but didn't sound like she had taken a dunk in the pond, although she was wet enough to have been in there. She lay in my arms quietly and looked sleepy. I assumed she was in shock so I quietly spoke to her in chick squeeking (I know its mad) hoping she would speak back to me. She didn't. I know when parrots get ill the best thing is to warm them up. Something to do with the heat allows their bodies to overcome what ails them. Once Lulu was warmer I treated her to some corn which she gobbled greedily. Another good sign. I then gave her the ultimate in chicken beauty treatment. A blow dry with the hairdryer. She wasn't too chuffed until she realised it was nice and warm and she allowed me to ruffle her feathers to dry her off completely. She then decided to have a wander round the kitchen squeeking as she went and we had a right old chat. She is now in the cat carrier for the night and hopefully she will join her coop-mates in the morning.

Lulu is so named because she took ages to come out the shell on hatch day and she has a droopy wing. When chicks are slow, they tend to get welded into a curled up position and things like feet or wings or even legs can be so deformed that they die. Lulu could stand and her feet were ok, but she looked like a little hunchback with her droopy side. Lopsided Lulu she became and as such I am very fond of her. She is only 12 weeks old but I wouldn't want to part with her, certainly not yet.

The ducks are not fond of the chickens when they are in duck territory but they don't normally attack. Lulu might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and maybe they did have a go at her. She is timid and at the bottom of the pecking order in her own group of 12 week olds.  I am just wondering if she will survive into adulthood and whether the other adult hens will allow her to live and let live. I do hope so.

Do I ever learn?

Just had new windows and doors fitted, which means the house is in chaos. Not content with that upset, I have then given the builders what amounts to a shopping list of jobs around the house. Keith thinks I am nuts and am sure he is worried about when I am going to say stop, and that I am finally satisfied that the house is just perfect the way it is. But the house is not perfect yet. At least not until I replace my metal ramshackle shed with a nice new wooden one. I now need the builders to shoehorn into a space which will only just accommodate it. We would normally do that sort of stuff but I know that if Keith and I try to build it, we will end up killing each other and providing the neighbours with more entertainment than they can cope with. So I feel it is safer (more healthy for our marriage) if the builders do it. To put the shed where I want it, I need the paving to be every so slightly adjusted so the base will fit. This is part of the paving that was done only last year!!  Then I need to fit shelves in it and cram all the stuff back in. The object of the exercise is to fit in a coop which has been standing on said paving and is in the way. I will now have room for it in its own space and it will give the chickens that live in that coop a patch of earth to dig in. I know they will thank me at least. When that is done, it will only leave the decoration of my new office and floorlaying, redecorate the living room and lay new flooring, and I think I will call STOP right there then. Possibly. Keith is rolling his eyeballs again. Poor man.

Jubilation and Desolation

I had two pieces of news today from some of my customer friends. The first was from Jennie, she has told me that they forgot to make sure that the run door was closed properly last night and the wind blew it open and unfortunately a fox has taken all her lovely girls. She is devastated and my heart goes out to her.

The first of many

Mr fox will be on the prowl for longer now that we have longer nights and he will be looking for easy pickings. Please make sure your chickens are all safe at night.

The other piece of news is from an excited Jean who has found her first egg in the nest box this morning and it was blue!

She and her husband are going to be fighting over it for breakfast tomorrow she says. I don't blame her, the first egg is always such an exciting event.

I am excited too because although I know Glamorous Gordon is the son of Violet the blue egg layer, I have had to wait 5 months to find out what sort of eggs his daughters will lay. Its a bit of a Forest Gump moment, "you never know what your gunna git". Yay Glamorous Gordon!

Coops To Die For

Twitter Facebook and other social media sites are great for building contacts and relationships. They also do a great job of introducing you to other people with similar interests. The same is true of this post. In the past I have looked at @JimVyseArks when I was looking to source a coop when I first got into chicken keeping. In the end I went for the cheapest I could find. Six months later I "upgraded" to a better coop which was easier to clean cos cleaning out in the winter, in the rain and in the dark after work, is less fun than wading up to your welly tops in mud. Which by the way we did more or less at the same time but thats another story!! If I had worried less about the cost and more about the function I would have chosen very differently and saved myself some money in the long run. Since joining Twitter under the mysterious name of @hedgerowhens I have been found myself enjoying listening to, and talking to other chicken enthusiasts and among them is Jim from Jim Vyse Arks. He even called his blog "Chicken Chat" which is what mine was originally called in my homage to the great Indian delicious dish of the same name. Who needs an excuse to think of curry - I certainly don't. My tastebuds are tingling with the thought of it. Anyway I am digressing. As he very kindly did his bit to publicise our chicken keeping courses, I am returning the favour by incorporating some pictures of his wonderfully thought out coops. He designs and makes them himself and his passion for chickens shows through. They are purposefully made so that they should be easy to clean and keep your chickens in the lap of luxury. Don't our girls deserve the best? He will paint them also in a range of beautiful colours and fit them with an automatic door too if you wish. If you have a particular design feature he can also add that into your wish list. All in all his coops, as you can see from the pictures below, not only look good, but they function well for yours and your chickens benefit too. A win win situation in anyone's book. Don't let the fact that they are made from wood put you off either. I have a wooden coop and I have never had any red mite. I am a convert to diatomaceous earth poofed into every crevice with my Bobby Duster. You come out of the coop looking like a horror film extra covered in powder, but mites don't stand a chance. A mask is definitely a very good idea.

Extended Grand Chalet

This is the Extended Grand Chalet for the ultimate in chicken comfort. Even your head chickens can get their own roost above their minions. This is a very useful feature on all the Jim Vyse Arks and it keeps the harmony at bedtime as all the ladies are well spaced out. The private nest boxes are well situated below perch level so even the laziest of hens wont be tempted to sleep there. As we all know a nest box which is slept in is also pooped in. Hens like to roost high so they are very unlikely to choose (and therefore dirty) the nesting area keeping your eggs clean.

Chicken Run

Super Swiss Chalet

Standard Swiss Chalet

Look how easy it is to clean!

The Runs and Chalet look good together.

As you see Jim has worked hard to produce a range of excellent des-res for your girls. You can reach Jim on http://www.jimvysearks.co.uk