LL's chicken keeping adventures

[sandy]

Its turning into a luxurious spa/gym area but how are you going to sit in the chair?

[lancashire lass]

Its turning into a luxurious spa/gym area but how are you going to sit in the chair?

LOL - I won't be sitting on it (it would probably fall apart if I did) I just want to set up multiple levels and bolt holes in the run but they all have a habit of doing things together. Let's eat or drink together, let's all pile in the coop and watch whoever lay an egg, let's all try and sit on the chimney stack together, let's ... so I'm not sure if it's going to work or not.

[KarenE]

That's what happens when you fill your coop full of Mitchells and Brannings/Butchers - they do everything together!

[lancashire lass]

Another good egg laying week - 27 - and just as well as I've got a couple of "big" orders this next week. I'm half expecting the numbers to drop but the girls just keep on amazing me.

Since the latest blood letting (although it could have been self inflicted pecking of scab), I have been giving Baby a quick squirt of anti pecking spray under her tail nearly on a daily basis and (touch wood), she seems to be alright for now and the wound is healing well. Posh on the other hand has even less feathers and despite the purple and featherite spray, the bum feathers have nearly all gone. Apart from a very bare bottom, her other feathers are in tip top condition. She now gets a little squirt under the tail too .... the girls have started to get very wary of me when I don't open the coop door in a morning and I now let them out one by one by the side door.

Meanwhile, I've decided to try some louse powder - even though I can't see any signs of infestation, it is possible that without my reading glasses I probably can't see anything anyway. I would have liked some effective treatment but nearly all the louse powders on the market are basically just DE with an unspecified "organic" ingredient which sounds like an essential oil or herbal mix - all well and good if it works but I'm not convinced. I've looked at the Ivermectin and Frontline and Pyrethium treatments but the only professional advice is "don't use" or "only in accordance with the vet's advice" with no information about egg withdrawal for the same reason. Those that give the thumbs up tend to be on open forums ... so anybody with no training could say it is safe when it might not be. Anyway, I've gone for Hydrophane louse powder. While I was shopping online, decided to get a tub of poultry spice as well although I suspect it is much like the Orego Stim I sometimes add to the drinking water.

Scary doesn't seem to be throwing her weight around as much but it's an ever changing mood with her. I think the run make-over with its new perches and sand box has definitely been a winner but still only Ginger ventures on to the high rise run. Ginger is so agile, she jumps up onto the chimney stack, the new perch and on to the pallet shelf without a pause or a single wing flap whereas Scary has to make mental calculations of whether she can jump up or not. I haven't seen Baby use any of the perches and I suspect this may be more to do with bullying, but as long as the others are now occupied it should reduce that (in theory) Posh has definitely investigated the sand box and half emptied it with her scratching.

No earthworms today despite going to the allotment and seeing loads as I dug the beds, but the girls are still on the worming pellets. They've been getting a bowl of mash every morning to make sure they get a dose, and by afternoon the bowl is emptied so presumably eaten. It is working out quite well - when I let them out in a morning, they make such a racket until the greens and seeds are doled out just before I leave for work but now they look forward to the bowl of mash as soon as I let them out and tuck in straight away without a peep. I bought some bananas yesterday but the girls have not shown an interest so today I mashed one up into their morning mash. Meanwhile, no chickweed this week either and greens are going to be in short supply - I just have some cabbage and broccoli to keep them going so I need to make a serious start of sowing some seeds soon.

Talking of feed, I have been learning about peanuts - "Whole groundnuts are excellent poultry feed and can constitute up to 25% of the diet.". Not surprising really because they are a legume with high protein. I bought a big bag of peanuts (for wild birds) to add to their scatter feed but like the banana, the girls don't seem that interested .... I think it might just be a case of learning to discover them. I am thinking of making some "flock blocks" but you can add different ingredients so one way of using them up.

[Chicken drumstick]

A great read as always

[sandy]

Glad Baby is still in one piece I have to say LL I met a visiting chicken expert at my vets in 2010 and she told me frontline is not licensed to hens but any that were pets and not going into the food chain she saw no reason why they could not have it and I have frontlined my girls every six months. I get the spray stuff for my cats of course

[KarenE]

Interesting you say that about frontline. I've been frontlining my cats for years, but I found last year that it hardly worked on Jasper and the poor little fellow seemed to have fleas most of the year. Now I'm treating him with pills which seem to be more effective (as well as us flea spraying the house almost constantly) - I'm convinced fronline wasn't doing it's job which is really weird because it was cracking when I used it previously until last year.

[lancashire lass]

but any that were pets and not going into the food chain she saw no reason why they could not have it and I have frontlined my girls every six months. I get the spray stuff for my cats of course

but eggs are food .... I'm sure there is supposed to be an egg withdrawal period but I'll definitely keep that in mind especially in summer should things start to get out of hand

I've been frontlining my cats for years, but I found last year that it hardly worked on Jasper and the poor little fellow seemed to have fleas most of the year.

Many years ago when I first tried Frontline on my cat, it was magic but I think the ingredients are not the same now (probably EU rules - a lot has changed in the way of pesticides for home use in recent years)

Well, another good egg laying week - 27 - and 6 sales too which meant no surplus for either me or the chooks (I cook the older eggs as a protein supplement for them) Next week is Pancake Tuesday so I've asked the girls to keep up the good work until Wednesday and maybe I might be able to sell a few extra LOL.

The louse powder and poultry spice arrived earlier in the week - the spice smells divine, sort of fennel/aniseedy. The louse powder is also perfumed but after dusting the bedding and the girls, it started to be a bit much even for me LOL. As per usual, I had to chase the chickens round the run but they seemed pleasantly surprised that the treatment was just a gentle massage as I lightly dusted them. Normally Scary gets left out of other treatments so she was a bit shocked to find herself being targetted as well.

As for feeding, well the peanuts and bananas have not gone well. I had hoped they would learn to like them but I ended up having to mash the banana into their morning mash, and no amount of disguise was going to encourage them to eat the peanuts. I think I might have to blitz them into smaller pieces although I still plan to make some of my boredom busting blocks at some point. The morning mash really is working very well at keeping the noise levels down after letting them out of the coop - as mornings get lighter much earlier now, I am aware that we are now just starting to get into the nuisance levels and spring/summer is still some time away.

In today's shop, I got some spinach - after looking it up, apparently it is very high in lutein and zeaxanthin which is good for yolk colour, as well as vitamins A and K and minerals and is an excellent green food for them. At this time of year, the only other greens available seem to be in the brassica group especially cabbage and after reading up goitrogenism in animal feeding, I think they might have been getting too much. Too much lettuce gives them diarrhea so the list of what to feed them is rapidly getting short. I did notice the mild winter has encouraged a few weeds to germinate and grow so it won't be long before I can start harvesting some useful greens - dandelion leaves are rich in vitamin A too - and this year I will definitely be growing some chard (I'm not fond of it myself and didn't consider growing any but that was before I had got the chickens .... we will be better prepared this next winter along with some other leafy veg)

I kept the worming pellets going for 10 days but have now shifted them back to their old pellets. I reckon we have about a week's supply left so will be going shopping next weekend for a new sack. As for the grit box, they really have been using it a lot - I may have seriously underestimated their grit/oyster shell requirements when I used to scatter some in the run. It used to be in a bowl but they had a habit of tipping it over or kicking soil into it hence the scatter method before I made the new box.

[Chookaholic]

I buy bags of baby spinach and my lot love it ... as all the weeds have been snaffled up and the grass is a bit rough i thought theyd need a bit of greenery ... I wedge it in the wire of the run

I bought some shell from pets at h*me and it is HUGE...they really didnt take to it until i smashed it with an old rolling pin . I also use a deep ceramic pate dish for mine , its really heavy

Great diary LL

[KarenE]

I think you're right about the Frontline LL - except i notice the price hasn't adjusted for it's lesser efficacy!

Mine aren't huge fans of banana, although they will have a nibble on it if it's chunked rather than mashed (I usually leave a little piece around for them if I'm giving any). Peanuts I hadn't thought about at all, and won't now! My 2 ex batts won't touch the sunflower seeds although I think Ronnie is enjoying them (she's eating everything at the moment, I think she's parched for protein)

And swiss chard - I had one plant in last year that had overwintered (a neighbour had given me it, we don't eat it so I had just left it in the plot) and the leaves were scoffed as soon as Toffee and Gabby arrived

[sandy]

I concur eggs are in the food chain, it isnt licensed so I dont use it not for 5 years now! Anyhow none of ,my girls have anything crawling about on them. Just put in some nice grit in a bowl and two girls pooed on it straight away!

[lancashire lass]

Great diary LL

thank you - despite getting the chooks for the eggs to sell, chicken keeping is certainly interesting and lots to learn

Peanuts I hadn't thought about at all, and won't now!

ah, I used a rolling pin and crushed them up and the girls seem to be eating the bits but still won't touch the whole ones. Maybe the size is a little too big for them even though they are the small peanuts.

And swiss chard - I had one plant in last year that had overwintered (a neighbour had given me it, we don't eat it so I had just left it in the plot) and the leaves were scoffed as soon as Toffee and Gabby arrived

The spinach has been a winner but I definitely noticed that the girls seemed to be really starved for greens at the moment. Today I got another bag, also a bag of beetroot leaves and rocket with a big cabbage to give them a bit of variety.

Just put in some nice grit in a bowl and two girls pooed on it straight away!

The feeder is hanging up and as it is in a covered run, I didn't buy the cap to put on top and somehow, one managed to poop inside I can only think one of the girls bent over and did a farty poop LOL

Something to add to the diary - I had let them out this morning and as usual, they rushed to the bowl (porridge with bits in) while I poop picked and hung their drinker and feeder up. I went back indoors to get ready to go out shopping, then came back with some seed, grain and greens which they look forward to (something I started in winter when I didn't get home in time before they went to roost - having a morning feast hasn't affected their egg laying so I've kept it going) Only 3 hens greeted me at the gate, Ginger was in the coop and obviously in the middle of laying an egg. After a few minutes she came rushing out and joined in to gobble up the greens and seeds when she hopped into the coop run and stood still with her back straight as a rod ... out plopped an egg and then she rushed back to join the others in the feast It was so funny.

My fresh egg sales are getting well known and this week 3 new customers have asked for some It does mean that I no longer have eggs for myself or to give to the chickens (now and again I give them a protein treat and boil them up and chop up) As demand is now outstripping supply, I think I might need to get some more chickens .... I keep eyeing the bit of ground between the glass greenhouse and polytunnel - I was planning on building a run and coop there to move the girls out of the current run to give them more room and get another 2 or 3, but not until September when I've got more time (and money) If demand for the eggs keep up, I may have to bring my plans forward a bit earlier than planned.

As for this week's egg production - there were 2 days when there were only 3 eggs instead of the usual 4 so I was struggling to complete the last order on Friday (thankfully one of the girls had laid an egg before I'd let them out that morning) Total down to 26. I'm not too worried about the drop as the egg laying has been consistently high for several weeks so it doesn't surprise me if they have a day off now and again. On the other hand, I have been giving them a little extra flaxseed (mixed with hemp seed) this week as a change from sunflower ... egg numbers dropped the last time they got hemp but I had put it down to the time of year/weather. Despite hemp getting a lot of praise as a good alternate poultry feed, it seems more than coincidental that egg numbers wobble afterwards even though the quantity eaten is still small.

Talking of feed, I am scraping the last of the pellets from the sack but after spending the egg money on fertilizer for the plot last Sunday, I'm a bit short ... I'm fairly confident I can stretch it out for another week, but if need be plan B is to buy a small bag from the local pet shop (not the most economical) and get a 20kg sack next week

[sandy]

Oh LL you buy fertiliser? Do you not compost the girls poo poo? The demands for eggs is an obvious one isn't it, once they have had one of the girl's eggs they dont want supermarket ones. I think adding to your flock sounds like a super idea
Well it sounds like nothing gets between Ginger and her food, even laying an egg

[lancashire lass]

Oh LL you buy fertiliser? Do you not compost the girls poo poo?

of course I compost (!) but it won't be ready in time for the spring sow - with a 370 sq metre plot, I also need a lot more and with the winter rains, most of the nutrients will have leached out of the soil so need topping up. As it happens, the "fertiliser" I'd bought was in fact lots of horticultural lime to increase the soil pH and help break up the heavy clay soil ready for the peas, beans, cabbages and other brassicas

Well it sounds like nothing gets between Ginger and her food, even laying an egg

it was funny - you could see she wanted to go into the coop but the lure of food and the others tucking in was stopping her, and then the egg dropped down with such a clatter. In an instant she forgot all about the egg and coop and dived straight in with the others

[sandy]

Ooh LL I could fed ex you 5 bins of well compost girlie poo