My attempt to keep chickens.

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi all , well the boys behaved this morning a lay in by all and a 5.30 am wake up call from them . (Lay in , maybe the neighbours might not think so....)
Fed and let loose and they was quieter again.
Made sure Desmond got breakfast which he HAD to share with Red and Goldie and a couple of other hens.
Evil left in dog cage on her own for the morning and Joan`s wing is still hanging low.
Simone has an appointment at 7.00 pm tonight with the night vet. Baytril being collected as well.
Scramble and Litalen (Beardie ) had a dispute of whom should sit on the nest and Litalen won , to Scramble`s disgust and wondered off noisiely .
Two Terrors sleeping in the run and do not seem to want to stay in the coop .
Found Pom Pom out in the run a couple of times last week so have an eye on her .
She seems o k just changing her sleeping pattern.
Simone sister is broody and be pushed out a few times a day for food , water and a stretch.
Clean out today . 4 bags of saw dust , 2 arrived last night so going to spread in runs and coops .
Red is still wanting to be picked up and carried . She goes out the front with Evil who have handbags together .BUT she wanders back in the house for the dog food at the earliest opp.
Sam is doing well and feathers are slowly returning.
When the sun shine`s and a little warm they lay by the glass doors at back and enjoy it.
Jack`s hens are keen to join the flock but they have not got a chance as the Terrors are waiting like circling sharks......
Pom Pom was put back in the run and Jack dashed through the door to tread on her . I got him before he could and Pom Pom legged it squeaking.
So a normal day and long may it last .
Bob
Flock Penelope and Red .

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi all , well a terrible day a on Sat at the Flock of Penelope and Red .
I had SHMBO , daughter and family over to see my flock . They all now of the TERRORS .
I took the 3 year old egg hunting .
First coop ok , went to the garden to Jack`s coop , stuck my head in and then the 3 year olds . Well whilst not looking behind the Terror of all TERRORs attacked the 3 year old and ripped her leg with his claws . Well shell yelled , SHMBO grabbed the Terror round the neck and pinned it to the ground.
Well all hell let loose . large discussion on GET RID OF HIM. My reply I will get the axe ..... As no one wants boys.....
I did put him away in his run , maybe I should have done it first , but with 4 adults in garden and a baby 1 year I thought someone would keep an eye on him.
Late Sat photo showed the damage it had done , poor little darling .
I can say I know how she feels.
Apart from now having to put signs up enter at your own risk . danger wild creatures etc. on gates . I will not be having children in the garden now . Adults can fend for themselves.
I looked after the neighbours rabbit . I took into the garden for the children to see .
I got a message is the rabbit dead ..... I rang back later and said I was showing him off.
Raced Sunday so not with flock much . jack had several hours out in the garden in the evening . Whilst out with the dogs a van drove into a lamppost (saw after event )
and a air ambulance was in the field . mason London /Essex . Got a pretty good close up , makes a change as I see it over the A13 very often . Very compact and surprising .
Well that was enough excitement for a weekend.
Bob

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi all , All good today , boys quiet till 5.00 am when I fed them , let them out and left them to get on with it.
Still dark ,lights up garden before 6.00am.
Little concerned for Joan yesterday , does not seem to be eating , see how she is today . In dog cage . Simone and Litalen still sitting on eggs . 23 third vet , visit for Simone.
Yesterday was the first day in a long time the Terrors have left me alone.
Bit sad when you are bullied by a chicken , even if it is 2 and half feet tall and solid muscle . SHMBO says they are horrible the way they are to the hens. She will start a female hen revolution .SHMBO has a point of view on the male population , If she was a god they would not be around for sure .... Not sure where I would stand , probably a long way away . Black widow spiders come to mind....
Bob

[kitla]

I hope you're having a better day today Bob. I've found the boys are a bit more feisty in spring, natural I suppose. I've already been thinking about how we deal with Bill when our grandaughter is in the garden (crikey she's not even been born yet! I am a worryer) I think if he's still here when she's toddling I shall fence off an area. Upsetting thing for you to deal with.

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi , no real harm done , I will recover....Pretty quiet at the moment . 5.00 am wake up calls .
Eating well .
Bob
Have a good Easter.

[HenPen]

Oh Bob,

Hope all healed now and that the three-year-old will have a lovely time this weekend hunting for chocolate eggs instead.

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi , her mum has been dressing her all week as a bruise is still there.
When you see little children on you tube running for their lives from a big cockeral
I can understand why . They make me twitchy when they are behind me .
All good . Joan is on Baytril as not happy with her eating . I think she is getting old , not sure of her age as a ped. and got and do not remember her age from Croydon . Plenty of eggs , Sam seems to have got over laying an egg on my leg when I picked her up . (Softie) . Terrors had a fight in the garden and had to split them . I should call one the pope and the other the bishop as they make me go religious when they attack me .
Well happy Easter and don`t eat to much choc......
Bob

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi all , Simone at vets today . Baytril and reducing Metacam over next 10 days . Then she is off med. Cannot stay on it for ever ...
She was accompanied by Scramble Junior . She is famous as well with a photo shoot in The V at Home . Romford . She is appearing on their FACE book . If anyone should sheeher let me know please .
Joan is ok , still on Baytril just to be sure . Old age I put it down to .
Horros are still Horrors.
Desmond is a gentle giant and looks after Evil all day .
Broody hens .
Moe
Litalen (Beardie)
Simone SISTER.
Goldie , Half hearted attempts.
A few others when nest is empty .
Grass cuttings every day from neighbours.
Bit of a lay in over the weekend.
So all good as can be expected.
Hope everyone had a good break.
Bob

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi all , I stood my ground with the holly Terrors. It was a real battle of wills.
To say I won was only physical . Mentally they are winning . I am always watching out for the pair. No warnings just sheer HAVE THAT .
Rest of flock are pretty good . Joan is the most worrying as not eating as much and laid back. Baytril . Simone is still limping and I think she will now always be that way. Broody are persisting .
17 eggs a day .
Bob

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi all , well a fun day in the garden .
I decided to sort the fish pond out.
I removed the wire , wood and the netting that was left after the rats had chewed it.
I removed the ROCKS . Filled in the holes that the rats dug raised the sides by moving it in to stop the water flowing through the holes chewed in pond liner .
Now you say what has this to do with CHICKENS .
Well fishing a hen out of the deep end was one . She was the 2 tone dark neck and light body tone of the sister hood. surprisingly she could swim a bit anyway.
Every move I made a chicken was there , Red in charge . Waiting for me to move a rock , dig dirt . The rocks were heavy and a chicken under it encourages you to lift quick . Did not stop me dropping a rock on my foot , better than a vet bill. Bugs , worms weed did not stand a chance .As no water meter ,the hose was running for the best part of the day. I changed the overflow to the garden instead of the run.....
My back is aching .
I spent time with Evil and she spent time in the garden next to Simone run.Jack `s hens got worms as calling for them . I dug over the garden a bit again with the hens head in the holes . I let the hens with Jack have a go later this afternoon as they missed out a bit. I did drop some dirt into the run for them to scratch .
Joan is slowing down , I am sure now that old age is the problem and a stroke has caused her wing to drop.
She will need to be supervised and kitchen kept for the rst of her naturals . Fortunately Evil and her get on well . I will put her and Evil in the only coop and small run left empty in the summer .
Broody time is here and they do not want to give it up or their eggs .
plenty of eggs 12 plus and as many as 17 a day.
Bob
Blocked the rat run from under the coop by the pond so the devils will find another way around .

[sandy]

Bob hope you are taking lots of photos so i can put faces to names next saturday

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi Sad news MOE , my black hen from Clacton , hatch of Scramble , Died Last night .
A very short illness sick ? morning dead by evening.
Another old hen bites the dust bath .
Found out that I am on night shift this week and for the next two weeks a total 4 weeks in a row.
She was a good age I believe and life got to much for her .
Good weather makes the hens happy.
Today the door to Jacks run left open .
Found one of the Terrors , probably the Bishop not the Pope , Bloodied .I thought the 2 had been at it .
Cleaned him up which surprisingly quiet . Checked him out and seems o k , bar comb.
I then found Jacks door loose and MISSING only 2 hens in there.
Found him in the big coop hiding , eye comb bloodied . I thought when will you learn.
Must have tried to save the hens honor.....
Well cleaned him up , put him back behind closed doors , managed to work out which hen is where . (They helped by trying to get back in .)
Both the bloodied boys ended up hiding back in their own coops .
Winners was the Pope and Desmond.
I know it was the Pope not fighting as he went straight for my legs when I was sorting the boys out . S Off should be his name as he is a rascal when he is in the mood . Spent time in the garden over the park , picking up wood for the new roofing for coops .
Well a sad day . But time to reflect and Scramble is still here to remind me of MOE .
Bob

[sandy]

So sorry about Moe Bob you know you need to name the terrors, i know they are naughty but bless them they are triers. Dont forget lots of photos please, i can look at them while you are eating your 3 deserts!
looking forward to saturday

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi , Well another sad day , found my Pink ring Cockoo Maran dead in the coop this morning , Had been eaten presumably by rats.
Buried with Moe at work . Not pleasant .This leads me on to a story a few days ago that I thought was my imagination but now begin to think might have some substance to.
A couple of days back I saw something disappear down a rat hole near the coops by fish pond . My imagination ?????
It was dark (Blackish ) and a fury tail....... Not bold like a rats . pretty quick . Air rifle was in my hand s but no shot...
First I thought a ferret , but a bit small .
I have been thinking on it and after seeing my dead hen today , thought further on it .
Not sure but MINK comes to my mind. I know they are found in ESSEX but not sure they have got south as London .
If it is a mink or even a ferret my hens would have been more severally harmed by now.
Have my eyes open during the day for strange goings on . The nasty Terror was put in the sin bin on his own today , for fighting and attacking my leg .
I wish I could put his behavior down to jealousy of Desmond and the hens but he is just a nasty piece of work . Evil and Joan are spending most of the day in the garden not doing much . Evil joins Simone through her run wire , Joan sits in the sawdust area of the big run .
To day I continued replacing the roofs of the runs with hardboard . 35 pounds worth of wood . Done the med ward and Jacks coop . Preserver coated on both . The next one is the internal (Pom Pom ) in the big run .
Once fitted , felt and seal and they should be good for another couple of years.
It is this time whilst working painting the wood , Nasty attacked and I put him in the Med ward..
I also came to the conclusion that up the road a few doors along , a very old shed has been knocked down to the ground . This I believe has disturbed the resident fury creature s that have now moved into my local fury creatures domain making it very noticeable.Neighbor tonight is having a shoot out with the ones on his back lawn (using my air rifle .) He is a armed officer so if he cannot knock off a few of them I have no chance .
Desmond loves sharing banana with evil from my hand and takes it so nicely . red and a few others join in and poor Evil gets less . sandwiches and rolls are going down , should have enough to get to Friday without going to my Chest freezer for more .
I have stopped eating them as I have seen enough and my weight has shot up.
Hen pals meet up is not going to do my stomach good , as Eastern Counties MTB/XC race Sunday afternoon and could do without extra weight on bike ....
12 entered so unless some turn up on the day 12 in the Counties be good.
As I was on days and working Sat , now on Nights I can get up NORTH any time midday .
Looking forward to a chat again .
Bob
Cleaned the coop out but need to do some repairs on it sooner rather than later .

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi all , today the girls and boys was told at crack of dawn to be on best behavior as the camera was coming out and best make up need.
Well say no more mud was dug up , dust bath and pooing on each over from great heights.
I managed to get plenty on the board walk . Terrors acted normal by acting the lens , Red thought it was a roll and grabbed the hand cord. Well I even spent the afternoon tiding up the garden which was hard work as the hens would try and re tidy it.
Leveled the Dalek bin where a rat lived , no longer . Strange to say , not many rats around , might be because I shot a good few , more like something is worrying them . I spoke to man up the road who is also shooting them . They are living in the alleyway that is not used along the street . Not at my house as new.
Plenty of action photos of the Terrors , Bishop and Pope. Desmond and Evil . Pom Pom and Scramble Junior .
Well so many , not as many as I had .
Bob