The residents of Featherend Cottage

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Annie
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The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Annie »

I think it may be of interest to find out just why we all decided to keep hens in the 1st place.
We had a piece at the top of the garden that I had tried with various ideas but nothing seemed to grow happily there as it was very wet and needed proper drainage putting in, which I couldn't be bothered with so I did have a think about hens,bought a book had a read and put it to the back of my mind. Eck wasn't enthused with the idea and a fair bit of work would need to be done by him so I didn't nag as I wasn't entirely sure about the whole project.
One day we drove over to visit friends at their smallholding, now we knew they had the horses and had started a wormery but were surprised when Michelle said 'come and have a look at the chooks.'
We wandered down the field to find 10 hens happily pecking about in an enclosed area and a pretty impressive hen house that Robert had made himself. The hens of course when they saw humans came running up for treats (we had some corn with us) and made us laugh with their naughty antics trying to out run each other for the grains we were scattering. In the area they lived in were several large rock/stones scattered about, Michelle said to Eck 'Go and lift a stone up ' and so he did and was hooting with laughter as half a dozen hens sprinted over to see if the stone was hiding and worms or creepies.
She hadn't collected the eggs so gave me over a dish and asked me to collect them, when I lifted the pophole , I saw the lovely sight of 7 eggs all laid together in a nest of clean shavings.
Eck and I talked about the hens on the way home and decided that they had more to offer than we could possibly have imagined. We got the chicken book out again and felt it was a do-able task. His birthday was approaching so that year he had a hen house to build for his birthday and a run too but he enjoyed the task and made a good job of it, though needless to say numerous alterations have happened since then.
It was nearing October holidays and the grandsons were coming down to stay for a week so it was during that week we collected our first 3 hens , a rhode rock and two light sussex, I think the boys had a good stay with us that time. Three weeks later , BHWS was doing a rehome in Edinburgh and we went over to collect 3 ex batts (that day we met Chi Chi) . So began our time as hen keepers.
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end .
Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful

Mrs B

Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Mrs B »

Great post although you seem to have omitted all the colourful language Eck use when building the house. )piicy(

What were you doing up at that time Missy?
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sandy
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by sandy »

Annie how much 'cheeper' it would have been if your friend had traffic cones on her smallholding instead of chickens, though I suppose Eck would still be out every night rounding them up!
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

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Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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MissEllie
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by MissEllie »

I'll bet the grandsons were almost as excited as Eck when you collected your girls. One of these days I'll make it all the way across to the west to visit your lovely ladies {hug}
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aceface
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by aceface »

lovley hen history Annie {hug} hens seem to bring everyone together dont they we always have something new to tell or a story and a chuckle )t'
[center]HELPING THE LITTLE BROWN GIRLS OF THIS WORLD FIND FOREVER HOMES
Humble chicken maid to a happy little flock
Frankii Whippers leading the way with Dorey,Prila(aka Mrs Brown),Ann-a-Lou Greta, Delphine my adorable silkie,my twin girls Lana and Boudica (aka The Jedward Twins ) ,Augustine Eizabeth(aka Pippy), Rheima, Marnie and Fleur aka little miss chatterbox[/center]


Still loving and missing Skinnie Minnie and Queenie xx

Marlene you taught me how to live and laugh again xx


Isabella my darling top hen ,you stole my heart xx

Porscha my sweet little girl ,you left so suddenly xx
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jackian
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by jackian »

I love this post..We decided after years off umming and arring! We had decided years before but the space we had in mind was not any more.It was one )hic( Sunday night and my OH came in and said"Do you know I reckon we could have our chickens under the pear tree " Before you could say cluck I had ordered a coup and no chickens ...2 years later I would say that there is nothing wrong with alchohol...One of best decisions. )c(
4 lovely girls~~ Clover, the oldie and top chick Bonnie second in command .new girls Bluebell and Blossom.
2 lovely new girls 19-01-2015~~ Chelsea and Ruby.
Eva , Florry , Poppy ,Annie and Rosie R.I.P
The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” - unknown
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Mrs B »

Annie what about your babies tell us about the babies
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HensAloud
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by HensAloud »

I loved reading that )t' when's the next instalment ?
Angela
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Annie
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Annie »

Soon, maybe when I have been to ASADA {rofwl}
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end .
Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful
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Annie
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Annie »

Glad some of you liked my intro , thought I would just write a brief outline of the 2 years of hen keeping so far . Mrs B dont be impatient, I will get to the chicks - bet you read the last page of a book when you have read the 1st chapter just to see if its got a happy ending {warn}

I did at one time wonder if I was doing something wrong as some keepers seem to have had their hens for a good many years before losing any. Although only just a beginner I did try to keep within the guidelines and sought advice from the more experienced forum members when problems occured. Eventually I realised that some losses are in the nature of hen keeping and that I shouldn't necessarily be blaming myself.
To date these are the hens I have had and if no longer with me the cause of death.
Oct 2010
Miss Moneypenny - a rhode rock already laying - she was one of the breeders own stock so her age was not certain but likely 18months - 2 years. Quite a happy healthy bird, the leader of the gang though never a spiteful boss, she prolapsed after I had her about 15 months , she saw the vet and was stitched and after a short time appeared recovered and resumed laying , only for another prolapse to happen within about 6 months, this had become infected and the decision had to be made to pts.
Maisie - a light sussex approx 15 weeks - the new leader of the gang who learnt her trade from Moneypenny and rules with a gentle rod of iron. Just back into lay after a moult.
Guinevere - a light sussex aprox 15 weeks - friendliest little bird ever, a good layer until she too prolapsed (which is when I started to query my competance), she was stitched but withdrew and never recovered her personality, never laid again ,never fully regained her health and then just seemed to fade, eventually I found her in the nest box dead.
Ma Larkin - ex batt arrived with 2 friends 3 weeks after the above group, recovered her strength,feathered up well and laid me many eggs but one day I found her on her side and I couldn't help her to stand,the vet decided it was neurological and nothing could be done so she was pts - so sad as she was bright eyed and eating well even in the vets when she was propped up.
Norah - ex batt - arrived fully feathered (?) kept herself to herself but was a funny girl, she loved a ride on the wheelbarrow and would always hop on when it was in use in the garden. Lost to EYP.
Bathsheba - ex batt - pretty dappled honey coloured hen, still going strong, though she gave me a scare when she had a moult a few weeks ago but still here and fighting for mealworms ,lays a very occassional egg.
Spring 2011
Harmony and Melody - lavender araucanas - approx 6 months of age. Pretty little things,
one was laying when we got her as a pale blue egg was found within the 1st day but no more for a good while. Harmony showed signs of being egg bound so after the usual, warm baths and no success I took her to the vet . It was diagnosed after an internal exam of the hen that she had a lot of lumps and growths that were preventing the passage of eggs , nothing could be done so pts. Melody on the other hand is most certainly still here, nicknamed the 'screaming demon' what a noisy girl but still very pretty , getting a couple of eggs a week at the moment.
Summer 2011
Can Can - Coucou maran - 16 weeks - gorgeous girl, healthy,friendly,not aggresive,lays dark eggs that when you look closely are a mass of tiny speckles .
ChaCha - Bluebell - 16 weeks - grew into a magnificent hen but a bit of a dope. She gorged on the garden mint that grew threw the fence and gave herself severe sour crop which I believe damaged her crop permanently. She also passed a huge lash - while suffering from the sour crop - trouble both ends ! After several bouts of sour crop that were virtually running into each other and daily tipping and loss of condition I had her pts.
Delilah - Minorca - 6 months - what a striking girl - a real character too - boy could she jump high, especially if you had the treat tub in your hand. Fabulous white really oval and large eggs . She had a moult and really suffered with it, eventually recovering her enormous floppy red comb and the large white eggs were once again in the hen house. After a month her comb started to shrink again and she became quiet, though she ate and nothing obvious was wrong, the vet examined her and couldn't give me an answer either,no temperature,no blockage etc but within 10 days I found her dead in the hen house.
October 2011
The four Queens arrived - ex batts I got from Homes4hens
Mary - still here ,still going strong, weakened in the autumn with a full moult but battled through
Flavia - the worse conditioned ex batt I have had - didn't expect her to make the 1st week. She lay the larggest of eggs that looked as if she had to screw them out as the shells had deep ridges. When she eventually grew her full set of feathers she was the prettiest ex batt , her feathers looked like velvet. We had her 8 months she enjoyed that time but was found dead in the hen house one morning, not surprised too much had been taken out of her in her earlier life.
Priscilla - another quite weak hen who recovered to a degree and enjoyed a certain happiness but had a short lived freedom .Died in her sleep.
Cleopatra - Known as Clatty Pat - has yet to grow a full set of feathers - a right old rag bag of a hen - strong as an ox though - clever lady, still here.
May 2012
Piper - Pied/Magpie/Reverse sussex - 11 weeks - touch wood ,looking strong,laying well.
Fiddler - Speckaldy - 11 weeks - lays lovely eggs rich brown in colour, what a naughty hen though. She is the only one who can escape from the hens garden into the humans garden and does so every day - though a couple of times she has misjudged it and ended up next door and one of us has to run round and rescue her .
Chrystal - white silkie - I love her to bits. approx 6 months when I got her lays perfect white eggs not been broody much - she likes the outdoors and playing too much.

After getting Chrystal I realised that she needed companions her own size to 3 weeks later
Jasmine - white silkie-little miss broody pants and Piccolo - white silkie - little miss broody pants mark 2. Adorable the pair of them one lays white eggs the other eggs the colour of Mother of pearl. A healthy and happy trio.
AND THEN CAME THE FERTILE EGGS - but thats for another day.
Thanks forreading.
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end .
Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful
Mrs B

Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Mrs B »

Not broody lol
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Linda S
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Linda S »

Lovely descriptions of your girls past and present Annie :-D Lindaxx
And then there was one, Again!!!!
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Annie
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Annie »

Saturday 5th January
Weekend chores ! Its funny but when I am having my cuppa thinking of the chores to do , I feel I can't be bothered but once I am out with the hens , I actually enjoy giving them a tidy up. Today I wiped down the inside of the plastic hen house and brushed the cobwebs from around the outside,dug out some bedding on the floor and replenished the nest boxes and floor with shavings. I swept the paving slabs but couldn't disinfect them as is been so wet this week that there is nowhere for the water to drain away to as puddles are still laying around the edges. Horrid wet winter. I threw the old bedding into the earth part ot the run, the hens will scratch about in it and it will soon break down, far better than putting it in the green wheelie bin.
ImageImage
Can can was nominated as site formen to make sure I had done a good job
Image
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end .
Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful
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Annie
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by Annie »

Saturday 5th January
Weekend chores ! Its funny but when I am having my cuppa thinking of the chores to do , I feel I can't be bothered but once I am out with the hens , I actually enjoy giving them a tidy up. Today I wiped down the inside of the plastic hen house and brushed the cobwebs from around the outside,dug out some bedding on the floor and replenished the nest boxes and floor with shavings. I swept the paving slabs but couldn't disinfect them as is been so wet this week that there is nowhere for the water to drain away to as puddles are still laying around the edges. Horrid wet winter. I threw the old bedding into the earth part ot the run, the hens will scratch about in it and it will soon break down, far better than putting it in the green wheelie bin.
Image
Can can was nominated as site formen to make sure I had done a good job
Image
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end .
Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful
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Re: The residents of Featherend Cottage

Post by aceface »

Annie how could you tease us so cruelly with these lovely photos ,where are the babies ?????????? im thinking Asda must have been pretty busy >coc<
[center]HELPING THE LITTLE BROWN GIRLS OF THIS WORLD FIND FOREVER HOMES
Humble chicken maid to a happy little flock
Frankii Whippers leading the way with Dorey,Prila(aka Mrs Brown),Ann-a-Lou Greta, Delphine my adorable silkie,my twin girls Lana and Boudica (aka The Jedward Twins ) ,Augustine Eizabeth(aka Pippy), Rheima, Marnie and Fleur aka little miss chatterbox[/center]


Still loving and missing Skinnie Minnie and Queenie xx

Marlene you taught me how to live and laugh again xx


Isabella my darling top hen ,you stole my heart xx

Porscha my sweet little girl ,you left so suddenly xx

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