chookaholics chookalicious ladies

[Chookaholic]

Now I have finally mastered the art of uploading photos I can start my own diary ! hurrah!

I brought my hens home on 8th August 2013 at around 20/24 weeks and absolutely love them . Theyre are so individual and very cheeky . Let me introduce them

Penny: smallest and lightest of our girls hence the name . Always off doing her own thing and will only bother to come over if you have the most luxurious of treats
Merryweather: the Boss... but a firm but fair lady. Doesnt bash the girls like Mildred did at first. She is a cheeky lady and i have now taken to turning my engagement ring round as she tries to steal my ruby!
Dandelion: the bottom hen and tends to hang round Merryweather as Mildred can give her a hard time over just about anything. Follows me around a lot too and sleeps on my lap
Mildred the Oppressor: by far the naughtiest! has a coating of white feathers on her back so it looks like she has been out in the snow. Was the top hen until everyone settled in then was overthrown by Merryweather, still likes to bully Dandelion though if she gets the chance and is most definitely the olympian ! Shergar has nothing on this lady
Cracker:was the first to lay and boy do you know when she has ! loves being picked up and will sit on the chair in the garden with you quite happily
Tikka; the toe pecker. looks very like cracker but has a floppy comb. Good natured, good layer and always trying to get into the kitchen for the cat food..once shocked me by jumping onto the arm of the couch while i was reading. Cheeky madam with a fear of nothing
We have 2 dogs. Suzie is 11 and Cookie is 5 .. both dont mind the chooks at all.. 2 cats Romeo and Jackson. Romeo has tried his paw at a chicken dinner and learned fast theyre not to be trifled with after having a bare patch on his bum for a while , he now has the utmost respect for the girls.

this is merryweather the boss

this is Tikka

Romeo the bald

Penny the independent one

Cracker my youngests fave chook as she likes to be loved

Mildred the Oppressor

Merryweather when a helicopter goes by

Dandelion my little tresure

Cookie and Suzie


Jackson . The wise one who has never bothered with the hens and now is super protective over the garden ?

We have a run to construct as the one provided in not suitable for 2 hens nevermind 6. We have also discussed getting more girls but until we are more organised this is not an option. I have sold eggs already as there was over 30 in the fridge and id baked so much my cupboards were groaning . So this has been put in the "chooky tin " and will go towards their food and bedding etc . On the whole I am loving having them and wish i had done it earlier . What a joy they are

[KarenE]

What gorgeous girls, and they look so well and happy! as do your cats and dogs too.

I've found my cat Jasper has become super protective of the garden too since we got our girls. You'll find that you spend hours in the garden just watching them or having them on your knee, which means you get no gardening done at all.

Good luck with the run construction. Build it bigger than you think you'll need, and walk in if you can (mine isn't and I really wish it was).

[Chookaholic]

Hi Karen thankyou very much.. when i first got them i sat out every day from morning to night to know their characters and mainly how to tell some apart I looked at the first pics i took earlier too and realised they were quite tatty so Im glad you think they look lovely . hard work is paying off !

I have planned a rather large run which makes the Mister very happy as it means less grass to mow so smiles all round approximately 18 foot long and hopefully 5 foot wide will be a good 6 ft high minimum too and running along a 6 foot fencing which is the direction in which the wind and rain seems to come across our garden so they will be dry and sheltered as will I in the winter months when cleaning and collecting eggs.

Every step is exciting!

[Linda S]

What a lovely start to your diary, all your pets a gorgeous, these diaries are great cause you can waffle on to your hearts content as I usually do:-D

I just showed my hubby the photo of Jackson and from the other side of the room he thought id put a pic of our Little Rosie on who was killed last week, when he got closer he could see hes got aboys face and his white is a bit wider.

Our Cats like to go into the chicken garden too, but the dogs stay safely on this side of the gate
He will have to start wearing his specks Lindaxx

[Chookaholic]

aww so sorry to hear that Linda. Jackson stays out of pecks reach.

I had to stop myself from waffling and edit it he he ....

[sandy]

Beautiful photos of gorgeous girls and of course Romeo and doggies Just love the look on Mildred face

[Kuikentje]

I love the 'what on earth is going on?' expressions on the dogs' faces.

[Chookaholic]

Well today we had some ripe cherry tomatoes that were going to go to waste so I thought id treat the girls ... was hilarious to say the least it was like one was passing the baton (not willingly) and then off they went again !














I got the barrow out and did some rearranging, pruning and weeding in preparation for the run we are going to attempt to build and cleaned out the coops , all with 5 assistants as Penny was off on an adventure in compost corner. Sat down with a cup of tea and we had a visit of our local cheeky robin .



All in all a busy but productive day .....

[Chookaholic]

Can I just explain about the rolled up carpet in the garden

... we had extra after having a carpet fitted so I snaffled some large cut offs from the very nice man who had been bribed with tea and biscuits . My plan was that in winter it can get rather frosty and a bit roll of carpet is extra insulation draped over the top so theres still ventilation but nice and toasty, my other reason , and the one the girls find much more interesting was if you lay carpet for a week in the garden (under a tree works great) when you move it theres a good selection of worms, beetles and bugs . My girls have gotten wise to this already and if I go near the carpet theyre like Linford Christie to be the first there and enjoy the buffet . This will be great also in winter as the ground will be solid so digging will be out of the question

[Linda S]

Good idea it dosn't take the girls londg to catch on does it.
We have some bricks and we lift those and as soon as we go near them the girls stampde to get to whatever is underneath, and theres no chance of putting it down until they have searched every inch Lindaxx

[KarenE]

My lot turn their beaks up at under-stone critters, the fussy lot. Cass tried an ant last week and wasn't impressed, and none seem interested in woodlice. Worms they love though. So I'm not sure my gourmet diners would go for the all you can eat carpet buffet. Excellent idea though!

[sandy]

Lovely photos Great idea with the carpet my girls are the same with bricks and stones, my chickens can certainly run when they are after something can't they

[Bridgets Mum]

Just read your diary for the first time. Love the photos and love your chickens' names. Happy chicken keeping and keep up with the photos. It's amazing how much we all love them.

[Chookaholic]

Thankyou Bridget! Funny little creatures they are

[Chookaholic]

Well today was the usual ... cleaning poop and being helped round the garden by the 6 musketeers

I put a ton of prunings and bit n bobs on compost corner which the girls thought was so exciting .. lots of noise and scratching and chucking twigs around



At one point we thought we had lost dandelion then a rustling gave her away and i saw a little ginger bum sticking out of the shrubs at the back of the garden



Merryweather in her favourite place watching over the tribe and making sure everything is in order


then at the end of the day after a bit of supper everyone snugs up... the preferred place is a tatty old coop given to me by my neighbour.. it is smelly , and a bit of a tip but they love it... only 2 went to the new coop ...money well spent . As the temperature dropped i put a lot of straw in and judging by the little coos and chattering they approved





Dandelion sticking next to me so she gets her little extras



Tikka with the most quizzical look ... have you got nice things in your pockets Mum?



Our daily visitors : the hens stand underneath and pick up what the birds flick in their direction




I am loving the daily "chores" .... even the poo picking doesnt make me groan because i know as soon as i walk out of the back door i will have 6 little bodies rushing to greet me , puts a big smile on my face and sounds daft but I feel appreciated by the little monsters