Archive for category Lydia’s Blog

Broody hens…….

Posted by Lydia in Lydia's Blog on May 20, 2011

Well,with the warm sunny weather,a lot of my hens have gone broody.Nothing unusual about that,I suspect anyone reading this has also got hens that are broody.
This is about 2 of my hens, that are sitting a clutch of eggs.

On my patio,I’ve got a trio of pekins,2 black hens with a lovely splash cockerel that I got off Sue(Victoria’s poultry)who has the original name of Splash,his wives are called Bella(I think that is Italian for beautiful)and Midnight.

Last year,Bella successfully sat and hatched chicks for me,and,she started sitting on some eggs that she and Midnight had laid a few weeks ago.
Not to be outdone,Midnight followed suit,and also started sitting on a clutch of eggs.So there are the two of them,sat right next to each other(so they can pinch each other’s eggs)with Splash doing his best to look after both of them.Calling them for food,and,standing over them both, talking to them.
Well today,their first little chick hatched out.
Only,it isn’t one of theirs,it’s a white pekin,from an egg I gave to one of them.
I got up this am,and,when I looked out the window,Bella or Midnight was showing this cute white baby where the food is.
Wondering if the other hen had taken this golden opportunity to steal her other eggs,I went out and opened their bedroom door.
No,Splash was installed on the eggs,I lifted his skirts(feathers)and there were the eggs safely tucked under him.
I checked they had plenty of food/water and left them to it.
When I checked later,Splash had been evicted from egg duty,and both hens were once again,sitting tight.
Wondering if any more were likely to hatch today,I candled the rest of the eggs-no more were fertile.So,their single chick is now called Solo,and,hopefully,will be a girl.
None of them seem to have twigged that Solo is actually not any of theirs,but,a cuckoo that I gave them.

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So now you’ve got chickens………

Posted by Lydia in Lydia's Blog on December 7, 2010

It is exciting, when you get hens for the first time, assuming you’ve got them for their eggs and as pets. I haven’t kept chickens for meat, so not sure if you get as excited or not!!!!

On the first morning when I went down to see my hens, 2 out of the 4 had laid me an egg, so a brilliant start. I let them out of their hen house, into their run, which they loved. It is hard to describe the feeling of seeing them explore, scratch and have some freedom. My 4 seemed to take to it very well.

Also, being ex-batts, they are very used to people and very tame. Ex-batts are totally un-afraid of everything, which was a blessing for me as I also have 7 dogs, who love to hunt. My dogs are 5 whippets and 2 terriers, and all of them have a strong hunting instinct, luckily, they do accept animals that are either in my garden or house as part of their pack.

On their first day with me, I didn’t pick my hens up and cuddle them. I wanted to, but decided to let them settle into their new surroundings. I did stay in the garden with them a lot of the time, sitting close to their run and chatting with them. Hens are lovely, they do chat to you, and, seem to enjoy the company.

At bed time, they didn’t realise that they needed to walk up their ramp to go to bed, so, i did assist them, take hold of them and sort of walk them up the ramp. They also preffered to sleep in their nest boxes, which I don’t mind. It’s their home, so I think it only fair that they sleep where they chose, where they feel safe and comfortable. I can understand why some people do not encourage their hens to sleep in the nest boxes, you can get dirty/pooh eggs, but, I found that a deep layer of shavings seems to prevent this.

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Hello from a novice poultry keeper

Posted by Lydia in Lydia's Blog on November 30, 2010

Hi, my name is Lydia and this is my first blog. You’ll have to let me know if it’s boring, or, if you like it!!!!!

Anyway, if you’re actually reading this, it must mean that you either already keep poultry, or, are thinking about keeping poultry. So I’ll start at my begining of keeping poultry.

It was my sister who got me interested in keeping a few pet chickens in my back garden,she made me laugh hearing about her chickens. I did think long and hard about it…..for all of 2 minutes, and then I got in touch with the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.

My boyfriend bought me a chicken house, and, kindly assembled it for me, with the help of Sirius Black, my young black whippet. His help was esential,stealing the instructions on how to erect the house, the nails, bits of wood etc. Finally checking everything out, enclosed run, house and nest boxes.

Then, after a few weeks of waiting, chicken day arrived. I was really excited, and, my son and I set off to collect our new hens. After queing, we obtained 4 ex-batts and a sack of food. I’d bought some poultry carrying boxes from the Domestic Fowl Trust, so, with our 4 hens, set off home.

It was exciting,and,as these hens were a birthday present to myself, I was over the moon. I do recomend, when it comes to birthday’s and christmas, buying your own presents, that way you are never disapointed.

Once we got home, I carefully opened the boxes and lifted my new hens out. They looked like very badly made bald feather dusters, but,I put them in their new house, which had an enclosed run and sat next to it so I could talk to my new friends. This was the start, of a new, and sometimes steep learning curve.

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