All the chooks!

I thought I would post a big picture showing all our existing chookies (minus the two newbies). From the left…. Taylor, Strumpet, Mrs Blubes, Minnie, Brighton, Hilda, Doreen, Joan, Polly, Dave and Margaret.

The warren is one of the scariest looking chickens we have seen. She has attitude and absolutely kicked the poop out of Brighton when we introduced them earlier today. I think she might well declare herself queen of the chickens over the next few days, which will de throne Joan – much to her disgust.

We introduced the new hens to the others through the fence at first and it seems to have gone very well. Once they had all roosted we put the two new girls into the manor and nobody kicked up a fuss, so fingers crossed it will go smoothly. They certainly seem to be able to take care of themselves anyway, so at this point I am not too worried.

In other news Taylor is a bit poorly. He has an icky eye. Tim has been bathing it but today it looks all manky and swollen so he is booked into the vets tomorrow. We are also taking Joan as she seems to have the freakiest crop in creation and looks a bit weird compared to the others. It is hard to say what happened to Tail’s eye, maybe he got pecked or caught it on something. In himself he seems fine, happy and lively as normal, so we are hoping it’s not really too much of a big deal.

De-lousing Polly

Before we moved the chickens into the Manor I gave them a good look over for any creepy crawlies. To my absolute horror I found some horrible little bugs (lice) around Polly’s bumhole (vent) so we went about thoroughly de-lousing the whole chicken population.

Despite the obvious man handling involved, and all the chookies being unceremoniously rolled onto their backs, prodded, poked and pulled around they seemed perfectly happy with the ordeal and I don’t believe any of them have held a grudge.

We used standard louse powder from Countrywide and as far as I can tell from close inspection all the creepy crawlies have gone away. Thus I can only assume the powder worked well and all is good.

Tim's Dad made us a brilliant chicken door!

When we decided a short while ago that we were going to have our own flock of ch00kies we figured it would be best and most fun to do as much of the work as possible ourselves.

We wanted to have fun, put in the work and make our first eggs as cheap as possible!

We had loads of help from family and friends and got some brilliant bargains along the way.

First of all Tim’s friend Simon arrived and offered us five of his chickens (Brighton, Taylor, Minnie, Strumpet and Mrs Blubes) along with a hen house (which we later named Halfway House while the manor was under construction). He gave us loads of help and advice as well as providing a massive pile of chicken books which I read far too much to be considered healthy.

Once we had Halfway House Tim’s workmate Nick donated a load of brilliant chicken feeders and drinkers as well as a million miles of chicken wire for the fencing that he didn’t need anymore. We managed to enclose the whole orchard with it!

Morgan donated the biggest bag of shavings you have ever seen as bedding. Unfortunately when we were trying to fit it into his truck the door wouldn’t shut, and in a forceful effort to jam it in the window smashed completely! Not good!

We bought a great shed as a house for £40 from preloved – an absolute bargain. Painted it green and Tim’s Dad built a brilliant chicken door in the side.

All in all we had l0ads of help and loads of fun. So thanks to everyone who helped, it was really appreciated.

We have two little bantam cockerels called Brighton and Taylor, and nine hens called Strumpet, Minnie, Mrs Blubes, Hilda, Joan, Doreen, Margaret, Polly and Dave.

They are much funnier than we ever expected them to be and we have made them a palace fit for the very best of birdies.