Progress!

Today was a landmark day for a few reasons.

1. The ladies (well, the laying ones - still no eggs from Bessy) all scooted for me when I went to pick them up. They've come to trust me a little...

2. Piper went to see the ladies and they didn't run away. (Piper was on a long-line but she still did well and didn't chase them...)
(Excuse the mess, I was taking the opportunity to do some re-arranging and clearing)

3. Doris (always the first anywhere - especially if she thinks food is on offer) took a peek into the house! Very brave, especially as there was a Piper-dog and 2 cats in the living room.

She took a look around and then decided that there were more bugs outside, than inside.

4. Whilst we had the girls free ranging in the garden (they love that part of the day) two of the cats decided to wander out (Lucie and Seren).
Lucie was quite interested and would get as close as possible and just watch them. Emma was worried that she would make a run at one and as Lucie is quite sick (she has cardiomyopathy) it wouldn't have been the most intelligent thing to do, especially as her breathing isn't great in this weather. She needn't have worried though (I did tell her) as Lucie then became more interested in the cat nip thats planted in the borders!
Seren, the younger cat, also got quite interested, ran up to one of the girls, decided she was too big and too much hassle and ran back in the house!
Its just Tabitha now. She wanders out to the run and watches them, and it very blasé, but Emma thinks she's lulling us into a false sense of security! Tabitha is/was (she's a bit old now) the main hunter of the house and in her hey day has brought home rabbits and pigeons before.

Plus, we also tried them on blueberries. Big fans - most of all, Mabel! See if it makes any difference to the flavour of the eggs.
(3 per day)

Hot, Hot, Hot!

It's so hot!

I don't want anyone to think that I'm complaining because I love the summer when it's not raining; but the ladies are not so impressed.

We've had lots of dust-baths and we've put a blanket over the roof of the run to give them a little more shade and Emma's found a tip on t'interweb that if you fill a bowl with iced water and put fruit in it the chickens will effectively bob for the fruit and it cools their wattles and rehydrates them at the same time.

This worked well on Monday except that not all the fruit floated so there were some grapes sitting at the bottom go the bowl which they wanted...

So they just tipped the bowl over and fished the fruit off the floor. D'oh.

Yesterday Emma tried with peas..

Unfortunately the same thing happened but it took a good few hours for them to get bored of dunking their heads in anyway so it seems to work.


What shall we try today?....

3 layers; 1 chicken chicken

Sorry for the delay... technical issues; we've got a bit of catching up to do...

We've had a number of eggs over the last few days

Today was an attempt at a boiled egg from Heston's recipe

Poached with crispy bacon and home-grown tomatoes

From left to right: Myrtle, Doris, Mabel

Poached with a little black pepper.

You may have noticed a name missing from the pictures above. Bessy still hasn't laid.
She's the flightiest of the 4 ladies and still very nervous after Piper chasing her. We think that she is getting close as she has started to sit in the nest box. She's not scooting yet either whilst the rest of them are quite happily scooting and come running when we go into the run.

We are trying to free range them for some time each day. Again getting Mabel, Doris and Myrtle back into the run at the end of this is fine, but still having trouble getting Bessy back in, so we are having to bribe her with live mealworms. I think she might actually know what she's doing!

In other news, they seem to be big fans of spinach, kale (but not as much as spinach), rocket and grapes.

Other than that, there's not a lot to add so now we're just waiting on Bessy:

Days without eggs from Bessy: 14

P.S. Egg recipes from Heston's Recipes

19th July 2012 - (Day 12, Emma)

After my last whinge about not seeing able to sit outside, I decided that my pregnant wife needed to do some work so we took Piper for a walk when I got back from work and now I am sitting in the garden (see above) updating this page with the ladies scratching at the herb-garden and borders; and Emma cooking supper.

As you can see from the next few pics, they are really enjoying the freedom. I wish we could leave them out like this all day but Emma's worried about Red Kites and cats and i don't know if she's wrong...

(Comments greatly received)

You'll be surprised to know that we're having eggs for supper tonight. We've had 3 today -

1 from Doris (becoming too complacent about these now)

1 from Myrtle (we decided that yesterday's brown egg was Myrtle's because of all the commotion that was coming from the coop when she was in it - Emma was worried that someone was dying!)

and 1 from Mabel. (another brown egg, a little lighter than the Myrtle's)

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take a pic of them this time because Emma's whisked them away (see what i did there...? Whisked....? No...? Wasted on you)

but I will for next time.

That's it from me. Dinner is calling...

18 July 12

Emma here. So I am now starting to forget which 'day' we are on (can I blame pregnancy brain??), so just going to do dates!

We are really starting to get there! I am sure Joe will update at some point to show some more pictures.

We have had our second egg from Doris - double yolker too (apparently very common in young hens who have started laying) and very tasty. I have been going in regularly and sitting with them, plus taking different foods in for them to try. Yesterday was fresh corn on the cob - that is a particular favourite!

So far we have tried them on the following:

Mixed Corn (obvious favourite)

Fresh peas (very keen)

Cauliflower (not touched)

Broccoli (again, not fans)

Fresh Corn (very keen)

Strawberries (again, very keen)

Home grown tomatoes (also like)

Meal worms (like crack to chickens)

Small locusts (a little unsure but they all went!)

Fresh Corn on the Cob (LOVE this)

Freshly cut grass (again, goes very quickly)

They are also getting more confident as wanting to explore a bit more, so after they were cleaned out yesterday (thank you Joe) I sat with them in the garden as it was nice and sunny. They are loving the grass and plants, especially my herb garden! They spent a good 45minutes in the sun. It was nice and relaxing and I think the girls enjoyed it. Didn't take too long to go back in when I had to get back to work.

I have also noticed that 3 of the hens have started "scooting" for me. By all accounts it is when the hens recognise you as their 'rooster' and basically sit to be mounted. Its a good sign and we were told it would take 4-6 weeks. I have also spoken to the people we got them from who have said this also indicates they are getting ready to lay. As Doris was the first to scoot for me, this sounds about right. So far Doris, Mabel and Myrtle are scooting for me. Bessy (who was chased by Piper) is still very nervous so I think it will be a while for her.

Heard one hell of a noise this morning coming from the coop. Myrtle has been going in and out a lot - checked later and we have a brown egg! It may be Myrtle but as Mabel has also been going in, could have been her. Waiting to see if Doris lays again today and then going to take the eggs to my sister to try - she is more of an egg fan!

Joe will probably update later today. He is going to go in with meal worms later to get them more used to him. I think I may look up other options of live food for them.

Joe's update: Emma took a pic of the Myrtle / Mabel egg but wasn't able to put it up so here it is:

Doris's on left and Myrtle/Mabel on right

Day 10 - Double yolkier

Doris has done herself proud today. A double-yolker!

I have to say that it was very nice. I poached it again but this time I over-did it and the yolks had gone more hard than soft. Nevermind - tasted great with buttered toast and cracked black pepper.

Not a lot else to report, really from my end...

I've been at work so not had the pleasure of sitting in the garden with the ladies. I think I'm missing out a little though as Emma's saying that they're "scooting" for her where as they keep running away from me. I definitely need to spend more time feeding them as i reckon they'll learn to recognise me as a food-giver, rather than a person who lets them out then puts them away again and who seems to let the dog chase them.

(I still haven't heard the end of that and i don't think I ever will)

Sorry - bit of a boring one today. I'm sure Emma will be scintilating tomorrow.

Day 9 - Update

Dear readers,

It's been a busy, busy day!

As I said, earlier we had our first, delicious egg.

Then i cleaned out the ladies while Emma was on some work-call upstairs.

So I locked Piper in the living-room and went out to clean out the coop.

Got the bottom tray out and replaced the paper in the bottom of it and replaced it... so far so good.

By this point, the ladies had wandered out of the run and were happily pecking on the grass.

I went back into the house to put the newspaper away and when I came back out, Piper came past me and chased the chickens...again!

She chased Bessy into the living room and there was much squawking and flapping (and that was just from me!).

Bessy's not been the same around me since... I locked Piper in the living-room again and sat in the garden with the ladies, trying to get them to chill a little.
Bessy refused to go near me for the rest of the day - to the point where she got stuck between the run and next-door's fence.

Piper and I are both now in the "Dog-house" (pun intended)



Finally, on a happier note, next-door's cat has found a great viewpoint for keeping an eye on the ladies...

Day 9 - Eggs!!

Our first egg!

Here it is. Our first egg.

Emma went to check on the ladies yesterday evening and found an egg. In the nesting box.

From looking at it, it look's like Doris's as it is china white.

It's not very big and I under-poached it slightly

But it was still very tasty!

Days without eggs: 0

Days 5 - 8

1stly - apologies for not updating earlier; i've started back at work and Emma's not been sure how to get onto the blog to update (she's not very tech savvy).

Took video of our ladies having a bit of a dust-bath (we think) but can't get it to upload so am trying another way...

Until then, a little update:

We have tried them on home grown tomatoes and strawberries, apples, pears, peas and sweetcorn. Current favourites are tomatoes, strawberries and sweetcorn. Plus mealworms - they recognise the box and will follow it anywhere, which is handy as they have now started trying to get out of the run when we open the door as they want the fresh grass. We have started giving them the grass cuttings when doing the lawn so may see if we can get these from others as well - they love the fresh grass!

Getting into a good routine now. Let them out about 7.30am, put out the fresh food and water, clean them out as they start eating and then leave them to it! They have a treat in the afternoon (either mixed corn or fresh veg/fruit - just a handful) and then about 9pm they take themselves to bed! They really cwtch up together as well at nights, so I can now see how this coop can hold 6-8 birds!

Was also worried that given the atrocious weather lately (seriously, it's July - stop raining!!) they were a little bored as they just sit hiding from the rain, so went to Pets at Home to see what they had, and loads of the bird cage items were on sale - bargain! Have bought a few toys with mirrors etc on and dotted them around the run. They seem quite interested, so feeling better that they won't get too bored! Obviously throwing some things down in the afternoon for them to scratch for too. Can chickens get bored??

They had seemed to be settling but we did have a small situation today which I think may have set us back again. We let them out into the garden for the first time and had Piper (the dog) out with us on a lead. Whilst we had treats she was fine, but then got over excited and snapped at the chickens, so she went back in the house (cue lots of whining). Later on when we were quickly cleaning them out (they were in the run) she ran in after them. She's never done this before. Cue lots of chasing and snapping at the chickens. Joe thinks if she wanted to catch and kill she would have, but I am not so sure. Not impressed, and neither are the girls. Every time she goes near the run now they go nuts at her. Just really wish one would peck her when her nose goes near the fencing! It worked for the cats when Piper got a bit cocky with them.

So we will see what effect this has. Still no eggs yet. Not sure if its because they are still a little young or too stressed. I guess we will see.

Day 4

Last night, as I said, I was asked to clean out and put the ladies to bed on my own. Emma had to go out...
(Un)fortunately, when I went out to do it, it was starting to turn to dusk and all 4 had already gone to bed! They just needed me to close the door. :)
Don't worry though, they were cleaned out 1st thing this morning and are no worse for it.


FINALLY, Piper has stopped barking at the chickens. Emma says that Piper even went outside today (between showers) and went to sleep lying next to the run. She also now no longer gets agitated when we go into the run without her and sits and waits at the door until we come out.
We didn't take any photos today but I will try to catch her sleeping outside and again and take a couple.

Trying the hens on different vegetables to see what they like...
...Today was broccoli.
...Yesterday was cauliflower. They didn't touch the cauliflower. They tried a little of the broccoli.

I am not sure if its because they don't like the veg, or they don't exactly know what to do with it!

...Tomorrow we'll try them on home-grown tomatoes and strawberries. Watch this space...

Days without eggs: 3

Day 3 (Can you see a pattern here?)

Bessy getting curious

The new shelter

Now,  remember this is July, I didn't think that there would be much need for rain-proofing anything other than the coop itself.

Today I got bored of wet food and chickens constantly under or in the coop so I built a run within a run. It also works as a food shelter! Genius!

As you can see, they have got quite used to me now (eating corn, literally, out of the palm of my hand) I think I'll try handling the more adventurous tomorrow.

Piper has now chilled out to the point that there has been no barking and no chasing at all. It's almost like she's bored of them coz they don't run.

I'm a little concerned about Bessy though. It looks like she's losing feathers. Long black and white ones. I've just picked her up to check under her wings for anything crawly but she seems clear. Anyone reading this know of what could be causing this?
Emma says she's seen her pulling one from her chest but she's by no means going bald.

Emma's going out now so it looks like I'll be putting them to bed on my own! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

Days without eggs: 2

Day 2

Day 2

Last thing last night we tried to round the chickens all up and pop them into their coop...

Easier said than done!

Matt (who we bought them from) had shown us how to hold them which is easy, but not how to catch them or pick them up!

This meant that Emma and I spent about 15 minutes, in the pouring rain, running around trying to catch these 4 silly birds!

Eventually I realised that if you just grab a leg / foot and pick them up, they'll flap about but you can tuck them up and feed them into the coop that way. Hopefully they'll get the hang of it soon!

So last night wasn't exactly restful for Emma or I. I couldn't sleep properly and I don't think Emma did either. (I think Emma thought she had hurt 1 of them putting her into the coop but there was no way to tell til this morning). Also, I had closed the vent at the top - thinking it would help them sleep if it was darker but then spent the whole night worrying if they were going to get too hot.
The rational part of me knows it's not possible because there are only 4 in a coop designed for 6 - but that part of my brain was obviously asleep last night!

So, anyway, they were fine last night. All 4 of them made their way out of their coop this morning with no limping or dragging of wings.

Piper has settled. The occasional run-past to see what happens but I think they're used to her now and she's getting less of a reaction every time. 2 barks at them today but no chirping or pawing at the fence!

The cats are fairly uninterested. Watching from a distance but just because they're new I think. However the neighbours cats are far more interested - good job the run has a roof!

The ladies are getting used to Emma and my presence. Even eating meal-worms from our hands! They do a nice cooing/clucking-sound when we come in so i think we should be able to pick then up soon.

At the moment they are far too flighty to get close enough to.

Next-doors children came round to see the ladies today too. A 10 year old, a 7 year old, a 4 year old and a 1year old. They obviously weren't allowed into the run but they stood and watched them for a little while before getting bored and playing with Piper.

Finally, getting the ladies into the coop was much easier today. Once we got Bessy and Mabel in, the other 2 followed. Hopefully even easier tomorrow night...

Days without eggs: 1

Chickens Day 1

Day 1

Today we brought the chickens home!

We originally had names like Piri-Piri, Korma etc but on the drive home we decided that it wasn't as original as we first thought (or as funny) so we have renamed them (from left to right);

Grey and White speckled - Myrtle
Pure White - Doris
Black and Red - Mabel
White and Black - Bessy

They complain like little old ladies too!

Piper (our ginger terrier-cross) was SO excited to see what we had brought home that she sat at the backdoor whining / chirping / sounding-like-she-was-being-tortured until we let her go and have a look. At which point she ran up to the edge of the run to see what they were and made them flutter off - which excited her more!
Every time she barked, we called her back in until she settled then let her go back out again. This has gone on for about 2 hours now. I have been assured they'll get used to each other soon...

...fingers crossed!

As you can see they are busy exploring their new home and so we'll leave them alone until tonight when we'll put them into their coop for a safe (hopefully relaxing) nights sleep.

Days without eggs: 0
(We thought we'd see how long it takes for them to lay - the average is a couple of weeks to get settled but we have a very excitable dog!)