So lately we have been having more frost on the ground, today being the most so far. Its fair to say the girls are not keen on this cold white stuff - god help them when we have snow!
I have been giving them porridge on the mornings when its cold which is helping entice them out. Egg production is down a tad - only 3 yesterday. Mind you, a lot of peoples hens have stopped for the winter so we are lucky to get any!
Also been giving the girls more mixed corn to help keep them warm (its a high energy food so helps in this weather) and also tried them on a melon i wasnt going to eat in time - they loved that, seeds and all!
Other than that, not much is going on here. Waiting on snow to see how they react. They seem to still enjoy mud baths - even when the mud is wet, so now our two white chickens are not very white at all!
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Thursday, 29 November 2012
4 hens all in a row...
Let the ladies out this morning and then went back to bed. (Don't judge me, it was a restless night with a heavily pregnant wife!)
When I came back downstairs the sun had come out and was just peeking over the fence so all 5 chickens had perched on top of the coop
Doris jumped down when I got the camera!
Sunday, 4 November 2012
So Winter's Coming!
Been ages since we last posted! Been very busy trying to get the run sorted and things. Its not as great as I had hoped.
With all the rain the run was just a mess. Plus the chickens have eaten all the grass, so the garden is a mess too. In fact its like one big muddy puddle!
we needed to worm them, so decided the easiest way was with Layers Pellets with the Flubenvet (wormer) mixed in. This requires them not to free range whilst they are on them (they did not like that!) so we took that opportunity to lay down some grass seed too. Well after 10 days, there was a tiny smattering of grass, so we have let them back out and resigned ourselves to the fact we may have to returf the garden in the spring!
We were also able to get hold of an old rabbit hutch (thank you Furry Friends Rescue) which is providing an excellent bit of extra shelter as they dont seem to like being in the coop all day and just sit out in the rain! We removed the doors (so its just a big box) but they seem to like it and use it daily.
I must admit, I do feel like a bad owner. We have covered the top of the run, put some wood up on some sides for a bit of protection, and put bark chippings down to try to control the mud, yet the girls stay out in the rain and then climb all over each other - the 2 white girls are constantly filthy. Even if we let them free range, they stay out in the rain, and Doris is still having regular mud baths! Going to try to find some clear plastic sheeting to maybe use to cover the sides, see if that helps, but its proving elusive.
Anyway, better get back to the other animals! Piper (the dog) has been petrified all night due to Fireworks (chickens didnt seem bothered though - i did wonder if we would be down any this morning). We have rehomed the remaining 2 fish and sold the tank. Just got to do some re-jigging of the chameleon cage and hopefully thats all the animals sorted for the rest of the year.
I blame the pregnancy! 7 weeks to go and Emma has suddenly turned into a crazy woman with things needing changing and it needs to happen ASAP!
With all the rain the run was just a mess. Plus the chickens have eaten all the grass, so the garden is a mess too. In fact its like one big muddy puddle!
we needed to worm them, so decided the easiest way was with Layers Pellets with the Flubenvet (wormer) mixed in. This requires them not to free range whilst they are on them (they did not like that!) so we took that opportunity to lay down some grass seed too. Well after 10 days, there was a tiny smattering of grass, so we have let them back out and resigned ourselves to the fact we may have to returf the garden in the spring!
We were also able to get hold of an old rabbit hutch (thank you Furry Friends Rescue) which is providing an excellent bit of extra shelter as they dont seem to like being in the coop all day and just sit out in the rain! We removed the doors (so its just a big box) but they seem to like it and use it daily.
I must admit, I do feel like a bad owner. We have covered the top of the run, put some wood up on some sides for a bit of protection, and put bark chippings down to try to control the mud, yet the girls stay out in the rain and then climb all over each other - the 2 white girls are constantly filthy. Even if we let them free range, they stay out in the rain, and Doris is still having regular mud baths! Going to try to find some clear plastic sheeting to maybe use to cover the sides, see if that helps, but its proving elusive.
Anyway, better get back to the other animals! Piper (the dog) has been petrified all night due to Fireworks (chickens didnt seem bothered though - i did wonder if we would be down any this morning). We have rehomed the remaining 2 fish and sold the tank. Just got to do some re-jigging of the chameleon cage and hopefully thats all the animals sorted for the rest of the year.
I blame the pregnancy! 7 weeks to go and Emma has suddenly turned into a crazy woman with things needing changing and it needs to happen ASAP!
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Looks like the yolk is on us...
A week or so ago I posted that we had found a tiny egg from Doris. (No yolking matter). We assumed that it was an egg with no yolk.
Today we were proven wrong. It was a tiny egg with a tiny yolk. Unfortunately too small to dup anything with. I could try frying it but it would get lost in the pan!
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Eggs for sale
We have 2 x 6 eggs for sale if anyone's interested.
(No photos but you'll just have to go by the other 300 photos I've put up here :-) )
(No photos but you'll just have to go by the other 300 photos I've put up here :-) )
Friday, 12 October 2012
No yolking matter!
Emma went to check on the ladies and found 3 proper eggs and a tiny egg from Doris. We don't think that it has a yolk. Anyone want to try?
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
And Now For Something Completely Different!
So, Emma is also part of a pet forum where they often discuss food for the other animals. When we first got Piper we wanted to raw feed, got a freezer (from free cycle!) especially for dog food etc, but she was having none of it! In the end, Emma ended up cooking some food so we have progressed from there. As some people have asked what she does exactly, last time she cooked up a batch she took pictures to explain.
I would like to quickly comment this has been done over time, speaking with vets etc, and works for our dog. Anyone making a home made diet must observe their pet to ensure they are getting the right nutrients etc!
Anyway, down to the food! As its been a tough month financially (Emma suddenly decided we needed new carpets upstairs plus buying the last few big baby items) we only bought enough meat to do a months worth of food. As Piper doesn't seem to eat the chicken meals we once made, we just do lamb and beef. We get this from the supermarket, trying to buy British where possible.
So, we have a leg of lamb, a packet of 3 lamb hearts, some stewing beef, some beef liver, two bags of frozen mixed veg (if fresh is on offer we buy that), some brown rice, some corn oil (although Emma is getting fish oil to use) and some calcium powder. The oil, calcium powder and rice tend to last a while, so once you buy these you don't have to replace every time you do the meals. I think a tub of the calcium powder lasts us a year?? Oil probably the same (if Emma isn't using it for cooking etc, which if its fish oil she isn't!).
Anyway, back to the food!
We start off by cooking the lamb leg in the oven for the recommended time. Piper refuses pinky lamb, so it has to be cooked through. Towards the end we add the hearts so they are nice and cooked, and then left out to cool (I forgot to take a picture of the cooked lamb).
In the meantime, we add a low salt stock cube (usually beef) to some water and boil. We add the stewing beef and liver to the boiled water and let it cook through. Usually takes 10 minutes. Meat is removed and put to one side to cool. Don't throw the water away!
Bring to the boil again (now has beef stock plus beef and liver juices in the water). Add 1.5 cups of brown rice and leave to cook. Halfway through, we add one packet of mixed frozen veg. This obviously cools the water down so needs to reheat, but we like to think the veg is soaking up some of the beef flavour by doing it this way. Once the rice is cooked, strain rice/veg mix and put to one side. Repeat again with another 1.5 cups rice and veg (if you have a bigger pot do it all together and then halve the mixture when done).
When the rice/veg mix is cooling, we add a small amount of the oil (maybe a table spoon) and two table spoons of calcium powder and mix through. In this instance Emma found some Oat bran in the cupboard and mixed some of that in, but usually if we have it we will add a cup of wheat bran - which is much better than oat bran!
Now comes the time consuming bit! Strip the meat from the lamb leg and cut the hearts up. These then go in the food processor and are blitzed! The shredded meat is added to one bowl of rice / veg mix and mixed up. Repeat the same for the beef and liver.
Once mixed, we then portion. We used to do 100g bags, but lately Piper seems to be eating more (I think its because Emma cut down on her treats!) so we have increased the portion size to 150g.
We just use the small food bags from Tescos. The food is portioned and using labels (cut and with either an L or B on them) we roll the bags and seal them. They are then put in the freezer and take a few out at a time to defrost in the fridge.
From the start of the cooking of the lamb (which takes the most time) you are probably looking at 4 hours here, but whilst the lamb is cooking I am usually doing things, so in all really this maybe took 2 hours max? Obviously if you have more freezer room (and cash) you can do bigger bulks and it will work out as less time as you could do 2-3 months worth of food in one go.
We ended up making 19 lamb dinners (plus naughty here - gave the lamb bone to Piper to strip the remaining meat - once you hear bone cracking it gets taken off her) and 18 beef dinners. Costs are as follows -
Lamb Meals -
Leg of Lamb - £15.02
Lamb Hearts - £2.24
1 x Bag Frozen veg - £0.75
Food bags (bag 60=£1.50, therefore 0.025p each) - £0.48
Total Cost £18.49 = 97p a meal
Beef Meals -
Beef - £8.19
Beef Liver - £0.83
1 x Bag Frozen veg - £0.75
Food bags (bag 60=£1.50, therefore 0.025p each) - £0.45
Total Cost £10.22 = 57p a meal
There are obviously the more ad hoc costs, such as the rice (£1.60 a bag, but lasts at least 6 months), Corn Oil (£1.98 lasts at least a year) and Calcium powder (£3.99 again lasts a good year). And gas, which I have no idea how to calculate, and time. But on the whole, for me, its a cheaper option as we know everything that is going into her meals so know the quality of the food she is having - and its cheaper than a lot of pet foods on the market.
We also give her raw bones from the farm shop as part of her diet. This helps ensure adequate calcium intake and also keeps her teeth clean. They can't sell them, so we give a donation to the local charity pot for them. We usually have some good bones for a donation of a couple of pounds - and they keep her happy and occupied for a while!
Obviously this works for us. We have discussed with our vets and they agree that Piper is healthy and not lacking anything. We have these meals through trial and error. I would like to do this for the cats, but its harder due to the more specific requirements for the taurine levels, so we are sticking with cat food for them!
Hope this give people some ideas!
I would like to quickly comment this has been done over time, speaking with vets etc, and works for our dog. Anyone making a home made diet must observe their pet to ensure they are getting the right nutrients etc!
Anyway, down to the food! As its been a tough month financially (Emma suddenly decided we needed new carpets upstairs plus buying the last few big baby items) we only bought enough meat to do a months worth of food. As Piper doesn't seem to eat the chicken meals we once made, we just do lamb and beef. We get this from the supermarket, trying to buy British where possible.
So, we have a leg of lamb, a packet of 3 lamb hearts, some stewing beef, some beef liver, two bags of frozen mixed veg (if fresh is on offer we buy that), some brown rice, some corn oil (although Emma is getting fish oil to use) and some calcium powder. The oil, calcium powder and rice tend to last a while, so once you buy these you don't have to replace every time you do the meals. I think a tub of the calcium powder lasts us a year?? Oil probably the same (if Emma isn't using it for cooking etc, which if its fish oil she isn't!).
Anyway, back to the food!
We start off by cooking the lamb leg in the oven for the recommended time. Piper refuses pinky lamb, so it has to be cooked through. Towards the end we add the hearts so they are nice and cooked, and then left out to cool (I forgot to take a picture of the cooked lamb).
In the meantime, we add a low salt stock cube (usually beef) to some water and boil. We add the stewing beef and liver to the boiled water and let it cook through. Usually takes 10 minutes. Meat is removed and put to one side to cool. Don't throw the water away!
Bring to the boil again (now has beef stock plus beef and liver juices in the water). Add 1.5 cups of brown rice and leave to cook. Halfway through, we add one packet of mixed frozen veg. This obviously cools the water down so needs to reheat, but we like to think the veg is soaking up some of the beef flavour by doing it this way. Once the rice is cooked, strain rice/veg mix and put to one side. Repeat again with another 1.5 cups rice and veg (if you have a bigger pot do it all together and then halve the mixture when done).
When the rice/veg mix is cooling, we add a small amount of the oil (maybe a table spoon) and two table spoons of calcium powder and mix through. In this instance Emma found some Oat bran in the cupboard and mixed some of that in, but usually if we have it we will add a cup of wheat bran - which is much better than oat bran!
Now comes the time consuming bit! Strip the meat from the lamb leg and cut the hearts up. These then go in the food processor and are blitzed! The shredded meat is added to one bowl of rice / veg mix and mixed up. Repeat the same for the beef and liver.
Once mixed, we then portion. We used to do 100g bags, but lately Piper seems to be eating more (I think its because Emma cut down on her treats!) so we have increased the portion size to 150g.
We just use the small food bags from Tescos. The food is portioned and using labels (cut and with either an L or B on them) we roll the bags and seal them. They are then put in the freezer and take a few out at a time to defrost in the fridge.
From the start of the cooking of the lamb (which takes the most time) you are probably looking at 4 hours here, but whilst the lamb is cooking I am usually doing things, so in all really this maybe took 2 hours max? Obviously if you have more freezer room (and cash) you can do bigger bulks and it will work out as less time as you could do 2-3 months worth of food in one go.
We ended up making 19 lamb dinners (plus naughty here - gave the lamb bone to Piper to strip the remaining meat - once you hear bone cracking it gets taken off her) and 18 beef dinners. Costs are as follows -
Lamb Meals -
Leg of Lamb - £15.02
Lamb Hearts - £2.24
1 x Bag Frozen veg - £0.75
Food bags (bag 60=£1.50, therefore 0.025p each) - £0.48
Total Cost £18.49 = 97p a meal
Beef Meals -
Beef - £8.19
Beef Liver - £0.83
1 x Bag Frozen veg - £0.75
Food bags (bag 60=£1.50, therefore 0.025p each) - £0.45
Total Cost £10.22 = 57p a meal
There are obviously the more ad hoc costs, such as the rice (£1.60 a bag, but lasts at least 6 months), Corn Oil (£1.98 lasts at least a year) and Calcium powder (£3.99 again lasts a good year). And gas, which I have no idea how to calculate, and time. But on the whole, for me, its a cheaper option as we know everything that is going into her meals so know the quality of the food she is having - and its cheaper than a lot of pet foods on the market.
We also give her raw bones from the farm shop as part of her diet. This helps ensure adequate calcium intake and also keeps her teeth clean. They can't sell them, so we give a donation to the local charity pot for them. We usually have some good bones for a donation of a couple of pounds - and they keep her happy and occupied for a while!
Obviously this works for us. We have discussed with our vets and they agree that Piper is healthy and not lacking anything. We have these meals through trial and error. I would like to do this for the cats, but its harder due to the more specific requirements for the taurine levels, so we are sticking with cat food for them!
Hope this give people some ideas!
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