Adolescent chickens

The chickens act very much as a flock. This may well be because they were all part of the same group when they were raised so they have always been together. We've not had any squabbling - although I'm sure we would if we introduced strangers. They all tend to do the same thing at the same time. In the picture above, all four of them had squashed onto the small perch. I rushed inside for the camera but by then, one had decided to come down.
The green garden chair you can see on the left and side of the run (on its side so that the rain drains off) has become part of the Chicken Gym. They love to perch on it and use it as a staging post to fly onto the hen-house roof. I hadn't appreciated until we got them how 3 dimensional they are. And to think that our original run design would have been 3 feet high, with access panels in the roof. There would have been no opportunity for the flapping and perching up high which they so much enjoy.


Over the time we've had them I think we've only had one sunny day and this is Amber's first 'dip' in the sand pit. Even in the dismal, damp weather we've been having, they really love to flap and play dead in here, sometimes several at a time!

Like typical teenagers, they haven't been keen to go to bed. Initially, once the pop-hole had closed, we had to round up 2 or even 3 strays who had gone into the house and then come back out of it again! Last night however, all 4 went up to bed like good girls. Himself said, all dewy eyed, "I'm quite proud of them." Yes, chicken keeping gets you like that!

First day out

Three of the laydees enjoying the big outside. Amber in the foreground is distinctly lighter than the others. I keep thinking I've sorted the other 3 out and then the sun goes in and I've changed my mind again! Today is Day 4 if you count Sunday as Day 1 - and they were banged up most of Sunday. We knew they were ready for off. The first two days they really hid, kept to the perches and nest box and didn't even like to come near the pop-hole. By yesterday evening they were trying to shove past me as I leaned in the cleaning door to poo pick and add a little corn for supper.

We let them out this morning and it's obvious they aren't used to the wind in their plumage. They were reared in big roomy pens inside a poly tunnel. It was open both ends and had lots of fresh air (and no smell!) but a sudden gust up your bum makes you skitter and fly a few feet apparently.

Under the ladder (which they have already used in both directions by the way) - Amber on the right. She decided that after I'd given the house a good clean out and left it open to the air for a while, she would just check whether I'd scattered anything other than Easibed in there. So the new floor covering is well scratched!

This view shows my makeshift perch. They have all used it and also like to perch on the bucket. We bought a smaller green and white water dispenser but our poultry supplier was using these - very easy to clean out and refill from the garden tap. The girls are used to it, so we bought one. It's shorter and wider than the standard bucket so it's way more stable.

Shaun of Outgate Poultry suggested that we keep them at least a fortnight within the run before we let them try the rest of the garden. His suggestion of 3 - 4 days in the house seemed a bit extreme but it has worked. They are so settled and comfortable with the set-up now and obviously do perceive the house as 'home'.

Day Two at Beak House

Caught in the act of having a bit of a gossip, here are the young ladies, 2 in the nest box and 2 on the perch and facing one another. They don't like my offerings of chickweed or chopped up grapes but it's early days. These things might look different out in the cold light of the chicken run.

I reached in to remove droppings this morning and to clean out and refill the water pot and the feeder. I think I woke them up! The auto pop-hole opener will have woken them at dawn but when I got there at 7.30 they were sitting on perches and didn't seem bothered about foraging. However, the disturbance of the bit of a clean out got them wing stretching and they all came down for a good drink, a peck at the grit and a good feed. By the lunchtime water-top up they all had good full crops so everyone has eaten.

Day three tomorrow then - big wide world, look out!

Here they are!

First view of The Rock Chicks - Ruby, Garnet, Topaz and Amber. I'm sure some fellow pedant will be dying to point out that Amber is not a rock but a resin, but for the purposes of Precious Treasures it is near enough for jazz!

We set off this morning and went to the little North Lincs village of Ealand by way of the North Cave Wetlands - blogged about previously on Vegetable Heaven (http://vegheaven.blogspot.com) to see if the sand martins had arrived. They have - and the avocets. We then went straight on to visit Shaun at Outgate Poultry as we were too excited to postpone the moment any longer. I was impressed straight away by the invitation to dip our shoe soles in a disinfectant bath, and by the lack of smell in the poly tunnel that housed several pens of pullets. We had opted for the Rangers as they are reputedly the friendliest and there are 2 grand-daughters who will want to befriend them.

Shaun said that the pullets are 17 weeks old today and had just been moved into the pen this morning. Bearing in mind that they will have had 2 changes in one day, he suggested that we leave them in the house with temporary food and water containers in there, for 3 - 4 days to allow them to recognise the house as their place of safety. To do this, he suggested that we temporarily cover the pop-hole with wire mesh so they have light during the day but can't leave the house. He also suggested at least 2 weeks in the run before they get out to explore the garden further. I'm happy to go along with expert advice. Himself found a wire grid that covers the area well and still allows the pop-hole to move freely.

There will be more pictures later in the week.

Final chicken preparations

We took ourselves off to B&Q this morning to buy some sand for the dust bath and several sacks of softwood chippings for the floor of the run. There's a good deep layer there with huge scratching potential!


The final job was to make the chicken ladder so they have access to the raised hen-house doorway. It hooks over the frame of the hen-house support so it's really secure but can be removed by lifting the front of the house a little and un-hooking it. I was going to paint it in the dark oak wood preservative that the stand is painted in, but I had a little think and decided that when the light is going and you need to find your way back home before the final darkness falls and the pop-hole closes, you need a light path to guide you, not something that sinks into invisibility in the twilight. That's the theory anyway!

Finished!

Three of the bricks I reclaimed from the rubble-strewn hedge-bottom that our Britain in Bloom group were tidying last week have formed the threshold of the hen-run door.

This vision of loveliness - painted by me in a fetching shade of ordure - is the support for the house, which forms the 'chicken cafe' where the feeder hangs out of the weather. It is hollow at the top so that the house doesn't sit on another board and allow the wet to seep in and rot the wood.

This shows the door which has 3 hinges and a bolt top and bottom and opens outwards. There's a handle on the outside but the last picture shows that the inside has a hook fastening you can pull behind you to latch the door shut while you are playing with (sorry, cleaning out) the chickens or collecting eggs.

Flooring, bedding, a ladder (to be made next weekend) and we're ready for chicken-husbandry!

Up to the Rigs

Heavy Duty Sewing!

On Saturday we decided to press on with rigging the structure. (So the Chicken Cafe is still unpainted!) The point of making the framework with galvanised construction angle was not only that the whole thing looks light and airy but that we can 'stitch' the netting to the frame. Not quite quilting but I like to find connection between my differing interests.

The result is light and see-through - even more so than it looks in the photograph. We can still watch the horses in the paddock behind. I was very keen, for the neighbours' benefit, that it shouldn't have a Steptoe's Yard look about it. So although we could have built it for much less, it would have taken more time and not been so aesthetically pleasing (to me, anyway). The top is weld-meshed in 3 parts, which overlap. The sides have had the 3ft mesh wrapped around so there is a horizontal join in the centre which again will be stitched with plastic coated wire. I shall also anchor it with wire stitching at the uprights, so the final job in the rigging process will be to staple the bottom of the mesh to the gravel boards.

Top Rooster looks quite at home in it, anyway!