5th Week of Freedom

Sunday, 5 July 2009

Total Eggs today = 2

After getting the girls up at 6am this morning I went back to bed for a couple of hours. Today is the Take That Circus concert at Wembley and knowing that it will be a very long day (and night) I thought I'd better get as much sleep as I could.

My Mum and niece, Ellis, will be hen sitting today.

The Take That concert was incredible.

These are some of the pics I took during the concert

After the concert, outside the stadium


Didn't get home until 12.30am so just as well my Mum managed to put them to bed.


Monday, 6 July 2009

Total Eggs today = 2

Awful weather today - torrential downpours, thunder and lightening - real end of the world stuff.

Luckily I'd covered the roof of the run with some tarpaulin I bought from eBay, otherwise the run would have been awash.


Tuesday, 7 July 2009

Total Eggs today = 1

More torrential downpours again today though by the time I got home it had stopped so the girls had a little bit of free time in the garden.


Wednesday, 8 July 2009

Total Eggs today = 1

When the girls were free-ranging tonight I noticed that Dorothy was holding her left foot up more than they usually do.

I managed to get hold of her and could see that the nail on her middle toe looked torn and was at a 45% angle.

There wasn't anything I could do tonight so I will call the vet in the morning.


Thursday, 9 July 2009

Total Eggs today = 2

I called the vet - Village Vet - and got an appointment for 10am.

He confirmed that it had been torn and said the best thing to do was to take it off. Birds don't cope with anaesthetic very well so he said he would take her into another room and while a nurse was holding Dorothy, he would just pull it off and put something on it to stop the bleeding.

I waited in the surgery and was expecting to hear some very loud clucking coming from the other room but I didn't.

He bought her back and we then discussed giving her some pain killer medication - Metacam which is a liquid pain killer usually prescribed for cats.

He worked out the dosage and showed me how to give it to her. It's a bit like giving a cat a tablet only trying to hold open the beak of a bird is slightly more difficult. I have to draw the liquid into a syringe type thing, then squeeze it gently into her mouth a little at a time. Easy for a vet to do!

After paying £47.01 for this visit I brought her home and gave her some food in the kitchen before putting her back with Ginger and Lucy.


Friday, 10 July 2009

Total Eggs today = 2

Giving Dorothy her medication this morning was an experience! I got my Mum to hold her in the kitchen while I tried to pry her beak open, put the syringe in and squeeze in the Metacam. As I said before, easy for a vet, very difficult for everyone else.

I stopped giving them the Denegard for the gut bacteria last Saturday but it hasn't cleared the problem as they've still been doing some yellow poop. I called Retford and they suggested trying the Denegard for another week to see if it clears the problem this time. Libby suggested getting some soluable multi vitamins to put into the water as I told her I wasn't sure they'd been drinking all the medicated water last week.

Tried to get some close-up photos of the chicken faces - they are constantly on the move so it's not easy. This is the best so far.....

Lucy emerging from her bath


Ginger and Dorothy


Ginger



Saturday, 11 July 2009

Total Eggs today = 1

House cleaning day. I mixed up some mash and yogurt for the girls to keep them occupied while I cleaned the house and run.

When I spoke to Libby at Retford yesterday I told her that I wasn't 100% sure they's been drinking all the medicated water last week and she suggested getting a soluable multi vitamin to disguise the taste so I went to my local pet shop today to see if he had any. He didn't but will order me some in the week.

While there I saw they were bagging up some wood chip like stuff. It turned out to be a type of horse bedding which they sell for birds and rabbits. I bought a bag to try in the bottom of the run as the girls are gradually scratching up all the grass and what with the pooping and spilling of food it is getting hard to keep clean and fly free.

4th Week of Freedom

Sunday, 28 June 2009

Total Eggs today = 2

Got the workbench and angle saw thingy out again today. My brother is coming over with drill and tools to give a hand on the run and I needed to cut a couple of pieces of wood to attach to the house. I also cut some more angled pieces of wood to attach as struts on the panels for extra strength.

Roped my Mum in to paint the wood with preservative - I couldn't ask Ellis to help as she has a new laptop and is busy playing with it! Plus, she would get covered with paint.

My son, Robert's Dad came over today and I got him to help me move the hen house slightly so that it could be put onto paving slabs. This means that there is now a paving slab under the house so it will be easier to clean.

The girls were out for most of the morning but we'd put them away just before Steve came which was just as well as they are nosy little things so would have got in the way.

Steve also attached the hinges to the sections which will open so now all that's left to do is connect them together, put the paving slabs down and attach them to the hen house and then I won't feel quite so guilty about leaving them shut in when I go to work.

However, I've taken this week off work. My intention is to paint the back wall of the house but it really depends on the weather. The forecast is for hot, hot, hot weather with occasional storms.


Monday, 29 June 2009

Total eggs today = 3

My Mum and her friend Vi are going on holiday for a few days and I drove them to the coach pick up point in Enfield Town. Then went to B&Q and bought the hasps to attach the run to the house and also bought a gate latch.

It was so hot when I got back that I let the girls out and just sat under the sun umbrella and it wasn't until later that I finished fixing all the additional little pieces to the frames.

I've also now dug up all the potatoes that were growing near the hen house, which the girls enjoyed as they were finding lots of insects and worms to eat.


Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Total eggs today = 2

Despite my intention to paint the back of the house I decided today that I really must finish the chicken run. I started by attaching the hasps to the side panel and and then fixed the panel to the house.

I then attached the front panel to the side with a cable tie. It was only when I added the other side piece that I realised that the first two panels were in the wrong place so had to start all over again.


Now I attached the small side panel and door. I've tried to put all the panels onto paving slabs but the lawn is so full of lumps that they mostly all wobble so I've had to put some of the slabs into the run - which is ok, because they will be easier to clean.


The finished run with the top opening panel fitted.



Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Total eggs today = 0

No painting today either. Instead I made a mesh frame to hang on the gate into my Mum's garden. For some reason she doesn't want the chickens to get into her garden and up until now we've been propping an old rusted piece of mesh against the gate which has to be moved to open it.

All the time while making the run the chickens have been curious - standing on the panels, generally getting in the way. It was only when making this frame that Ginger decided to really take an interest - either that or she was checking out my tools.




Thursday, 2 July 2009

Total eggs today = 2

Still very hot and so I decided to not do any painting! Sat in the garden under the umbrella while the girls had a scratch and peck about amongst my plants until it got too hot! So I set them up with their own umbrella and retreated inside until it cooled down a little.



Friday, 3 July 2009

Total eggs today = 1

Let the girls out for a little while this morning, but as I was going to meet the coach bringing my Mum and her friend Vi back from their holiday.

To keep them amused I peeled and cored an apple then threaded some string through it and hung it in the run. After a few tries they worked out what to do, though it was swinging about for quite a while. However, it made any awful sticky mess of the mesh so I will have to try hanging the next one in the middle of the run.


Saturday, 4 July 2009

Total eggs today = 2 (2nd one was definitely from Dorothy because I saw her go into the nest box)

The girls have been having an antibiotic since last Saturday, which will hopefully cure their "yellow runny poop". I've been adding it to their drinking water but am not sure they've been getting it all as they have been knocking their water container over (it's now tied to the run so that can't happen again). I've not seen any any "yellow runny poop" this week so am hoping it is cured, but just to be sure I gave them one more dose today. I have to contact the laboratory, Retford Poultry Partnership, next week and let them know how things are. If it doesn't seem to have gone I will probably have to send another sample for testing :-(

Today was house cleaning day. Since the run has been attached there is less poop in the house which is good because I had to get down on hands and knees to clean it out, but it meant that cleaning took a little longer as I now have to make sure the grass and paving inside the run has been de-pooped. Although I've been doing this every day, now that I had the bucket of dettol I could also scrub the paving.

Retford also sold me a powder called Mistral. This is supposed to stop any bacteria on the ground from re-infecting them and I have to sprinkle it over the flooring of the run and house. I've been sprinkling it in the run since it was delivered on Tuesday and added it to the ground under the house today after cleaning.

My niece, Ellis, came today and went straight into the run with the chickens.


I mixed their layers mash with some live yoghurt today and they really seemed to like it, so I did another bowlfull which Ellis took it into the run with her. We are concerned that Dorothy isn't eating as much as the other two because of her little twisted beak so Ellis tried to make sure Dorothy got a fair share of it.

We let them out later in the afternoon and they came to where we were sitting on the patio and made a couple of dirt baths between the big plant pots and then had little naps while Ginger (who I've yet to see dirt bathing) sat down near us on the paving. Ellis is trying to get them all to sit on her lap but so far the only one who's willing is Ginger - she even settled down and closed her eyes a couple of times.

There won't be much to report tomorrow as I'm going to see Take That at Wembley Stadium - YAY!!!!!

3rd Week of Freedom

Sunday, 21 June 2009

Cleaning out time today so let the girls out of the house and run while I set to work with the rubber gloves, bucket of soapy water and brush.

The girls are really enjoying their new found freedom and are quite at home in the garden. Lucy and Dorothy in particular enjoy having dirt baths.

This is Dorothy


And this is a video of Lucy





I started to put the wire mesh onto the frames today.

It was harder than I thought as the wire is rolled up and as soon as the wire ties holding it together were un-done it sort of up-wound itself and shot off down the garden! My measurements were all wrong so I'll be cutting pieces to fit each section rather than having one large piece per frame.

Definitely a 2 person job - one has to staple while the other holds the roll and cuts - so it was just as well Robert's dad came over.

Found a fresh yellow poop sample (which hadn't been trodden in) so I managed to get some into an (un-used) cat wee sample tube I had from the Vet. The Ex Battery Forum has details about a laboratory which tests poultry poop samples and supplies medication. I'll contact them tomorrow.


Monday, 22 June 2009

6am - woke up with a cracking headache. Took the morning off work and after feeding and watering the girls I went back to bed for a couple of hours.

Called Retford Poultry (the lab for poop testing). The told me to send the sample to them with a brief history of the hens. They'd then test it and let me know what bacteria was found and what meds would be needed. It was already in one plastic bag and after wrapping it again I put it in a small padded envelope with the letter and took it to the post office on the way to work. Sent it 1st Class Recorded Delivery I bet they don't get much chicken poop pass over their counter!


Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Went out after work tonight with friends so this was my Mum's first "hen sitting" session. She let them out for a little while but had trouble getting them back in the run.


Wednesday, 24 June 2009

Called Retfod Poultry - the sample arrived today - so much for 1st class Recorded Delivery then! They asked me to call again tomorrow afternoon when they should have results.


Thursday, 25 June 2009

Called Retford Poultry. My yellow frothy poop contains Brachyspira - a form of Spirochaetes. She said that she usually sees this infection in large flocks but is increasingly seeing it in smaller ones.

She's sending me some antibiotics and antiseptic powder which I should get on Saturday.

There are occasions when I really wonder what I did before the internet came along, however, for matters such as this I scared the life out of myself when I googled spirochaetes. The bug itself is related to syphilis and lyme disease!

In the same search I found a picture of someone's leg with a huge red blotch on it and I've recently been bitten by a mozzie and have a similar, though much, much smaller, red blotch on my leg. Then one of my friends wondered whether this bug could be caught by my cats.

So it was another call to Retford to be reassured that this is a poultry version which can't be transferred to other species. That's a relief then.


Friday, 26 June 2009

My supply of Denagard 12.5% solution-Tiamulin Fumarate arrived from Retfords today. It says 2ml Tiamutin to 1 litre of water.

So I'll be adding it to their water tomorrow. However, they do make one hell of a mess in their waterer (cleaning their very dirty beaks in it the little minxes!) . I usually tip out the dirtied water replacing it with clean but they will have to live with it until they've finished their course of meds.

Saturday, 27 June 2009

Another hot and sunny day - ideal for cleaning the hen house day. Let the girls out again as it's much easier to do without them poking their beaks in. However, Dorothy kept coming up the ramp when obviously wanting to get into the nest box - she probably wants to lay and egg.

Started them on their antibiotics. One of the people on the Ex Batts Forum recommends that you don't eat their eggs whilst on medication and for a week after, but suggests cooking them for the hens. It wasn't Dorothy who laid today it was Ginger, so I scrambled it for them but they didn't want to eat it.

Finally finished putting the wire onto the frames. Now all I have to do is put them together, put the paving slabs down and it will be done.

While doing this the girls were wandering around the garden. I looked up and could only see 2 of them - Dorothy was missing. She appeared the other side of the gate and had managed to get into my Mum's garden - this is off limits to chickens due to their "garden wrecking" habits.

There is a big gap at the bottom of the gate that separates us and we've been putting a piece of old wire mesh in front of it. Ginger also managed to figure out how to get through the gap so I will have to make something better to block the gap.

The weather was lovely today until about 5pm ish when the sky opened and dumped another load of rain on us.

Ellis is here this weekend and we retreated inside and watched "Chicken Run".

It didn't stop raining until about 9pm so the girls couldn't come out again

Saturday, 20 June 2009 - 2nd Week of Freedom

My Mum and I visited our friend Lorriane for lunch today - which was nice.

On the way home we went food shopping in Morrison's and I found a box of dried meal worms - not for me I hasten to add!

According to the Ex Battery Hens Forum hens go crazy for them so I thought I give them a try. They haven't shown much interest in the other suggested treats - spaghetti with olive oil, mashed potato, sweetcorn or grapes - so far.

I put them into a little dish and after some initial suspicion Ginger and Lucy appeared to like quite like them.

Dorothy is very careful about eating things unless she finds it in the dirt so I scattered some for her to find.

They are all becoming much calmer and are obviously getting used to us now and becoming quite curious about what we are doing. Even eating a sandwich and drinking a cup of tea brings a very nosy Ginger quickly over with her neck stretched to it's maximum to see if she can have any!

I got the work bench and angle cutting thingy out to saw some more pieces of wood which I then glued and stapled into place. There are now only a few more pieces of wood to be cut and nailed into place to add extra strength, as I don't want the first strong wind to blow it over, and then it just needs the wire and hinges to be attached and Voila! Hen House Run Extension is Finished!

I will start on an extension for my house next ;-)


According to the Forum you have to be on the look out for odd poop from hens -yellow frothy ones in particular. I've spotted a few but have never seen which hen does it and it's usually been walked through.

My Mum saw Lucy do one today so I took a picture (to post on the forum for advice - I won't subject this blog to poop pice you'll be happy to know!).

I will put the pic on the forum tonight and await advice. I think though that they will tell me to get a sample and send it off to a lab for analysis.

Friday, 19 June 2009 - 2nd Week of Freedom

Another egg today. I still don't know which hen is laying but I think it might be Dorothy as she spends most time in the house.

Finally got a decent photo of Dorothy today. It meant laying on the grass (which I thoroughly inspected for poop first btw)


The wire mesh I'd ordered arrived today.

Thursday, 18 June 2009 - 2nd Week of Freedom

Another egg today. I'll soon be able to open a stall in the front garden. Eggs and Chicken Manure!

Gave the frames another coat of paint.

The chickens have discovered the potato plants ....

Wednesday, 17 June 2009 - 2nd Week of Freedom

My Mum got up at about 5am this morning and saw a fox in the garden. It wasn't near the hen house but was sniffing around in her garden. She'd found a kipper there yesterday and it's possible it had come back to look for it.

She knocked on the window but it just looked at her and when it went to go into my garden she opened the window and clapped her hands and it just ran off.

So, they know there are chickens in the neighbourhood - I shall have to be extra careful when the girls are out now. I think(hope) they are secure in the house - it has padlocks on the doors and has paving slabs and bricks all around it so I don't think a fox could dig under, but just to be sure, once I've finished building the run I shall have to move the house and put slabs under it too. It will also make it easier to clean too.

2 eggs today!

I gave the wooden frames a coat of wood preservative while the girls were exploring the garden.

Tuesday, 16 June 2009 - 2nd Week of Freedom

Another egg today!

I also ordered the wire mesh for the run today.

Monday, 15 June 2009 - 2nd Week of Freedom

The weather forecast today was for rain but I'm sure I'd heard a mention on the radio today that it may pass London ....... WRONG!

When I was on the train coming home from work the sky was getting darker and darker. By the time I got to my station, Silver Street, it was bucketing down.

The old A406 dips down under the railway bridge and there has always been a flooding problem, though in recent years I think the most would be about a foot of water making drivers slow down.

Today however, the water was almost up to the pavement and the police had blocked both sides of the bridge because a paramedic car was stuck in the water. The fire service had to be called to get the driver out.

I got soaked to the skin on my walk home through the monsoon - the only part of me that was dry was the top of my head. I got in and changed clothes then, using binoculars from the kitchen window, looked to see where the chickens were. They were huddled under the house :-(

I had to go out into it again as the rain had started to form a huge puddle that was creeping towards the back door and the cupboard I use for the chicken stuff. So it was on with the hooded jacket and out with the broom to sweep it away.

Once the torrential rain had eased off and it was just back to drizzle I went to check on the girls. The rain had got into the house through the gap in the nest box flap. I changed the straw and fixed a large piece of polythene from the roof of the house and over the nest box.

The dirt floor under the house had obviously got wet and I covered it with straw so it would soak up the wet. I gave them some more food and as it had also stopped thundering they then ventured out from under the house.

It was an early night for them tonight and needless to say, I wouldn't be doing any wood painting.



Needless to say I won't be painting wood tonight.

Sunday, 14 June 2009 - 2nd Week of Freedom

My brother, Steve, came to get Ellis and advised me on setting up the run but didn't offer any actual help so once they'd gone I got my work bench down from the loft (tricky on your own but I managed it) and set up the angle cutting thingy.

Before I started cutting wood I decided to re-check my measurements just one more time!

Robert's dad, Robin, was coming over for dinner today and he'd offered to help. I'd just cut the first couple of lengths when he arrived and we then spent the next few hours sawing, gluing and stapling wood.

The end result is I now have 6 frames which just need a couple of coats of wood preservative which I'll do tomorrow while the girls are having a run around the garden.

Saturday, 13 June 2009 - 7th Day of Freedom

Today I got up at 6am, fed and watered the girls and then went back to bed for a couple of hours. BLISS.

When I got up it was Hen House Cleaning time. I stripped the beds (removed the straw), washed the floor and walls, cleaned the toilet (scrubbed the perches and poop catching tray) and sprayed with disinfectant. Luckily it was warm and sunny so the wooden parts dried in the sun. Not sure how this will work if it's tipping down.


I'll be making a start on building the run this weekend. Ellis is coming to stay today so when I went to pick her up I used the opportunity to "borrow" some things from my brother - staple and nail guns, wood glue, wire cutters and a nifty little contraption for cutting wood at angles.

But by the time we got back from food shopping it was too late to start today, so we just sat in the garden and let the hens out again. The Ex Battery Hens Forum I've joined say that you waste a huge amount of time watching hens and I completely agree.


Ginger has found something interesting in the Violas


Lucy pushing through the long grass


Ginger inspecting the poop picking - a necessary job otherwise they'd be ankle deep in poop in no time at all.

Friday, 12 June 2009 - 6th Day of Freedom

Today was the first this week without the forecast of rain so for the very first time in my life, I did a load of washing and hung it out to dry BEFORE I WENT TO WORK!!!!!

BC (Before Chickens) I would get up at about 7am, shower, get ready for work and dash out the door and had no time for anything else. Mind you, I do miss the extra hour's sleep.

Today, when I got home from work, the girls had their first "free range" in the garden.


Poppy was having a snooze, unaware that the chickens were pretending to peck at the grass whilst all the time were getting closer, and closer


I think Poppy may be a little deaf as I called her to warn her of impending hens but she wouldn't wake until I prodded her and then she saw what was coming her way ......

I was a little worried that as she was startled there may be an "incident" but all was well as Poppy just backed off

Thursday, 11 June 2009 - 5th Day of Freedom

One of the girls produced her FIRST EGG today.


My mum came home from shopping and went out to see the girls and did a little poop picking and found it all alone in the nest box. Well Done Hen - whoever you are!

Wednesday, 10 June 2009 - 4th Day of Freedom

Same routine as yesterday, except that today I walked to Edmonton Green Station (the one before I would usually use) and I returned there later. This now means that I am walking in excess of 10,000 steps so I don't feel so bad about not using my Wii.

Last night the RMT started a 48 hour strike on the London Undergound. This has no effect on my travel to work as I walk once I get to Liverpool Street Station. Which is just as well as there were horrendous queues for buses. I wonder how many people queued for a bus only to discover that the actual distance to a station where they would ususally get the tube to (say Bank, Monument, Mansion House etc.) was walkable in about 10-15 minutes!

There was also more traffic and people cycling to work. Wonderful, yet more cyclists to dodge running red lights and going the wrong way up a one way street then!

The chickens are fine. We've been getting them out for a cuddle in the evenings in the hopes of getting them used to us and to being handled. Hopefully this means that when I do let them out of the run to free-range in the garden it won't be difficult to get them back in.

Tuesday, 9 June 2009 - 3rd Day of Freedom

I got up at 6am. This was so surprisingly easy I just hope it lasts. I fed, watered and de-pooped the girls, had a shower, got dressed, put the "face" on and was ready to leave for work at 7.30am.

Getting up at this unearthly hour means that, even if I could eat it, having breakfast before I leave would mean that I would be ravenous once I got into work. So I will have to buy a croissant on the way in. It's a theory that I really quite like.

I'd left the hens with loads of layers mash so they should be ok for food. The water is another thing as they had been walking through the bowl and dirtying the water with mud and poop . Yesterday and Sunday I'd been frequently changing their water, so today I put the cover on the top - I just hope they can figure out that they have to put their heads into the holes to get some.

I cleaned out the house and run when I got home from work and took this picture of Dorothy and Lucy in the hen house/nest box.

Although they are going into the nest box, they don't seem to realise that it is really for laying eggs in and they all seem too huddle in there at night to sleep.

Until they get used to their newly found freedom, and the space that goes with it, I suppose they are still doing what they have spent their whole lives doing - squashing together.

A hen in a battery cage has less space than a sheet of A4 paper, cannot turn round or flap her wings, is generally de-beaked to stop her injuring the other hens in the cage with her, never sees the eggs she lays and often has most of her feathers pulled out by the other hens and even herself.

http://localanimalwelfare.co.uk/eggs.htm

Monday, 8 June 2009 - 2nd Day of Freedom

Had today off work and got up at 6.30am. By the time I'd finished sorting out the girls it was 7.15am. When I go to work tomorrow I will begin a new life of getting up at 6am.

This will be a challenge as I think my natural body clock wants to wake me at 9.30-10am ish but it has to be done - what a dedicated hen keeper I am!

It's not much of a challenge at the moment though as it's summer (not that you'd know that from the current weather) but how I will do it in the middle of winter I really don't know.

Back to the chickens:

They came out of the house (without my help today) but I'm not sure they are eating enough. Ginger went straight into the food and won't let the other 2 get a look in. I'm now putting 3 bowls in the run in the hopes that Dorothy and Lucy will get some, but Ginger kicks it all over the ground so I guess they will be able to peck at it there too.

I spent the morning figuring out how much wood I will need to build the run to attach to the hen house. Not being very good at maths this took some time, but eventually I worked out how many lengths of wood I will need - using 2.4m lengths I made it 18. However, until I actually start constructing it I won't know if it is enough.

I went to Wickes and bought the wood and hinges. I also got a couple of hasp and staple type locks for the hen house so I can use padlocks. Then, unless it has a set of skeleton keys, there will be no way a fox could get into the hens.


Ralph, very bravely approached the hens today:

This is about as close as he will get at the moment.

Sunday, 7 June 2009 - Their first day of freedom

I set my alarm for 6am and got up to find rain of biblical proportions. My first early morning of henkeeping and I got soaked.

I filled their food bowl with mash and water bowl (to which I added apple cidar vinegar and a garlic clove - hens apparently love this) and took them to the run and put them under the ramp and opened the door from the house.

I took off the bag covering the door window and peeped inside to find them awake and looking at me. With a "go on girls, go get some food" I shut the door and legged it back inside with a wet bum and legs.

I made a cup of tea and stood watching from the kitchen waiting for them to come out. I will have to stop doing the tea as I also went through half a packet of biscuits and will undo all my Nintendo Wii efforts.

One hen briefly came out, but turned around and went back in.

I went back outside and moved their food bowl, which by now was damp with rain, into the house. When I looked in a little later they were pecking away and had beaks covered with mash. To stop fights I put another bowl in and left them to it.

A little while ago the sun came out and I tried again to get them to go into the run so that I could clean the poop tray. But to no avail - they just didn't want to go outside .

I took matters into my own hands when I spotted an egg over the back which had been trodden on and one of the hens was starting to eat it. So I opened the nest box lid, picked one up and popped her into the run - only to have her immediately dash up the ramp and back into the house - that was a fun game.

Eventually I got all 3 hens in the run and shut the door to the house. Cleaned out the tray and replaced the perches as they seemed to be gripping onto the ramp yesterday so hopefully will be able to roost today.

I've now got 2 hens in the house and Ginger is in the run (with her back to me as she obviously has her escape plan unrolled and is busy plotting).

To anyone who doesn't know, my Mum moved in next door a few years ago (which is very handy!). My niece, Ellis, came to stay with her today as tomorrow is an Inset Day at her school.

She has now decided on a name for her hen (the one I've been calling ElliesHen) and she will now be called Dorothy.

It's such a shame that the weather this weekend has been so awful - it's made the earth and grass under the house so damp that the hens are getting their feet caked in mud as well as poop and they can poop for England!

Saturday, 6 June 2009 - A New Home

We got home - having had a bit of clucking in the car - and unloaded the girls.
This was my first chance to properly look at them - I got 3 little beauties. When you see the horrific condition some Ex Batts are in these were fantastic. Only a couple of bald patches and not at all scrawny.


One is called Lucy (my Mum named her). My niece will be naming one tomorrow but for now I'll call her ElliesHen.

Ever since I saw Toy Story and the scene with Buzz wearing a hat and having tea with the headless dolls, I've wanted to name a pet Mrs Nesbitt and this was my intention with my hen.

However, when she got in the run she stood looking all round the edge of the door and I'm sure, as soon as my back was turned, got a pencil and paper from under a wing and started plotting her escape. She is therefore now named Ginger after the hen in Chicken Run. She doesn't yet have a little knitted hat, but give it time!


My Mum and I got the garden chairs and cups of tea and settled down for a spot of "Time Wasting Watching Hens" which, according to the Ex Battery Hens Forum, is a well known condition and occurs frequently.


They pecked about in the grass and dirt under the house and Lucy was eating beakfulls of earth then she settled down in the dirt and started dust bathing.


They explored their new home, pecking here and there and had a few beakfulls of mash, but I didn't see them drink.

All was going well, Lucy had a beak covered with mud, ElliesHen pecked it off for her, Ginger was measuring the door and making notes. Then Ginger started eating some grass and a long piece got stuck in here beak. ElliesHen tried to pull it out and all hell broke loose. Squawking and flapping then jumping and pecking - Ginger is a Bully!

She then turned her attention on Lucy who ended up cowering in the corner. Ginger then went back to bullying ElliesHen and Lucy made a dash up the ramp and hid in the house.

I left them to it while I had dinner then resumed my Hen Watching. Ginger had found her way in the house and was picking on Lucy in there.

They've all been in the house, out of the house and finally Ginger settled down in the doorway with Lucy trapped behind and ElliesHen was busy tucking into the food under the ramp in safety.


My cats, Poppy and Ralph, seem scared (well Ralph is terrified) but Poppy bravely settled down on the grass to watch and did eventually get a bit closer - which started quite a bit of clucking. Ralph meanwhile won't come out of the house!

By now it was getting time for them to be tucked up in bed. I had to push Ginger off her doorstep perch and back into the house so I could pick up ElliesHen and gently put her in. I shut the door, cleared the run of food, water and poop.

There was a bit of arguing and flapping going on in the house and I covered the door window with a black bin bag to blackout the house which hopefully would make them settle down and sleep.

I just hope I don't find a massacre in the morning.

I went out later (about 11.30pm) and all was quiet on the Chicken Front so I guess they had settled down.

Then it was off to bed as I was going to have to get up early to get them out of bed.

Saturday, 6 June 2009 - The Collection

Hen Day!!!!!

My collecting time was 1pm and my mum and I set off for Hatfield at midday.

Unfortunately when we got there we found out there had been a delay and the hens wouldn't be arriving until 3pm at the earliest. The hens were coming from a farm in Leicestershire and it obviously took longer than expected.

We decided to do some shopping so drove back to Potters Bar, where the only supermarket location I know is, unfortunately, Tesco. (I have not willingly shopped in Tesco after the way they treated Hugh Fernley Whittingstall over the Tesco AGM incident)

We had a coffee, did some shopping and sat in the car reading the paper until 3pm. I called Deborah (the Hen Rehomers UK coordinator) and she said they were on their way and should be there at about 3.30ish.

We drove back to her stables and found the field/carpark full of people all waiting to collect their hens.

The van with hens arrived at about 3.45 and they were all unloaded from crates and let out into the (empty) stables. We then had to take our baskets or boxes and the helpers put our hens in.

Then it was just a case of getting them into the car (thick plastic sheet on the back seat with 3 hens in 2 cat baskets and my Mum keeping them company).

We set off to their new home.

Sunday, 24 May 2009

Here is my Hen House all ready and waiting for the hens. The ramp will be lowered - I left it tied up incase I decided to re-position the house.

Saturday, 23 May 2009

My plan is to put the hen house in front of the shed during the summer and early autumn. But I need to move the old chimney pots and pile of bricks first.

I also want to surround it with paving slabs to stop foxes digging under the wire so went to B&Q today and bought 8 paving slabs.

My hen house also has a serious design flaw. The floor of the nest box is in two parts which can easily be pushed up from underneath. This would mean that a fox could get into it so I took the nest box to my brother (he has a shed(!) load of tools) and he cut a piece of plywood and screwed it onto the outside - so no more danger.

Brought my niece Ellis back with me and set her and my Mum to work giving the hen house another coat of wood paint.
While they were painting I made a start on moving all the bricks and old chimney pots.

Most of the bricks have been stacked against the shed for 4 or 5 years and there were hundreds of spiders (some quite large) lurking in the cracks, but with the help of a stiff brush and a thick pair of gardening gloves I managed to move the bricks and even gave the shed a coat of white paint.

Tomorrow's job is to level the earth and put the paving slabs down leaving grass and earth inside the run so the chickens have some dirt to dustbath and grass to scratch in.

Monday, 18 May 2009

Ever since I saw the Chicken Out tv programmes I've wanted to do more than just buy organic free range eggs and for the last few months have been looking into actually keeping chickens myself.

But not any old chickens. I want to rescue ex-battery chickens. Blame it on Hugh and Jamie!

Now, it looks like it will really happen.

I applied to a chicken rescue organisation - www.henrehomers.net - and they've approved me and have also told me that I can have my 3 chickens at their next rescue day - Saturday, 6 June!

So I bought a self-assembly hen house from eBay last Thursday and it arrived today.

This is it ....


This isn't its permanent location - I will be clearing rubble and some chimney pots in my garden this weekend and it will be moved onto the grass and into the sun. The first sun and grass these little birds will have ever seen.