Chickens on the allotment - Work begins!

My plot - the good half approx 2 summers ago

Where are all the chickens going when they have hatched and grown?
I don't have a back garden big enough to house all 12 chickens once grown (assuming all of them hatch), but I do have my allotment and I have spent an hour or so the last two days, clearing the over grown land and starting to build an enclosure.

One sheet of glass

It was hard work, with brambles at least 7 foot high, and enough rotten wood to fuel two large bonfires.  I have emerged relatively unscathed which is quite impressive as I was also moving two sheets of glass (6x6 foot) that the previous tenant decided to use as shelter for his chickens on top of his run.

What I had to work with!

The good thing is that I have a plan and the area is clear, but it will take some managing through the year.  I have Japanese knotweed in this corner of the plot.  A very difficult plant to kill.
I have encountered it several times, most of the time as a surveyor managing commercial property.

Japanese Knotweed - from Wiki

One thing is clear, it is very costly to remove, and from a development site point of view quite often the only sure way of removing it from site is to dig it out dispose of all soil and refill.  Very expensive but a lot quicker than injecting it for 3-5 years to kill it off.

Now I am not in the position on my plot to dig out or inject the plant.  But I have discovered a week killer by roundup, called tree stump killer.  It does in fact work on Japanese knotweed and brambles.  I will need to be very careful spraying close to the chickens.

My chicken enclosure - wont win any style awards

I have taken some photos of the enclosure to date.  There is a long way to go and plenty of fox proofing to be done, but I'm hoping to have it finished by end of March latest.

The pen is currently 12 x 12 foot.  I will be covering the top with a heavy duty plastic mesh.  It has big holes and again was left behind by the former tenant of the plot.
I have a hen house and run (cheap version) in my garage at he moment, so will be moving his down to the plot, but will also be splitting the area in to two breeding pens eventually.

Having such a variety in the incubator at the moment means the chickens may have to live together for a while until I establish if they are good enough breeding stock and find cockerels or hens to go with what I have hatched.  I'm starting to think it would have been easier to have bought 2 trios, but hey, where is the fun in that! :-)

To protect against Mr Fox around the perimeter I am digging the fencing into the ground by about 6 inches and then using chicken wire to create a further barrier underground. On top of the chicken wire will go the soil and then some slabs I have that will hopefully prevent any digging.

You can just see the wood in the right of the photo!

I mentioned earlier the top of the enclosure will be covered with some heavy duty plastic mesh, secured with heavy duty cable ties.  You can see it in the photo on the left.  It had to be cut out of the brambles.


I am still working on the door into the pen.  I'm considering using some old pallets I have on the site or an old wooden front door that, yes you guessed it, the previous tenant was trying to use as a door to his shed. (the shed did not have a roof, but he had a lovely solid house door for it!)

In fact that is a very good point, I do need a dry secure place for the feed and bedding.  As the roof on my shed has blown off twice in the last month, I can not rely on it, so will need a solution, perhaps a plastic container in the pen!

It's difficult  planning these things, hard work implementing them, but ultimately the end product, being able to keep pure breed rare poultry will make it worth while!

Thanks for reading.

Hatching Wyandotte's Again :-)

Photo from Backyardchickens.com

So I have the bug!  Not the norovirus thing or the flu, or worse still man flu, I have the the Egg Hatching Bug.

I had considered purchasing an incubator middle of 2012, but had not really given enough thought as to what to do with all the lovely chicks that would then become hens or cockerels.

The good news down at the allotments is that they are allowing me to keep chickens on my plot.  This has resulted in me revisiting the idea late 2012.  I have decided to breed Wyandottes to start with!

 Well a few days into 2013 and I have, sat in front of me on my desk while I type, 6 hopefully fertile Silver Laced Wyandotte Bantam eggs.

On the 8th January I also took delivery of my new incubator pack, which included a brooder, water and drink feeders and cleaner for the incubator.  Everything you need really to get started.

So with the incubator set up and running for the last 17 hours, in 7 hours time I will be setting the eggs in the incubator and starting the 21 day countdown.
Who knows if the eggs will hatch at this time of year, the cockerels may have been "active" so to speak in the mild spell of weather, but if too cold, they are likely to be on strike!

I have been conscious this time around about turning my eggs whilst waiting a day or so after royal mail has played volley ball with them through the post.  This is of course another factor that could effect fertility, but supplies of Wyandottes are practically non-existent around by me and the thought of driving a 300 mile round trip to get some is not very appealing.

I have had some very useful advice over twitter from Norfolk Bantams (Twitter @norfolkbantams) recently.  I have been searching for gold lace wyandotte bantam cockerel but with out much luck.  Now apparently (you can tell science was not my strong point) if you breed a silver lace with a gold lace and then breed the siblings, you would end up with 25% of the chicks hatching as gold laced and the rest as silver laced.  Its obviously an approximate figure, but very interesting. :-)
To help me along my way I have just purchased some breeding books from Grant Bereton (twitter: @gbpoultry) Happy days!!

The eggs I have purchased are from show stock, the male won a first place at the Malvern show and one female won second.  I have lots of fingers crossed with this batch!

Updates to come again soon on the silver lace hatching and the gold lace chicks now 12 weeks old.

Thanks for reading.

Wind, Rain and Frizzle Chickens!



Pekin Frizzle Chicken
Photo from wikipedia

 Well that was a bit of a gale last night in South Wales.  Weathermen are reporting gales up to 76mph!  I'm sure other areas have had it worse, but it woke me up, and I don't wake unless there is a major emergency next door and the fire crews and police are on site with blues and two's screaming.

I was glad to see that the roof on my chicken run was still in one piece, actually I was grateful to see that I had a house left at all.  I was half expecting to see the hens looking like frizzles this morning!  Cute look, but not what a light Sussex should look like!

We have passed the shortest day of the year already, so my mind has turned to spring preparation already.  Back in October I planned my vegetables for the allotment, but having given it some further thought, I will be re-designing and trying to concentrate on some key vegetables.  I may even try celeriac.

At the same time, I'm thinking about chickens.  Now there is a surprise!

I have been thinking about keeping some quail for a while now, the new year may result in the purchase of a rabbit hutch to move this on a little.  Then of course there are the chickens.  

My Wyandotte chicks are likely to be laying in March/April time.  Great news, as the shortage of eggs at the moment is very frustrating. However they could be running with a cockerel and producing fertile eggs for hatching as well.  :-)

My Wyandotte chicks at 8 weeks

There are a few things I need to put in place before I even contemplate purchasing a cockerel.  The main issue being where to keep them.  My neighbours will not be overly happy at a cockerel in the middle of a 1970's housing estate.  So I either need land, not going to happen anytime in the near future if at all so the next option in the allotment.




It needs a lot of clearing before I go down that route, and I also have to consider the impact of the cockerel on any houses in the area.

We will have to see how the next few months go, worst case I guess I could be buying fertile eggs and hatching them again!  Maybe Frizzle's.

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!

Moulting Hen!

Well, I said I thought Custard was moulting!!
WOW!
The run and the hen house currently look like Custard and Pudding have been having a massive feather pillow fight during the night!!!
I actually think I will have a bald hen shortly.  Anyone know where I can get hen accessories, like a nice woolly chicken coat?

She is looking very rough around the edges.  A little bit like she has been out on the town.  Actually, that's probably not fair as some of the states you see in town after midnight are far worse.  But you probably get the idea.

You can see the run is covered as well.  So I will keep on giving them the tonic I bought to help her get over it as soon as possible.

There was nice surprise this morning, it looks as though Pudding (the Bluebell) may have started laying again.  I'm not sure 1 egg will get us through the week.  So I have bought some local reared eggs from the Cesars Arms Farm Shop in Creigiau.  Its about 2 miles from me and they have a lovely selection of fruit, vegetables, meats and eggs.

I'm a sucker for different colour eggs, so these do the trick!! :-)

Thanks for reading!

Bit of a scare this morning!!

Custard proves the fact that here breed are
great for meat as well as eggs!  She is a monster!

I walked out this morning to a sight that worried me.  Probably what all poultry keepers dread.  No chickens in the run and feathers all over the bottom of the main run.  The feathers were white. 
Putting 2 and 2 together I jumped to the conclusion that Custard must have been attacked or taken by something.  A fox maybe?
My panic did not last long fortunately, as within 3 foot of the house and run, out popped 2 happy hens from their coop, Custard and Pudding!!!
I have no idea why Custard has decided to loose so many feathers, she does have a tendency to pull out her feathers on her underside.  She has never gone broody.  Perhaps her size means she overheats?

After that little episode I want to avoid as much excitement as possible today!

I have been asked recently how the chicks are doing.  Well, here are the latest photos.  They appear to be growing well, but I don't really have anything to compare them to as I have never raised Bantams before.

Wyandotte chicks, Pinky and Perky at 3 weeks and 4 days.

They have feathered quickly, and seem to be enjoying some freedom, running around and away from Treacle every now and then.

I bought dried meal worms the other day.  The hens go mad for them and seem to sit bolt up right like a little like a dog waiting for a treat.  I dropped a few in for the chicks and Treacle was keen to show them how to eat them.  So keen she did not eat any for herself!  The following day in the afternoon I gave them a little more, this time Treacle got stuck in but still ensured the chicks had enough.  What a mummy!

I am struggling a little at the moment with lack of eggs.  Treacle for obvious reasons is not laying, Custard my 4 year old sussex, is to be fair knocking on a little for a hen, and whilst in previous winters she has laid quite well, it appears this autumn and winter is going to be a lean one for her.  Pudding, the bluebell, appears to be in moult or just coming out of a moult.  She is looking a little "rough around the edges" and has lost some feathers around her neck.  I have been checking for mites but can not see any so I am fairly sure it is a moult.  She does lay the odd egg, but it is probably only one every 4-5 days if I'm lucky.

picture from life-guard.co.uk

To help them through the cold and darker months I have purchased Life-Guard, a poultry tonic.  I know there are others available and cheaper but I have used this before and it does seem to be helping Custard and Pudding.  I will not be giving it to Treacle and the chicks, they will have to make do with mealworms and chick crumbs.  I'm sure they will not grumble about that.

Thanks for reading!