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.

Mistaken identity Rhode Island Red

Treacle and chick

I am stepping back in time a little with this post.  I hope your enjoy! 

In April 2012 my speckledy hen, Treacle, decided it was her time to raise a family and sat determined in her nest box for a couple of weeks pecking me if I dared put a hand anywhere near her.  Quite frustrating when your family has become reliant on a constant supply of fresh home reared eggs.  With 3 young boys the Saturday routine of 2 boiled runny eggs and toast each was under threat! 

On the 5^th May I decided it would be a good idea to increase the flock. 

I bought 3 fertile Rhode Island Reds eggs locally.  Slipped them under Treacle and left well alone.

On the 25th May a little soggy yellow chick hatched.  The other 2 eggs did not hatch, but I did not mind, I had a chick and I was sure it would be a hen!
 

At 15 weeks the “hen” started looking quite a specimen.  Actually Spiderman, as my boys had nicknamed it, was looking enormous!  Then one Saturday morning……….. “Cock-a-doodle-do”!  It was not a strong powerful voice but one that sounded like a teenage boy with a voice that was just starting to break!

I laughed and laughed.  Until the next morning (Sunday) when “he” tested his vocal chords again, this time pre 5am.

It woke my boys, so that was that.  I was fortunate that the farm I bought the eggs from agreed to have any cockerels.  He is now in a field full of ladies to look after.

My wife could not stop laughing for days afterwards, I was so determined it was a hen I ignored all the signs.  I will certainly reserve judgement in future.




Here he is, Rodney the rooster about 2 weeks before he decided to stretch his vocal chords!

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Wyandotte chicks get more space

I have been quiet for too long so here is a new entry! ;-)



Picture from Wikipedia

I have been trying to make Mother hen, Treacle and her chicks Pinky and Perky comfortable.

We had another huge amount of rain recently.  My back garden looks a little like a rugby pitch.  Hens feet and like mini potato mashers on boggy ground and you end up with mashed grass very quickly.

With Pinky still thinking that Treacle is a donkey on the beach, she is looking muddier than a very happy Tamworth pig!

So I have spent the last couple of days devising a way of giving them access to my main run.  Blocking off the far end and creating a safe tunnel for them to walk from the broody coop to the run.

Well, proud as punch, I have managed it, here are the photo's.

The chicks are doing well, and seem to enjoy jumping on and off the ramp in and out of the main run.  Treacle is happy scratching around in the sand and wood chip.  So all in all, a success.  Now that does not happen often.

I used the wire shelving from a mini greenhouse that I had stored in the garage.  No damage done to the shelving, managed to squeeze it in the run opening and then taped together with some duck tape.  The tape is really strong and clear, useful for all sorts of thinks like repairing rips in polysheet covering for pollytunnels, or saving a broken pane of glass in a window or greenhouse!  I bought it from B&Q.  Best thing I ever bought like that.

 

I have been trying to find some breeders of Gold lace Bantam Wyandotte's without much success recently.  A few I have spoken to seem to suggest they are popular but take a long time to mature.  I'm not sure why, I will have to research.

Thanks for reading

Me with my old timer Custard - 4 years old

Thinking ahead

I am trying to think ahead at the moment.  It's tricky, a little bit like multi tasking.  :-( 

Whilst Pinky and Perky are only small now, they are going to grow fast, all be it only to bantam size.  The broody coop is fine, but I am concerned that they will run out of space quickly.
So probably to Rachel's horror I am looking at some cheep,................sorry, that should be cheap, coops to house them in.



Maran Hen - Photo from Omlet.co.uk





Rhode Island Red young Cockerel

I had full intentions of integrating the bantams with my other hens, Custard a hybrid Sussex and Pudding a Bluebelle which is a cross between a maran and rhode island red.

I still may do that, but my ultimate aim would be to breed Wyandottes.  Problem is, a cockerel in a 1970's housing estate!



My allotment

 So I'm back to considering my allotment, approximately 3 miles away, as an alternative.

There is already heras fencing left there from the previous occupier who kept chickens.  So that saves some money and can make a good size enclosure secure as it can be from foxes.  

The Allotment association's reaction to chickens on the allotment was "luke warm" but it was not a flat No. They had issues previously with chickens escaping and the chairman being called on a Sunday afternoon to sort it out.  I'm confident this will not be an issue.
If you have had your allotment association refuse or accept chickens, can you drop me a note.  I would love to hear what issues you faced and if you were successful winning them over.

Mine has quoted the following issues.

1.  Escaping chickens eating other tenants produce.

2.  Smell

3.  Animal welfare issues with previous keepers

4. Materials being left on site when tenants leave such as heras fencing.

I will have to wait and see.  With only 2 Wyandotte chickens I will need more, a ratio of 3 or 4 hens to a cockerel is good.  Sourcing the Gold lace Wyandottes Bantams is proving difficult.  So I may need to hatch my own eggs purchased from another source!

Thanks for reading and more ramblings soon!

Red Mite

I have suffered a great deal with this horrible little critter!  Although technically its the chickens that suffer but you know what I mean.

I have used loads of products.  I would suggest you need a variety of products and cleaning methods to keep it under control.

First of all if you are not sure what it is, here is a picture.  Skin crawling time!

Red Mite

They are tiny little things, really difficult to see. They're white until they suck blood at which point they turn red.
Yes, that is right they suck the blood of the chickens.
They live in the cracks can crevices of the hen house walls, roof, perches and nest boxes and venture out at night, feed on the hens and then return to their hiding place to lay more eggs.

Red mite has a 7 day breeding cycle so you need to treat the house at least every 6 days if you have a really bad infestation to try and beat it.

Signs to look out for:

• Grey to red coloured mites up to 0.7mm in size – looking almost like dust
• Reduced egg production
• The comb looking less red
• Spots of blood on eggs
• Your hen's not wanting to go in the coop at night

There are masses of forums you can visit and web sites you can get advice from but this is how I controlled it.

Jet washer

I have a pressure washer.  If you can take your house apart, do this and jet wash everything for a good 10 mins.  Leave for 15 mins and then return to the house - you thought you had blasted all the little critters away?  Nope, there will be loads more now "crawling out of the woodwork".  Best you jet wash everything again.
I did this in May/June time in 2012 but you may find if you have a bad infestation you have to do it twice.

Poultry Shield

This is a cleaner but it also dissolves the waxy coating on the outside of the mites causing them to dehydrate and die.
After jet washing first time I spray this in all the joints and cracks.  I then re apply during the week if I feel necessary and use it you clean the perches and droppings board/floor of the hen house.

Diatomaceous Earth

This is a great produce.  It is the fossilized remains of deceased diatoms, a type of ancient algae. It is effective at killing red mite, because it absorbs lipids from their waxy outer layer causing them to dehydrate and die. You can also add it to the feed as a wormer.
Best to note, it is no good when wet.  The coop must be dry otherwise it is not effective.
I dust this in the house.  On the perches, ends of perches, nest box, floor of the house, cracks............absolutely everywhere!  Its not instant but you will find over a day or two there are dead mites.  I would recommend you keep using this all throughout the year as a preventative.

Between April and September I have been dusting the hen box daily with Diatomaceous Earth (after cleaning it out) and weekly cleaning all bedding out and using minimal wood shavings and absolutely no hay or straw as the mites love it!!  It has worked to keep numbers down and now in October I have no active red mites, although you would not expect them to hang around this time of year.

I hope this helps.  Send me a mail if you want to discuss anything, always happy to help.

Andrew :o)