Chickens

The Chicken coop Update

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 14:30:04 +0200

unfortunately the cock Barney had to go to a new home on an allotment. so his life was saved and he should have a nice life now!

also, only one of my hens Selma has started laying! she has been laying one egg aday for the past 2 weeks, and today I noticed her sat on an egg in the coop, so I guess this means she is broody! I left the egg there for her to sit on for a while, if that's keeping her happy! but I don't know if she may stop laying now :S. will have to ask some one that knows!

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chickens makeing to much noise

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 16:50:40 +0200

My mum was woke up at 4:45 this morning with the Cock Cock-a-doodle-doing. and emailed me today at work telling me I have to get rid of the cock before she gets home from work and if I don't she is going to get some one else to do it!

So instead iv put a lower roof in the coop where the chickens sleep, apparently if the cock cant stretch its neck out he wont be able to cockerel while in the nest, so hopefully he wont cockerel until I let him out the nest in the morning!

Lets hope my mum is ok with this and lets hope the cockerel doesn't wake any one up again or Barney is going to be Sunday dinner! :S

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Silkie Chickens

Sat, 06 Aug 2005 21:00:12 +0200

Unless anything interesting happens I don't think ill be writing every day about my Silkie Chickens.

Earlier this afternoon Barney was cock-a-doodle-doing and the neighbours where copying him, which was amusing. I hope he's not to loud.

An hear's a nice pic of Patty

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Day 3 in the Big Chicken Coop House

Fri, 05 Aug 2005 14:57:34 +0200

Day 3 in the Big Chicken Coop House

BIG CHICKEN COOP

Barney the cock was the first to emerge from the chicken coop and out in to the run, While Patty and Selma where lagging around in the warmth of the hut.

Nether Patty or Selma had left Big Chicken a present this morning but I did find a nest like shape dug out in the saw dust in one corner of the coop, even after breakfast Patty was still hanging around the hut, Could Patty be getting broody?

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Picking my Japanese Blue Silkies

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 23:28:49 +0200

So, I have my chicken coop, its time to buy some Chickens.
I rang a local breeder (Barry Grey, a very friendly and helpful guy) who nearly tempted me with some lovely White Plymouth Rock Bantams, I also saw a picture of two white Sultans on the front cover of a Poultry magazine, I was defiantly interested in something along these lines. And then noticed some Japanese White Silkies some where on the net and luckily found a breeder in Newark, just a 30 min drive from me. The woman that answered the phone said she didnt have any white silkies but had some blue Silkies. I wasn’t to shore so I had a think about it while on my way to the pet store for some saw dust, food, grit and some feeders.

After I got back in my car with all the stuff I gave the woman a ring back and asked to go view them, about an hour later I'm driving home with a boot full of chicken feed and three 6 month old Japanese blue silkie.

For the first 5/6 hours the chickens barely moved, it wasn’t really until it was just getting dark they all came out and had a peck at the food. As soon as it was dark they all went inside and I shut them up for the night, and was looking forward to letting them out the next morning.

It took them a while to come out again that day which is today, but I was over the moon to here the cock Barney start crowing in his coop, I couldn't believe it was him to start with, half way through the day they were up and about and they even left me a little present’s I was over the moon they gave me my first egg.

I wonder how many of them they will give me a week.

I found myself sat in the garden watching them for ages today. I wonder how long this will last for.

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Chicken coops and chicken plans

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 22:32:42 +0200

This all started a couple of days ago after going around my uncles to gain some experience with bee keeping as I have a bee hive but not any bees or experience yet. But that’s another story, while I was there I took interest in his chickens, I've thought about maybe one day keeping chickens but never seriously looked in to it. I also loved one of my uncle’s new chicken coops and was shocked when he told me the price. The next day at home I decided to brows the net especially ebay and check out the prices of chicken coops. The conclusion was they were very expensive. so I went for a walk to the top of the garden behind the shed and eyed up all the old bits of wood including some old shelf’s, to half rotten fence panels a old sheet of plywood and a crate and decided I could probably build one for the price of chicken wire.

I looked around earlier for some chicken coop / ark plans but had no luck, the only choice will be to try and remember what they looked like and how big they were. So I started digging out all the bits of wood and before sunset I had built a basic 5ft x 3ft frame of my chicken coop with nothing but a jigsaw drill and some screws.

The next day at about 1PM I got started yet again on the chicken coop, I used the fence panel lat’s cutting of the rotten wood for the hut part of the coop also creating a removable door, the ply wood for the hut floor and a removable door to the run and bought a role of chicken wire for £8.99 for the front and sides of the run, and before I knew it I had a chicken run actually looking better than I expected, especially that this was the first time Iv tried my hand at wood work since school.

OK, 2 days ago I went to look at some chickens! Now I have a chicken coop. I guess that’s made the decision for me that I'm going to have some chickens of my own.

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