Hi, these are pictures of my hens and their home.
This is Eddie (short for Edna) my chief chicken, a brown Ranger
This is Betty (Betty Boo) my light Sussex, a proper chatter box.
This is little Flora, our baby, she loves to come for a cuddle.
Here is Eddie as a 16 week POL pullet, with her friend Molly. We lost Molly last year to a mystery illness.
Molly and Eddie with Doris, one of our rescued hens, also saddly gone
On no!
We've lost Betty and Flora in quick succession. Betty at August bank holiday and Flora just a couple of weeks ago. Think it was their heart or liver in both cases. One day fine, the next sporting that 'sick chicken' look, all puffed up and tail down. I can't think it is anything in the way we keep them, they are well looked after, clean and well-fed. We free range, so don't know if they are getting at anything they shouldn't, but Eddie is still going strong, so doesn't seem likely.
We have 3 new girls now to keep Eddie company. I'll post pics of them when I have some good shots.
This was my first egg!
This is the girls surveying their hendom.
Some more eggs, all sizes!
My coop, which keeps expanding! First we had a chicken chalet, kit coop, much too small for 4 hens (no matter what the seller said). We built a 'mirror image' and joined them together, but still not big enough for comfort. So we added a 6' x 6' shed which we 'docked' on and soon we will build a secure enclosure round it all. It is on a solid concrete base, nothing is getting in there. At the moment we let them free-range all day though and sometimes this worries me when I am out at work all day.
Inside, the 2 doors where they dock on to the shed, can be used as nesting boxes, or broody coop, or allows us to shut off the main shed.
Two more nesting boxes, multi-storey! One is an old cupboard, it is the girls favourite. Two roosts, but they always use the top one. They like to snuggle in the corner, so old newspaper makes it easier to de-poop.
We painted it white gloss to make it easy to clean and there is vinyl flooring so it washes down easy. We use shavings on the floor and straw in the main nest box. I swear by DE, which is everywhere. They have food and water in the shed, and in the run too. They have other waterers round the garden, but like to find a dirty puddle and drink from that.
They have their own little windows, with white lace curtains for privacy and a mesh screen for safety. They have their own little pop hole, with triple doors, and double people door for access to clean etc. We tried solar lighting for inside, but it doesn't seem to work very well. Back here they dust bathe and scratch around. I think they are happy, we get 2 or 3 eggs most days.
This is Eddie (short for Edna) my chief chicken, a brown Ranger
This is Betty (Betty Boo) my light Sussex, a proper chatter box.
This is little Flora, our baby, she loves to come for a cuddle.
Here is Eddie as a 16 week POL pullet, with her friend Molly. We lost Molly last year to a mystery illness.
Molly and Eddie with Doris, one of our rescued hens, also saddly gone
On no!
We have 3 new girls now to keep Eddie company. I'll post pics of them when I have some good shots.
This was my first egg!
This is the girls surveying their hendom.
Some more eggs, all sizes!
My coop, which keeps expanding! First we had a chicken chalet, kit coop, much too small for 4 hens (no matter what the seller said). We built a 'mirror image' and joined them together, but still not big enough for comfort. So we added a 6' x 6' shed which we 'docked' on and soon we will build a secure enclosure round it all. It is on a solid concrete base, nothing is getting in there. At the moment we let them free-range all day though and sometimes this worries me when I am out at work all day.
Inside, the 2 doors where they dock on to the shed, can be used as nesting boxes, or broody coop, or allows us to shut off the main shed.
Two more nesting boxes, multi-storey! One is an old cupboard, it is the girls favourite. Two roosts, but they always use the top one. They like to snuggle in the corner, so old newspaper makes it easier to de-poop.
We painted it white gloss to make it easy to clean and there is vinyl flooring so it washes down easy. We use shavings on the floor and straw in the main nest box. I swear by DE, which is everywhere. They have food and water in the shed, and in the run too. They have other waterers round the garden, but like to find a dirty puddle and drink from that.
They have their own little windows, with white lace curtains for privacy and a mesh screen for safety. They have their own little pop hole, with triple doors, and double people door for access to clean etc. We tried solar lighting for inside, but it doesn't seem to work very well. Back here they dust bathe and scratch around. I think they are happy, we get 2 or 3 eggs most days.
