Cluckatraz in the UK

[Coddys]

Hello from the UK.
We are Pete and Tessa from Lincolnshire in the UK.
We were gifted 3 Light Sussex hens earlier this year providing we took "Dave" the Rooster. We have no idea what breed Dave is other than he is a large white/cream handsome Roo with a longing to dance.
We then bought 3 point of lay hens a Rhode Island Red called Scarlet who sadly passed away a few weeks ago, a copper black called Peggy & her partner in crime Maggie who is a blue.
We have recently hatched 9 chicks in an incubator. 4 rare breed Ickworths which are 9lb birds when adult and pure white with a tiny orange comb. 4 Silver Laced Banthams and 1 "Son of Dave" although it may well be "Daughter of Dave" yet! These are only 2 das old so time will tell what are Roos and Hens.
We built our brooder "Cluckatraz" for the princely sum of £10. The base and back are old fire doors from a skip (dumpster), the timber is from pallets and the wire is a dismantled fire guard.
We are currently building a 16 x 14 foot enclosure as our adult hand are currently in 8 x 3 foot runs with 3ft sq coops.
My brother lives in DC and we visit Virginia and Notth Carolina.

Regards Pete, Tessa and the UK brood

 

[iwiw60]

Greetings from Oregon, USA!!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

So sorry you lost Scarlet. But it sounds like you are enjoying your flock!!

Make yourself at home here and enjoy all your poultry journeys!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Pete and Tess and welcome.

I'm in the UK too but a bit further north than you.

It sounds like you are already suffering from what members of this forum refer to as "Chicken Math" It all gets out of control very rapidly. I've got quite a bad case of it. Started in January with a trio and now 8 months later I have 30 with more on the way!

Your flock sounds really interesting and it's great that you are supporting a local (I'm assuming Ickworths are local) rare breed.
My partner's sister lives on a farm near Grantham and she has lots of poultry and many of my flock came from Melton Mowbray auctions.

Great to hear that you have used reclaimed materials for your brooder. I made mine out of an old sideboard. It currently has one broody in it that has 5 days to go and I think there will be another broody setting any day now, so she will go in the other end.

It's lovely that you have hatched one of your own farmyard mongrels. I think it is so much more exciting hatching cross breeds because you just don't know what you are going to get, but it's nice to have pure breeds too. My current batch is a mixture of exchequer leghorns and cream leg bars with a couple of cream legbarxRIR to see if I can get an olive egg and I let the broody keep one of her own. She is a silkie/cochin bantam cross and it's a CCL cockerel so I guess I will end up with more barred birds but you never know.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi and mention that there are a couple (probably more) threads dedicated to UK members if you are interested in making more local contacts, so feel free to join us on them..

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sounds like you have a nice flock, Congratulations on the successful hatch! sorry about the loss of Scarlet.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Sorry about Scarlet. But congrats on the hatch!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. I'm so sorry about Scarlet. We have lots of members in the UK, and if you want to get in touch with any of them, you can reach them at https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=uk+members. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your chooks. Cheers.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

Feel free to ask lots of questions! We're all here to help.