Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[Wrightsx4]

Lol...The torch always gives me a scare near the coop and eggs before my brain does the translation to "flashlight". Yup, as an American I say (h)erbs, hoods & trunks, and have never heard of weetbix but I have Googled it now!

 

[Fancychooklady]

We always have weetbix, nutrigrain and Vegemite in the pantry. My husband spent 7 months as an exchange diver with your seals in the states, he took Vegemite with him. He told the other sailors that it was dried ox blood. Funny, he couldn't convince anyone to taste it. Btw it's a yeast extract, similar to marmite.

 

[vehve]

Now I started googling too, I thought Ben meant Weetabix, but apparently they actually are called Weet-Bix over there. Don't you have them in the States? If you want freaky Australian food, I think Vegemite is the way to go. Never actually tasted the stuff, but reading the description of it makes my taste buds cringe. We do however have something a bit similar here, a Easter-time dessert called "Mämmi".

Does this look appetizing?

http://cookingfinland.blogspot.fi/2011/04/mammi-traditional-finnish-porridge-or.html

Someone seeing us eating this would certainly warrant the WHO to send food aid our way...

*Edit* Ah, Fancy beat me to it.

 

[Fancychooklady]

We once had an Italian officer and his bride stay with us, she would pour black espresso onto her coco pops. I did try to convince her that they would taste better with milk.
Ben must still be doing his nocturnal relocation.

 

[Wrightsx4]

I like molasses so that may not be too bad. No,we don't have Weetbix but we have other breakfast type bars. Vegemite...that seems odd but I'll assume it's better than it sounds.
Good news here - Broody Fancy was moved last night and still seems content on her new nest. She's not in the grow out coop like I planned, but she's safe in the old brooding area where Broody Betty raised her faverolles last year. It's less convenient but that's okay.

 

[vehve]

Everyone has their quirks, although the Italians seldom go wrong when it comes to food. I'm off to Tuscany for a week on Saturday, looking forward to their quisine.

 

[cwrite]

Felix, I have an appetite that matches my activity. 5 weetbix is a normal quick breakfast for me. It took me nearly 2 years to gain 7 kilo's weight lifting 5-6 times a week and eating 4000-5000 cals a day. I seem to process what ever goes in efficiently. I got sick and lost most of that weight in just over 20 days. I gave up the weights and took up running after that!

We try to eat a balanced diet but given my activities (last nights run was about 1200 cals) I have to eat a fair bit to keep the energy up, and the occasional burger or hot chips doesn't seem to hurt.

About to let the flock out and check on Sal. After dark Alicia and I will poke about under Sal with a torch, make sure there is still only 9 eggs under there and see whats cooking in them!

Good luck with the candling Ben! And I'm trying very hard not to be envious of your calorie intake abilities, although loosing 7kg's in 20 days must be scary. It would be very nice if it could be done deliberately. Sigh, back to lifting & watching EVERYTHING I put in my mouth. I tend to avoid too much cardio, because it makes me HUNGRY, but perhaps I should let my chickens roam & chase them back in like Vehve for a bit of extra cardio.

 

[vehve]

Good luck with the candling Ben! And I'm trying very hard not to be envious of your calorie intake abilities, although loosing 7kg's in 20 days must be scary. It would be very nice if it could be done deliberately. Sigh, back to lifting & watching EVERYTHING I put in my mouth. I tend to avoid too much cardio, because it makes me HUNGRY, but perhaps I should let my chickens roam & chase them back in like Vehve for a bit of extra cardio.

There might be something to that, I noticed today that the scale showed only 84, so I've lost a kilo somewhere. Just as well, I'll probably gain 5 next week.

 

[Wrightsx4]

The more I run the more I eat.I find that 2-3 miles per day works well with the foods I like to eat in quantities that don't appear too excessive. Although people are sometimes surprised at how much I can eat for someone my size. I can't imagine how I'd eat if I ran the miles that Ben does!

 

[Bens-Hens]

Ben, you need energy to have the strength to do physical activities, but after super active training is decreased, often people tend to become a bit chubby. Loads of ex-hockey players working as commentators on TV here who have gone up about 20 kilos. I have nothing to say about diet though, I love food, and often make quite unhealthy stuff. Problem is, I seem to keep forgetting that I should go out for a run too

Luckily, so far my metabolism seems to be keeping up to par.

I love the slight cultural differences in terminology, most of my English is America-influenced, so an image of you walking around the coop with an actual flaming torch popped up in my head reading that.

I think I am safe from obesity when my activity drops off, but I still worry about other issues like heart disease, arteries and how I used to treat my liver.

I read a story about a lady who is about to attempt the oldest marathon record, she is 82 and one year off claiming the title. She ran her first ever marathon at 76! I hope I can still be active at that age.

Lol, I do most of my chicken things by torch light. We were just in coronation cottage , me with my torch and hubby with his headlamp, cutting some leg bands off when the dog chased a possum up the Shute. One of the girls fell off the roost and down the ramp. The possum came within an inch of its life when it jumped over the dogs head.

Lucky possum, must know it's 'not your's'

By the way, do you Ozzies have bonnets and boots or hoods and trunks? And do you eat Herbs or eeerbs? Somewhere I read about the pronunciation of that one, in the States it's "eeerbs", because it suites the American accent better, while the Brits say "HHerbs". Here the explanation was "Because it's got a f***ing H in it".

Yep, bonnets n boots with herbs. I must say though that even across this country we have different names for the same things, mostly derived from brand names. Here in WA we have Fruit box's, in QLD they call them Popper's as they were local brands for the same little square juice box's/tetra packs.

In Tasmania where Fancychooklady lives it is currently 8pm
In Western Australia where Ben and I live it is currently 6pm

We have bonnets and boots and we eat Herbs

Hope that answers your questions

Good luck with your hatch Ben!

Bang on! We also have Honkey nuts, where evrywhere else calls the gum nuts.

Whew! I have finally finished reading this entire thread. Hi, Ben! I popped over to check you out at Oz's recommendation and I'm so glad I did! I have really enjoyed your story so far and everyone else's contributions are so entertaining. This is better than any television programming - a drama, documentary, comedy, nature, travel and romance rolled into one! Can't wait to tune in daily for updates (no pressure on the daily bit)!

A big warm welcome to our current point in the tale that is Ben's Hens. It's been a long road but we have had a blast getting here. Thanks for gutting out such a long read.

Lol...The torch always gives me a scare near the coop and eggs before my brain does the translation to "flashlight". Yup, as an American I say (h)erbs, hoods & trunks, and have never heard of weetbix but I have Googled it now!

We get used to your terms after seeing so much US based TV over our lives, but I do have to get the calculator out when the imperial measurements come out. Even our TV 'infomercials' for miracle weight loss equipment have the metric conversion in the corner of the screen as "Loose 20 pounds in x weeks" just does not impact on us in metric land.

We always have weetbix, nutrigrain and Vegemite in the pantry. My husband spent 7 months as an exchange diver with your seals in the states, he took Vegemite with him. He told the other sailors that it was dried ox blood. Funny, he couldn't convince anyone to taste it. Btw it's a yeast extract, similar to marmite.

I thing they call them Weetabix in the UK? Not much of a Vegemite fan myself, very thin smear on toast just to honour Australian's hahaha. Most Aussie's go nuts for the stuff. Probably prefer marmite or Promite a little more as it's not as 'in ya face!'

I loved this little video someone made of US folks trying out Aussie snack foods. Before anyone watches it......that NOT, I repeat NOT how ANYONE eats Vegemite!

We once had an Italian officer and his bride stay with us, she would pour black espresso onto her coco pops. I did try to convince her that they would taste better with milk.

Ben must still be doing his nocturnal relocation.

Not yet, hand my hand full with family stuff.

I like molasses so that may not be too bad. No,we don't have Weetbix but we have other breakfast type bars. Vegemite...that seems odd but I'll assume it's better than it sounds.
Good news here - Broody Fancy was moved last night and still seems content on her new nest. She's not in the grow out coop like I planned, but she's safe in the old brooding area where Broody Betty raised her faverolles last year. It's less convenient but that's okay.

Weet bix are just a brick type cereal, wheat, sugars and kind of bland really. I drown it in milk with a little sprinkle of sugar. In winter a little hot water over them first to soften them up is nice.

Good news on the move Pam, going to have another attempt later in the week I think.

Good luck with the candling Ben! And I'm trying very hard not to be envious of your calorie intake abilities, although loosing 7kg's in 20 days must be scary. It would be very nice if it could be done deliberately. Sigh, back to lifting & watching EVERYTHING I put in my mouth. I tend to avoid too much cardio, because it makes me HUNGRY, but perhaps I should let my chickens roam & chase them back in like Vehve for a bit of extra cardio.

Thanks. I have had many chats with people who are envious of my metabolic rate. Good as long as I don't want to put weight on, but two years of 5000 cals a day is EXPENSIVE, especially when trying to eat a clean diet with the 'good stuff'. Then, as soon as your not maintaining it simply falls off. I used to avoid cardio for the same reason, too much and I went backwards. I should do some, but I won't go back to the programs I used to do.

Now.....off to see a broody