Ken-dal Fruitcake Rides Again

Ken the hen is at it again. She goes a little crazy when she's broody and has no eggs to hatch. This time she's taken up residence in the dog kennel that the chickens use to lay their eggs in, and each day I have to wrestle them off her and kick her out - about 4 times.

For the last couple of nights she's been trying to sleep in there too, and even convincing Pebbles that sleeping in a kennel with an open doorway is perfectly safe. She's totally wrong of course - anything that's wandering around at night could just stick its' head in and have a chomp.

So this evening, after an hour of trying to deny her access, removing the kennel and general coaxing, she still wouldn't go into the coop. It may be because she has a bit of a limp (I can't see why), but she was definite. No coop.

We had a little chat about it - bit one-sided, but she was defintely trying to tell me something. In the end I got the nursery cage out and popped it onto the lawn. She did go into it, as did Pebbles, but she came back out again. I took the hint and moved the nursery cage over to where the kennel had been and in they went. Ken settled down straight away and Pebbles looked slightly perturbed - but he's devoted to her so just followed her lead.

I've had Ken for three years now. She's an interesting old chook and she's still not calmed down after all these years. She looks at me sometimes and I know that she's trying to communicate. I just wish I spoke chicken - it would be far faster!

Pebbles is 6 weeks old today!

Pebbles is rapidly catching up with Ken the hen, but still incredibly cute. Just look at how big she makes Ken seem when she was first born!

Getting rid of red mites

I was scraping droppings from my coop the other day when I noticed a single bright red mite. This is enough to set off the alarm bells for me as an infestation can be hard to get rid of and, left untreated, will lead to a loss of condition in the hens, a reduction in egg production and, eventually, death. Luckily I always have this 'OMG - get rid of them NOW' response and I've never had any problems with them affecting my chooks. My methods are a little time-consuming, but worth it.

First, I take all the parts that aren't screwed together out of coop - roosting bars, droppings tray, nesting box floor and nesting box dividers. This ensures that many of the nooks and crannies that mites can hide in are revealed for cleaning.

I pressure-wash each item and leave it to dry. I then attack the coop house with the pressure washer and make sure the entire inside is thoroughly cleaned. I tip the coop up to clean the inside of the roof and leave the little buggers no place to hide.

Once the coop and parts have dried, I then rub DiatomX into the roosting bars (the mites run along the bars and get to the chickens by running up their legs and infesting the arse region!) and liberally spread the powder on all the parts.

Before putting the coop back together, I also treat the earth beneath the coop with DiatomX.

When I've done this, all the parts are re-assembled and I puff more DiatomX in the coop, making sure it gets into all the areas that are prone to hide the nasty crawling killers.

Once the coop is clean and treated, I check each chicken for infestation. Just pick the chicken up (maybe by taking them out of the coop one by one at night if they are tough to catch) and check their feathers around their bum. mites love this area and it's obvious to see if they are there. DiatomX can be dusted onto the chicken itself to stop the mites.

Finally, the chickens dust bath is dusted with DiatomX. It's the easiest way to get the chickens to douse themselves, and it's proved to be a winner for me. Fingers crossed, no infestations so far, and all I use are water and DiatomX, both totally natural and low-cost. And my coop also gets a well-needed wash!

Pebbles and the Coop

Poor little Pebbles. She was very confused about going into the coop as the others were scaring her and pecking at her. I was in my bedroom and could her her plaintive little tweets outside. The cute little thing was wandering the garden and trying to look for where her nursery coop had been, and there was no sign of Ken.

I had to throw some corn down outside the coop so Ken would come back out and then stand in Pebbles' way so that she couldn't run away - all whilst softly telling her it would be ok.

Eventually Ken kicked the others out of the way and returned to the coop, with a tentative Pebbles following her. She will probably have a bit of difficulty getting in every night until she gets a bit bigger and can stand up for herself.

But, hey, that's chickens! They sort themselves out very well, in the end...

Pebbles is growing up

Well, amazingly Ken the hen has gone back on the lay, eventhough Pebbles is only 5 weeks old today! She usually gives the chicks she hatches at least 6 - 8 weeks before she shies away from them and they have to find their own place in the flock.

So, in celebration of this event, I've packed away the 'nursery' cage until next time she gets broody and popped both of them into the main coop with the others. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully they will both adjust overnight and Pebbles is so laid back, I don't think she'll have a problem following 'Mum' into the big coop tomorrow night.

Pebbles is a boy?

Just had a lovely little cuddle with Pebbles the chick. S/he's four weeks old now and quite cute. S/he has some of her father's buff (ginger) colouring coming through the grey and it's very pretty, but there is a worrying ring of colour around the neck that may mean she is a he! Ooooh dear.

Grace loves my neighbour!

She is such a food-slut! My next door neighbour gave her some bread and vegetables today, and earlier this evening she tried to fly over the wire fence between the houses! She nearly made it and was hanging on about three quarters of the way up... all for love of him, or his food? It's like the Milk Tray advert in reverse...