Time flies

I can't believe it has been 4 months since I last posted on here. So many things have happened and I will try and update the blog in the next few days.

Building another hen house

As the population of chicken grows more hen houses are needed.

We have made a simple frame for the floor from pallet wood.

We found some laminate flooring in the outhouse, cut it to size and taped the underneath to prevent moisture from entering. (We later get told off by Ann, as she had the flooring earmarked for another job.)

The laminate flooring gets screwed onto the base. (Note: Chris is working ;-))

Rather than taking pallets apart we then cut out the boards with a circular saw (thanks to the invention of petrol generators and the founder of "Praktiker" in Germany).

We end up with a nice pile of boards which are free from nail holes and cracks.

Using a tabel saw at a 45° angle the boards are cut either side.

These "rain screen" boards can now be screwed onto the house. Which reminds me: we need a frame first.

First post, cut at a 45° angle at the top.

 The bottom frame is done.

The roof is taking shape and the first boards are up. Due to rain we are working inside the van.

The front boards are going on. There isn't much room in the van so it's difficult to take pictures.

More boards on the front and the roof frame is finished.

The front is all filled in, now to the back.

Day 3 and the sides are now being done. Both will be hinged to allow easy access.

Sides are done and the roof has been covered with odd bits of board to support the roofing felt.

Time for finishing touches. Ann is painting whilst I am working on egg laying boxes and Chris, who lost interest and motivation on day 2, is sleeping.

Branches from our garden make some excellent perches.

Egg laying boxes are in. Ann finishes the felt before the house is moved into the field.

After fitting the automatic door the chickens move in.

Softy

Hans, our new kune kune boar is a big softy.

Here he is putting his head into my hand. If I would let him he would climb onto my lap for a cuddle.

Into the big wide world

After several weeks in the holding pen the piglets are finally moving into their new field.

First we had to strim down the grass in the field for the electric netting. This alone took 2 weeks. Next the fencing was erected. (The white spot in the middle is Chris.)

Some old scrap wood was used to make a station for the battery and the energizer. Originally built by volunteers it was unusable and our son rebuilt it to make it weather proof.

We persuaded Ulla, Gretel and Hans (left to right) into the trailer with a little food where they promptly chewed up the floor.

Coming out of the trailer they didn't need any persuasion. Here is Hans jumping off the side of the ramp.

Ulla is off to inspect the green stuff. Their holding pen didn't have any grass left after 3 days...

There is so much room to run around in.... but only one thing they are interested in...food.

Hey daddy, I found it !

Tastes sooo much better out here.

I am sure there is some more here somewhere....

Wow, what a big water dish !  (We placed stones inside so they don't climb into it.)

See you later dad.

We have plans to extend the fence line by another 50m.

Richard Pancake

Earlier this year we were given a chick that hatched out of a light sussex egg. Clearly not a light sussex by any breed standard the chick was useless to the owner and found a new home in our garage. He soon turned out to be a boy with massive feet and some rather quirky behaviour.

We never really took any pictures as he was meant to end up on our table. Nick named pancake by his previous owner he was soon named richard pancake, richie for short.

Richie is afraid of other chickens. He will peck on small chicks to get to his food but as they grow older he gets more and more frightened. He loves a stroke on his head when he is in a good mood but hates being picked up and screams for Scotland if you even so much as try.

Richie walks funnily although he is perfectly healthy and sleeps with his head on the floor like a dog. He hasn't worked out to take shelter when it rains and he just sleeps anywhere in the garden. He will have to move back inside in the winter if he doesn't learn to go to bed as he will freeze to the ground otherwise....

Chicken update

Stevie did a great job protecting his flock of laying hens but recently decided to start attacking people. When he scratched the face of one of our volunteers it was time for him to make a lovely dinner for us. He had a lot of exercise in his life and his legs were a bit tough but otherwise he tasted just fine.

Before he departed Stevie fathered plenty of chicks.

They were incubated and grew up indoors.

When the weather got warmer they all moved outside.

They now free range in the garden and will soon be moving down to the project.

Willow tree

Earlier this year I was given two stumps of willow by our neighbour. Rammed them into the ground and although I didn't hold much hope they are doing well.

April 2010

June 2010:

Finally - water in sight

After much searching we finally located somebody who sells second hand IBC's locally. We picked one up and now have to decide where to put it and how to connect it. It holds 1000L and as soon as it's placed we can start filling it with tap water from the house until it's connected to the rainwater system.

Not sure if I want to put it underground or else how to hide it, as I really don't like the sight of it. Also the water will turn green if it stays out in the sun. Decisions...decisions....

First outside chick of the year

Finally our broodies have managed to hatch a chick.

After climbing all over his mummies he was allowed out today for the first time.

It's a big wide world.

Two mommies....aren't I special ??

(Shhhh, don't tell any of the three that they aren't even related. The egg came from our group of laying hens.)

Rearing pens

We have chicks everywhere and are running out of space to house them. Thankfully we have some pallets that are lightweight and not much use for anything else.

The pallets are put together like a tent. Two strips of timber are nailed to the bottom to determine width, then the top is simply screwed together.

After that screws are added to the bottom of the pallets to hold the netting in place.

The netting (fruit cage netting) is stretched over all sides and held in place with screws. Nails would do the same job.

A branch adds some interest to the rearing pen. Job done. Note that an extra piece of timber at the back keeps the sawdust inside the sleeping box.

The chicks are happy in their temporary runs.