Laying hens

Our local egg producer is clearing out one of his free range chicken sheds to make room for fresh stock.. We have decided to get some of the hens and Ann is frantically building a larger hen house, as the one we have is just about big enough for the three chickens we have.

We are picking the girls up on Saturday and there will be 20 of them. So I have to get transport boxes ready and sort out some extra feeders and drinkers.

After making the walls Ann is now preparing the base for the new hen house. The timber from the top of the pallet is taken off and then nailed back on with the same nails, leaving no gaps for the chickens to fall through or vermin to enter.

The walls have been screwed onto the base, now the gaps at the sides are filled and the door assembled.

Men Ann at work... looks more like a five star hotel.

...or a very oversized planter. Could fit loads of willow in there...no, only joking.

Door fitted now, which leaves roof construction and internal perches and nest boxes to be done. With 2 days to spare we are on time and will have it all ready for the girls when they arrive.

Roof construction under way. Again, all timber taken from pallets.The only problem left is how to waterproof the roof as the timber leaves enough room for rain to seep through and get the poor girls wet. In good old recycling style we are considering feed bags. Well, we have to sort it tomorrow so will see what we decide in the heat of the moment.

Raining today so I have been doing paperwork / phone calls and sourcing rare breed hatching eggs instead.

In good old recycling fashion Ann is waterproofing the roof with feed bags and an old trellis that was falling apart. The trellis was taken apart to use the timber for edging and the feed bags cut open and turned inside out to make a waterproof layer. I hope the hens will appreciate Ann's hard work.

The hen house is ready. Just in time. Inside Ann has fitted some perches for the girls to sit on. We have also added some nice eco friendly recycled bedding. We make our own bird bedding from junk mail and any paper that would otherwise be thrown away. We haven't added nest boxes as the girls aren't used to using them anyway. The bedding should be comfy enough to lay some nice eggs for us.

Now all there is left to do is to fetch the girls and get them into their cosy new home. I am sure they will appreciate the nice warm bedding as they will, no doubt, be bald from living in a shed with a few thousand other girls.

The girls are here. A little flighty and feather pecked but otherwise they seem happy enough.

After the first night in their new home they have already been busy filling their crops and laying eggs. I found 7 at 8:15 this morning, scattered all over the floor.

Amazing how they still lay after the stress of being chucked into the back of a trailer and left to wake up in a brand new home. Egg sizes are a bit variable this morning but that was to be expected. I shall go now and have my first fresh egg of the year.












 The girls are very shy and have hardly been outside. Having bare bums and heads doesn't help in this weather. I have started to feed them outside to encourage them to leave the shelter of the hen house.for at least a short time every day.

The lack of food and water inside the hen house has convinced the hens that it's quite a good idea to see what's happening outside. However, their droppings look a bit like paper mache and the bedding is getting less and less... not sure if that is good for them but maybe they will stop this habit when they start enjoying being outdoors.

They seemed fine with the dogs but haven't ventured to the grass yet. It is still early days, I am sure they will peck at the green stuff in no time.

It's one week in and the hens have started to adapt to the "normal" life of a chicken.  Every morning there is a rush to get out the door.

First they make a run for the feeders filling their crops like there is no tomorrow.

Then they realize there is a dog looking at them and decide to get scared. (You have to click on this picture and look at it full size to see one of the hens in mid air!).

Shortly after that all goes back to normal, crops are filled, water sipped and the the garden scratched up in the never ending hunt for that one worm.