Baby chicks 2011

Here are some pictures of some of the baby chicks we have hatched so far...

Orpington Bug

I have been bitten by the Orpington Bug...

Buff Large Fowl Hen

Red Large Fowl Cockerel

Chocolate Bantam Hen

Chocolate Bantam Pair

Dogs

Our dogs have been enjoying the sunshine as much as the chickens, pigs and cats.

Ice & Rammie with chickens

Rammie looking for eggs

Ripley

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.

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.

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.

What else has happened ?

There has been plenty of other things going on in the background.
After putting up the rearing shed and moving the laying hens into a 6th of the space we ended up with a mud puddle. Chris (family) spared some of his precious time away from his beloved xbox and made a gravel path.

The pigs have been busy producing fertiliser. Loads of it.

After separating Doris and Boris I spent some time collecting all their droppings and adding it to the compost.

I also planted 25 alder trees that Nancy (helpx) was going to plant but left abandoned.

First I dug a whole large enough for the roots to fit in and about 30cm deep.

Then I put the tree inside the hole and filled it with soil. Simples ;-)

Just need to add a mulching mat now to keep the grass from growing. Some of the trees had started to wilt but hopefully they will all recover.

Whilst there was no volunteers at the project I started building an outdoor wood store. First I took the bottom off three pallets.

Then I filled the gaps on one of them to use on the weather side to keep the rain out.

Then I stood the three pallets up, braced them together and added a roof.

Chickens love it and are using it as a shelter. With a bit of roofing felt it will make a good outdoor store.