Keeping chickens

We have been keeping chickens for a couple of years now after Mike bought me a  lovely purple eglu, with two lovely laying ladies; Barbara & Margot

The purple Eglu

The girls' first day chez Retrowife

They have brought us lots of laughs, plenty of eggs, and have been so very easy to look after.

In the winter months, they have free range of the whole garden and in the summer, while our vegetables grow, they are confined to their run with an extended large pen that Mike built for them. As well as wanting to keep them away from the veg, I also get fed up with cleaning up chicken poo in the summer, when the boys spend most of their time running barefoot around the garden.

Winter time

It seems that the only things that chickens require is their hen food, lots of water, some shade, somewhere to sleep and lay, and somewhere to keep them safe from Mr Fox. They find places to dust bathe, and love lying around in the afternoon sun. They pop themselves into bed when it’s dusk (we close the run door behind them) and they get themselves up on a morning. And we usually get an egg every day from each of them.

They are easy to leave with neighbours for holidays (they don’t have to do much apart from shut their door on an evening). They eat lots of leftovers (especially pasta) and a regular supply of broccoli and grapes keeps them very happy. They also, in the winter, spend a lot of time turning our compost heap for us, and their poo has worked wonders for the compost too.

They are magicians at escaping from their run and if their wings aren’t clipped they will go and visit our neighbours (who thankfully love them). Barbara was a much better escapee than Margot and seemed generally to have a higher IQ. She particularly liked sneaking into our utility room, and on a couple of occasions was found sitting in the kitchen.

Lovely Barbara

They seem happy in the winter...

...and spring

Sadly this summer, poor Barbara passed, seemingly peacefully, away. She looked like she had gone to sleep when we found her. And thank goodness she was spared a fox attack. My lovely neighbour helped me bury her, and the boys thanked her for all her eggs, before helping me cover her up. Our youngest son is still taking all visitors to the garden to show then where “dead Barbara” is buried.

And then there was one. So Margot has lived on her own for the last six weeks or so. Although all the chicken manuals say that chickens need a new friend (or even friends), they all also say that introducing new hens can be a bit difficult. And as we were going to be away quite a bit over the summer I couldn’t face any chicken challenges. Margot had already misbehaved at a friends (where she goes for her holidays) and after bullying their new ex-battery hens, we had to bring her home.

Last week the eldest returned to school and the youngest started nursery, and with our gallivanting curtailed for a little while, we decided to get two newbie hens. Two, because the chicken experts tell you to get two as one newbie has more chance of being bullied.

Two beautiful chickens were selected from the fabulous Annie Hall Poultry near Bath, which for anyone into chicken’s is like being in a rather large sweet shop. We chose a Rhode Rock and a Bluebell as they are big birds, so likely to stand up to any bullying that Margot dishes out.

The new girls

And bully she has. It has been a slighty unpleasant and tense few days here, and the matter is still unresolved. Margot has become hugely territorial and is a rather aggressive old girl. The poor new girls, Maggie & May, are doing their best to keep out of her way, and we have even had to separate them for a while until they get more used to each other (through a wire fence).  I am hoping things will settle down soon, and Margot will eventually start being nice to her new friends. We shall see.

In the meantime, we shall look forward to more days of happy hen keeping and sending the children down to collect their eggs each day.