Farmer tut.

[renmure]

Our neighbours had 6 hens who lived in a little hen house just over the fence.
Sometimes they hopped over the fence and wandered around our garden.
We all used to laugh as little Great Dane puppy PJ blundered around like an uncoordinated bull in a china shop towards them.
Even the neighbours thought it was funny to watch the hens outsmart the gangling puppy.
Empty hen house now.

[tut]

Nobody told me that, but they are settling down now.

Three of them wandered into the coop on their own tonight, Bluebell nowhere to be seen, but got it hacked now, let Khan out, "go find", he tears around the garden checking everywhere they have been, until she comes flying out from the depths of a shrub and I almost catch her in mid air.

Eggs popping out daily now. Seems a bit silly, but always loved animals, and nowadays even more so considering some of the dregs that we now have to live alongside.

tut

[Eric K]

Tut,

It was with great sadness that I learned this morning that Millers of Midmar has gone into liquidation.

Might be worth a trip to see if you can pick up a bargain. When we lived out the road, that's where I got our feed and other poultry accessories.

They always had a good selection of drinkers and the like.

We kept bantams - mostly Silver-Spangled Hamburgs.

I fed them 50/50 layer's pellets and mixed corn.

Latterly, I locked them out of their house and let them run free and roost in the trees.

This was mostly driven by the fact that I was fed up with cleaning out the hen house but also that I reckoned their chances through the night were better if they were up a tree.

Downside was that eggs were "hidden" all over the place and come July, from time to time, one of the ladies would disappear for a few days and I knew that it wouldn't be long before she returned with a brood in tow.

My biggest difficulty was that I couldn't bring myself to kill them so I ended up with as many (if not more) cocks than hens.

This wasn't smart animal husbandry as the cocks would fight pretty much to the death over their "rights".

Regarding dogs, I was always really surprised that our greyhound would go absolutely mental if she saw a rabbit but really couldn't care less about the birds. Indeed they weren't too bothered about her either.

A number of years ago, I did lose my entire flock (about 16 or so) in one night to a fox.

I wish you luck, it really is a most rewarding and wholesome pastime.

Cheers,

Eric

[tut]

Thanks Eric, some good advice. Three are eating out of my hand now, but Daisy is a a bit shy. We won't be getting a cock, quite happy with the four hens and the legs they are laying, so do not wasn't anymore, and I don't think our neighbors would appreciate the crowing in the morning.

Hettie and Hattie bully the Bluebell's a bit, but I believe it is normal for them to set up a pecking order.

Surprised to se a farming and Gardening centre going bust, they seem to be doing well when you drive past them, and out two are certainly healthy. May take a run down though and check out what they have.



If your bantam cock looked anything like this one, it would have been a handsome bird.

tut