Dandelions and Rain

April 10th, 2009 .

One of the things I have enjoyed over the past couple of days is putting things in the chicken run and seeing how they react to them – today I tried putting in some massive dandelions and it was pretty amusing.  Two of my girls reacted as expected pecking little bits of dandelion off and eating them but the ginger one was hilarious.  She kept walking over to a big dandelion and grabbing it in her beak, then flipping it up in the air and onto her back.  She would then look around as if she didn’t know where it was, causing it to to drop back off onto the floor.  Then she would toss it up onto her back again…

I also put some tomatoes in the run today – one whole and one in pieces.  Turns out chickens don’t like tomato!  They seem to like sweetcorn, most weeds and spiders – I put a huge spider in the run the other day and the grey one instantly killed it and eat it.  Out of all the things I have put in so far the thing that they seem to enjoy the most is wild bird seed.  Every now and then I chuck a handful in and they run around like crazy and eat it in no time.  The white one and the ginger one just eat the seeds that land in front of them, but the grey one runs back and forth trying to steal seed off of the others.  The funny thing is that she spends so long trying to stop the others eating that they eat most of it and she ends up with hardly any!

Today was the first bit of rain I’ve had since I got the chickens.  They spent most of the time under the coop whilst it was raining (as expected) but when the rain had finished I looked in the garden and they were acting kind of weird – standing up tall and pecking at the wire mesh around the run.  I went outside to investigate and it turns out they were drinking the water droplets that had collected on the wire mesh.  I would have thought it was easier to drink out of the drinker that I put in there but then I’m not a chicken!

Day Two

April 9th, 2009 .

This morning was my first morning with the chickens and I managed to get up at 7:05 – pretty good considering I normally only manage to get out of bed at 7:42 (this is the latest I can get up to get into work at 8:00).  I went down and let the birds out straight away and watched them for a bit before going to work.  I didn’t really want to leave them!

Originally my plan was to go to Tesco at lunch time and pick up some beers for the weekend, but in the end I decided I had to go and see my chickens!  I came back for an hour and watched them – they seem like they are settling in a lot better today.  Yesterday I saw them pecking at the grass a bit but they didn’t look too comfortable and get pretty scared whenever I came near.  Today they were like different birds – they were scratching in the grass and moving around a bit more.

This is the only one that will stand still for a photo!

This is the only one that will stand still for a photo!

One thing I did notice is that they were pecking each other a bit at lunch time.  I gave them some sweetcorn which seemed to cause a few arguments.  As far as I can tell the grey on is at the top of the pecking order, followed by the white one with the ginger one at the bottom.

While I was at home I decided to have a quick go at cleaning out the coop and that was pretty easy – I just slid the tray at the bottom out and picked up the poos (with rubber gloves).  It took about 5 minutes to clean it.

In the evening I had pasta for dinner so I cooked a little bit extra for the birds and put it in their run.  It was pretty fun to watch them eating the pasta shells – even though there were plenty of them to go round they all seemed to want to go for the same one, which meant all three of them were chasing the same pasta shell around the coop.  By the time one of them actually got it, it was completely covered in grass which would end up stuck all over the girls beaks.  Then they would be wiping their beaks on the grass to try and remove the sticky grass.

One thing that I have really noticed today is how tame the white one is – she would eat pasta out of my hand and even let me touch her.  The grey one is still a bit nervous around me and the ginger one stays well away from me.

When it started to get dark (around 7:30) the white one kept going in and out of the coop again.  I think she wants to go in but won’t do it on her own so she tries to get the others to follow.  When all of the rest of them finally did get in she came out again for one last look around before heading in for the night.

This one keeps going in and out of the coop once it starts to get dark

This one keeps going in and out of the coop once it starts to get dark

When the chickens were in the coop I moved the run out of the way and raked the grass that was inside it.  I was amazed the amount of loose grass that was laying around in the run!  I also used a bit of kitchen roll and cleaned all of the poo off of the ramp (it looked like they kept pecking at it earlier which was disgusting so I thought I needed to get rid of it).

Chickens!

April 8th, 2009 .

I finally have chickens!

Today has been a really stressful day but everything is sorted out now.  I had the chicken coop ordered to arrive before 12:00 today and it arrived at 11:55.  When I got it I realised it was going to need a bit more construction than I had anticipated – I had to put the legs on and attach the nest box.  I thought I could just about pull it off in the 15 minutes before Robert was due to arrive to give me a lift to the farm.

I got a phone call from Robert just after 12:00 asking where my house was but it was difficult to give him directions because I was unfamiliar with the place he was parked.  I ended up spending about 5 minutes on the phone to him so I didn’t have a lot of time left.  I quickly attached the legs to the coop when he rang me again telling me that he was lost.  In the end I ran down the road to meet him.

I couldn’t really keep Robert waiting so I decided I would have to finish assembling the coop/run after picking up the chickens which wasn’t ideal.  We set off in the van towards Bottisham to pick them up.

Lots of Chickens to Choose From

Lots of Chickens to Choose From

Even More Chickens!

Even More Chickens!

We got a bit lost in Bottisham and had to ring for directions but eventually we found the place.  When we got there, there were lots of chickens!  The girl who sold them to me was really helpful and helped me pick them out – in the end I went for a Goldline, an Amber and a Blue Belle.  We put two of them in the large box and one in the other box and drove back to Cambridge.

When I got back home, I put the boxes containing the chickens in the garden under a tree and started work on the chicken coop again.  The first task was to remove the legs and put them on the correct way and then all that was needed was to attach the nest box.  The whole thing took about 15 minutes to assemble which wasn’t too bad.

After I had assembled the house I quickly put in some wood shavings and filled the feeder and drinker up and put them inside the house.  Then I had the job of getting the chickens out of the boxes and into the coop which wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be.  Then, whilst the chickens were getting used to their new home I assembled the run and had some lunch.

After leaving the chickens in the house for about an hour I opened the pop-hole so that they could get out and into the run, and I moved the feeder and drinker out of the coop and into the run.  I tried to entice the chickens down the ladder by putting a trail of food down it and into the run but that didn’t seem to work.  After another hour I decided that they had been in there long enough and tried to encourage them into the run.

I pushed the roof off so that I could see the chickens and they were all huddled together and pecking at the wooden floor of the coop – they didn’t look particularly happy!  I decided to push them through the pop-hole so that they could go and eat and drink – I didn’t like the idea of them staying in the coop all day as I won’t be around tomorrow to make sure they get out then.  First I pushed the grey one out through the door – she went out pretty easy.  Next I tried it with the ohters but they were having none of it.  I decided to leave them to it for a bit and see if they would follow by themselves.  After another half hour or so I decided that they were never going to come out by themselves so I went back in and literally lifted them onto the ramp.

After they left the coop they seemed a lot happier – they were pecking at the grass and moving around (in the coop they just kind of sat there looking miserable).  They seemed a bit nervous of me and every time I came near they would cower under the coop.

The Chickens Finally Leave the Coop

The Chickens Finally Leave the Coop

They were pretty calm and quiet up until Yu Lee cam home.  I took her outside to meet the girls and their behavior had changed completely.  The grey one kept doing this nasty, sloppy yellow poo and was making a massive racket.  At one point she did a poo, then stepped in it and proceeded to scratch it over her face!  Nice!

We sat inside and watched them for a bit and the grey one was getting really agitated which was setting off the other ones – they were running round in circles and knocking stuff over and generally looking unhappy.  We left them to it and had some dinner, and when we came back the chickens had all calmed down.

I spent most of the evening watching them – much better than watching tv!  Once it started to get dark you could tell the girls wanted to go to bed – especially the white one.  She kept going in and out of the coop – it seemed as though she was trying to get the others to follow.  After a while they all started climbing the ramp but they didn’t seem sure whether they wanted to go in or not.  Eventally they all went in and I went out to shut the pop-hole.  I couldn’t resist taking a quick peep inside the coop and looking at them all roosting before I came in for the night.

Blue Belle

Blue Belle

Amber

Amber

Goldline

Goldline

Overall I think today has been pretty stressful for me and the girls.  I must admit I don’t really want to leave them to go to work tomorrow.  Also, I am already thinking about extending the run – I don’t think that the run I have is really big enough for them.  Eventually I would like to let them out into the garden but I have read that I should wait at least a few weeks before I do this.  I also need to think of some names…

Anyway – I have rambled on for long enough!  Now I’m off for a beer!

The Run - a bit on the small side...

The Run - a bit on the small side...

When I first let them out they loved it under here

When I first let them out they loved it under here

Waiting…

April 8th, 2009 .
Homemade Chicken Carrier

Homemade Chicken Carrier

I am all ready for the chickens and getting pretty impatient!  The coop is due to arrive any minute and I am off to pick up the hens at 12:15.

I have figured out the breeds that I want and have been preparing some boxes to take the girls home in.

1 Day to go

April 7th, 2009 .

Its only 1 day before the chickens arrive now – I’m getting pretty excited and a little bit nervous!

Originally I was going to get the chickens on good Friday, but I have decided to bring it forward a couple of days for a number of reasons.  Firstly, I was hoping to get Yu Lee’s family to take me to get the chickens when they come down at Easter weekend, but I don’t think they want to come on Friday any more.  Also, I have booked the day off of work tomorrow to get the chicken coop delivered so I might as well go and get them after it arrives and make the most of my day off.  My mum seemed pleased that I am getting them before the weekend – she wants to meet them!

Originally I was going to get Nick to take me to pick up the chickens (he is the guy that helped us to move house), but I rang him today to confirm and he said that he has taken another job on Wednesday and can’t make it.  He has put me in touch with someone he knows who has agreed to take me to pick up the chickens for £15.

The coop and run are due to arrive before 12:00 tomorrow, so I have arranged to be picked up at 12:15.  Hopefully the chicken coop will arrive early so I have plenty of time to put everything in place and decide how many chickens it will realistically house.  I would really like to get 3 chickens but if it seems to be too small I will only be getting 2.

Now I just need to get some boxes sorted out to transport them in and wait until tomorrow.  I have a feeling I won’t be getting a lot of sleep tonight!