No Water in Baldongan and The Hills

Many thanks to Senator Brendan Ryan, our local Labour man, for this texted update on the water problem in the Hills around Skerries:

“Hills residents: Hi, Some, including myself, may be without water. Reason. Ballycoolin reservoir feeds Jordanstown which feeds Man O War which feeds the Hills. Jordanstown levels dropped yesterday with knock on effects to us: no water. Jordanstown replenished overnight but problem with pumping system to Man O War. This is now resolved with pumping now resumed. Water beginning to return over the day but slow because of need to replenish household tanks etc. Also, slower to houses at top of Hill for obvious reasons. Brendan Ryan”

Hardy Birds

Despite the really cold weather here in Baldongan (although we seem to be escaping the very worst of it), the chickens are doing fine. They don’t seem bothered by the cold and, with the house being lit early, are still giving eight or nine eggs a day.

All of the bantams have moved into the big house and abandoned their individual coops that I put so much work into. There’s gratitude for you! But in this cold weather they are probably benefitting from all being together. The only slight problem with the birds being together is with the two cocks. The younger one is inclined to bully the older one. But they seem to have worked out a way to stay out of each other’s way to avoid too much conflict.

Chickens Well Settled In

The chickens have settled into their homes well, although there have been some changes along the way. The young Olde English Game cock left his little missus and moved in with the laying hens. He is now truly the cock of the walk and is having a great time keeping all the girls happy. He has also dominated the other Pekin cock, who runs every time the young fella comes near. It is a pity that the little hen is on her own, but at least she has the company of the other hens when they are all out. Unfortunately, however, they are all inclined to bully her, so she does not have a lot of friends!

One of the laying hens got peritonitis a few weeks ago and I felt that the only thing to do was to despatch her as humanely as possible, which I did. I am now down to nine laying hens and they are all producing well. Today, I actually got 11 eggs from them, however that happened. We are managing to sell most of them and have a few regular customers. I don’t think we will become rich, however.

The bantam hens had been laying as well but seem to have stopped now, probably because the shortening days. I light the larger hen house, so I am hoping that the layers will continue to lay consistently throughout the winter.

 

 

 

Free Ranging

Ranging on fresh grass

I started letting the birds range in the garden to take pressure off the runs. It is great having all ten layers and the five bantams clucking around the garden. The two cocks are still going at it hammer and tongs, so I have to separate them occasionally. They are at a bit of a standoff now, with the younger bird having the upper hand some of the time and the older one at other times.

I was introduced quickly this evening to the dangers posed in letting the hens out in the garden. As they were scratching around the garden I noticed a young rabbit not far from them. I spooked the rabbit by getting too close to it and it ran under a nearby tree. In a flash, a big cat appeared as if from nowhere and nabbed the poor little rabbit. It never had a chance.

Sheena reading to the chickens

I think that the cat was most likely stalking the chickens but got a bonus of the unsuspecting rabbit when it got too close. So I will have to be careful with the birds.

The eggs have increased in size now, with most of them being medium or large. I’m getting an average of nine eggs a day now – a little more than the family can eat! So we are giving most of them away and managing to sell a small number.

More Construction

I had read that chickens need a lot of space to range and that either one or several runs are required to meet their needs. I didn’t realise, however, that they would almost completely scratch up the original run in just two weeks! You can see from the pictures how they turned a nice green pasture into a bare muddy patch of ground.

I had to build a further run without delay and

Scratched Up Chicken Run

I had read that chickens need a lot of space to range and that either one or several runs are required to meet their needs. I didn’t realise, however, that they would almost completely scratch up the original run in just two weeks! You can see from the pictures how they turned a nice green pasture into a bare muddy patch of ground.

I had to build a further run without delay and built a second one, measuring 16ft x 8ft alongside the existing one. I opened up a pop hole from the side adjacent to the first pop hole and released the birds into this run to give the original one time to recover. However, in just about two weeks, the chickens pretty much have this run totally scratched up as well. The original run has recovered a bit, so I will let them back into that soon. In the end, I think I will just let them use both runs simultaneously as it might be better and keep them a little more occupied.

Additional Chicken Run

Ultimately, I think I will have to let them free in the garden as they clearly need more room than the runs can provide.  To do this, I will construct a wire fence from the left over chicken wire and cover it over with garden mesh that I have. Then I can let the birds remain in the enclosed runs when I am at work and let them into the larger area when there is someone around the house.

I used the side of the original run as one of the sides for the new run, as you can see in the picture, to save on effort, materials and cost. For the second run, I used 6″ x 2″ timber for the base boards, 2″ x 2″ for the top boards and 2 1/2″ x 2″ for the uprights. I treated all timbers with water-based waterproof paint.

At the eastern end of the run (on the far right in the picture above) I fixed a 2′ high x 8′ long x 3/4″ marine ply panel and a 8′ x 6′ x 3/4″ marine ply roof. I covered the roof with green mineral felt.

Chickens in the new run

This area, which backs on to the coop itself provides shelter from the rain and from the north and east winds and is where the birds like to bask in the sun and dust bathe (having turned my lovely green sward to dust!).

I am afraid that I have not changed yet from imperial to metric measurements, so when I mention feet and inches above, I actually buy the nearest equivalent metric materials,  as building material is now measured in metric units. So if you are using my information as a guide, please convert to metric or ask your supplier to do it for you.

Adding To The Flock

I’m afraid that I got a bit carried away last Saturday week and bought five bantams at a bring and buy sale in north county Dublin. I felt that it would be nice to have a cock about the place to add to the colour, character and noise of my holding. Well, as if it was not enough buying one cock and hen, I ended up buying two cocks and three hens!

I first bought a young pair of Old English Game bantams. The cock is lovely, lively and very nicely coloured. The hen is small and mainly black. Then, when I was walking through the field where the sale was being held, I came across a Pekin cock and two hens. I couldn’t resist them and bought them as well. I’ll post pictures of the birds shortly.

This was the start of a very interesting few days. I brought the birds home and put them into the run temporarily with the laying hens. All I can say is that all hell broke loose. The two cocks went at each other like hammer and tongs while the layers attacked all the newcomers viciously. Before I knew it, the layers were pecking and chasing the bantam hens while the cocks were trying to hold their own against the layers while also fighting each other. It was a disaster! The only option was to separate the birds again.

I put the Old English Game pair in a box and separated the three Pekins from the layers with a barrier. I then had to hastily build a makeshift home for the Old English Game birds, as the cock in that pair was by far the fiercest. I converted a bedroom dresser into a temporary coop for them and had them safely housed by the evening.  I kept the other three separated behind the barrier for the night. The next day, I started building a proper coop, based on an ark design, for the three Pekins and I built a nice fold unit for the two Old English Game birds over the weekend.  They are all housed separately now and seem very happy. I will post pictures of the coops, with details of construction and materials shortly.

I noticed as I was watching the new birds during all the mayhem that one of the Pekin hens looked a little under the weather and was very messy around the rear end. She was also being singled out for serious pecking for the short time she was in with the layers.  Her droppings were very watery. I was concerned that she might be somehow unwell or have parasites, so I separated her from the other birds entirely. I inspected her and saw that she was very messy and dirty at the vent and seemed to be prolapsed. I washed her gently in warm water to clean the mess away and dealt with the prolapse in the appropriate manner. I got some medicine from the local pet store and also put her on a feed of pinhead oats only. I kept her warm and isolated for the following few days.

As the weather was very warm in Dublin, I left the poorly hen in her box in a shady part of the garden during the day and made sure that she had food and water. No sooner had I turned my back than she escaped from the box and began to range around the garden, scratching and picking up bits of stuff in the grass and weedpatches. She looked a lot more sprightly so I decided to leave her to her own devices and see what happened.  That evening I caught her quite easily and returned her to her box. I let her out again over the following days and she never strayed far from the coop area. She was clearly a lot brighter and looked fitter and healthier. She even started fighting through the wire with one of the other bantam hens!

At this stage, as I had put the other bantams in their new coops I put the once poorly bantam in the temporary coop that I had made from the bedroom dresser. This gave me an opportunity to observe her drinking, eating and droppings more closely and precisely. I was satisfied that she was eating and drinking better and that her droppings were now normal, with no trace of blood, parasites or water. She was also completely clean at the vent. I caught her again today to inspect her and was satisfied that she was completely clean at the rear with no sign of prolapse. Based on these observations, I returned her to the company of the other two Pekins and she settled in very well.

All of this was somewhat more than I bargained for and certainly made my early days of poultry keeping very interesting. However, I also learned some very important lessons from the experience. Firstly, I should never have bought stock from an unknown source. I did not know the sellers and I knew nothing of the stock at all. I did not even inspect them before I bought them. This was a very bad idea, which I will never repeat. Secondly, while bring and buy sales are charming, they are really not where one should buy birds. Next, I should never have put the newcomers in with the layers, as I did not know whether they had any diseases or worms or other parasites. It would have been so easy to introduce pests and sickness to my new flock through this carelessness. This was probably the worst mistake of all and one I will not repeat.  I seem to have got away with it on this occasion, however. Further, I should not have introduced the newcomers to the layers as they upset a flock that was itself just settling into new surroundings.  And then putting two cocks together was not a good idea either!

So I certainly made many mistakes in my first two-and-a-bit weeks of poultry keeping. However, I think I also learned a lot as well as I read books and Internet articles on stock keeping and illnesses and pests of poultry. I also learned to observe birds closely and to learn from my observations.

Now that all the birds are separated into their own communities and coops, I am happy that I bought the little bantams as they certainly add colour and noise to the garden. And it really is nice to hear the cocks crowing early in the morning, although my children don’t agree! My kids’ friends love the birds and are really enjoying watching them settle in to the garden. And I think they are also learning something about the facts of life, which is surprising, as they are all adults.

Have you made similar mistakes to me when you started out poultry keeping? What were they? Have you any advice or observations that you’d like to share with me? Did I make more mistakes than I mentioned in this post? Leave a comment and let me know.

Pictures and more news of the layers will follow in the next post, including lessons learned about chicken runs.

Laying In Earnest

The birds are laying well now – still small, but welcome! They have taken well to the nest boxes and are quite happy laying there. I am getting an average of five eggs a day at the moment and I expect this to increase to eight over the coming weeks.  What Am I going to do with five dozen eggs a week? I suppose family and friends will benefit!

First Eggs

First Eggs

The first eggs finally appeared last Sunday. A quite small egg, like a bantam’s, and a very large egg. I understand that the hens start laying small eggs but that size increases over the ensuing weeks. The very large egg is common also, but I won’t continue to get eggs that size.  Apparently, it is a characteristic of birds coming into lay.

And yes, that’s a cowboy hat behind the eggs!

Goldies Doing Well Too!

My garden pond seems to be doing well also. My six goldfish have been in there for two weeks now and already they are growing in confidence. Now, when I lean over the pond to drop in their feed, all six fish come to the surface to feed. Indeed, this evening, they came to the surface even before I put the feed in. So things are looking up, so to speak!

Success!

One week after they arrived in the coop, the chickens seem to be doing really well. They have been using the run freely all day, going and coming as they please.  And tonight, all ten birds are perched snugly together on their roost.

I continue to make minor modifications and add new equipment. I made a small wooden plinth this evening to raise the mash dispenser up off the ground. It is about six inches in height and is just enough to keep the litter (or most of it!) out of the mash.

I had also noticed that the mash dispenser seemed to be dispensing small quantities of mash as the birds ate it and I was concerned that perhaps they might not be getting enough. When I was measuring the dispenser for the plinth, I noticed that the hopper screws up and down to vary the gap at the bottom, where the food comes out. So I opened it up a few more turns and the mash seems to be dispensing far more freely.

There certainly is nothing like the experience of keeping birds to learn about these little things; you will almost never find them in a book! I hope that readers will benefit from my experience.

If you have any tips to give or want to discuss any points, why not leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.