Category Archives: Equipment

Unexpected water feature

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Michael

OK, perhaps we should have seen this one coming. Last night we installed a protective tarpaulin over the pen, and left it looking reasonably taut, but this morning we discovered that an overnight downpour had created something closer to an … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Queenie | Leave a comment

Next, the electrified razor wire

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Michael

Well, this should put a lid on any further escape attempts.  Quite literally. Actually, the main function of this blue tarpaulin serving as a makeshift roof is to keep the pen dry(ish) and stop the feed in the feeders from … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Ida, Pearl, Pecking Order, Vi | Leave a comment

Avoiding a mudbath

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Michael

We’ve had the chickens for exactly a fortnight. When they arrived, the pen looked like this, complete with a fair amount of the original grass: But since that time they’ve systematically removed all the grass and turned the ground into … Continue reading →

Posted in Chores, Equipment | Leave a comment

Mucking out

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Michael

As with any other pet, there are downsides to keeping chickens, and the main thing that I’d been putting off as long as possible was cleaning out their house.  In theory, this is supposed to be done weekly, but based … Continue reading →

Posted in Chores, Equipment | Leave a comment

The Great Escape #2

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Michael

“Oh my God, what’s that?” I quickly scanned the garden, alighting on the swing, on which my son was doing his level best to strangle himself but still seemed hale and hearty. “No, not him – on top of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Great Escapes, Vi | Leave a comment

Featherpecking chickens

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Michael

If only the luckless film crew in Cannibal Holocaust had brought along supplies of this anti-cannibalism spray, they might have lived to tell the tale. But they didn’t. When I posted this on Facebook, my friend Mike Strick pointed out … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment | Leave a comment

The naughty step

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Michael

Pearl (bottom left) is on the poultry equivalent of the naughty step (actually a sub-pen made from chicken wire and bricks) in an attempt to stop her bullying poor Ida (top right), who’s seizing the opportunity to have a drink. … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Ida, Pearl, Pecking Order | Leave a comment