Chickens

I have kept chickens before, but not since we moved here and I have missed them. In October I was lucky enough to see an advert for a hen house, four hens and accessories not far from us for a ridiculously cheap price.

They belonged to a dear old boy who was calling it a day on poultry keeping. Over the years he had kept many different breeds and types and they obviously meant a lot to him.

Early October they arrived, in full moult and looking a little worse for wear.Three light Sussex and one black rock all about 4 to 5 years old... so different to what I had in mind!!


After tidying up their back ends and treating them for red mite we let them loose in their new area ( 42 x 30 ft run) . We also put them on a seven day course of wormer and put probiotics into their drinking water to reduce stress and to counterbalance the effects of the wormer.

For the first week it poured down and the poor things looked very sorry for themselves, but a little bribery in the form of meal worms soon won them around.

I wasn't expecting them to come back into lay until later this spring ( if at all ! ) but bless them on December 4th we had our first egg and have had one pretty much on a daily basis.This weekend the black rock came back into lay - so now we have two laying !!

I think they have certainly earned themselves a reprieve, although with my practical head on I shall be investing in some point of lay in the next few weeks.





( The photo shows them on their first day, I must take another of them in their full glory ! )