Chickens – Page 6 – Head in the Clouds

With all the rain, followed by plenty of sun, the grass (and weeds) were shooting up at a rate you could almost watch!

And we were beginning to lose the cat –

So we did a much needed tidy up of the things that the wind had scattered about the yard and Jeff got out on his mower and sorted it out (I laughed when I caught him driving up to the apple tree to pick a snack for a break!!)

I picked up all the windfall apples so he didn’t do a yard-size apple puree. Quite a lot of the windfall apples are ok for use –

But a lot have been nibbled on – probably by our local possums or the single rabbit that has also taken up recent residence –

The chickens had a perfectly lovely afternoon as they are not normally allowed up the ‘house side’ of the property (something about their insistence on digging up my strawberries and herb gardens) So they were thoroughly over-excited at this little extra freedom today.

Its funny watching them zigzag all over the yard chasing bugs. But then finally they worked their way up into the strawberries and herbs so it was time to herd their little feathery butts back to the other side!

Not a bad herding job! The usually scatter in 9 different directions!

I’m actually trying to “Speed-Blog” tonight as we have to be up at silly O’clock tomorrow morning to get down to the local market and set up. I’d just like to take this opportunity to explain I am not a morning person. In fact “not a morning person” doesn’t even begin to explain how much of a morning person I am not! So tonight I would prefer to be in bed while the clock still says pm for a change

So I picked a few tomatoes –

I managed to separate a large crate of saleable cherry tomatoes out of these

All my jams/sauces are sorted out and other bits and bobs that I need are all in the car. We just have to (ok I am saying “We” here because Jeff still hasn’t fully decided if he is coming along with me tomorrow…) pick some parsley and silver-beet in the morning and shove the last boxes in the car before going. Early.

Goodnight all – fingers crossed that tomorrow the weather doesn’t do a nose dive back into the biblical-level rain of yesterday!

Cheers

Before our move to Tasmania, we had had no experience with chickens and I was surprised at just how much I really really liked them!

They are hilarious creatures – free entertainment really – and they totally pull their weight when it comes to earning their keep!

When we first moved here, my parents came to visit to check out our new surrounds and my Dad took it upon himself to clean out the coop and run – and got us our first 6 chickens as a housewarming present! (Thanx Dad!) It was so exciting.

Four years later we have had chickens come and go, but one of our original girls, Screecher, is still with us.

She is quite tame and doesn’t mind a cuddle but when you pick her up – she screeches!!

We don’t have too many problems with our girls. They are Houdinis when it comes to getting out of where they should be and into where they shouldn’t be!! Trust me when I say you don’t need them in your vegie garden!! Apart from hoovering everything in sight, they are like mini back hoes the way they dig! One of them (I have my suspicions this one) –

The Chickenator – Destroyer of Strawberries

got out of the chicken run, under (or over) the fence that separates the two halves of the yard, up to the strawberry patch and found the one hole in the netting and had a perfectly lovely couple of hours rotary hoeing my strawberries!! And then put herself back as if nothing happened!! Complete Strawberry Devastation! The strawberry harvest was sad this season and the above bird is VERY lucky she didn’t end up on a sandwich!!

We once had a possum visitor that made itself comfy in one of the nests. It had no inclination to leave and it was quite the event evicting it!! The girls weren’t keen on their new coop-mate and found a new nesting place to lay eggs for about a week before I found them and retrained them back to their proper nests!

Between the chickens and the compost we have very little kitchen waste. They are like little garbage disposal units with attitude!!

They get plenty of fresh garden greens and I can pick up free out of date bread from the local supermarket if I ask at the right time. I also like to cook them seed/grain cakes and make them warm mash in the winter. As a result, the eggs taste divine!

We have plenty of eggs for ourselves and we sell the excess to family and local friends. They are always in demand and I love having eggs ‘on tap’ to use whenever it takes my fancy.

The coins we get paid for the eggs get put aside which pay for their feed, with the rest saved for some specific thing we want to do or buy. We put in two screen doors and screens on the windows from the egg money. The egg money also bought a book of movie tickets!! Awesome chickens!

Chickens can be kept in smaller areas in normal backyards (if your council allow it) quite successfully. I highly recommend having them – they are not difficult to take care of and there are very few issues we have come across. I think the worst is when they die as you get so attached!! (Yes – we cry) Clean water, safe area to scratch around, nice mix of pellets and scraps, a place to lay and roost and that’s all you need – er – plus your chickens of course!!

Go for it!

Cheers

Those beady eyes can spot a grasshopper at 20 paces!!

Category: Chickens

A bit of a tidy up…

Meet the Chooks