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Week 2: have chickens, will travel

The responsibility soon sinks in – Lucy realises she will have to take the chickens away with her!

 

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The chickens have settled in well. We are surprised at how attached we are to their different personalities, all of which are really quite sweet. They even seem to perk up when we come outside.

Dealing with Birdy Dumb Dumb

At dusk they become quite sleepy and head up the ladder into the sleeping area. All except Birdy Num Num, who likes sleeping with her legs in the drinking reservoir at the side of the run..

Ruby had to squeeze herself into the run and prise the squawking, flapping bird off the bowl and put her to bed.

Luckily she has got the hang of putting herself upstairs now with the other three. (The chicken that is, not Ruby, she’s too big.)

Looking after the chickens – and the garden

We’ve worked out the various mechanisms of the Eglu, such as how to remove the roosting bars for cleaning, and how to move the whole contraption so the lawn is not reduced to a vast sea of mud.

Chickens peck grass out from the roots, so it’s a good idea to have a coop that can be moved, to give the grass some time to recover. 

Lily has been cooking them spaghetti, which they love. Never give chicken rice, she instructed me, as it makes them blow up.

On fox patrol

We haven’t seen any foxes but one of our neighbours sadly lost a couple of her birds to Mr Fox.

I think that is the kids’ biggest fear, that something will attack the birds and they won’t be able to defend themselves, hence the choice of hen house, described by the makers as ‘fox-proof’.

On the road

We were soon confronted with the responsibilities of owning chickens. We were off to the in-laws for a couple of days and decided to take the chickens with us. It was a family holiday after all!

Geoff (my father-in-law) duly arrived with the big trailer, but unfortunately the coop was too big for the trailer….

So when we got there, Geoff constructed some makeshift roosting bars and used some chicken wire to make his barn a veritable Fort Knox for chickens.

I’m not a chicken, get me out of here

Unfortunately, the barn was so secure that Lily and I managed to lock ourselves in when the bolt dropped into place. No-one heard our shouts for help, so Lily eventually had to shimmy up and over the barn door to set us both free – to the amusement of the chickens. 

Fortunately, we’re about to set off back home and restore the chickens to the safety of their coop. More next week…

Next week:  A fox begins dropping in…

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