A Welsh smallholding (Ad)venture
All about our girls
Gregory our rooster has settled in well. You may remember that first day when all of our girls (and me) went into hiding behind the coop so Gregory couldn’t find us. Now the girls clamour around him like he is a rock star. So I was very concerned when we discovered a large abscess had … Continue reading A tenderfoot with Bumblefoot
So last week whilst casually strolling through the petshop, I noticed the resident vet wasn’t busy so suggested (being the shy type) that my wife approach her and ask for advice regarding our hens being off-lay recently. I mean they are healthy enough but their egg production had been falling steadily. She confidently asserted “its … Continue reading Greg – the unboxing
I find that writing under the cover of the nom de plume Pa Kettle does actually provide you the freedom to fess up to events you would never personally admit to. In fact, after a long career in corporate life where I have often found myself in the SH1T, I have generally found that one … Continue reading Fessing up
This has been such a busy month there has been little time to write a blog. The first big event was the decision to mix our old girls and new girls into one flock. It was a hot sunny day and we decided to first let the old girls out into the meadow and then … Continue reading April catch up
So Jim blasts his horn to maintain his social distance and let me know he is delivering near enough 3 tonnes of horse muck to the top field. I dash out and open the gate. He backs just inside the field gate and tries to use his hydraulic tipper. No way. Far too heavy. Realising … Continue reading Farmyard tales
Today (24th March 2020) is our newly rescued cage hens first full day of freedom, well at least around their new run. The irony is that having spent their whole lives in a cage the footprint of which is no bigger than a sheet of A4 paper, they are finally experiencing relative freedom on the … Continue reading A bitter sweet irony…
On Thursday 19 March, with the Coronavirus crisis upon us, we had two phone calls in quick succession. One was from Martin Kirkland, supreme builder of chicken coops, to say he would deliver our new coop at 11 am on Sunday 22 March and the other was with the British Hen Welfare Trust to say … Continue reading New birds on the block
What is free range? In the EU free range means that one hectare (2.4 acres) of outdoor range must be provided for every 2,500 hens (equivalent to 4 m2 per hen; at least 2.5 m2 per hen must be available at any one time if rotation of the outdoor range is practiced) Continuous access during … Continue reading Free range
In Spring, we let our chickens out of the run after about 10am and call them back in for lettuce and corn around 3pm. That gives them 5 good hours to go hunting for worms, slugs, insects and voles and generally explore our 6 acres. So where do they go? 6 feet away from their … Continue reading Lazy chickens