Chicken Run

Winter Draws on...

2011-11-17T20:04:00.000Z

The hens from the last two seasons have done well - sadly except from the missed Nugget - we all look forward to new chicks in the spring! See you all next year!

Sad News

2011-10-18T14:21:00.000+01:00

One of the original five hens, Nugget, has been ill for a short time and passed away today. She was a lovely hen, always a little different to the others, and loved being given a bit of attention. She did not suffer in any way and was happy up until the last few hours. We will miss her.

Mystery Eggs

2011-09-11T10:13:00.001+01:00

Ok it now seems they have not stopped laying - just wont lay in the coop! I think there is something in there they don't like - used barley straw this week so that might be it! Have to go search under bushes for eggs at present!

Dull Days

2011-09-09T14:30:00.000+01:00

The last week or so has made the original five hens stop laying! Hopefully today's sun will encourage them!

Growing Up

2011-06-15T14:52:00.000+01:00

The chicks are now out in the school quad getting used to sunshine, wind and rain!

PS The big chickens just had roast beef and raspberry jelly for lunch! Nice!

Chick Pics

2011-05-30T14:57:00.000+01:00

The new batch...

Another wet day...

2011-05-30T14:47:00.000+01:00

At least it makes the willow shoots grow!

New Chicks!

2011-05-23T15:10:00.000+01:00

The school has now successfully incubated a second set of eggs! The good news is that there are now nine new chicks but the potentially bad news is we think only three are hens...

Photographs to come soon!

Chicken Licken

2011-05-17T10:02:00.000+01:00

Chicken Licken has a blue leg-ring and she was enjoying the sunshine a few days back...

Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain...again

2011-05-09T14:15:00.000+01:00

Thunder, lightning and rain today. Not good for chickens. Sunshine and fresh willow buds are better though....

Spring Weather

2011-04-08T19:57:00.000+01:00

Hens have loved the weather today - dust baths and sunbathing were the order of the day. They are adjusting to the longer days and have not gone to bed yet... 8pm now

Locked out...

2011-04-01T20:17:00.000+01:00

Chickens normally go to roost without fuss but tonight they were pecking on the windows to get my attention. It turned out the wind had blown the coop door shut! Clever girls!

Chickweed for Chickens...

2011-03-27T15:12:00.000+01:00

Tidying some patio pots today and found the best way to weed them was to let the hens do it!

Spring is in the air...

2011-02-27T12:18:00.001Z

A little sunshine has cheered the hens up and they are busy digging up the garden! Henny Penny is digger-in-chief!

If you like chicken pictures then look at this Flickr group!

Chickens!

Homes needed for these hens...

2011-02-09T09:31:00.000Z

Link to poultrykeeper.com

Windswept

2011-02-07T17:04:00.000Z

Terribly windy day here today...blew our "run" that we sit on over and over and four of us ended up the wrong side of the fence by unknown mechanism....tornado perhaps?

Bedraggled...

2011-02-05T16:32:00.000Z

A dog's day for chickens... it is dark and has been raining ALL day...

We cannot work out why they don't go back to the coop in the warm and dry!

Who are you looking at?

2011-01-29T14:49:00.002Z

One of my "instagrams" a few months ago...

Remember when we were young?

2011-01-25T16:37:00.000Z

One regret is that we didn't ring the chicks when they were small - this is definitely a hen but not sure which one!

Stuck again - this time 3 of them!

2011-01-23T16:20:00.000Z

Got a panic phone call to say that three of the hens, Henny Penny, Henrietta and Chicken-Licken were REALLY stuck up the back of the shed! All three were firmly stuck, one was upside down and they were almost out of reach of the broom! Knock down the garden wall or cut a hole in the shed? Thankfully we were just about able to drag them out but they look a bit disheveled! We are keeping a close eye on them but think they are ok...and the gap has been sealed up much better now!

Losing battle...

2011-01-14T20:25:00.001Z

No photo but I spent the day (a) cleaning out the coop with 5 hens standing on what I wanted to move (b) using the leaf blower to try to get most of the borders back into the, well, borders. Realised we now have a small lawn...or bits of lawn... never mind they laid 5 lovely eggs again today even if one was outside the coop....

Temptation

2011-01-03T08:49:00.000Z

Greenery is a bit short in the garden at present - so the chickens tried to get at the herbs on the kitchen windowsill! All five were there at one point!

Thanks...just what I have always wanted...(not)

2011-01-01T20:14:00.000Z

Santa did not forget the chickens - but the cranberry suet he got them was not to their taste! The wild birds ate it all up when the chickens were cooped up so it was not wasted!

Festive Ribbons

2010-12-25T13:27:00.000Z

Christmas Greetings

2010-12-25T08:46:00.000Z

Christmas Breakfast - Merry Christmas to all our followers!

Feeding time at the chicken zoo...

2010-12-23T17:14:00.000Z

If you are interested in what the chickens like to eat - then this article sums it up!

Feeding Chickens

This is Henny Penny (shortened to HP!) in the snow!

Snow joke!

2010-12-18T10:17:00.000Z

Chickens not sure about the snow! They didn't want to come out at first but are getting used to it now!

Henny in the cold...

2010-12-16T16:19:00.000Z

The hens continue to scratch around for insects - even in the hail and snow! It has been a wretched day for them in terms of weather but we still got five eggs!

Nugget lays an Egg!

2010-12-15T19:17:00.000Z

Came home today to find that there were 5 eggs! Well done Nuggs!

Pet Rescue!

2010-12-14T12:26:00.000Z

Honey Henny (pictured) managed to get stuck between the garden shed and the wall today! Neither wall or shed could be moved of course and she could not turn around in a narrowing gap. She was too far in to be reached by human arm so had to be carefully slid out using a soft broom! She seems fine after her ordeal even though she is minus one or two feathers!

OfSTED...

2010-12-13T16:45:00.000Z

Chicken Licken, Henny Penny, Honey Henny, Nugget and Henrietta would like to wish all of the staff an "eggcellent" OfSTED report! We know that it will be OK because you are a "cracking" group of staff!

Still cold

2010-12-07T16:13:00.001Z

Frosty

The photo is not dusty - the flecks are "diamond dust" ice formed in the air!

Global Chickens!

2010-12-06T12:18:00.000Z

Today the blog hit 1000 UK page views - but also note how many people around the World have looked in on the lives of the chickens!

Pageviews by Countries

United Kingdom

1,000

United States

281

Canada

Russia

Germany

Poland

China

France

Netherlands

Slovenia

Cold Breakfast

2010-12-06T12:14:00.000Z

Very cold today - Diamond Dust ice crystals swirling in the air

Chicken Nugget "Nugs"

2010-11-30T13:06:00.000Z

This is "Nugget" who is a little bit different as she has not laid any eggs - but we love her just as much! She has a purple leg-ring and was enjoying the sunshine this morning after a frosty start!

Colour coded...

2010-11-28T12:41:00.000Z

You may have noticed that we have "ringed" the hens to know who is who quickly - Emily quickly sketched up a chart for her Dad to show which colour ring each hen wears! They don't seem to mind the rings at all - we would have taken them off again if they did!

Brrrr...

2010-11-28T09:20:00.001Z

It is -5 degrees this morning! We are pleased that our pasta for breakfast was warmed up! This is Chicken Licken...

We run around...

2010-11-20T22:14:00.000Z

One runs we all run!

Damp and wet in the garden we run around while the camera is in the warm and dry....not fair!

Eggs in baskets...

2010-11-19T17:20:00.000Z

101 ways to cook a fresh egg #27!

Gale alert!

2010-11-11T21:42:00.000Z

The chickens have been blown around all day today! They ate quickly at lunchtime to stock up for the evening! They are safely in their bed now even though their fence has blown down!

Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain...

2010-11-07T11:51:00.000Z

Digging and sunbathing are the order of the day as the mid-November sunshine dries up the rain of the last few days...

Grey day again...

2010-11-03T20:39:00.001Z

Miserable day today for the hens...mostly under the bushes...but when the eggs were collected they came to see what was going on!

November is here...and more sunshine!

2010-11-01T09:27:00.000Z

Taken through the patio window, this is one of the chickens enjoying the November sun breaking through the autumnal mist this morning. The ring on her leg is so that we can easily tell which one is which! We put them on last week and they do not seem to mind them at all.

Welly good...

2010-10-29T14:02:00.000+01:00

Clean out coop; fill in excavations; all the things these chicken wellies see!

Cold - please let us in!

2010-10-26T23:11:00.000+01:00

Feathers are great for insulation - but being let into the house like this is even better!

Frosty morning...

2010-10-25T16:59:00.000+01:00

Bright and frosty late-October morning

Five-a-day fruit and veg...

2010-10-24T20:58:00.000+01:00

The chickens like any left-overs but sometimes the vegetables are left until last...

Early days...

2010-10-23T16:32:00.000+01:00

Just a few days old!

Free to perch...

2010-10-22T19:34:00.000+01:00

Afternoon break... we managed four eggs earlier and that is tiring!

Pot Noodle...

2010-10-21T14:56:00.000+01:00

Mixed weather today; wet and windy this morning and glorious this afternoon! The hens produced a couple of soft eggs today - will check they have plenty of grit to eat! We decided to let them clear out the patio vegetable pots for us - look at the speed she is digging at !

The Big Dig...

2010-10-20T18:03:00.000+01:00

The hens have decided to excavate the garden under the wisteria...been at it all day!

Four eggs today...

2010-10-19T16:03:00.000+01:00

Emily just checked and there are FOUR eggs today! She thinks Nugget has produced the fourth..what an eventful day!

Grey day...

2010-10-19T11:53:00.000+01:00

Quieter in the garden as the cockerels have gone at last...

Garden life...

2010-10-18T12:46:00.000+01:00

The chickens are still enjoying life in the garden ("yard" for our North-American cousins!) and yesterday was lovely. Today is windier so they are more under the trees; three eggs today and Henny Penny's have gone from "small" to "medium" size! Two were eaten for breakfast and the other one was used to coat some pork to make Schnitzel for dinner. The man who is going to take the cockerels away rang today; they will have to go soon as there are too many noisy boys in one suburban garden!

Enjoying the October sunshine...

2010-10-16T15:55:00.000+01:00

Breakfast time...

2010-10-16T08:46:00.000+01:00

In the early autumnal sunshine, these boys tuck into their breakfast...hope they eat their greens!

Double trouble!

2010-10-13T15:12:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Henny Penny for this lovely double-yolked egg!

Errrm....I'm stuck!!!

2010-10-12T16:34:00.000+01:00

Busy day today! Firstly the chickens had to be kept in while the lawns were mowed...which wasn't what they wanted after all the escaping and getting cooped up that happened yesterday! Secondly there were three eggs today so we think that "chicken with no name" has come into lay. The final thing was when nine of them were standing and calling because this hen was stuck on the washing line with her feet on the washing and her neck in front of the line! Hectic hens!

Escapees...

2010-10-11T18:23:00.000+01:00

All weekend they have been getting out and about....now they have decided the bugs in the patio pots are too tasty to ignore! Also, these girls are escaping from the big boys...who need to go soon!

Milestone reached....Six of the best!

2010-10-08T21:42:00.000+01:00

This is the first time we have had half-a-dozen eggs together at once! Honey Henny duly produced an egg again today so we now have two hens laying! Double the production! The photograph is of our first box of six...

Looking back...and two eggs again today!

2010-10-07T19:40:00.000+01:00

It is often hard to remember how small they were! Also today we had two eggs - one from Henny Penny of course and the other probably from Honey Henny!

Autumn sunshine under the apple trees...

2010-10-06T18:21:00.000+01:00

Autumn Tidy...

2010-10-05T14:41:00.000+01:00

Worms-eye view!

Gave the coop a really good clean today and was pleased to find TWO fresh eggs! Not sure who the second one is from but HoneyHenny has looked a bit shocked all day! Put some from bark-chippings on the floor and used the rest on the garden - scared the cockerels silly with the wheelbarrow (I don't think they had seen it move before!).

Grey day...

2010-10-04T19:55:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a miserable day for chickens...this fellow's look summed it up!

We have grown a bit!

2010-10-01T21:55:00.000+01:00

Hard to think that at the beginning of June the chickens were still only this big!

The weather was better though!

Up close...

2010-09-30T15:34:00.003+01:00

Ham and Eggs...

2010-09-28T20:27:00.000+01:00

Emily ready to enjoy one of Henny Penny's eggs with some ham and veg from the garden - how yellow is that yolk?!!

Another brick in the wall....

2010-09-25T19:39:00.000+01:00

Just before dusk tonight - the camera makes it look light but they are getting ready for bed...

Escapee...

2010-09-23T20:01:00.000+01:00

This one got over the wall this morning - we don't think he meant to we think he fell off!

And another!

2010-09-21T21:42:00.002+01:00

Next day...second egg...great stuff Henny!

Egg-citing Day!

2010-09-20T17:23:00.000+01:00

Henny Penny laid the first egg today! She hid in the coop and produced a lovely brown egg in the nesting box! Emily has eaten the egg for her tea!

Hen Handler...

2010-09-18T15:44:00.000+01:00

Emily in charge of a hen...it is funny how they go quiet when you hold them!

Sunny Day...

2010-09-17T19:27:00.000+01:00

All good in the garden today; Chickens have enjoyed the sunshine and the extra insects that it has brought out. We have noticed that a young hedgehog is coming into the garden after the chickens have gone to bed...sensible of him to wait!

Bed time....

2010-09-15T20:09:00.000+01:00

In the limelight! A chicken on the garden wall just before bedtime!

Wet and Windy

2010-09-13T19:39:00.000+01:00

The weather has been against the chickens in the last few days...but they don't seem to mind! This is a wet cockerel and tonight they were struggling to stand on the wall before roosting due to the high winds!

The hungry chicken caterpillar mix-up!

2010-09-12T20:31:00.000+01:00

This hen found a big green juicy caterpillar that proved to be a bigger snack than she thought! She ran around for ages before she decided to eat it!

Helloooo!

2010-09-09T16:34:00.001+01:00

Getting close to the lens!

Chicken Washing

2010-09-07T19:56:00.000+01:00

The chickens seem very interested in washing....

good job they are not show chickens if you follow this link!

Washing Chickens

Crumbs...

2010-09-04T14:47:00.002+01:00

Leftovers prove popular...

Knock three times on the window...

2010-09-01T10:04:00.000+01:00

Hard to concentrate on breakfast with a chicken pecking on the window!

Time for bed...

2010-08-30T19:36:00.000+01:00

We have found that if we leave them a little later they go to bed more easily...most of the time!

Great Pot-Hen-Shall!

2010-08-28T15:44:00.000+01:00

New "Chicken Plant"!

In the Chair...

2010-08-27T19:52:00.000+01:00

Teetering....

Eye can see you...

2010-08-26T09:34:00.000+01:00

This cockerel decided that hide and seek was a good game!

GICRTV....

2010-08-22T21:57:00.000+01:00

Emily has been making some video documentary about the chickens - in this edition she describes their coop and how they don't normally stay in it all day...

Chickens go batty for ratatouille!

2010-08-21T18:42:00.000+01:00

Seems like they eat most things...today the garlic in the left-over ratatouille was the best bit!

Cock-a-doodle-DON'T!!!

2010-08-20T10:14:00.000+01:00

This one has found his voice....shhhhhhh!

Strawberries for dessert...

2010-08-18T19:17:00.000+01:00

The chickens enjoyed some left-overs today, including some strawberry stalks! Here they are a few weeks ago in the "dust bath" - must get some new photographs as they have grown! We have discovered (thanks to the lawn man!) that the white ones (all cockerels) are Light Sussex.... http://www.sussexhens.co.uk/

Amy in charge...

2010-08-17T13:59:00.000+01:00

We left Amy in charge for a few days..... the chickens seem to be OK!

Chickengate...

2010-08-11T20:03:00.000+01:00

We have now taken delivery of a gate for the back garden - the current pallet offers the chickens a good view!

Don't feed them after midnight....or 7pm!

2010-08-10T20:33:00.000+01:00

Found something interesting tonight - it doesn't work to give them titbits in the coop - they panic as they cannot run away and hide with them! That wasn't in the Haynes Manual of Chickens!

Chicken (Supplies) Run...

2010-08-09T17:08:00.000+01:00

Emily came to help get more food and straw...well she posed in the car!

Never boring.....

2010-08-08T09:40:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we left patio door open to keep an eye on the chickens because they were attempting the wall trick again...and ended up with four in the dining room! So far today they have all been on the shed roof - we wouldn't mind but they then get scared of heights and cannot get down!

Another brick in the wall....

2010-08-06T16:23:00.000+01:00

....we need one! The chickens have now worked out how to get on top of the coop and then onto the wall! They were less adept at getting down and had to be helped! David Ginola (cockerel, not French footballer) was most upset!

Spot the difference......

2010-08-05T09:55:00.000+01:00

The Great Escape...

2010-08-04T09:43:00.000+01:00

It seems that the chickens didn't appreciate us leaving them for the weekend and were looking for trouble on Tuesday afternoon! We know we have some holes in the fence but they had not bothered to stray - until they did! Looking out of the window we could only see two.....and then the other eight in a neighbours garden helping themselves to the plants and flowers!

We got all of them back and Ted blocked up the gap in the fence - it must have looked strange when the family were walking down the road with one or two chickens each under their arms! Some left-over potatoes kept them busy while Ted was finding a plank for the fence!

Magpies....

2010-08-03T10:48:00.000+01:00

Magpies #1: There is a baby magpie who comes into the garden and gets chased off by the chickens; he is working out that it is safer to wait until they have been put to bed before he comes looking for scraps!

Magpies #2: HoneyHenny seems to have a little Magpie tendency as she pecks at anything shiny - including the studs on Emily's jeans!

Le Weekend...

2010-08-02T18:30:00.000+01:00

The chickens have been looked after by "Uncle Mike" over the weekend and seem to have grown a lot! They have missed us of course and went a little bit mad in the garden when we let them out!

Attention-seeking chickens....

2010-07-29T20:30:00.000+01:00

The chickens spent most of the day in the garden, having been let out quite early for a summer-holiday day! They proceeded to dig up flower bulbs from the flower pots and regularly pecked on the patio windows when it rained! We are entrusting them to the care of a neighbour for the weekend so the next blog entry will be on Monday! Have a good weekend chicks!

Digging...

2010-07-28T18:09:00.000+01:00

The chickens have decided that the nice warm soil next to the wall is a good place for a dust bath and have hollowed it out....