Chickens

Yesterday the Chickens Landed.

Today has been very damp and the bees are clearly maintaining the internal temperature of the hive in preference to other activities. The incessant driving rain has probably knocked most pollens off open flowers and, since we've had a couple of dead bumble bees, it seems that it's capable of knocking bees out of the sky too.

Yesterday we welcomed 4 ex barn hens into the fold. Barn hens are not treated quite as inhumanely as battery hens but they live in cramped unnatural conditions for their brief lives and then at 18 months when they start to lay less than 300 eggs a year (bearing in mind a wild hen will lay fewer than 20) they are sent for slaughter and to be put in pet food. Brinsley Animal Rescue is run by lovely people Beth and Jon who have had to move to a bigger house with more land so they can take on the care of hundreds of animals that have been dumped, neglected, maltreated and abused or just plain missold. As an example of mis selling I give you the 8 stone "Micro pig" that they are currently trying to rehome. They both work full time to be able to afford what they do on top of the huge job of tending to the animals with the aid of an army of volunteers.

The first challenge to the would be urban hen keeper are urban foxes. They're clever and garden hens are sitting ducks so Bob built this amazing fox proof run. It has a free draining floor. Wire mesh covered with 5 ins of large gravel on soil with concrete edging. Then 3 ins of sand and finally about 4 ins of wood chippings. there is a sand area at the end where they can dust bathe. There are herbs growing round the edge and when they've got used to the surroundings they'll be able to free range in the garden.

Each of us has named one hen. Bob's is Henrietta, Jacob's is Mavis, Mine is Beatrice or Beattie and Joel's is John. Yes, John. The cats are unimpressed. Squid is downright terrified but Merlin effects disdain.

If I thought I had a lot to learn with bees I was probably underestimating the situation. Having managed to lock myself in the chicken run less than 4 hours after they arrived in an attempt to catch one to put in the coop I feel I am perhaps, as yet, unprepared for how much more chickens have to teach me.

In a rather lovely book called "Keeping Hens in your Back Yard For Fun and Profit" written in the states in the 1950's it says the first thing the new chicken keeper should do is learn to handle his birds, get to know their form and let the birds know who is boss. I like that idea. It's a spiffing idea. Please can someone explain how you catch them?

Sweet dreams

Katherine.xx