I'm now down to a "flock" of two remaining four year old ex-batts, having laid to rest Holly (my favourite white leghorn) and two 4 y/o ex-batts in the last 4 months, all from old age. I doubt if the last two will see the summer out, so my thoughts are turning to what I might get next.
In the...
This is the odd looking pheasant that I saw in my garden the other day. I'm hoping that BYM or another birding enthusiast out there might be able to identify it. Please excuse the appalling image quality but if I zoom in on my phone when taking the photo I can't crop off enough later to make...
I log in, click on "new posts" and am told that there aren't any ?. I know that BYM's away, but where has everyone else gone? It's lonely here all on my own...
I've resorted to reading a fountain pen forum, but there's nothing remotely cute about fountain pens & they'd make a dreadful...
Another one for new chicken keepers in cold weather...
It's great cleaning up chicken poo in freezing weather, as most of It's in the coop- less searching it out on the run floor, & it doesn't smell so bad. But when it's frozen solid to the floor, a dedicated garden trowel is handy for...
For the benefit of anyone out there looking after hens (or other poultry) through their first cold winter, I thought I'd share a tip for when drinkers freeze.
Each day when I feed the hens & take them clean water, I bring their (second) dirty drinker back indoors. If the contents are liquid, I...
I was thinking... When a band or singer hasn't come up with much new material for a while, they're likely to release a "greatest hits" or "best of" album.
As the forum, likewise, hasn't had much new material recently, I thought I'd kick off a "best of" thread.
Look up your favourite threads...
Nibbles, one of my ex-batts, has been putting a fair amount of weight on (though there's no specific lump or swelling around her rear end). I was googling ascites again last night in case that might be the cause.
We've had a chat this morning. If it is ascites, she needs to cut out alcohol &...
DEFRA have announced that poultry shows are permitted from 23rd August 2023 (in England only & no ducks, geese or swans allowed).
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-latest-situation-avian-influenza-prevention-zone-declared-across-great-britain
The question is, would you be brave enough...
My glass fusing class were having teabreak out in the garden just after noon when we were treated to a flypast by a Spitfire plus something else that we heard but didn't see. Naturally I thought of BYM, as you do... Where might they have come from & be going to, passing over Canterbury?
I often sell eggs to friends at this time of year if I've got more than I need. Several times people have said "I don't carry cash. Can I pay by card?"
That got me thinking. I always say "sorry but the girls don't have a bank account", but what if...
I can picture the scene. I turn up at the...
Here's more information about the coronation chicken in Cinderford. Marigold should approve; she's a buff Sussex by the looks of it.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/zoe-ball-brands-cinderfords-coronation-8415766
I've just been hearing on the radio about the competition to crown the "Coronation Chicken" in a village called Cinderford. (It was won by Buffy, in case you're wondering.)
It made me wonder whether there'll be any poultry shows this year, given that England is still in an AI prevention zone...
A few weeks ago, with my compost heaps overflowing with lovely compost (thanks to the mix of aubiose & chicken poo), I found myself with nowhere to empty the poo bucket each day. So I decided to wheelbarrow the contents of one well composted heap to the chicken run.
It certainly delighted the...
... they'd be great at rubbing in the fat with the flour. I went up late today to do the poo picking, after a well earned lie-in on a rare Saturday off.
Someone (probably Nibbles) had laid a shell-less egg & the girls had had all morning to scratch through the aubiose in the coop to search out...
Is there any reason why I can't make my own oystershell grit?
The last 5kg bag of "oystershell grit" that I bought turned out to be about 4.5kg grit & only 0.5kg oystershell. The hens peck out the tiny amount of oystershell & leave most of the grit behind, as they've got plenty of that...
As mentioned in another thread, boredom is a problem with our hens being confined to barracks due to bird flu. Some of my ex-batts had a feather pecking habit when I got them, probably because of the environment they'd lived in. Now that I can't let them out, bare patches are appearing on...
On Friday I went up to feed the girls & found that Nibbles had a bleeding comb. Not a problem; I've got some purple antiseptic spray & plastic gloves.
I squirted some spray onto a tissue to wipe onto her comb, but it just stayed on the tissue, so I covered her eyes & sprayed her comb instead...
This was going to be a post about my ex-batts, but I can't upload the pictures...
"I adopted our third batch of ex-batts via the BHWT almost a year ago, in mid-October 2021. Here's how they looked at the time"
No, it's not working. The forum says the pictures are too big & after resizing the...