Mr Chuckles Mr. Chuckles is a small elderly Japanese bantam. His exact age is uncertain, what we do know is that he is at least 7 to 8 years old. During the past summer he has had a respiratory complaint which caused some crackles from his lungs, but also blocked up eyes with both eyelids firmly closed. We took him inside the house to our hospital wing for a little while, until he was able to see again at least. After a couple of weeks he had improved, his sight was back and his comb a bright red instead of being blue/black on the edges. He was also eating a lot better than he was outside wh ..read more

Scaly leg What is scaly leg? Scaly leg is an infestation of a parasitic mite Cnemidocoptes Mutans. They burrow under the scales of bird’s legs and feet. This causes the scales to raise, creating a thickened, lumpy appearance with white growth. Scaly leg is very irritating and painful to the birds affected. It should be noted that this condition is highly contagious. It’s entire life cycle is spent on the birds, so it is passed on by direct contact. Recognising scaly leg in your own birds is not easy, it requires you to get up close by picking up suspected birds for inspection. Scaly leg is p ..read more

New Coop[ We are in the process of upgrading our coops. The coops originally supplied have served their purpose and were largely very sturdy in construction, they did however let some of the worst weather seep through the sterling board and the coops themselves were on the small side. Having heard that a near neighbour of ours was producing new coops at a decent price, using good quality timber, we jumped at the chance. Having described our needs to Joe, the features of these new bespoke coops are impressive. First of all, the build is excellent with quality wood. All the parts are made off ..read more

A little gold Wyandotte bantam cockerel named Smokey has lived a long and happy life. He had great looks, a super little crow unlike any other male and a lovely warm personality. His lovely dapper gait and the supreme gloss of his feathers, all adding up to quite a character. We knew as we entered 2016 his days were numbered. We reckon he must have been at least 7 years old. His last year with us was not quite what we expected. Smokey Unfortunately, his health was a constant worry as he suffered from numerous eye infections during the summer, which culminated in a tumour during December. We ..read more

Fraser was a rather handsome Silver Laced Wyandotte bantam cockerel, who’s main concern in his later years was looking after the many females of the Lohmann Brown flock. Fraser He has been with us for over 7 years and has assisted a number of different leaders of the flock. His first appearance as a youngster was life changing. He made a dash for the Black Rock girls in a neighbouring flock. This was a huge mistake as Troy, the cockerel and leader of the flock jumped at him violently and in a flash poor Fraser lost an eye. Fraser soon got over this incident and remained a very loyal second i ..read more

Solitaire as a Lonesome Chick Solitaire arrived to us via the Royal Mail, as a hatching egg from Ebay. I remember ordering some Brahma hatching eggs, she was the only egg that hatched. The chick didn’t look quite right for a Brahma, for a start she was tiny. Unfortunately, being the only chick she had no friends. As we placed her in the brooder, we scratched our heads over what to do. A mirror worked for a short time, a small teddy went down well. At night she would go to sleep under one of its arms. Eventually we got the only thing she really wanted, which was another chick. Donald the hen ..read more

Chickens are very sociable, having friends and enemies, show self-awareness, can memorise over one hundred faces, can count and what’s more express emotions like grief, fear, anxiety, frustration, friendship and boredom. Don’t you just love the many personality traits of your birds, that’s both the good and the bad. I like the way some individuals are always on the lookout for new food opportunities. Apart from their layers pellets and layers mash, the birds also get a seed treat later in the day, which makes sure they all not only go to bed with a full crop, but also with a good burning fire ..read more

Wing Protector Saddle modeled by one of our Brahma girls As far as our birds are concerned spring has sprung! Our males are jumping on almost anything that moves, so jackets (saddles) are essential on certain favourite girls. The saddles we are currently using come from the United States. They do take longer to arrive once ordered, but they are handmade, high quality and come in a variety of patterns and colours. Best of all they are half the price of those available in the UK. Go to this page to see them. With mating hormones pumping through all the males at the moment, we do of course have ..read more

Our Target Chickens and rats always seem to go together, where there are hens for any length of time rats are sure to be. It’s the prospect of free food that is the magnet. Where you store the feed is important. All feed should be in rat proof containers. Ours are stout plastic bins, which so far have kept the rats at bay. Metal containers are probably better, but more expensive. That’s not to say rats are not a problem, they are. They have become quite a headache in fact. Not content in eating the remains of feed scattered outside, they decided to try and get at the source. To this end they ..read more

Today Thursday 13th November, 2014 has been a day I’d rather forget! We left the house for only a brief spell and returned to total carnage. It was time to scrub and refill the hens drinkers, all 18 or so. I started with the usual small drinkers for the bantams, when I suddenly came across a lot of feathers in a corner near a small coop. I deduced it was a couple of Wyandotte bantams that must of had a scrap. I was walking behind the shed and up to the path leading to the Silkie run and their drinker when I came across a little Hamburgh bantam male who was lying on the grass path dead. Now wha ..read more