Blogfromthebarn

Chicken update, what becomes of the post menopausal hen?


For the benefits of those who've been mail-bombing me with demands for updates on the chicken situation here at the Barn I felt is appropriate to pen this update. As you'll remember if you've been paying attention over the years about two years ago we bought a purple Eglu, (a plastic wipe-clean chicken coop) and subsequently three hens , a brown,stupid chicken Bessie, a white stupid chicken and a black stupid chicken (Cassie). They were quickly joined by a the sole survivor from a fox attack on a neighbour's flock, another stupid (but lucky) brown one, Choclit.

We lost Jessie, the white, quite traumatically, to a sudden localised outbreak of dog, and as a result built a compound, 'the velociraptor cage', to give them a relatively safe roaming area. It's been the target of a series of unprovoked incursions by the local fox population, so far without any serious damage beyond constant hole and tunnel filling by yours truly, Farmer Grumpy.

So now, two years on, what's afoot? well chickens live for 4-5 years but only lay eggs for two, which means the yield of eggy goodness has started to noticeably drop and the girls look a little apprehensive whenever I roam the woods with an an axe or roasting dish. They need not worry, I'm informed by "The Women of the Barn" that it will be very poorly received if I offer up 'Bessie in a White wine sauce', or anything similar. So it appears that the purple eglu will now become a poultry retirement home and I've purchased a new Eglu, (not available in Purple alas) and today assembled it in anticipation of the new wave of Oakwood chickens, scheduled to arrive in a couple of weeks. Click the photo to watch the exploits of an acknowledged king of botched DIY making the easy look difficult.


I'll keep you posted when the new girls arrive.

Labels: oakwood barn stuffy chickens omlet eglu smallholding

posted by Stuffy @ 10:11 pm