Keeping Chickens

Hello

I first started keeping chickens in 2003 as part of my self sufficiency plans for Easter Mosshat (my last garden). In a bid to up the female side of the household (living with four males in the house and the dog being a boy too!) I bought 6 Silkie cross leghorn hens from a local chicken keeper in West Calder. I brought them home in a cardboard box, much to the amusement of  my boys. Installed in their huge enclosure with newly made ark they were soon at home. Typically one of the hens turned out to be a cockerel. Since the boys were fans of the film Chicken Run he soon became known as Rocky, with an entourage including Babs, Ginger and Chicken Tikka.
Our first foray into chicken keeping with the original six

One of our Blackrocks

The lovely feathers of the Speckldy

I was very lucky that the garden there was huge and the chickens had a a large enclosure to live in complete with pond. This saved the garden from being demolished and gave the chooks their own secure area.
In summer when there was lots of foliage to hide in

Winter breakfast

In 2006 I added six Black Rocks to the mix. These are big tough birds who lay very reliably all year, providing big brown eggs to compliment the Silkies' wee white ones. This necessitated another chicken shed, which was converted from a cheap garden shed, bought from a well known DIY retailer! Chickens really don't need a fancy chicken house costing hundreds of pounds, as long as they are dry and have perches for roosting and boxes for laying, they will be happy. In 2009 I was given a Bluebell and a Speckledy as a birthday gift from friends. We then became a bit of a re homing centre for several friends' chickens who could no longer keep them and so another speckled, 4 pure Silkies and a hen pecked Black Rock joined the enclosure over the next two years. Over time the older birds died off, having lived very long, happy lives with us. Having a mixed flock provides lots of interest and colour and different eggs too. We also raised our own chicks several times which was a delight. Seeing the wee heads poking out from under Mum's feathers and watching them grow. It was a lovely thing for the kids to be a part of.
Our flock having their breakfast

Buffy our Buff Orpington cockerel

In 2013 as part of the getting the Easter Mosshat Garden project airborne again, we re-homed ten ex battery hens. They weren't in as bad a state as I thought they would be: a bit threadbare and not sure of the big bad world but they soon made themselves very at home and are doing really well! Mugging us as soon as we go into the chicken enclosure, making it tricky getting to the shed for the swarm of birds round our feet. If you are looking to re home some rescue chickens in central scotland get in touch with Wing and a Prayer Rescue, this is where we got ours. 

Contact them by email: wingandaprayerrescue@hotmail.co.uk 
or on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/WingAndAPrayerRescue


The Rescue Chickens when they arrived

Keeping chickens is easy and great fun, even if you have a wee garden. Keep them safe from foxes and give them fresh water, layers pellets and mixed corn and they will reward you with endless entertainment and fresh eggs. Clean them out once a week and give them plenty space to root and scratch around. If you treasure your garden, be warned. Lovely though the idea is to have chickens scratching around as you work in the garden, eating up all the pests........... they will destroy the garden and all your cherished plants so give them their own enclosure. They love sunflower hearts and leftovers, especially pasta. As soon as ours see anyone out in their side of the garden they quickly start their shouting for treats. Make sure you have someone to look after them when you go on holiday and get them used to handling. They love a cuddle once they are used to you.
Breakfast time!

Doing any work in the enclosure was always accompanied by an audience!

In 2013 we added 6 Indian runner ducks to the flock which provided much entertainment, that s a whole other blog to itself! 

Working on the duck pond

The duck and chicken enclosure

In 2014 I had to sell my home and beautiful garden. Sadly this meant rehoming all the ducks and most of the chickens as I had to downsize. We took six chooks with us to the house we rented. Having only ever lost one chicken in 13 years of chicken keeping in our last house we lost four in two seperate incidents to a neighbours uncontrolled dog who broke into the chicken run and killed them. When we had to move again in 2019 we rehomed the last chicken we had. 

Some of the chickens who moved with us in 2014

I loved keeping chickens, they are such fun to watch and the fresh eggs are great. But we reached a point where life was too busy with the nursery, work and other commitments to keep getting more. I really miss having them.

This blog was updated in 2020

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