Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Wednesday and hens

A chicken update: Why?  well there are a lot of headless chickens running around in parliament at the moment, we are at impasse over Brexit, there is  really nothing to say.
About three weeks ago Phoebe our last bossy hen died, I think with the same symptons as the other two.  Leaving me with two bantams, Lady Jane and Fay.
Now my first three hens had not been vaccinated, but the two bantams had, and I paid a good price for them, but obviously it is worth it for health reasons.  They are vaccinated against Newcastle Disease, Marek's disease, and infectious bronchitis.
So who became top chicken out of the two? Well it turns out to be mad little Lady Jane, she has strode forward chasing Fay around, and two days ago took her small self to sleep in the coop with Fay, she has always at night gone into the box to sleep by herself.  It will be interesting to see what will happen when another two are added to the flock how the pecking order will arrange itself.
I notice quite a lot of bloggers keep chickens, and I think we keep them for the fun they provide, at last in life when we have slowed down we can stand and watch.  And of course be hypocrites and eat bought chicken!
I came across photos of my original chickens in Bath, they got finished off by one of those city foxes......

My very first two, Hetty and Harriet

Hetty and Harriet being jungle hens

Bought in Yorkshire and now part of the Universe




Fay and Lady Jane


I came across this whilst flicking through.  This is the coke house for the church that you often see from our house view.  Note the coal hatchway, just the right size for the pony and cart which delivered.  Paul found out that this small building had an earlier life, it was a 'lock-up' for the local drunk or thief.  You can see the results of flooding on the bottom four courses of stone.  What has happened is that as cars drive through they throw up spray water which washes the mortar from the stones.

11 comments:

  1. Re that bottom picture Thelma - when I saw it I thought it was an old lock up and was surprised when I read first that it was a coke house. These old lock ups still survive in various villages i have lived in - I bet they could tell some tales.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's very interesting Pat. I wasn't aware that so many still existed. There's been talk about converting ours into a public loo, which I'm dead against. What ours could possibly be used for though is a problem, and it's in dire need of some tlc.

      One of the old stoves is still in there and I'm going to try and get it out, clean it up and maybe put it back in a corner of the church as an example of the church's history. There's also a bit of medieval stonework, above the hatch in the interior, which needs photographing sometime.

      Delete
  2. No chickens here because I have a nearby den of red fox. Hubby would love to get some chickens but we also have red shoulder hawks that nest nearby. I did babysit (chickensit) some chickens a year ago, but spent all my time checking on them through the windows

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tabor, our killer of birds is the sparrow-hawk, which can actually kill much bigger prey such as the pigeon. I keep a wary eye open for foxes but haven't seen any.

      Delete
  3. If I lived 1/2 mile away, I could keep chickens, which I would love. Unfortunately, I live where the zoning board does not allow it. Instead, I feed and care for displaced cats from the some of the abandoned barns, that will probably be torn down for “progress”.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not good news Arleen, farm or feral cats in Britain are also a part of the landscape. Jennie (Codlins and Cream) takes them in as well as does Sharon (Morning Minion). Of course neutering helps such creatures.

      Delete
  4. We have gradually lost all but one of our chickens to hawks and other predators-guess it's just the natural course of things. Hoping to start again with some chicks this spring.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good luck with that Jan, losing chickens can be a sad business, my two hate the windy weather at the moment, so are always tucked away in safe places.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thelma - it wasn't until I started to watch the Victorian House on iplayer that I realised that I had indeed watched it last week but just hadn't realised that was the title. I had enjoyed it so much that I warched it again - the beautiful objects they made were a delight to see both in their making and in the finished article. I was in a way sorry that one had to be chosen and that the wallpaper 'won' - I think it was absolutely impossible to choose between them as examples of the most beautifully hand craft objects. Now I am looking forward to this week's programme. As a matter of interest, while you lived in Wolverhampton did you ever go to Whitwick Manor?
    I used to go regularly for the sheer joy of sitting there and admiring the beauty of ordinary things.

    ReplyDelete
  7. No, we left when I was 16 and nobody ever took me. But, I did have a best friend who lived in a windmill, round it was anyway and her mother wrote children's books. I think her name was Tania Hodgetts.

    ReplyDelete
  8. And I have just found the author Sheila Hodgetts who according to the Wiki lived in the West Midlands....Toby Twirl (bit like Rupert the Bear I think)
    https://www.biblio.com/book/toby-twirl-pogland-hodgetts-sheila/d/685244886
    Thanks for reminding me about Wolverhampton!

    ReplyDelete

Love having comments!