Sunday 5 June 2011

HENS AND HOUSES

Why shouldn't chickens have attractive houses? This is Stuart's idea for making lighter work of cleaning chicken sheds as these Little Tykes play houses can have the roof removed and be hosed out. The chickens seem to like their home, at any rate. The house is bolted to a wooden platform for safety's sake. The manege is behind this one.Yesterday he and Helen went to get some more birds and these are being introduced to their new home, and each other, while being confined to a spare stable for a while. There's plenty of space for scratching in the litter on the floor.
A few of the older inhabitants in one area
and more in another space, having fallen on the scraps as if they hadn't eaten for a week!

These too, poor starved creatures! Helen has made sure there's a mix of breeds for different colours.
Is this all that's left???
There were three cockerels in one batch which was hatched and eventually, as they grew more mature, a couple of neighbours didn't like the noise. The birds were given to more sympathetic chicken lovers many miles away. The stables are in open countryside but still a couple of neighbours complained...

2 comments:

Kath said...

gREAT IDEA ABOUT THE PLAY HOUSE oops! caps lock on.
Having has neighbours with cockrells when we lived at Stoke, I can remember being woken up at 4.30am every morning in summer :-O
Apparently if they are housed in low roofed sheds, they can't stretch their necks out to crow.

Marigold Jam said...

Lucky hens! We live on the edge of the town and one of our neighbours keeps hens and a cockerel - I don't know what happens to it at night as I never hear it crow early in the morning but only during the day - I love the sound of the hens clucking and even the occasional crowing as it makes me think I am in the countryside.