Bertie got a little too keen last week and Doris had a bit of a wound on her head which was attracting attention from the other hens as it had bled slightly. So it was out with the anti peck disinfecting spray and she ended up with rather a fetching purple rinse effect. After a couple of days R&R in her own run to give her time to heal - she’s back out with the flock looking none the worse for wear. Good job I don’t provide my girls mirrors!
bertiespekins.co.uk goes live....
Today I decided that I’d built enough pages to share my website so I pressed the “Publish” button and here we are for all to see. I’ll be adding a lot more about keeping chickens including more pictures and links. Yesterday we had two eggs so I think the sunshine is starting to wake up the girls to the idea of making more chicks.
New Coop Building
Today I constructed my new chicken coop in preparation for the inevitable broody Doris Day to sit on my first Bertie fertilised eggs. I anticipate that broodiness will begin in April and I am planning to gather around 7 eggs from a variety of my 7 hens depending on who is laying at the time obviously.
I’ve read that odd numbers of eggs are easier for “mum” to arrange for warming and turning. I guess we’ll see how the hatch ratio is.
My new coop is an Eglu Go which sits at ground level as I was always a bit concerned about tiny chicks falling from a great height from my Eglu Go Up. I was worrying needlessly as it turned out, chicks have wings and can fly, who knew? But anyway I’m hoping that Doris will appreciated her new broody palace for 1.
The rest of the flock will be very roomy across my existing 2 coops, I have my original wooden coop which normally houses Betty, Doris and Henrietta at night. Also my Eglu Go Up which is favoured by Bertie, Sylvie, Mabel, Daisy and Audrey Hepburn. Audrey is the only chicken that has spontaneously moved home, although Doris sleeps in “Wooden” and likes to lay eggs and go broody in the Eglu Go Up. Chickens have funny little personalities and each one has a different preference for perch or nest box, coop and so on. This is part of the delight of chicken keeping they always surprise you with new behaviours.
