“If you like chickens….”

“If you like chickens, are interested in chickens, have chickens, want chickens,
live near chickens, or are a chicken – you should get this book.”

….and so the review concluded on Amazon. I felt rather proud to have been involved in the writing of that book even if the comment brought a chuckle to my face.

I have a lot of poultry books and obviously as a co-author of the above you’d expect me to say it’s a good book…. but it is! And whilst you might think this is just some PR to boost sales…. it isn’t, I’ve had my pay cheque already. Instead I’ll leave to another poultry keeper to share his review…

“I have a large collection of poultry books from the 1930′s through to the present day and I am always eager to open the cover of a new release to see what else I can learn about chickens which have become part of my working life as well as my passion.
There are so many very basic ‘how to keep chickens’ books out there and once you’ve seen one… it gets a little, well, boring reading another and lets face it there are some good websites out there these days with a lot of this kind of information available.
“The Chicken. A Natural History” is different. It is not a ‘how to’ book but is aimed at pretty much anyone interested in chickens, beginner or not. The first 4 chapters covers what science can tell us about chickens. From evolution and domestication to anatomy, biology, behaviour, intelligence and learning, all fascinating chapters that are well presented with no shortage of amazing photos.
From wattles and combs to hatching, flock formation to chicks imprinting on their mother, it really is all covered in this book!
The fifth and final chapter covers an introduction to the breeds which covers many of the different breeds you will come across. From layers to table birds, Game to ornamental breeds, each with their own photograph and breed profile covering their origins, some history and information about their behaviour and upkeep. This chapter is very well written and could make a small book of its own!
Overall, an excellent book. I think this could well be in my top 3 best books on chickens. If you want to learn about chickens and their breeds, don’t look any further, this is definitely the book for you.”

….and on that note, best I press on with writing the next book….. well maybe later, I feel the urge to go sit in the sunshine in the middle of the field surrounded by Brahma’s and read a book  :-)

Chicken Keeping: 10 tips for winter

Winter for any animal can present its challenges and it’s no different for chickens and the keepers of chickens. Providing the optimum conditions for your flock is essential and whilst they may not be laying at this point of the year effort still needs to be invested in their upkeep so they can start the new laying period in prime condition. Here’s 10 tips to help when you are out and about with your flock

1.         Ventilation in the house is essential for your poultry throughout the year so don’t be tempted to block up every hole in the house in the belief it will keep the birds warm when the wild weather comes along.

2.         Bedding and litter should be of an adequate depth to provide a level of insulation but don’t be tempted to stuff the house full of straw thinking it will create a cosy house.

3.         Mucking out should be at least a weekly task but during the winter due to the birds spending longer in the house (and therefore fouling the litter more). To help try a quick spot of ‘poo picking’ each morning or place a sheet of newspaper under the perch that can be removed when you let the birds out each day.

4.         Try to keep the entrance to the house dry or free from standing water or mud. A couple of old pallets in front of the pop hole might look unsightly but they will help.

5.         Dampness can occur on the floor of the chicken houses despite your best efforts so winter is a good time to invest in a powder type disinfectant such as Stalosan F.

6.         Disinfecting the feeders and drinkers on a weekly basis is advisable now as they will be getting dirtier due to the wetter weather.

7.         It’s worth considering giving your chickens free access to feed during the day as opposed to measuring out a specific amount. This is because their consumption rate will vary depending on how cold the weather is, they will manage this accordingly.

8.         A handful of corn or other ‘slow burn’ grain per bird given as a scratch feed an hour or so before they go into roost will provide some extra energy to keep the birds warm during the night.

9.         Bring drinkers indoors at night or empty them completely. Its far easier to fill an empty drinker in the morning than wander around with a kettle of boiling water trying to defrost a solid drinker

10.       Check the drinkers regularly during the day or keep them in a frost free place. Chickens will drink a significant amount of water even in cold weather.

 

They might have built in snow shoes but winter can present its challenges for Sabelpoots

Green Roof for the Chicken Coop

Every now and then I’m given a chicken house to put through some field trials and as a consequence I can end up with quite a few ‘buildings’ covering the field. It was on one such coop I figured I try a different kind of field trial by sticking a green roof on it. Why not, after all it’s a roof like any other so it would provide “the environmental benefits of having a living, breathing space where once there was nothing, transform an otherwise dull space into something aesthetically pleasing AND provide you with more growing space.”

This project will take you through how to go about constructing a simple and effective green roof on your chicken coop. There are options to buy ready-made matting that can be rolled out and attached to a roof but at over £20 a metre this can prove a little prohibitive, especially as this whole project costs less than £20 if you sow or propagate your own plants. Better instead to build your own, that way you can decide the planting plan and over the years it will pad out and provide the same effect as the matting. It also enables you to create your own personal blend of weather-hardy plants such as sedums, alpines, mosses, grasses, seasonal herbs, and house leeks.

In fact you could apply the same design principles to a shed, log store, over even a bird box!

What You Will Need:

• An offcut of pond liner or damp proof liner
• Geotextile membrane or some old blankets
• Sufficient Yorkshire board to go around the perimeter of the roof
• Screws
• A sack of 10mm gravel
• Peat free compost mixed with sharp sand
• Drill
• Saw
• Screwdriver

Step 1

Identify a suitable roof structure ideally with a 9-10 degree pitch on it. Check it’s strong enough to take the weight of a saturated green roof and add supporting framework (crossbeams attached to the side supports & roof will help) if necessary.

Step 2

Attach the section of pond liner or damp proof membrane and make sure it overlaps the edges so water will run off and not seep into the roof. Staple into position and trim off any excess with a knife or pair of scissors

Step 3

Cut lengths of board to ‘box in’ the roof. This will stop the planting medium from simply washing off. Allow a 5mm gap between the board and the roof on the lower edge. This will help with water drainage.

Step 4

Staple the geotextile member (or old blanket) to the box sides. This layer will help retain moisture and reduce the need for frequent watering.

Step 5

Add a 2cm layer of the gravel to the roof. This layer will aid water dispersal and drainage.

Step 6

Finally add about 5cms of the compost and sharp sand mix and level it out. You are now ready for planting it up.

Make more of your chicken ark

Theres quite a wealth of chicken houses out on the market and if you are reading this then you’ll know thats quite probably because keeping poultry at home is a booming hobby/ lifestyle choice. The thing is, it’s also rather an addictive thing is poultry keeping. I know, I started with a flock of half a dozen spent Black Rocks that a friend gave me and now have somewhere in the region of 200 breeding head of stock, not to mention the growing stock and chicks that are produced each year.

And so the inevitable happens, the flock expands and so does the housing requirements and this can be quite an expense. Here however is a simple method of hugely increasing the space available for your poultry by simply modifying an ark.

This ark would probably cost around £150 to buy, a little less if homemade, and would house a trio of bantams fairly comfortably.

Bantam Ark

As with a lot of arks though it’s missing a trick. Ok the ark concept (eg not being a square box) came into being to stop lambs or sheep climbing on top of the house and damaging the roof, hence its triangular shape, but it there is still scope to add at least £100 more in price tag to it by spending a few pounds on timber and weld mesh, whilst at the same time doubling the ground space AND creating an outdoor shelther for the birds which is also ideal for putting feeders and/or a dustbath…. which ultimately means it can accomodate a few more chickens.

Stilting the ark up is simple enough to do. Don’t think angles, think flat panels, simply measure up and build two panels that can be attached to the side of the ark and then look to box the ends in which can be done with either wood fence panels, scrap ply or more weld mesh, or any combination. Next add a ramp for the birds to be able to get in and out and in the end you end up with a far more functional ark.

Stilt it up - making more of your poultry ark