Chicken sitting, and by this i don’t mean actually sitting on eggs like a chicken, is a great way for me to get my chicken fix.
I love chooks,i miss having them but until we can snake and foxproof an area for free range chickens then i can only dream…….
Our old place we had chickens and they were rescue girls from raids on horrid farms.Poor darlings had their beaks trimmed,hardly any feathers and just stood on the grass with no idea what it was or what to do.We made up a soft almost porridge like meal for them to get them back to pecking and healthy.Gradually these humble but beautiful birds would start to sprout new feathers,they would graduate to grains and pellets and of course fresh grass, vegetables from the garden and the bonus of snails and worms , even an odd field mouse or so.
Every night they were locked up safely so we thought,but foxes had worked a hole in the wire and i was devastated to find all but two girls dead.I rang hubby who was almost at work and …this is why he is my main man…he turned around and came straight home to a very upset wife,he was armed with more wire and bag upon bag of concrete..he went straight up pulled up the old wire redid it and then concreted the entire bottom of their night coop…not even a fox with a jack hammer could get in by the time he had finished.
Eventually we lost these girls too,we dont know why they just died.We were in the process of putting our house on the market and decided that until we knew where we were going to be and the environment we would be in,we would wait to get more girls.
And so ,we have different threats now,yes foxes,but snakes are attracted to the eggs also,a problem we did not have before.We need to ensure we don’t encourage snakes close to the house yard as we have the dogs and cats to consider also.We have some ideas and once the other property priorities are dealt with it shall be operation Chook Chalet..and i will be getting an old chandelier to hang in their coop as i think these birds deserve a bit more fanfare than they usually get……
So for the moment Chicken sitting is a joy and also a treat as at least 18 eggs a day these girls are providing…oh and i always say thankyou for the eggs 😉
FOZZIE.M 