Bee homing

Yesterday it was time to transfer the bees to their new hive.


DH had to go and do it on his own,  I was at home waiting for the new cooker to be delivered and installed.     It was a much slower process than expected,  partly because the Queen was on the last frame to be transferred, and DH was checking each frame to make find her to make sure everything was OK.

He brought home two mostly-unused frames from the old box, as these are great for showing how the bees work.

Firstly, this is an unused frame.  It has a sheet of wax in it, which the bees would use as a foundation to build on:

 On this next frame, the bees have started to "draw out" the foundation. This means they've used their own wax to build the honeycomb shaped storage cells.  The bottom left hand corner of the frame has not been "drawn out", the rest ofthe frame has been. You can just about see the difference in this photograph:

And lastly, on this frame there is some honey (which the camera isn't picking up very clearly), and also some pollen (which are the darker bits which you can see).  The different colours are different types of pollen  - pollen from different flowers.

All the theory we've learned...and now we're trying to put it in to practice!

Chicks Day 11

Yesterday we turned the heat lamp off during the day (leaving the Electric Hen on), and we left it off until we went to bed.  The chicks were fine - they were sleeping partly under the EH, some were away from the EH, so we could see they were warm enought.   We debated whether to leave it off overnight, which would be our preference, but decided not to, as the temperatures can drop quite a lot.   It probably wouldn't matter, as the EH is their main source of heat, but as we've been using the lamp I don't really feel able to just leave it off completely yet.

Why do we want the lamp off?  Well, having it on creates permanent "daylight" and so the chicks just eat and sleep and run around and then sleep again, for 24 hours.    Without the lamp, the night-time is the night-time, and they tend to sleep during it.    It's more natural - what the chicks would be doing if they had a mummy hen.   Leaving it off until we go to bed at least gives them a few hours of darkness,  so I think we'll do the same tonight.


The shoulder feathers have started appearing on the most well developed of the chicks, I'll try and get some pictures later.

Left Hand, Right Hand

Grrrr.

We bought a range cooker.  After much research we decided NOT to go for the Britannia, but to go for a Stoves.    According to their specialised "Range Centre" website, Stoves had a promotion on, offering a 2 year guarantee (instead of their standard 1 year guarantee), if you bought a range cooker (excluding mini ranges) through one of their authorised range centre specialists between December 2010 and 31st March 2011.   We had a participating dealer near us, the price was reasonable, and we paid for the new cooker on 30th March.

Said range cooker was delivered today. I phoned the number supplied to register my warranty.  In common with most manufacturers, the warranty is actually handled by Domestic & General; they denied all knowledge of this promotion, telling me it must have been something offered by the shop.   I explained that it was a Stoves warranty, and the chap I spoke to suggested that I take it up with the manufacturer.


I phoned Stoves.  The lady I spoke to denied all knowledge of this promotion, and told me that it must have been a special deal offered by the shop.  I explained that it was a Stoves warranty, the literature was Stoves, and that it had been advertised on their website.    Apparently I was mistaken, they do not offer 2 year warranties, apart from on a certain model (which I'd never heard of). I explained that that was NOT what the leaflet said.  Apparently I was mistaken.  She suggested I take it up with the retailer. I could feel myself getting cross; I really don't like getting cross with customer service people as it's not their fault, so rather than risk taking out my rising frustration with her, I agreed that's what I would do.


I phoned the retailer.  The salesperson I had dealt with wasn't there, so I left my number.    I went back to Stoves' web site to see if I could see the information on the promotion, maybe as one of their old news items.  I couldn't.  I cursed my stupidity for not taking a screenshot at the time.  Then I clicked through to their specialised RangeCentre website, and there it was!


So, I phoned Customer Services again.  The lady I had spoken to previously was on another call, so I went through the saga again with a helpful chap called Stuart.  Initially he told me that it must be a retailer promotion offered by this RangeCentre company.  I told him that Stoves was RangeCentre.  We had a bit of a surreal conversation, where he assured me it wasn't.  I told him it was, I'd just clicked through to it from the Stoves website.  I gave him the  web address. He looked at it online.  We both agreed that it it was a Stoves website.  We both agreed that the promotion did  exist (fortunately it was on the home page, even though it has expired) and that my product qualified.   He asked if he could phone me back.


Some minutes later, he phoned me back to say that he would sort it out. Took my details, and is going to ensure that my guarantee is registered.    


My retailer phoned me back shortly afterwards as well, so I went through what had happened.    I explained that I was very happy with the cutomer service chap who helped me in the end, but that it was really overall a bit of a poor show that (a) D&G didn't know about the promotion and (b) that Stoves own customer service didn't know about the promotion, nor that they now had a specialised "range centre" which had authorised range centre dealers.  

He's going to feed back my experience to the people who manage the range centre bit, as clearly the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. It doesn't even know there is a right hand, in fact.

As long as I get my warranty, I'll be happy.  That was one of the final deciding factors in my purchase decision.

I'm pleased to have been able to buy a British made product (one of the numerous small factors in my purchase decision)

The oven it replaces was also a Stoves, which gave me many years of trouble-free service.

I'm reassured that Stoves has a UK Customer Service centre (another small factor). I like to think that I can always go and stand outside a company with a placard, if things get really bad. Not sure I'd ever do it, but I like to know it's an option. 

Stuart was very helpful, I'm confident that he will get it sorted out. 


EDITED TO ADD:
The area manager, who was contacted by both the retailer and by Stuart  has phoned me to apologise, and to let me know that it is being escalated and resolved to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else.

Chic pics - day 9

The chicks are still eating and sleeping a lot, but have started to show a bit more interest in their surroundings.   The weather is warmer,  so yesterday and today I turned off the heat lamp during the day, so they have the Electric Hen  (EH)for warmth.   We're waiting for the nights to be warmer so we can stop using the lamp altogether, and just rely on the EH.

Their wingtips are continuing to develop...

 ..and some of them have almost fully formed (but tiny) wings:

 

Edited to add:

We cleaned them out again today.  We also did bottom inspections, only a few needed attention. However, we also did feet inspection (which we didn't do on Saturday and I now wish we had), and that took a while.  Fortunately the weather outside is glorious, so we could sit on the grass and do them one by one. The Chicks got to do a bit of sunbathing, which was great,  and a couple of them had a go at dustbathing.  

Happy B'day

We have bees.

Collected them this evening.   Need to leave them to get used to their new location for a day or two, then we'll move the frames into their new hive.  

Normality partially restored

Small bedroom (chick hatching) is now clean and tidy, and back to normal.

Bathroom (disinfecting everything in the bath) now restored.

Some progress on the kitchen and the guest bedroom, but the sort of progress that only we can see.

PetPorte, part 4

Both cats are now coming and going through the PetPorte.  We haven't "helped" them since Thursday.

I haven't watched them to see whether they go in/out without thinking, or whether they still sit and stare at it first.  I'll try and keep an eye on it and let you know (bet you can't wait!).

chicks Day 6

Especially for Alexis... a couple of really short video clips the chicks, Day 6

 

Rock bottom

One of the chicks had a really large lump of accumulated poo, so DH brought himher into the kitchen so I could sort it out.  Isabelle jumped on to one of the kitchen stools, and was very interested in what DH had in his hand.  She pawed at DH in that appealing way she has.   

We took little chick back out. It was very warm out, so we decided we might as well clean the brooder and go through all the chicks while we were at it.  We scooped all 34 into a very large trug, and stood it in the sunshine (probably the last time we'll be able to get them all in one trug).

DH then cleaned out the brooder, while I did bottom-inspections.   I cleaned those that obviously needed cleaning and then, when the brooder was ready for re-habitation, we inspected each chick before putting them back. This meant we could deal with any tiny bits of poo, before it became a problem.

So many little bundles of fluff, and they are so cuddle-able.  The little black ones remind me of baby penguins. Not that I've actually ever seen a baby penguin,  but it's how I imagine baby penguins.

Clearing up

Did I mention the other day that my kitchen is looking like a tip?  No, really.  I don't mean it's a bit untidy.  I mean I have stuff dumped everywhere, it's a bit out of control. 

Bits everywhere - chicken related stuff,  chick related stuff, cat related stuff and bee related stuff, new-oven related stuff....   I've got tins of paint,pain tray, rollers,  bits of beehive, boxes for incubator bits,   plinths from the side of the kitchen where the new oven will go standing against cupboards, bits of hive frames, grass seed, chicken-grass-seed,  a box with the old catflap in ("just in case"),  the contents of DH's car boot, bits emptied out of kitchen cabinets that no longer have an obvious home...

The mess had spread to the smallest bedroom - where we were hatching chicks,  the guest bedroom - where we'd dumped stuff from the small bedroom to make room for the incubators & tables,  and the lobby/utility room where we'd had to put a temporary mat in to cover the cables for the new cat flap and the cat drinker thing.

Up to now, we've had good reasons (excuses) for the mess... but it's time to take action.  A lot is happening next week, and I'd like to get the house back to some sort of normality at the end of it.

Yesterday I started washing and sterilising all the chick hatching equipment, and it was easiest to do this in the bath.  I filled the bath with water and Milton sterilising fluid, put a towel in the bottom to protect the bath*, and put everything in.    Last night, everything was out of the bath and all over the bathroom floor, drying.

At last, the incubators, the inside brooder,  the fold up tables etc, are all cleaned, put back together, and stacked ready to be put away.  The spare bits for the beehive have been painted, so hopefully they can come out of the kitchen and be put away as well.

I'm going to tackle this sensibly.  Today, I will clear out the small bedroom.  By the end of the week, we will have some semblance of normality restored.

*Note to self: next time, use an old towel.  The one I used now looks like it's been tie-died - and not in a good way.

Chicks - end of day 5

The chicks are spending a bit less time sleeping, and a bit more time eating and interacting with each other.   The Electric Hen has been used as a platform for more of them now,  we can tell by the mess.    We've raised it up a little, as the chicks are growing.

Already many of them have wingtips appearing....

...but overall they still look like the cute and fluffy chicks so associated with Easter.   


The weather is meant to get a bit warmer, and I can see from watching them on the camera that most of them are chooing to sleep just outside the EH during the day. We'll raise it up a bit more tomorrow, certainly during the day,  and as soon as it is a reasonable height we'll look at putting in a shallow tray with some compost and sand in, so they can try scratching and dustbathing. 

When they are asleep in a heap, they remind me of Tribbles!

The Cats like to help

I was on bottom brushing duty today.   Custard and Tilda are a bit of a strange shape, which means that they often end up with dried poo on their knickers.   Lily, who has stopped laying eggs but I think has been responsible for a couple of shelless eggs lately, was also a bit crusty.   So, I caught them one by one and, with gloves on (i hasten to add), I attempted to get the crusty bits off.  I have a toothbrush which helps.

Each captive chook got to eat corn to her hearts content while I worked.   Tilda, who is getting bullied at the moment,  was allowed to sit under the seat and catch falling corn while I did everyone else.


The Cats were not impressed.   Wash came sauntering across the garden and spied Something Under The Chair.  He assumed his panther-like hunting pose,  slinking up on the prey.  He got to the chair, wiggled his bottom ready to pounce, and then realised he was facing a chicken.  He switched to nonchalant mode, and walked off.


Izzy came out to see what I was doing, and seemed appalled that I had a chicken - on my lap!! She wandered off down the garden.


Wash had obviously decided to hide from all those chickens....

...and Izzy decided to help DH with some potting up....

Chick pics - day 4

Thought you might like to see some pics of the chicks in their shed brooder.

The brooder is round, so there are no corners for them to get trapped in.  We've got some special matting in the bottom,  with a layer of Aubiose which traps the poo and helps stop them getting smelly.We've got both a heat lamp AND an electric hen (EH) at the moment,  we'll move to just using the EH when the weather improves.     

The heat lamp is obscuring most of the chicks...

..so here's a close-up of them.

And here are some of the chappies peeping out from the Electric Hen

Honestly, could they be any more cute?

Bees are coming!

We're collecting our bees next week!

PetPorte, part 3

I think I should say at this point that we really DO think the PetPorte is a great piece of kit, and we wish we'd bought one ages ago.

At about 10 this morning, I went into the garden to let the girls out to free range.  We've been keeping them in until 10 - in their spacious walk in run, I hasten to add - so that they stuff their faces with chicken pellets (dinner) before they get to snack on whatever takes their fancy.         From nowhere, Wash appeared.  He'd heard me unlocking the door, and wanted to come in.

I shut the door behind me so he couldn't get in, and went to sort out the Girls.  When I came back, he was lolling around on the path in front of the kitchen door.   So, I scooped him up and carried him around to the cat flap,  almost losing him in a minor struggle where I was trying to unlock the gate.


I put him in front of the cat flap and stroked him.  He sniffed the door, *click*, he backed off. I stroked him. He nuzzled the portch.  He nuzzled the plants.  He rolled on the path. I picked him up, and stood him in front of the door, stroking him. *click* He carried on sniffing the door. It *clicked* locked. It *clicked* unlocked*. Sniff sniff.  Rub porch.  *click*  sniff  *click*.  This went on for hours, well, about four minutes, with me stroking him all the time.  Eventually he decided to try going through.


Hurrah!  I hadn't pushed him (well, not physically),  I hadn't held the door open for him....   


Let's see what happens later.

PetPorte. part 2

Izzy seems to be coming and going through the PetPorte with only a bit of fuss.  She chooses to try pawing the French WIndows (FW) in the kitchen first, and then only using the catflap if we aren't around.    This is pretty normal behaviour, both cats have us well trained and we usually open the FW upon command.


Wash is proving more problematic.  Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting working in the kitchen, and Wash wanted to come in. He pawed and pawed at the window.  In the end, I went to the lobby (other side of the house) where the cat flap is, opened the window and called him.  He came, he saw, he would not go through the cat flap.  

I got his dinner out, and tapped the bowl on the floor by the catflap.  He peeped through the clear catflap, the mechanism, *clicked* and he jumped back ,startled.   After many minutes, during which time my knee began to really ache,  I have up, went and caught him, and helped him through the cat flap.

In the evening, he pawed and pawed the glass of the FW, and in the end DH took him round and made him come through the cat flap.  He got a cat biccy for coming in with only a little bit of help.


We discussed again whether to turn it off so that there would be no click, until they got used to it.  We decided against it, as we'd only end up with the same problem when we switched it back on,  and he's been going out through the flap without any fuss. Well, without any help.


We were convinced we had sorted it out when he came through the catflap with DH behind him, but without DH having to physically push him. Or hold the flap open.

...
At 4.15 this morning, we both woke up with a jump as we heard a cat mewing.  DH got up and went downstairs.  The mewing had stopped, but DH didn't come back to bed.  I got up.    No idea where Wash was.  We used the loc8tor, on silent mode, to try and find him.   He didn't register at all.   We gave up and went back to bed.  I coudn't sleep.. Izzy came and jumped on the bed. The clock flicked over to 5 am,


Well, clearly I did sleep because I woke up again at 7.30 to hear DH saying "hello Wash, when did you come in?" . Wash was asleep on the end of the bed.


Is he OK with it now?  No idea. I'll update you later!

Altogether now..

All the chicks are now in the shed brooder. The first batch didn't seem to object to a second batch of chicks joining them,  wish older hens would be as accepting of newbies!

It's a bit chilly outside, so we have set up a camera to enable us to watch the chicks. Not just for our comfort (although it is convenient, especially at night), but we don't want to keep opening and closing the shed door at the moment, not until the chicks are a bit more established.


I took a quick snap of some of the chicks - they've now got to the stage where they are climbing on and sleeping on the Electric Hen (EH). Because it's a bit chilly, we've actually got both a heat lamp and an EH on the go,  so the chicks can decide where they want to be.

Posting cats

So, the PetPorte arrived the day after ordering (thank you Pet Supermarket),  and DH installed it.   Easy enough to do - certainly from my point of view,  as DH did it all.

We registered both cats with the reader,  and then we tried to get the cats used to it.   Stoopid cats.  They've had catflaps of one sort or another all their lives. They've had catflaps which click when it registers a magnet all their lives.  But they both decided they were Dubious about this one.

Firstly, it has a little porch out the front.  Initially I thought it was like a little rain shelter, then I realised that the porch houses the reader (*slaps forehead*). The Cats found this A Bit Disturbing.    The reader reads the microchip, then there is a *click* as the lock is disengaged enabling kitty to go through.  Or in the case of our cats, allowing the cats to look suspiciously at the lock for just long enough for the lock to re-engage, before they try to go through the flap.

So, we played post-the-cat.  Each cat, several times.  The cats didn't think much of this game.    We soon tired of it, and were confident that the cats would be fine. We could see that the reader was working. 

Sometime later, we called the cats in.  Isabelle arrived first, but wouldn't come through the cat flap.  I shook the treat jar.  She got close enough for the *click*, then just gave it a Look. It *clicked* again (locked) so she tried to come in.  Obviously she couldn't get through.   It *clicked* again (unlocked), so she  snigged it for a moment, then pushed her paw through.  She wouldn't follow it. 

We tried offering food.  Paw in, no cat following.  

I went outside, came round to the cat flap, and pushed her through.

Later, she went out.  And she came in again.  So far so good.

.....

This morning I was lying in bed, DH was in his study. I heard a pathetic mewing.  I thought it was the radio, although I couldn't really see the relevance of a cat on the news.  I sat up. Cat still mewing.    Ran downstairs,  and saw Washburn sitting at the kitchen window mewing pathetically, and scraping the glass.

It was quite a feat, as our window doesn't have a windowsill on the outside.  When I opened the door I saw that he was sitting on the back of a chair.  Sooo cute, and quite funny,  but not very amusing from his point of view.

He came in and was very affectionate, devoured his breakfast but kept breaking off to give me a cuddle.  I suspect he'd been out all night.    I took him round to the catflap, and heard a convincing *click*, so it seemed to be working OK., but I wanted to check.   Wash ran off as I was trying to post him a second time. I followed him. He got faster. I got faster. He ran into Next Door's drive. I went after him. He gave in and rolled over.  I tickled him, and left him.

I came in and saw Izzy sitting by the catflap.  Had the catflap really unlocked for Wash, or had it unlocked because it saw Izzy?

Much, much, much later that day,  Wash appeared at the french windows in the kitchen.  He pawed and pawed to be let in,  so I scooped him up and walked round to the cat flap. Wash struggled manfully (catfully),  he clearly did NOT want to be posted again.      The cat flap definitely clicked,  and I encouraged Wash to go through.  He wasn't a happy kitty.

Let's see what happens at Kitty Tea Time.

Izzy, meanwhile, is coming and going without any trouble.

Number 34

The 34th (and probably final) chick has hatched.  We had to help him a bit, but he finally emerged from his shell a few minutes ago.

So, of our 40 eggs:

• 34 chicks have hatched, of which 14 are either Light Sussex, or Sussex x Rhode Island (the eggs from our friends)
• 3 were clears (were not fertile), and were removed when we did the second candling
• 2 are still in the incubator and have not pipped at all. We assume these are duds, but we'll check later
• 1 chick died in shell after pipping 

As soon as number 34 has dried off, we'll move him and his two other most recently hatched chicks into the indoor brooder with the rest of the hatchlings from that incubator.      And then tomorrow, we'll move them to the brooder in the shed, so that all 34 are together.

DH meets the VC

DH has met the Visiting Cat (VC)

Alexis's comment yesterday made me wonder if it could be a fox rather than a cat,  but today - when he was in the garden getting the brooder ready - DH actually met VC.

He heard that caterwauling noise that cats make - not when they are fighting, but when they are warning other cats off.  Isabel was on the compost bin with her back to DH and was wailing loudly.  DH moved nearer.    Washburn was on the ground, looking the same way as Izzy and was also wailing loudly.

They were both looking at VC.   VC was looking back.  DH called out, everyone ignored him.    DH moved closer, VC looked at him briefly and then sauntered off into a nearby garden.

I expect he'll be back.

Only 3 left to hatch

So, we now have 33 chicks, 3 eggs left to hatch, and one of those is trying to hatch now. The other 2 may be duds, we'll check later.

We're just getting the outside brooder ready to move the first lot of chicks outside.  They are all eating and drinking,  and are spending a lot of their time sleeping.    As soon as that's done, we can move some of the chicks from the incubator into the indoor-brooder. 


I'll update again later.

Visiting Cats

We've suspected for a while that we have a VC (Visiting Cat).   On previous occasions we've noticed an increased food consumption,  and sometimes That Smell.  Nothing like that, this time. 

The last time this happened we went through a couple of magnetic cat flaps.  A relatively inexpensive one, which was activated by a magnet - any magnet.  This worked reasonably well, wth two minor drawbacks.  The first was that we could hear the poor cats collar magnet being attracted to the cat flap each time one of them tried to come through the door.  It was quite useful in some ways, as it meant we always knew when one of the cats was coming in or going out.    The other drawback was that the magnets on the collars were, rather strong magnets.  This meant that if Wash walked past something metal, like a skip, we'd hear this *clunk* as his magnet got attracted to it.   Whenever he walked past the bar stools in the kitchen we'dhere *clunk*(pause) *clunk*, as the magnet got attracted to the stool legs.    And the magnets were quite powerful.  it's a good job we didn't have any Robin Reliant owners nearby, as  Wash 's magnetism would have pulled them home!   The last straw was when Wash came home with a humugus nail stuck on his collar - he could so easily have garotted himself.

So, we switched to the much more expensive coloured magnet system.  In order to gain admittance, a cat not only has to be wearing a magnet, but it has to a particular magnet.    The collar magnets for these were very expensive; I know this because we had to replace Wash's collar/and or magnet more times than I care to remember.    In the end, we bought a Loc8tor and strapped that to the collars as well so that if Wash lost his collar, we had a chance of finding it. (And, of course, we could find him if he went missing. Assuming he hadn't managed to remove his collar of course).

But this was quite a lot of hardware to be carrying.  We discovered a catflap called a PetPorte, which uses a cat's microchip to determine who can come in and who cannot.   We ummed and aahed about it for a it.   The problem of the Incoming Cat seemed to have resolved itself,  so we took off the magnet.  We swapped the cat flap back to be the cheaper version,  and just covered up the magnet so that it was open to all.


But now, it seems, we have a VC again.    Wash and Izzy have been taking turns to keep watch.   And last night, in the middle of the night, all hell broke loose as VC had apparently got in the kitchen and a cat fight ensued.   It was a horrible way to be woken up,  and when we got downstairs VC had gone, leaving 2 cats with the most enormous bushy tails.  And bits of cat fur all over the floor.


So we've finally got round to ordering a PetPorte. It'll be here in the next couple of days, I'll let you know how we get on.

19 so far (+1 didn't make it)

Of the 20 in the newest incubator,  19 have hatched so far and we had one dead-in-shell.   We've moved 16 of the earliest hatchlings into the brooder, leaving the 3 most recent hatches in the incubator. 



We aren't convinced that the humidity/temperature settings on the older incubator are accurate.  The eggs were allocated at random to the two incubators, and it cannot be coincidence that all on the right hand side have now hatched (apart from the one poor chick who didn't make it).  A number of these eggs have pipped, and one is near to hatching but is a bit dry.  We sponged  the membrane gently in a cloth dampened warm water (with hatchery sanitiser in).


We moved the eggs from the older incubator to the newer incubator,  and DH will get a some equipment to test the older incubator.

Let's see what happens over the next few hours... fingers crossed!

Overnight deliveries

We had more chicks hatch last night... you can see the empty shells in the incubator.  Some pics, especially for you Christian ;)

They were mostly dry, so we whipped the lid of to take out the broken shells, to give more room to the others. I took the opportunity to take a quick snap:

 

More have hatched since then, we have 12 chicks now, and we're hoping the rest should be out shortly.


In the other incubator (which we think is running colder than the temperature guage suggests) we now have several pipped eggs, but no chicks yet.


Actually, that's not a bad thing.  Hopefully we will be able to get the first lot into the lunar-module shaped brooder today,  and then out of the brooder into the big brooder in the shed tomorrow, just in time for those in the second incy to want the lunar -module.


I'll post more pics later.

More eggs pipped

I take it back.

We now have 8 eggs pipped, including some of ours.  All in the same incubator. NOthing in the other incubator yet.

Eggs pipping!

We have 37 eggs in 2 incubators at the moment - not all of them are ours. Last year, we hatched some Light Sussex for R&C, and this year they have asked us to hatch some of their own eggs.

Four of R&C's eggs have pipped so far, they are a day and a half early, so we're thinking they were perhaps kept a bit too warm on the day they were collected, so development started before they got into the Incy.  Fortunately, they were all eggs collected the day before and the day we started Incubating. 


It's going to be a busy few days!

Finished.

It was surprisingly slow progress putting things back.    I put the log in the Cube run.,instead of the main run. This is what it looked like  it before I put the cube back together...

Now that the log has moved to the Cube run, I've put the "child's bench" n a new place, at the back of the run on the left.   I put in an old wooden garden chair in the middle (to the right) of the run. This givesfour more perches (two arms, the seat and the back of the chair), and provides a convenient stepping stone for the either of the two fixed perches on that side of the run.

Next, I put in the clean drinkers and feeders.  This is how the clean driner started out - by tomorrow, it'll have bits of grit at the bottom and the water will be dirty.

After that, I put the Cube back together, filled up the nest box with fresh Aubiose and lined the poo trays with more Aubiose.  Then I put the Spring shades on, which cover the top and one side of the Cube Run.

This makes inside the Cube run really airy, but cool and shady....

These pics are looking into the run, from its back door (I have a door in each end)

 

Scrub-a-dub

Another gorgeous day, so I decided to scrub and poultry shield the Cube,  AND to completely empty and scrub the walk in run.  I bought a shower cap to protect my hair from the dust - I don't normally bother, but I could see that it was going to be one of those days.

Of course the Girls wanted to use the Cube to lay, so it was all a bit piecemeal.  I removed the roosting bars and poo trays, jet washed scrubbed, poultry shielded those, stood them on the patio to dry.  Washed and disinfected all but one of the feeders and all but one of the drinkers, put them on the patio to dry.

Started to empty the Run while someone was laying.   A couple of Girls came in to see what I was up to, so I took the little bench - out, scrubbed, jet washed, poultry shielded.  Then a bit more flooring, until Custard and Roobarb came in to see what I was doing.  I switched to taking out the log thing.   Eventually the Girls were otherwise occupied, so I started to jet wash the perches.     Very satistying, but very, very messy.


I took off some of the roofing panels that we use on the sides to give winter protection.  I wanted to let the air through, and they were - ahem - a bit covered in poop courtesy of the jet wash.   I jet washed them, and left them standing against the fruit cage to dry.

Once I'd finished jet washing in the Run, I started to empty out the used flooring. This took forever.    Lily came in for something to eat, so I turned my attention to the dustbath.  Empty, rinse, jet wash, poultry shield, find somewhere for it to dry. Eventually, I had emptied out the flooring, ready to put the Stalosan (a dry poultry-safe disinfectant) down.

I took the winter covers off the Cube run. Florence, who was occupying the nestbox at the time, was a bit disconcerted at the sudden flood of light and let me know she wasn't too impressed. 

Eventually everyone seemed to have laid, so I got on with the rest of the Cube.  Same routine - rinse, scrub, jet wash, poultry shield.   Left the bits lying around in the sun to dry, and the Cube open to air and dry.

 

Then I gave the rubber chips (what is left of them) in the Cube run a jet wash.

I'm cream-crackered now! I never normally try and do both Run and Cube at the same time,  but with Daisy dying, I decided I'd better strip and disinfect everything at once. 

I came in to shelter from the sun, and to have a drink.   I popped out to take photos, and then while I was waiting for them to upload I popped ot again and Satalosaned the Run.   I got the Diatom out of the shed, but can't apply that until everything is bone dry.

Everything is still out in the sun, drying, and I still need to put everything back together. The Girls are a bit bemused that everything has disappeared from everywhere,  and that that new entrances have suddenly appeared (I've opened the side and back of the Cube run so that I could get the jet wash in)..

As they inspect my handiwork there is a lot of mournful clucking.

I'm trying to work up the enthusiasm to go and start putting everything back. Even the Girls have had enough of the sun. They are all snuggling in the shade of e Pampas.

The things we do

DH and I wanted to go and visit DD and family for the day.   This meant that the Girls were going to be shut in their (large) walk in run.

So. We got up early, so the Girls could have an hour's free ranging before we left.  We also prepared them some extra provisions  (on top of full feeders) to make up for missing the rest of their free ranging..

So, they have three feeders stuffed with lettuce and tomatoes

...some swede...

...and some corn in two automatic cat feeders, designed to pop open at about 4pm

I do wonder about myself sometimes!

Goodnight Daisy

DH put Daisy to sleep this evening.

Daisy was my Amber Star,  and was a really docile and lovely girl.  She was the first girl who was content for me to catch and hold and stroke her.  She was a fantastic escape artist,  her speciality being able to limbo under the slightest gap in a bit of netting.  She had been with us for just over 2 years 2 months, and was 2 and a half years old, not an unreasonable age for her breed.

You may remember from my blogs sometime ago that Daisy had been unwell.  She's been on a couple of courses of antibiotics and, although her symptoms improved, they didn't clear the problem.  So, she's been living on borrowed time for some months.


Her breathing had got a bit more laboured over the last few days but, up to and including yesterday, she was eating happily, runnning around, scratching, laying eggs, dustbathing, and generally doing chickeny things.    Today she was spending more time breathing than eating and this evening  she sounded like Darth Vader.  I picked her up to check her and found her crop was nearly empty.    It was time to let her go.


DH did the deed for me.

Daisy (and Lily at the back) aged 16 weeks

Daisy (with Delilah) aged 2 yrs and a bit. 

 


Goodnight Daisy xxx

Beehive built

The remaining bits for our beehive arrived on Monday, so DH painted them and put the whole thing together.

All we need now is the bees, and we should be hearing about them in the next week or so.

Igoring the nest box

Well, the Girls have continued to ignore the nestbox.  This may be because there hasn't been a queue to use the Cube's nestbox;  or it may be they haven't realised the new Thing is a nest box; or maybe they don't want to use it.

The nest box is underneath the Cube, at the back.

I could "force" them to use it by blocking up the proper nestbox, but I don't really want this to become their favourite place.  So, instead, I turned it round 90 degrees - marginally more awkward for me to get to the roll-away egg bit,  but offers even more privacy and shade than the way it was situated before.

I've just realised - looking at the photo - that it's listing somewhat.  I'll need to go and sort that out later.



It's a neat design - it can be used with or without the "nest" insert,  with or without the rollaway egg box;  the step folds up to close the nest box up if you want to prevent entry.   And, less relevant in my set up, you can build a bank of them.


Here's a pic from the chickbox website.  This shows it in brown, which is the colour I have; it's also available in yellow.

Milly

Milly is my cream legbar.  Aged 3, she is now my Eldest Hen.  She doesn't like being handled very much,  although at this time of year she can't help herself and crouches for me.  She's got a lot more friendly since Delilah died.

She's a really funny (amusing) little thing.  Although she's the Senior Girl, she isn't Top Chook - and I don't think she's too sure of her place in the pecking order:she still chases three of the four newbies, apparently just for the fun of it.

Anyway,  car alarm was going off in the distance today, at the same time as I was in the garden with my camera.  Here she is...

Extra nesting

The Garden Girls go through phases. 

Sometimes, they like the one big nestbox provided by the Cube.  They manage to share, without squabbling.  Every so often, there is a bit of a falling-out, and someone decides to hog the whole of the nestbox and not let anyone else in.   Some of the Girls take quite a long time to lay.  They seem to take themselves off to the nestbox at the first signs,  and then stay there. Sometimes for hours.This results in a lot of squawking, crowing, and general hen noisiness,  and the Girls like to schedule this for an early Sunday morning.

When this happens, I put the nest box divider in.  Peace usually resumes, for a while, and then it kicks off again, with one of the Girls in one of the nestboxes refusing to let anyone else in either of the nestboxes While She is Laying.  (And at least one Girl refuses to go anywhere near the nestbox if it's Occupied).

We've been round this loop (putting the divider in, taking it out) several times recently,  and so I decided to add a completely new nest box.  I bought a chick box last year, for use at the Allotment, but DH built additional nest boxes on one of the Coops anyway.  

So. I've installed the CHickbox.  I started off with it on one of the ledges, but I realised that this didn't really give much privacy.   So it's now installed underneath the Cube, facing the back (so I can get in to get the eggs).    I put shades around the bottom of the Cube, to make the area a little darker and peaceful.  I put a dummy egg in.  I've even put the Girls in.  

Nothing yet. But it's early days.  I'll leave it for a day or two and see if they get the idea.

Flavoured butter

Today I'm making garlic butter and lemon butter. 


When I first started making these, I used to pot them in small Lock and Lock containers.  Then I realised I'd be better off making them in small pieces, and I could get how ever many I needed out of the freezer, when I needed them.


After a number of experiments, I realised that using silicon ice cube moulds was the way forward.  Easy to fill, easy to freeze, and then I pop the frozen butters out into an airtight bag when frozen.  Then I just pull out a couple of lumps whenever I need them.


As well as my standard hearts tray, I also have a set of Winnie the Pooh sillicon ice cube trays, thanks to my lovely Auntie J.   So today my garlic butter is in hearts, Pooh Bear, Piglet,  and Tigger  heads and Eeyore shapes.  

I haven't tried lemon butter before, thought it would be great with fish and chicken. I used the zest and most of the juice of 1 lemon to a small amount of unsalted butter. It's a bit garlicky, as I really didn't have the energy to wash the beater and bowl of the garlic butter first.   I decided to pipe this onto a tray, so that it would be a different shape to (and therefore easily distinguishable from) the garlic butters.

Buttermaking advances

I've been making my own butter for some years now and today, whilst making the latest batch, I was reflecting on how my buttermaking has improved during that time.

The amount of cream I use in each session has gradually crept up.  I think I probably started with 2x600ml pots, and today I am using 7 litres.   That's because it's the same amount of effort prepping and clearing up with 1.2 litres as there is with 7. Or 8.   The only limiting factor is suitable pots, and freezer space.  I've even tried using fairy cake cases at one point.

When I started with this, I tried using my food mixer and a food processor (two machines, thought it would be twice aas quick).  The food mixer worked well; the food processor was rubbish. It produced a thick cream, and didn't really spin out the buttermilk.

At some point I bought a Kitchen Aid mixer, and this worked well. No better at buttermaking than my previous mixerm but it was fine.  I worked out a production line for spinning out the buttermilk, washing the butter, piling it up, then putting it the washed and drained butter back in the mixer in 2 pound batches, with the appropriate amount of salt.


Having sorted out my production line, I gradually worked out which were the best of my range of kitchen utensils to use for which job.  Something flexible yet sturdy to help with the washing;  small spatulas to get the butter off the beaters;  a funnel with a filter for draining the buttermilk off the butter into a jug...

We went on to a water meter last year, so I looked at how much water I was using in the washing process,  and started to use the washing-water to clean out the cream containers prior to putting the in the recycling bin,  and also to do the initial cleaning of the bowls and utensils at the end of the process.


My next big breakthrough was the purchase of a newly designed beater for the KitchenAid.  This was a slightly improved shape, and was lined with a rubbery material, which really cleaned the bowl as it mixed.   Immediately, I found that the amount of buttermilk extracted by the mixer went up,  and the amount left in (which you can tell when you wash it) went down.

Today I implemented the next "innovation".  KithcenAid have started to do plastic non-sealing covers for their bowls, with the idea that if you are making dough you can put a lid on a leave it to rise.   I could see an alternative use.

I bought a pair - I had to get them from the US as UK suppliers all seemed to be out of stock - and I got DH to cut the centre out of one of them.   I tried it fro the first time today, and it's been fantastic.  Finally, the buttermilk doesn't splash over the side of the bowl when it separates from the butter.  Fab, fab, fab.

I've just finished potting up today's salted butter, and it's in the fridge to chill before freezing.    I kept a small bit of butter back, as I need to make some flavoured butter this time (I need to do this after everything else is finished, otherwise there is a risk that my normal butter picks up the flavouring).