Donating a chicken

A while ago I was talking to my friend Becky about the chickens that we have in our back garden.

We were speaking about how much they cost and how much it costs for us to feed them, which led to her talking about something that Oxfam offer.

Oxfam have this new gift idea, that if you don't have an idea of what to buy someone for their birthday or Christmas, you can donate money to give someone who is worse off some books or in this case a chicken.

By paying £11 you are giving a family all of this:

"Give a chicken and you’re giving a family a little egg factory that will also produce chicks for rearing into other chickens or trading to pay for school fees and health care. Low-maintenance and high-yielding, these little cluckers are going to help a local family feed, thrive and survive. " From the Oxfam website - click writing to see link.

I think personally that is such a good idea, seeing as how many eggs chickens lay and Oxfam also help with maintenance costs.

The brilliant idea...

My mom came up with a brilliant idea over the weekend when she was feeding her chickens.

She decided that she would create a sand bath for the chickens to go in.



All this really consisted off was a plastic tub with a bit of sand from my nephew's sand box.

At first when the chickens saw the new sand bath in their pen they have no idea what it actually was and began pecking at the sand.



Later on when we looked outside we saw that Ronnie had decided to step into the bath and move around inside.



Seems a success but I still don't think that the chickens have the right idea.

Life guard really does work....

As you know from my past post about Life Guard we bought it to put in the chickens water, as the ex battery chickens were having trouble laying eggs.

And now less than a month on we are now getting five or six eggs a day!!!!




It really does prove that life guard is a miracle product that does its job well, and it has made a difference to the amount of eggs we are laying.

We are all very happy!

Bertie thinks he's a chicken

Somehow our dog Bertie is getting into the pen where the chickens are.

We still don't know how he is getting in but we know how is getting out. He is head butting the joint where my mom gets in to give the chickens their food.

To be fair though once he is in there he isn't hurting the chickens they just seem to walk around him and he just tries to eat their food.

He is just a greedy dog but at least he is friendly.

What has Sabrina ever done to you?

On my return home I went into the back garden to check out the chickens, and to my horror have noticed that my chicken Sabrina is being picked on.

As Sabrina was an ex battery chicken she is not as strong, and because she was the most weakest when we had her she still hasn't got the courage to fight back.

The free range chickens - THE MOB (as we call them seeing as they stick together) have been pecking at Sabrina's back whenever she goes near them, and because this is the way nature works we can't get involved.

However there is a solution......my mom is going to go to her chicken shop in Shenstone, Lichfield and pick up a solution called anti peck which hopefully will save Sabrina and teach THE MOB not to mess with her.

Oh the embarrassment

Recently it was my sister's birthday so we all went out together for a meal.

After we all finished eating my Mom asked my Grandma for the lettuce and she began wrapping it up in a napkin. Later on I caught her wrapping up tomatoes.

And then chips.

We all looked confused and when we asked: "err what are you doing?"

My Mom replied: "It's for my girls."

Now I think I have mentioned this many times in my blog, this is what my Mom calls her chickens. The girls. Even though she has 5 daughters.

It's fair to say that the chickens (her girls) did enjoy the food that 'their Mommy' bought back but still we all thought it was crazy.

Chickens do eat a lot of left overs, potatoes and pasta being their favourite (obviously it has to be cooked first).

To be honest though my Mom does love her chickens.

I am being made a fool of

So everyone in my family knows that I am afraid of the chickens and my older sisters are also a bit wary of them. But there are a couple of people who are making me look like a fool.

My three year old nephew, six year old niece and ten year old sister.

These three people over the last couple of months have become extremely brave with the chickens and now actually enjoy when they come out of the pen so they can pick them up and put them back in.

My three old nephew, Adam is fearless.





I now have insults shouted at me from these little kids saying "don't be afraid they aren't going to hurt you."

And another one of their favourite phrases "Come here Auntie Faye, let me show you how it's done!"

I am sure more pictures of my sister and niece will follow just so they can show that they are not afraid of holding the chickens.

Clipping the chicken's wings

After noticing that the chickens kept getting out of the pen my dad kept an eye on the chickens to see actually how they were getting out.

Today he saw Henny Penny some how flutter over the pen and into the back garden. So my mom decided that we neeed to clip the chickens wings to stop them flying.

The first time we saw anybody do this was when the chickens first moved in, and this would be our first time to do it by ourselves.

I just want to make sure that people know that by doing this it does not hurt the chicken as its feathers (which is just like cutting someone's hair). You will see that the chicken does not react.



For all the chicken keepers out there if your not too sure how to do this then make sure you read how to:

Make sure that you do some research before clipping the chicken’s wings.

It’s pretty simple.

Pull out the chickens flight feathers by gently pulling it away from its body.

The flight feathers are longer. Then use a strong pair of scissors and clip two thirds of the first feathers on the wing.

The chickens keep escaping out of the pen!

Well since we had chickens they were free to run freely around our garden but after they ruined the grass (as it became muddy) and they attacked my mom's vegetable patch we decided that we would create an area just for the chickens.

We bought a pen that goes around the area where the hens eglus are, so that they still have their freedom but don't ruin the garden.

Even though every so often they still get out, and we (by we I mean my parents and little sister) spend some time getting them back into their pen area when they escape.

Our garden has since started recovering but their is only one other problem. When we put bread out in the chicken area, our dog Bertie becomes jealous and wants to eat the chicken's food. So this results in him getting his head stuck through the mesh.



To be fair this is probably how the chickens are escaping. Through the holes where we have to cut the dog out. Bertie the dog still won't learn though all because he loves food so much.

I need to get some guts!

As you all know I have a big fear of the chickens. I like them and think they are nice to look at but I always think they are going to get me.

But when they first did come and moved in the man who set up the eglu where they sleep passed me a chicken and I was pretty forced to hold the chicken.

This is the picture my dad took of me. If you look closely you will see the tears in my eyes. But to be honest I am very proud of this picture.

A great day for the chickens

Earlier this morning my mom saw our neighbour who said that he had been scarifying his lawn.

He gave us the weed and the moss from the lawn and we gave it to the chickens in a big pile. They loved scratching away at it.

Plenty of pictures below.

This is also a picture of the chickens taking a dirt bath:

Another delicious recipe - Mayonnaise

Ok so now you have your perfect boiled egg, why not give making your own mayo a go!

Home Made Luxurious Mayonnaise

Serves 4-6
Takes 10 minutes
Ingredients:

• 2 medium egg yolks from Faye’chickens/any other chicken!!
• 1tsp Dijon mustard
• 200ml vegetable oil (can use olive oil but has a stronger flavour and is more expensive!)
• 1 tsp of lemon juice or white wine vinegar

Method :

1. Place a folded cloth underneath a medium bowl to stop it sliding while you whisk. Add egg yolks, mustard and a little seasoning, and whisk well until smooth.

2. Add the oil in a slow, steady trickle, whisking with you other hand, until about two-thirds of the oil is incorporated. (Important to add slowly or it will split and not emulsify properly!)

*TIP* - If you have a food processor put eggs and mustard in and leave motor running while you gradually add oil through the open funnel at the top. This will save your arm aching!!

3. Whisk in lemon juice or white wine vinegar,
then whisk remaining oil in a steady stream. If it is too thick whisk in 1-2 teaspoons of warm water to give a consistency that you like.

Yummy!

So simple and perfect for chips. Leave comments to let me know what you think and how you have got on.

How to make the perfect boiled egg by my cousin Chef Amanda

Well I spoke to my cousin Amanda who is a brilliant chef about my chicken blog and she has offered me a couple of simple recipes out there that can be done using eggs. They sound delicious. Try and give them a go.

First of all something that I always struggle with is:

The Perfect Boiled Egg

Serves 1:

Ingredients:

1 fresh egg from Faye’s Chickens/or any other chicken!!

Method:

1.Place the egg carefully into a small saucepan and just cover with cold water. Place on the heat and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling turn down to simmer and start your timer:
3 minutes for soft boiled OR
4 minutes for harder yolk

2.Meanwhile put some bread in the toaster, get your plate and eggcup ready.

3.When the egg is ready remove it from the water with a slotted spoon and put in your egg cup. Remove the top of the shell and serve immediately with hot buttered toast cut into soldiers.

Very tasty and so simple! Enjoy

Life - guard to help our chickens

Recently the ex battery chickens have had trouble laying eggs and out of 6 chickens we have been lucky to get 3 eggs.



So when I went home one weekend my mom decided to go to a shop called AK feeds in Shenstone.

She asked one of the experts who works there what she could do, and was told that it could be that they need more vitamins.

They suggested a supplement called:

Life-Guard
The slogan on the bottle says: 'Happy Hens Lay better eggs more often'

This is a complementary feed for chickens, also suitable for ducks, geese and all domestic fowl, and it is a natural supplement.

It is really easy to give to the chickens. All you have to do is add to the drinking water:

Maintenance 25ml to 10 litres of water
Poor condition 25ml to 2 litres.

Now we just have to wait and see if it has made any difference to the chickens.

Free range is the way forward

I was shocked when I heard in the news about inspectors finding out that a number of eggs in Derbyshire, England are being sold as free range when they are in fact from battery hens.

Before my family and I had chickens I noticed the different prices of the eggs when I was shopping. Being a university student who is living on a tight food budget I never really thought of the different conditions the eggs were being laid.



Since we have had chickens when at home I have been eating the eggs they have laid. And then when I am back at university I always make sure I pay that bit of extra money to get the free range eggs.

It usually ends up in a discussion with some people. For example on Pancake Day, myself and two of my housemates Gary and Andy decided that we would make pancakes together and all put money towards the ingredients.

When we got to the eggs I found cheap one that were about 90p but then soon realised that they weren’t free range, so I found the next ones up which were free range and cost about £1.46. Even though they both questioned me because they would also have to pay the extra I knew if I didn't get the free range it would be on my conscience and I would have to deal with it.

Even though the chickens scare me I could not face knowing they are being caged up whilst laying eggs, whilst I could pay that extra 50p and make a bit of a difference.

Environment Committee

Today MEPS will be attending the Environment Committee in Europe.

This email was sent to people who are part of the Battery Hen Welfare Trust

Dear Supporters,

On 16th March UK MEPs sitting on the Environment Committee in Europe will be voting on an amendment to a proposal which if passed would help to improve the lives of millions of hens across Europe.

The amendment is calling for processed foods containing eggs to be labelled with production method to provide consumers with the information needed to make informed choices based on the welfare of laying hens when buying such products.

If you want to email your local MEP to say that you support the amendment, please leave a comment and I will send your further information on how to do so.

The name of the fear

I thought that it was about time to research into what my fear is actually called.

And it is called:

Ornithophobia

On Wikipedia it says:

Ornithophobia is a type of specific phobia, an abnormal, irrational fear of birds.

Ornithophobia can cause the following symptoms: breathlessness, dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control or a full blown anxiety attack.

Irrational??? what do they know?!

Below is a video of the chickens that are apparently my irrational fear.

Free chickens (in Belgium)

My house mate Andy told me a while ago about a story that was on the BBC news website about chickens:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8539877.stm

I know it was while ago, but I kept meaning to write about it but first of all wanted to tell you about my chickens.

So to the story....

In Belgium they are offering two chickens to families to help "publicise alternative methods of waste management."

(As chickens can eat many things such as potatoes and pasta - more of this to come on a later blog)

However they are told if they take part they cannot eat the chickens for two years.
"Local officials are stressing that applicants could gain a supply of free, fresh eggs."

Even though I don't like chickens I think that this is a good idea. And I just wanted to spread the Belgium chicken joy! SO DON'T EAT YOUR CHICKENS....YOU WILL NEED THEM ON THAT COLD DAY- when you fancy a boiled egg and soldiers!

Where the fear began...

I have been trying to think of the reason why my fear of chickens and other birds started. And I think I have finally found the answer.

It happened about 14 years ago when I went away with my family to Florida. One day we went for a walk around by the sea, and sitting on a bunch of rocks were a few men fishing. We went over and said hello.

As soon as we started chatting to the fishermen one of them caught a fish and pulled it out of the water. All of a sudden the pelicans that were sitting on the rocks started going crazy and jumping around.

One of the pelicans who was stood next to me saw the fish and jumped up, and by accident bit me on the bum.

Because of the pain that I felt I jumped into the air and nearly fell off the rocks into the sea. Luckily my dad caught me and pulled me away from them.



But to be fair I think you can see why. After all who would want to be bit on the bum by those mean looking pelicans. They have massive beaks and could have easily have eaten me or pushed me into the sea!

Not as scary as the others....

The ex battery chickens did not scare me at first because they ran away from me, and hid in the cage. But over the month they have become more relaxed and now when you walk into the back garden they always think that you are bringing food out to them, and decided to jump your way.

I can’t stand at the end of my garden now!

Sabrina



This time I had the chance to name one of the chickens.

Sabrina looked terrible when she came to live in our back garden. You could clearly see the feathers were not on her neck due to being tied up, and she always hid away in the eglu.

Now Sabrina’s feathers have grown back and she has more confidence. She can now approach the other chickens without being attacked by them.

Moo Moo



This chicken was named by my 3-year-old nephew, even though the name keeps changing.

Out of the ex battery chickens Moo Moo was the brave one, and was not afraid to approach the other chickens. Moo Moo had bold patches over her back, but still wanted to fight with the other chickens for the pecking order (a ‘top bird’ to which the rest will defer).

Even though she did not succeed she still was very confident and was not afraid.

Ronnie



Named after Ronnie from Eastenders by my 6-year-old niece. Ronnie was the quiet one,that always stood up for Moo Moo but still was quite subdued.

This ex battery chicken was not as bad as the other two but still had little marks on her back that you could tell she had not been kept in nice conditions.

All of the ex battery chickens had to have special attention paid to them, and were fed special food that would help them get healthy again. One of the tips told to my mom was to mix the chicken food with a pro biotic yogurt. It seemed to work as now all the chickens are all healthy again.

Not long now until we won’t be able to tell the difference between all six.

Here come the ex battery chickens

After my mom thought the chickens were the best thing since.....well since eggs on toast, she decided that the next chickens she would like to take care of would be ex battery chickens.

The ex battery chickens were kept in a small cage on a battery farm. They spent all day in a small cage; tied up by the neck.



When the chickens were released they couldn't walk as they have been cooped up in the cage for so long, some even had bald patches as they had been kept in an unhealthy environment.



The Battery Hen Welfare Trust work together with the battery farms, and help to rescue the chickens and to offer them the free range home they deserve. People who want to take care of the chickens will not be charged by the trust but many of the people make a donation.

Once the chickens were rescued they are taken to a barn where they are released to run around freely. People then have the chance to collect chickens and take them home. This is exactly what my mom did after a rescue took place at Coventry.

To see so many chickens running freely in a barn, many struggling to even keep on their feet, was heart breaking even as someone who is petrified of them.



When the chickens were brought home they were placed into an eglu similar to the one that the other chickens live in.



However the chickens had to be kept separately from the first chickens that we took care of because they would begin to fight.

So then we had three more!

Meet the chickens

Mildred Hubble



The bossy one of the pack. Mildred was named after the girl from the programme The Worst Witch. Mildred Hubble is a Miss Pepperpot.

Ever since we have had the new chickens Mildred has been the bully, and acts like the head chicken. She doesn't mind being picked up and doesn’t run when you walk towards her, making her the scariest chicken.

Dorothy



The shy one. Dorothy was named by my dad. No one knows why he called her this. We often call her Dotty for short. Dorothy is a Gingernut Ranger.

Even though she is afraid of being picked up when you walk outside she runs towards you but, when you chase after her she hides under the trampoline.

Henny Penny



She is actually called Miss Henny Penny named by my mom. Henny Penny is also a Gingernut Ranger

She is probably the friendliest one. Well as friendly as a chicken can be. I still wouldn’t go near her but everybody else has seemed to warm to her, until the other chickens beat her to the food, that’s when she turns nasty.

When the first three chickens moved in!

One of my biggest fears are birds of any kind. Especially chickens! So when my mom and dad told me that they were buying chickens to look after in our back garden, I was petrified. My mom decided that they would be an early Christmas present for her.

When the chicken person came with the first three chickens (not the ones who were from the battery farm) the man helped set up the eglu (the hut where they sleep).



He then asked me if I would like to hold a chicken. I told him about my fear, but to his amusement he gave me a chicken to hold, and it was the most fearful thing. I stood there with a shocked look on my face, whilst my parents took pictures and laughed.

The first three chickens were named: Mildred Hubble, Henny Penny and Dorothy.

Named by my parents and my little sister. Ever since then my mom has took care of them like they were her children. Calling them her girls. No I am not jealous. Honest!