The Rooster is dead, Long live the Rooster!!!

Sad news as a f##king fox has taken poor Russell (our handsome Rooster) and B1 (our best layer). We have seen a fox about early in the morning up the road, but the one night Charles forgets to lock the gate and Russell decides to go for a walk past the shed and an opportune fox grabs him and at about 5 Kgs I hope he put up a good fight... Charles found a pile of feathers a few days later, so we know it was a fox and not him just running away from home chasing more hens!

Then a couple of days later B1 goes missing in the middle of the afternoon, so we have penned them up for awhile (no free ranging) till we think the fox has gone elsewhere before we let them roam again during the day.

Good news tho' as it appears that one of the new chicks is a rooster, so son of Russell will live on! we know this to be true because he's constantly humping B2 and one of his sisters.

The rooster is dead, long live the Rooster!

Name to be decided... any suggestions?

If You Build It They Will Come

The Rammed Earth Chookhouse is finally finished...

It took a lot of labour, earth and pain, but I think it was well worth it! The result is a work of art, a chookhouse to be proud of and one that will keep the girls warm, cool and above all safe!!!




The whole pen covers a huge area but is divded into 4 areas which are all indivually accessed by both human and chicken (the latter only by opening one of the 4 doors bult into the walls). This enables us to rotate the chickens as we rotate the veggie garden beds.



And so they arrive... I did say "build it and they will come!" Or someone more famous once did.

We have bought 4 mongrel hens for their hardiness and 4 pure bred Dark Barred Plymouth Rock hens for.... Well, you will just have to ask Charles that one!
He wants a DB Plymouth Rock rooster now. Hmmm, chicken fancying anyone???

Next on the list is the electric fence and then our little lawn mowers... More soon ----->>>>

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