Chasing Chickens!

Today we both headed down to the allotment to medicate the chickens – their legs have been showing signs of sore legs.

Scaley leg is easy to treat using either vaseline to protect the leg from infection or, even better, sudacrem. The antibiotic nappy rash cream is brilliant for treating their legs with an added bonus of clearly identifying which chickens have been treated. They look like they are wearing white leggings or football socks! Needless to say, some of the chickens (namely Polly, Molly and Squeak) took extreme exception to being caught. My husband bears the scars of an angry peck by one of the girls!

Yesterday, despite the cold, I managed to clear out the chicken coop as well as the quail coop. Although we don’t have quail at the moment, the coop has been used over the winter by a passing mouse. This industrious mouse has used old chicken feathers to make a cosy bed in the far corner of the quail box. I may be able to persuade my husband that we need to get some more quails this summer….

The chickens seem to be mildly appreciative of my efforts to clean either coop – we had 7 eggs this morning! With the forecast snow over the next couple of days, I will need to pop down more often to check their water isn’t frozen!

I managed to catch Phil and he explained that one of the hives has had dysentery – meaning thousands of bees have died and their bodies have blocked the ventilation of the hive. Steve and Phil have had to clear the base of the hive as well as remove the affected boxes. These will have to be disinfected using a blowtorch to remove any traces of disease. Excitingly, the hives will be opened up this week so look out for the hive update!