Adventures in the life of an English allotment
I had a missed call from Geoff this evening. When I called back, it turned out that one of his chickens is being quite severely picked on by the girls higher up in the pecking order. What makes it worse, is the bullied bird is then picking on the two youngest birds. Geoff has run... Continue Reading →
The main challenge we have over winter is trying to keep the chickens off the mud in their coop. Every autumn, we put in a layer of chippings and hope they last the winter. Unfortunately, this year, despite a thick new layer being added in September, the chickens are back on mud again. However, our... Continue Reading →
The past week has seen our beautiful little Silkie hens busy exploring their inside coop. Although they are still quite timid, I have managed to handle them quite a bit and even had one take a tentative peck at the chick crumb in my hand. But their lack of names has been concerning me. Before... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment ready to clean out the main coop. It's a long job that is made more difficult in winter by the temperature and the water on site being turned off. Happily, the warm temperatures in November have meant that the water is still on which makes this job... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment, wrapped up warm against the cold. The temperature has definitely dropped significantly today. Upon arrival, I found Lilja and Leia sitting together up on top of the nest box. They immediately moved when I opened the door with Leia instantly and incessantly demanding to be fed. Telling... Continue Reading →
So today was a day I have been looking forward to for years. For my birthday, my husband had agreed to let me get some silkie hens! I adore these ridiculous looking chickens with their 5 toes and beautifully soft feathers. I have held off getting silkies for years due to concerns over Marek's disease... Continue Reading →
After days of ran, we finally have a glimpse of some winter sunshine. The weather is surprisingly warm considering we are now in mid-November. Down on site, I spotted Alan and Billy and went to say hello. They were both busy doing some winter jobs. On the plot, we still have some digging to do... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment to feed the chickens. The weather has been typically gloomy and wet. In fact, the rain has been pretty much non stop for nearly two weeks! Down in the greenhouse, Lilja and Leia are getting on better although Lilja seems to spend most of her time up... Continue Reading →
Today being Halloween, we decided to try carving a pumpkin. Previous years, we have donated pumpkins to others and for school Harvest festivals. But as we are on the verge of Lockdown Mark 2, I rather doubt we could offload pumpkins to other people. We carted both pumpkins back from the allotment in the car... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment to clean out the greenhouse. Phil and Steve were down and stopped to say hello. It turns out that the new people on Plot 1 were down. I walked across to say welcome to the site. John, his wife and all three children were all busy digging... Continue Reading →
Late morning, I ambled down to the allotment to feed the chickens. Happily, the weather was dry and there even was a hint of sunshine. Upon arrival, I found Phil in the Clubhouse. It turns out Steve has done a big clear out of the clubhouse, taking out the chairs and carpet. I walked across... Continue Reading →
Sadly this morning we lost Molly. I had been hand feeding her over the past two days and she rallied rather brilliantly last night. She pecked at her own food, drank enthusiastically and gobbled scrambled egg. This morning however, she looked in a very bad way and slipped away in her sleep. Molly and Holly... Continue Reading →
Suddenly the days are much shorter, the nights longer and the temperature drops. The clocks went back yesterday and the change in daylight is really noticeable. I ambled down to the allotment at lunchtime to feed the chickens. As I arrived at the gate, I saw Cliff busy fixing his trailer. Apparently it had come... Continue Reading →
This evening, I introduced Lilja to Leia. Safe to say this did not do entirely according to plan! First, we went to Phil's coop to collect Lilja. Unfortunately she was out and thus would be harder to catch. Between us, we managed to trap her in the nest box without getting attacked by the cockerel.... Continue Reading →
Sad news today from the allotment. After battling a stroke and recovering so brilliantly, I began to think that Pop had nine lives. Unfortunately, she went downhill last week and never picked up. We got a call from Geoff telling us she passed away on Sunday morning while we were away. Pop's recovery from her... Continue Reading →
Over the past two days, Pop has shown some improvement and is now standing independently again. She has just started to take very tentative steps today and I hope this means she will be back to her usual cheeky self in a few days. I am still getting high doses of vitamins into her by... Continue Reading →
This evening when I went down to feed Pop, I spotted something rather unusual on the side of the greenhouse. It appeared to be a large bee! I instantly recognised it as Will's handiwork. He really does have a talent with woodwork. I had a quick chat with Geoff and we both agreed that Pop... Continue Reading →
This morning, I dashed down to the allotment to check on Pop. Over the past two days, I have been giving her high doses of Vitamin E in her water in an attempt to address her wry neck. When I arrived in the greenhouse, I looked for her in the nest box. No sign of... Continue Reading →
This morning I went out for a walk to do some errands before heading down to the allotment. Upon arrival, I said hello to Cliff, Dave the Plod and Tracy, all of whom were busy with their autumn jobs. Deciding today was not a day for weeding, I picked up Pop and put her outside... Continue Reading →
The past two days the weather has taken a distinct cold turn and whilst the sun has been out, it doesn't seem to have the heat of the past few months. The wind also takes a few degrees off the air temperature. So all in all, autumn has definitely come. Everyone is busy on site,... Continue Reading →
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