Carol's Chickens

We are still working on the finishing touches since the path was finished but I thought it was about time I got back to the girls.

I will continue with the garden improvements tomorrow. My husband has cleaned up the shingle on the drive. With amazing timing our next door neighbours have replaced the front fence today which has made the front look even better. Although it is their fence we said we would be happy to go halves on the cost as it is benefiting us too but they wouldn’t hear of it.

I have put the first coat of white paint on the front wall today and will give it a second coat in the morning. I will also be repainting the red side walls.

We also replaced the shingle in the front wall with plumb coloured slate. It looks amazing but I want to wait until I have finished painting before I put out a post.

Meanwhile I gave the girls some yogurt today.

I gave the girls a yogurt treat today

They are enjoying the yogurt

They all have yogurt beaks

Enjoying this treat

Butterscotch decides to join in

Butterscotch has some yogurt

Butterscotch is still broody and has been for two weeks so I am expecting her to come out of it any day now. As usual while broody she has moulted her head and neck feathers again. It’s such a shame as she was nearly back to normal before she went broody and now she is back to this state again. It seems to be a never ending cycle for her.

I got her out of the nest box so that she could join in with the yogurt but she was slow to join in and had a little then returned to the nest box.

Emerald is looking better but is still dropping feathers and Toffee has a scruffy neck but otherwise looks okay. Only Speckles, Peaches and Barley are laying but I hope Butterscotch will return to laying in about a weeks time.

Barley is still trying to rise to the top of the pecking order. Since her spats with Butterscotch and Toffee neither of those two girls show her the pecking order any more by pecking or chasing her away. Butterscotch will have a token peck at Peaches but no longer includes Barley in this.

Another surprising turn was seeing Barley and Peaches have a spat recently. They both had their ruffs raised and once again Barley came out on top. They seem to have resumed being best friends since then. I think since the ex top girls have left the flock Barley has made her bid to rise to the top.

It’s not clear if she is actually at the top because since these spats she doesn’t peck at any of the other girls to show her position but it’s just that I have noticed that Butterscotch no longer pecks her out of her way like she does the rest of the girls. I think she has shown that she is not to be messed with.

Apart from these occasional spats there is no aggression in the flock which is good to see. When having the yogurt today Speckles was an equal unlike the days when I had to give her a dish away from the flock. While having the yogurt there was no girl chasing another away they just all got on with it which is really nice to see.

That is all the news from the girls at the moment. Everything is quite calm and orderly for the time being.

We are so pleased with the finished path. Most people will probably think that it’s only a path but it’s actually quite an important part of this garden. The way it zig zags gives the garden structure. It would be really boring if it went straight up the middle or up one side or the other.

We can’t take any credit for this as it was like this when we moved here. It was an ugly, cheapest option, concrete path but we liked the shape it gave to the garden. We had the patio put in and later the area in front of the cabin, outside of our back door and I have chosen this colour of Indian stone for the path to blend in with the colour of the bricks on the two patio areas. I chose the colour as my husband is colour blind but he trusts me with colours. The colours are subtle but are brighter when wet and I quite like the way the path changes colour.

Now the path is a bit of a feature instead of an ugly necessity and it blends in with the patio areas perfectly. Also the wider area at the corner of the veg plot gets the sun at the end of the day when it’s gone from the patio so it gives me a spot to sit and catch the last rays of the day, that is when we have some sun of course.

I am not going to apologise for taking loads of pictures because I am so thrilled with this path that I wanted to show it from all angles.

From the back gate looking towards the road

The front wall

We will be painting this wall white and then I will show another before and after photo.

The wall and steps are topped with grey engineering bricks

I love the way the grey bricks are reflected by the grey edging stones. It will look even better when the greenery grows back. My husband is going to clean up the stones on the drive and is in fact doing this while I write this post.

The steps and path going past the front door

The steps and path going past the cabin

The path leading on to and past the patio

From the patio in the other direction

The wall and steps at the end of the veg plot

The corner at the end of the veg plot looking in the other direction

This is the corner that gets the last sun of the day. It is just big enough for a garden chair.

Steps past the veg plot

Going up towards the chicken run

Towards the chicken run

The plants will spill over the edges again in time.

Beside the dandelion strip

The dandelions got partly buried but will soon come through again. I can always add more to fill up the strip again.

Up to the top patio

Looking back down from the top patio

Back past the dandelion strip

Back down to the veg plot and the bottom patio

Back down past the cabin

View on to the patio from the other direction

The whole of the path seems wider and longer somehow. Perhaps it’s because it now stands out as an integral part of the garden and patio areas rather something hidden away.

We are thrilled to bits with it and it will be here for a very long time. I never thought that we would get so much pleasure from a path but we love it as much as the patio areas.

If you want to see the before and after click here

Today the guys were determined to finish their work on the path. It rained a bit in the morning but they got on with laying the edging stones and started the pointing once it was dry again.

Starting on the edging stones for the front path

The edging stones half done

The edging stones completed

The edging stones at the back

The edge stones are completed

Smooth concrete is put behind the edging stones to hide the lumpy concrete already there

The concrete is finished

Pointing the top of the path

Bricks being laid behind the veg plot

The finished bricks

The grey engineering bricks are laid on the front wall and the steps

The front wall is finished

We will be painting the front of this wall white which will really improve it and will hide the cement. The wall wasn’t level so needed a lot of cement to level it up.

The guys finished at eight o’clock tonight so I have decided to take photographs tomorrow of the finished results and put them in a final post. They put some top soil at the edges of the path and we have bought a few plants to fill in the gaps which we will put in tomorrow.

We are really pleased with the work that has been done. Watch this space for the completed job.

On the third day the guys put concrete at the sides of the parts of the path that won’t be having edging stones. This will stop water getting underneath the path and the concrete will have topsoil added once the pointing is done.

Next they laid the stones on the path that goes down to our drive and did the steps down onto the drive.

Front steps and the path past our front door

The wall at the front and at the side of the steps will be topped with grey engineering bricks.

Front path looking towards the road

The guys took some bricks out here so that once again we could avoid a step and they have kept it gently sloping. We have to be able to pull a trolley down this path with loaded catering crates. They have assured us that this path will stand up to pulling trolley loads over it and to jet washing it.

The guys are now off for the weekend and will be back on Monday. They will put the key curb edging stones in and start the pointing. They hope to finish on Monday but it is all dependant on the weather. They can’t point the stones in wet weather so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the rain holds off.

On the second day the guys got all of the garden part of the path laid.

Steps beside the cabin

Steps when wet

When wet the colour of the stone shows up more.

A new curve onto the patio

This had a bit of straight brick but would have caused a step so the guys took the bricks out and put the stones in with a slight slope. I like the way they curved the corner.

The edge of the veg plot

The edge of the veg plot in the other direction

From the chicken run looking down

Going down towards the veg plot

It will all look different again once it has been pointed.

We decided that as the path is now so much higher than the beds there is no need for edging stones here. Because we will now need less edging stones the guys are giving us the more expensive edging stones on the front path. Originally we made a second choice to save to some money.

We are really pleased with the work the guys are doing and love the way the path is looking already.

Today the guys started laying the stones on the path and laying the bricks for the steps.

The first stones are laid

The path is taking shape

Path and bricks

By the end of the day they had got as far as the veg plot. The stones are looking lovely and I love the contrast of the brick work which will pick out our patio.

We can’t stand on the stones until the morning so this morning I gave the girls their spinach and two whole apples to peck at through the day. I got Butterscotch out twice this morning but after that it has been up to her and I haven’t actually seen her come out again.

I crossed the flower beds to give the girls their evening sunflower hearts through the wire but Butterscotch had to miss out and will probably spend the night in the nest box. It’s only for one day and night so will just have to be.

I am looking forward to the morning when I go back in to the girls and get Butterscotch out of the nest box.

We are really pleased with the work so far and can’t wait to see further progress.

The first day was all about preparation. The wooden edges were removed and the edges of the garden cleared.

Destruction comes first

Preparation

There was a big tree root from next door’s tree under the path which was probably what had caused the concrete to crack. It needed to be taken out.

Tree root under the path

After the tree root was removed

The front path

The concrete edge stones have been removed and some of the planting. The tatty red bricks have been removed from the top of the front wall ready for the grey engineering bricks. It looks neater already.

The wood is removed and the paving stones have been delivered

The bricks are moved

We asked for the bricks to be stored by the chicken run for now as we will find a use for them at a later date. The plant removed from the front path went into the chicken run for the girls.

Peaches and Barley investigate the green from the front path

Toffee and Emerald investigate

Broody Butterscotch is on her way back to the nest box

Speckles is trying to get her egg laid

Today was all about preparation and getting all the materials on site.

The bricks for the steps

Sand on the patio

Ready for tomorrow

Some concrete is laid ready for the brickwork tomorrow. Tomorrow the work will begin on the path. We are excited and just can’t wait to see the path start to take shape. We think it will complete the look of the garden and will be really lovely.

When work begins on our path the builders are going to start at the top by the chicken run and work their way down to the front drive.

The bricks from my chicken strip will need to be removed and the path may be a bit wider here. The chard was looking really shabby as I have picked it death but the dandelions are so robust that they stay good however much they are picked.

I decided to pull up all the chard and give it to the girls and replant the front dandelions to create a single row leaving plenty of space for the builders to work.

The chard looks pretty sad

The chicken’s strip is now just a single row of healthy dandelions

Barley and Butterscotch are first to the chard

Speckles and Emerald join them

They are joined by Toffee

Peaches and Barley are enjoying the chard

An hour later there were only the roots left.

Elsewhere we have pinned back the planting

More plants tied back

We expect to have some damage to the plants but they will soon recover, however if we can save some of the planting it’s worth a try. We can’t wait to get this done now. Work will be starting very soon.

When we moved here nine years ago there wasn’t much in the garden. There was the concrete garden path which zigzags up the garden. It was rather ugly but practical. It would have cost money we didn’t have to change it so we just lived with it and we liked the fact that it zigzagged as it gave the garden it’s basic shape.

There were a few large shrubs which we still have today and the rest was a sloping lawn. Bit by bit we took the lawn out and planted the garden. We had our cabin put in to work from and then the patio area behind it and later in front of it too.

As time went by we added the chicken run and last year a new garden shed and new chicken shed at the top. The garden is now lovely but the once practical concrete path has cracked and become more and more unstable. It is no longer practical and is even more ugly.

At last we feel it is time to change the path. It is the last job on the house and garden that needs doing and we feel that the time is right while we are still earning.

Last year we got a quote but decided it was too expensive. We put off doing the path for another year. This year we have got another quote and it is a better one than last year. It’s time to get this job done.

Our garden path

It’s cracking up

Parts of it are like crazy paving

Even the steps are cracked

I thought I would take some before and after photos so this is the path before work begins.

The steps have wooden edges

We are going to have Indian stone on the path and brick instead of the wood on the steps. We will have block paving for the edges instead of the wood at the sides.

The path by the front door

We will have the block paving to edge the front too instead these concrete edges.

Front steps

The steps will be paved and have brick in between.

Front wall

We are going to have the top layer of bricks removed from this wall and the grey engineering bricks on top like the ones on the right hand side of the photo. This will really smarten this up.

Edge of front steps

The grey engineering bricks will top the edge of the steps too.

The path going up the garden

The steps beyond the veg plot

The path up to the top of the garden

The paving stones will go up to the wall but have the edging stones on the left.

Steps up to the top patio

It will continue to the top patio. The reason we haven’t had this done before now is that it is such a long stretch from the top of the garden all the way down to the front drive.

It will look amazing when it’s done and at last we will have a path to be proud of. It will be the finishing touch to the garden and will be safe to stand on without  rocking. We can’t wait to see it finished. Work will be starting soon.

I have charted the progress of the path day by day but if you want to skip to the finished path click here

I wanted to give this post a positive title rather than a negative title because happily I feel completely in control of red mite at this stage of chicken keeping.

I didn’t really want to write this post because I have dealt with red mite before and been through the highs and lows of it all and didn’t want to go on about it again but during a recent visit my son Steve, a former chicken keeper, said that he felt I should do a blog post because it could help other chicken keepers. He said even if it just showed that any one with red mite isn’t doing anything wrong, it is a part of chicken keeping that will rear its ugly head at some stage.

When we had a conventional wooden coop we had the dreaded infestation of red mite after the first couple of years. I did all the things advised to get rid of it. I battled long and hard with it and eventually got it under control. In fact I thought that I got rid of it, even though I had read that you never really get rid of it, you just keep it under control.

Last year we changed over to the chicken shed. When we broke up the old coop to dispose of it we realised that there were still red mite in the overlapping panels which we couldn’t reach with treatments. We realised we would never have eradicated it from the old coop.

I had hoped that the new shed wouldn’t get red mite. Steve visited to see the new shed and said that there was no reason that the new shed wouldn’t get red mite too. I had to admit that I had spotted some straight away. Not so surprising really as we as we used some bits from the old coop in the new shed. We used the same perches and the automatic door. They could have been transported from these items or from the girls themselves.

From the very start with the new shed I checked every morning and any red mite I saw were squashed. I then scrubbed the perches with soapy water and dried them with kitchen towel.

Luckily they have only ever appeared on the perches and I have never found them anywhere else. They must need to be close to the girls, which was anywhere in the small coop, but in the chicken shed is just on the perches. There are not many places to hide but I did notice that they gathered around the wooden brackets which supported the perches. We removed the wooden brackets and replaced them with metal brackets a few months ago.

New metal brackets for the perches

We sealed the brackets with silicon and also the joins in the shed corners. Still each day I would find them around the brackets. They were pin prick sized so probably newly hatched and only needed a pin prick sized hole to hide in.

I smeared vaseline around the brackets and on the ends of the perches. This really helped and caught any that were on the brackets and stopped them from being able to hide behind the brackets. Then I had my best light bulb moment. Instead of cleaning the perches with soapy water and drying them I bought some wet wipes and now keep them in the chicken store cabinet. Every morning when I poop pick the chicken shed I then use the wet wipes to clean the perches. I rub the perches all round and this gets rid of any red mite and the blood from them and also any mud from the chicken’s feet or poop or general dust and dirt.

It is quick and easy and means the perches are not wet. I also use them to clean the walls of the shed without making them wet. The perches are now clean all the time and the mites have dropped in numbers from finding twenty to fifty at worst (in this shed) to finding ten, then single numbers until now when I am finding three or four.

This is why I say that I have it under control. I am now finding such a small number that anyone not as well tuned to looking for them as I am would think that they had gone. I check the perches three times a day but only find a few in the mornings and they are really tiny. I will continue to clean the perches every morning with the wet wipes as it only takes a few minutes and I feel this is really getting rid of the mites and is keeping the numbers down to next to nothing.

When I clean out the chicken shed I always hoover every surface in the shed to get rid of dust and cob webs.

Henry goes in to clean the shed

The girls carry out an inspection

Emerald joins them to make sure it’s up to standard

Speckles is first to inspect the new shavings

The girls are inspecting

Toffee joins them

Butterscotch is otherwise engaged

After a long post about the tedium of red mite I thought that the girls “helping me” clean out the chicken shed would be a bit of light relief. I am happy that I have red mite under control and the wet wipes make keeping the perches clean really easy. This is one of the best ideas that has occurred to me recently so if it helps anyone else that is a good job done. I am all for finding easier ways to clean and keep the dreaded red mite at bay.