Carol's Chickens

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.

The girls love chilling in the sun together and I love the way they stretch out their wings in the sun. Emerald, while moulting, prefers to sit in the shade and is as usual on the other side of the wire and Butterscotch is in the nest box being broody.

Sun bathing

A heap of sun bathing chickens

Wings soaking up the rays

This sight never ceases to make me smile.

I am just realising how many different roses we have in our garden. This is a rose that was in the garden when we moved in but it was hidden behind the shrubs.

We pruned back the shrubs to allow the rose to be seen and it has grown a lot in the years that we have been here. It has tiny blooms but is another rose, that like the standard rose, flowers right up until the first frosts.

There is actually more of this rose spilling over into our next door neighbour’s garden than in our own garden but they are happy to enjoy it too.

This rose has lots of small, pale pink, blooms

It rambles amongst the shrubs and up into the twisted willow tree

It has bountiful clusters of blooms

It has the tiniest blooms of all our roses but it is very pretty and long lasting.

Emerald has been going through a tough moult but she is now coming out the other side. She is still dropping feathers but many more have grown back in and she looks almost back to normal.

At her worst her face was so pale that it was white but now her face and comb are pink again.

Emerald three weeks ago

Looking really shabby

Emerald today

Her face is pink again

Her tiny comb is pink

Other news is that as suspected Butterscotch has gone broody again. The most disappointing thing is that she appears to have lost some of  her head feathers already and it is only day one.

Broody again and missing head feathers

I caught Barley sat in the nest box with her and chased her out. I wonder if she goes in with her to pull her head feathers out. I don’t understand why this happens every time she goes broody. I haven’t seen Barley touch her head feathers while she hasn’t been broody and yet as soon as she goes broody it starts up again.

I did say that things were going too smoothly lately. I feel so frustrated that Butterscotch’s constant broody spells keep setting her feathers back again. If this is the worse problem we have it’s not the end of the world but it sure does frustrate me!

Butterscotch is looking good. She is nearly fully feathered at last. She has now been laying over a seventeen day period (twelve eggs) so will probably go broody again soon. I just hope that doesn’t mean she will start moulting again. It would be so good if this time she would keep her feathers. She has been moulting on and off for a year now.

Butterscotch is looking good

She is even getting her crest back

The back of her head is filling in

Fluffy bottom

I just couldn’t resist adding this photo. Butterscotch has the fluffiest bottom of all our girls.

Butterscotch takes a dust bath

It is so good to see her with feathers again and if it were any other girl I would know at this point that the feathers would be there to stay but with Butterscotch I can’t be sure. Last time she was this well feathered she then went broody and moulted them back out again. I do wonder how many times they can grow back in one year.

I have never before come across a girl who in the same year drops her feathers, grows them back in then drops them again and grows them back in once more. Please Butterscotch, can you keep them this time!