Finally ..... SPRING!

Well finally it seems that spring has sprung in lovely Oxfordshire.  The ground is warming up, the trees are finally getting some leaves and the cherry trees are nearly finished blossoming.
My chickens are very happy with this improvement in the weather; still have one not laying (and don't have the time to study them to work out which one it is...), but they are pottering around the garden all day, enjoying the new freedom of complete free-ranging. Bingo continues her fierce hunting, and was seen with a mouse in her beak last week, while Ginny has taken an alternative approach to finding food, and is harassing the blackbirds that visit the garden every time they get a worm out of the ground.  She has discovered that if chased around enough, they will drop the worm - I do feel sorry for the blackbirds though as I'm sure they have young to feed.
My allotment, although slightly unkempt looking, is perking up too.  Leeks planted out last autumn are finally starting to look more like leeks and less like blades of grass, and the gooseberry bush has flowered and has tiny gooseberries on - can't wait for them to be ready.  I've planted a good deal of brassicas and leeks in my polytunnel to bring them on out of harms way of slugs and pigeons, and have started to rotivate the outside beds.
Yesterday I had my first beekeeping practical lesson with the Oxfordshire Beekeepers Association www.oxfordshirebeekeepers.com.  A group of us visited their teaching apiary, donned beekeeping suits, feeling like astronauts and got to inspect some hives, pulling out the frames and identifying what we could see. We then learnt the art of smoker lighting, and putting together frames.  It was really interesting and I can't wait now until my bees arrive for my hive at home, all of whom will be called Derek!

Spring???

Despite the spring equinox having passed now, there are very few signs of spring in Oxfordshire. I visited my allotment yesterday to find a very chilly scene, tiny leeks and very few garlic bulbs picking their heads out of the soil. However in the protection of my polytunnel my narcissi have come up and are flowering. I was able to pick a lovely bunch of "spring"!! I also have some growing outside, and although they are up, no buds in evidence yet.
This morning we have woken to more snow, no one is impressed any more, especially the chickens!!

Funny funny chickens and impending bees!!

This picture was taken just as we sat down to lunch on Sunday (not a roast chicken!!). As soon as we were seated the hens came over and stood at the window peering in!! V funny.
I am now officially a beekeeper - albeit one without bees!! Have enrolled onto a beekeeping course, once I have a few lessons under my belt will take the plunge and get some occupants for my hive - so exciting!!

DIY chicken drinker

Having become increasingly frustrated with my hen's ability to spoil their drinking water fast, I did a bit of online research on alternatives to the dish based drinker for chickens.
I realised with a few simple materials it is possible to make a spoil-proof solution at home.  I thought I would share with you what I came up with...
I drilled a hole in an ordinary bucket and using silicone (lots!) and a hose connector, joined a bit of hosepipe to the hole.  On the other end I attached with a jubilee clip a nipple drinker that i bought cheaply from eBay.  The whole thing is then hung from a hook and held in place by duct tape!
I put my new contraption (I will admit it looks slightly Heath-Robinson) up in the coop just now, and after a small amount of encouragement with well placed meal worms, my ladies are drinking enthusiastically!
Where the expression "bird brain" comes from, I don't know, all I can say is it's not from the domesticated chicken!!

Chicken Drinker

Chicken Drinking!

Happy hens

I know I set out to write about my allotment, but I haven't got up there yet, and the hens are providing a lot of subject matter!
I read the other day about chickens enjoying fallen leaves, so this morning collected a few boxes full and dumped them in a heap in the chicken run. What happy hens now, I'll try to attach a video of them or at least a photo. A pile of leaves definitely appeals to all the basic foraging instincts of the chicken: in the wild they are forest dwelling birds, scratching the earth for worms and small insects.

Escaping chicken!

We have three lovely ordinary brown hens, a year old now and laying eggs with alarming regularity! They have very distinct characters, Mrs Weasley is a quietly confident hen - always trying to steal food from our black Labrador! Ginny (Weasley) is happy in the bushes looking for slugs, and Bingo is the bold and adventurous one!
The three ladies live in a converted play house with a run around it, and are allowed out into the garden every day for a bit of foraging and occasional frog eating (!).  Bingo has obviously decided that I don't let her out early enough as twice now she has managed to escape - who said chickens were stupid?? The fence around their run is quite high and deliberately unstable, but Bingo has discovered that if she jumps up onto the flap over the coop entrance, she is then able to fly out.  This morning I looked out of the window to find Mrs Weasley and Ginny looking quite anxious at the front of the run, wandering back and forth - something was obviously up..... I then saw cheeky Bingo wandering around the garden, picking up windfall apples!!
Job for weekend - Bingo proof the run!!

Mrs Weasley eating spaghetti squash

Ginny all fluffed up (she's not really that fat)

The bold Bingo!

First post

Welcome to my first post on my blog!
After a really poor growing year on my allotment, I thought I might re-vamp my love for it by starting a blog on my progress whilst also sharing experiences with keeping a few chickens (and other pets) and being a busy mum of three girls.

So - a little more about me as a start...
At home we have three chickens, three guinea pigs, a dog, a cat, a gerbil, three daughters (lots of threes I realise now!) and an allotment a few miles away.  I work during the school day, so care of all of the above is fitted into my spare time....
I have had my allotment for 4 years now, and this year with the dry spring then wet and cold summer  has provided the worst harvest of all crops so far, so I'm feeling a little disheartened.  I hope that by blogging about my allotmenting I will be re-heartened (?!)....fingers crossed!!