So I took a wander to the end of our long narrow garden, flanked on either side by 6ft hedges and surrounded by neighbours gardens...
I placed the spare roosting bars that I had already cleaned up against the run and pondered if she were almost done.... or whether she had just gone to sleep ... or god forbid she was going broody.... I investigated and she was not impressed! lol
So I removed the poop trays and set about cleaning them while she strutted up and down the garden proclaiming to all who would listen about the indignity of being disturbed while doing such an important job... she eventually returned to the coop and peace and quiet returned....
THe poop drawers just need the loose poo hosed off and then I spray them with a coop cleaner and give them a good scrub... takes about 10 minutes... including a period of time that I leave the solution on to kill any bugs...
after this I returned to the house to do some washing up and boring stuff... this I did not photograph... for obvious reasons... lol
eventually .... I returned to the cube and after sliding the roof forward and unbolting the back panel and removing it then un-slotting the partition between the nest area and roosting area I hosed it out to remove any debris.... then it was liberally sprayed with coop mix that also kills red mite...(better to be safe than sorry! ;D) then I hose this out to remove any chemical residue....
Usually I leave the coop to dry naturally... but as it was getting late in the day and the heat of the hazy sun had passed I quickly mopped up any remaining water with kitchen towel and set about rebuilding the coop...
The partition slotted back in...
the drawers replaced...
as I am using a bedding matterial that is finer than straw I have added a piece of rubber to stop it from falling down the drainage slot....
filled with bedding....
and the excess I sprinkled in the drawers... should make it easier to tip on the compost heap .... the drawers I pull out and empty each day... I use to line them with newspaper but I ended up with poopy paper that was tricky to compost as it really needs to be shredded to compost down quickly....
Roosting bars dropped back into place....
end panel slotted back on....
and bolted in...
roof slid back and bolted into place....
these are the dirty roosting bars that I will take back up and give a good scrub and then they'll be ready for next weeks clean...
This is Hettie... who's always in a flap about something... she's top chicken and enjoys pretending to be a cockerel.... I think she's a Speckledy... she's not laying properly at the moment... she was quite poorly a couple of months back after laying a huge double yolker... I found a pink fleshy sausage shaped lump in the run of the coop and after a bit of a panic and internet searching I found talk of a think called a LASH... this is where the lining of the reproductive system is expelled... although I have seen on explanation on Back Yard Chickens saying that it is a tape worm...
However, she is fine in herself... she did lay two eggs that had strange wobbly shells.... however she has now started laying soft shelled eggs... they have grit and oyster shell but I will be buying some poultry spice the next time I am at the farm shop.
Daisy Kate is my favorite girl... she had a good molt after hatching out the chicks and now she looks stunning in her bright white plumage... after the weeks of quite close contact, during her brooding, she is much less skittish and will wander around my feet... whereas before she would always keep away from me... I think she's a Sussex... however I'm not sure what the difference is between a Sussex Star and a Sussex... however she lays an egg every day without fail and last winter she laid eggs all the way through... she's amazing...
This is Amber.... she started laying in February and I think she must have seen her reflection in a puddle as she really is full of herself! lol
Noisy, opinionated and an eating machine... give her the option of layers pellets or corn ... she'll scroff corn! ;D
She's a Barnvelder and lays almost every day... sh's bigger than the other two... and waddles like a cowboy thats been on his horse for far too long! lol
While Daisy was away raising her chicks she stepped into number 2 of the pecking order and on Daisy's return to the coop bullied her mercilessly... hence the reason that I am holding off on the integration of the chicks....
The red one is the Cockerel... he's started flapping his wings and making kazoo type crows... so funny... he looks shocked afterwards as if to say "where did that come from?" the other 3 I am pretty sure are girls...
these were hatched from eggs from a flock of Black Rocks, which I later found out do not tend to breed true.... however they are beautiful... and all the black ones are slightly different... which is perfect... I'm still trying to think of names.... especially for the rooster...
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