Daydream fund challenge part 4

Better_Days

Not really sure what we have Dave, this is what the BHWT says but I'm not really up on breeds

The hens are all commercial hybrids: Lohman Browns, Goldlines, Hylines or Isa’s, (all Rhode Island Red crosses). They are approximately 17 months old when we collect them from farms, and are off to slaughter because they are deemed no longer commercially viable as they may be laying fewer eggs.

The new two do seem to have darker feathers around their necks but it may be just natural variation, or it maybe that they are a different hybrid. Be able to tell more when they are fully feathered up.

Feel sorry for them today, first full day of freedom and its slinging it down. Have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't get cold.

We don't have space for any more at present, I do like the idea of a 'rainbow' flock, but that will have to wait until we move somewhere with a bigger garden.

Davesnave

Ah, the BHWT....my benefactors of old.

They used to be a bit picky about donated food, in the days when my friend worked in milling. His van used to go there, then come here with all the rejected stuff (it was slightly out of date....:rotfl:)

Unfortunately, he now works in a different area altogether.

Fay

Davebthanks so much, all sounds great. We are planning on checking places out later. Thanks ever so much. If we come to Devon I'm looking forward to afternoon teas
Weather here is grey, chilly and raining. But the garden does need it. Just spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get my shower doors clean, I hate hard water. Back is better but hip is still painful. I'm hoping to get a new herb wash tub planted up later-supposed to brighten up....let's see. Happy Sunday everyone.

I'm going to keep repeating that I am not envious of Alfie, nope, not one bit!

ferretkeeper

Morning all!

And what a dreary morning it is too. I am lazing around, just watched the Beechgrove Garden which was at Gardening Scotland. Are you going IHS? I have watched that programme for donkeys years despite it being very old fashioned, perhaps that's why I like it, it never changes!

Funny you should mention chooks, ive just got round to taking some pics of my latest lot



They must be a month old, and were growing so fast their hutch and run was beginning to look crowded! So I've just moved them into the new run thing we bought. Typical it's raining for their first full day of freedom too but they had a whale of a time in the sunshine yesterday. Edit, not a great pic sorry.

Neighbour is playing silly !!!!!!s here, lots of building work has been going on but then a digger turned up and they started dumping topsoil and rocks etc right by our boundary, which slopes down to us, so inevitably it will end up in our ditch or yard for us to dispose of. Tried speaking to him as soon as I saw it but the ignorant !!!! carried on anyway. It was literally a day or two after hubby went back to work, he's fuming but can't do anything from there.

So I'm opening the floodgates, been speaking to a solicitor (re potential trespass/nuisance), planning, environment agency, even DWP... they're supposed to be living entirely on benefits, neither work, so no other income, but all this work and a new car last month doesn't add up.

If he was a nicer person I'd ask directly, I suspect an inheritance has come in and he may not be claiming any more, but I'll let the DWP look into it. And if he'd respected our requests to safeguard our property I wouldn't have contacted anyone, I have better things to do. But he has two acres of flat field to dump his rubbish, why choose the lowest corner next to us if not to wind us up?!

Anyway, I think I'll have another cuppa and wait for it to brighten up, got loads I want to do in the garden, but I suspect I'll be painting the kitchen instead. The plaster has finally dried, so a quick mist coat in white all round, then I need to decide on the final colour for the walls...got black and white glossy units, so I'm thinking a chic grey...? And maybe polished grey floor tiles? I hate making decisions!

Davesnave

ferretkeeper wrote: »

Neighbour is playing silly !!!!!!s here

Crikey, sounds worse than my orrible neighbour! :eek::eek:

Good on you for taking steps (I'm being deliberately vague in case you decide to edit!;))

Mr Dog has, by contrast, gone into good behaviour mode since I got wild and laid the hedge deliberately to frame his front door and conservatory from a viewpoint by our caravan and polytunnel. OK it's 200metres, but I know it bothers him!:rotfl: He can't now come and go without being noticed etc and he cannot block my view of him without messing-up his own.

Like you, it took me years to get to this point, but now I've reached it, I rather like it here. I still have quite a bit in reserve, so although a tree I planted in the road hedge vanished last week , the silence this spring has been so good, I'll forgive almost anything else! :A

Long term, I still think he'll move, because of boredom. Since he inherited, he hasn't worked as much...hence the silence.

The devil makes work for idle hands, though! :eek:

Nice, strong chook run, by the way.

I_have_spoken

Slug nematodes have been delivered but the ground is way too cold to 'deploy' them, so are in the fridge in the hope it warms up by end of the week.

The rain is getting silly; I'm thinking of unscrewing the coldframe lid and raising it up on legs to give the agaves and aloes some shelter as I fear they'll rot in their pots otherwise but will get overheated if left in the conservatory

EDIT - and here it is!!! :beer:

Are you going IHS?

No, it's too cold and grey to go just a for a pleasure trip and I really don't [STRIKE]need any[/STRIKE]have any space for more plants!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I noticed your new chicken run yesterday on the way back from auction...I have heard really good reviews on them, and hubby has wanted one for ages..with all the eggs we have bought and hatched out lately he might get one, but pennies are very tight at mo.. As we really do need to get the other windows bought and put in, as then that's one big job finished.and we really do need to start getting g things plumbed in..

ferretkeeper

Thanks guys! Yes it's a good run, should be for the price, I got it in auction not BIN so saved a bit but it was still nearly £300 with postage! But compared to spending the same on a wooden house with a tiny run it's a far better investment, it's the 6 x 3m version.

It was a bit fiddly and time consuming to put together, I've still not quite finished stitching all the mesh together over the roof but as it's more about keeping the wee ones in than predators out I can take my time. I would say It probably isn't fox proof, we could cut the mesh with scissors, so I may still put an electric fence round it to make sure. I left extra mesh at the bottom so about a foot is on the ground, and I'll weigh it down with rocks to try and stop animals digging.

When I first saw these I actually wanted to get a polytunnel frame and just buy mesh to go round it, as that was basically the principle of these runs, but hubby wouldn't be convinced. And the little ones had already hatched and I wanted to make sure they had a large safe compund to grow up in before they get to explore the big wide world so it was convenience too.

However as we were putting it together and we realised its actually a bit on the small side, I said again about the polytunnel, and I think hubby agreed! The idea being We could do it on a bigger scale and have a secure pen for all the birds, not to live in permanently but if we wanted to put them away early and maybe go out of an evening without watching the clock (ha!) they wouldn't need to be shut in houses.

It's definitely an idea to explore...in the mean time I might try and resurrect a cheapo polytunnel that's in bits, it took to the sky a couple of times and the frame is damaged but I never chucked it, I think that's 6x3 as well. In fact that's what we should have done, those 6x3 frames are cheap enough, maybe £100, the kit came with 60m of mesh and a million cable ties, and we didn't use it all, I reckon you could do the same thing for half the price CTC....?!

Still cold here, the gusty wind makes it feel worse, but at least it's drying the ground and grass quickly.

You've hit the nail on the head Dave about the devil and idle hands, that's my neighbour - most of the neighbours in fact - all over! The ones that don't work spend too much time worrying about what everyone else is doing. PITA!

phoebe1989seb

Hi all

Hope everyone has had a good weekend....

Our guests have departed, leaving us exhausted what with all the decorating/gardening/general prep beforehand not to mention trying to cram in as much as possible whilst they were here Yesterday we managed to go for a brilliant sunny walk with the dogs, then have a BBQ - so pleased the weather was good as we had no contingency plan! Today we did a tour of the Bridgnorth antique shops etc after a traditional home-cooked roast.....

Glad Alfie is having a great time - sounds like us with the cats on holiday, as we always manage to find waifs and strays to rescue, from Egypt to St Lucia :A Would never catch me getting !!!!!! though, lol :rotfl:

Lovely chick pics BD.....hope the new girls are settling in

Better_Days

Thanks phoebe

Yay - we've had our first egg from the new hens :j:j:j
Hopefully they will shame the resident hens into resuming production.

Guests are a lot of work phoebe, but sounds like a good time was had by all , and the weather behaved itself. Its bloomin' cold here.