A few years ago we lost some of our hens to the dreaded fox, it was my own fault because I came home from a job very late and forgot to lock them up. The next morning was a horrible sight & it made me feel very guilty. Since then it is a nightly ritual and I have never forgotten since.
Anyway last night just after I got into bed she who must be obeyed said "did you lock the chickens up" I replied "no I dont think I did"
So on with the clothes again and grabbing a torch I wandered down the drive & locked up all the chickens & ducks then back to the house & back into bed, as I then fell asleep little did I know that it would be short lived.
I didnt know how long I had been asleep for but I was sort of awakened by my terrier barking his head off, I tried to ignore it but he just kept on & on. I couldnt stand it any longer and a quick look at my watch showed it was 02.30 am. I thought right Im gonna kill that bloody dog & just as I got out of bed My Rhodesian Ridgeback started going crazy really crazy and letting off a real ferocious bark.
I realised I had not shut the main gates & on looking down the darkened drive I swore there was a sort of vehicle parked in the shadows. My heart stated racing & I thought it might be burgulars, I went downstairs & was allready to unleash my 3 dogs on them.
As I opened the back door I saw my Rhodesian Ridgeback still going mad but not at the gate he looked like he had something penned in the corner as I shone the torch I could hardly believe it, there all rolled up in a ball was not a burgular but a" hedgehog" I got a shovel scooped him up & put him over the fence. What a night, with the dogs now quiet it was back up to bed to have another go at sleeping.
Thursday 7 July 2011
Monday 2 May 2011
How to Recycle Things To Help Live Green
Recycling is one of the easiest as well as most effective ways that you can help the environment. There are plenty of different projects at home you can separate from your trash for this purpose. It is convenient if you buy plastic trash barrels and label them for individual products. And by learning how to recycle you will be helping reduce your carbon footprint.
You should have one for glass, plastic, and cardboard. If you drink soda from cans then have one for those aluminum cans as well. Find out where you can take each of these full barrels to be recycled when you need to. There should be centers for them locally around town.
You will often find receptacles out there that allow you to place these items into at collection spots. They are just huge containers that will get emptied out on a regular basis. This is perfect when the community doesn’t have any other method for taking in the items to be recycled.
If your community doesn’t offer them you need to see what you can do to get them in place. You can contact your local officials in person or with a letter asking them to consider offering them. Explain your concerns that without such receptacles in place people won’t be encouraged to recycle in your area.
The concept of recycling can extend to your schools and place of employment as well. Do your best to get this important issue recognized everywhere you can. In many instances people just need to be educated and then reminded about the benefits of recycling for our environment.
Your information can motivate them to take part in it. Don’t overlook the importance of letting children know either. They are often very excited by recycling and find it to be thrilling. They can often help encourage their parents to take part in such efforts as well.
Buying products that have been recycled such as paper products is a great way to show your support for these efforts. You will notice some greeting cards are made from them. Even supplies such as napkins used in fast food restaurants can be made from recycled paper.
It is also very simple to carry around a large mesh bag when you are going to shop for a few items. Rather than getting a paper or plastic bag from them you can place your purchased items into your own bag. Look for one that is durable so it you can reuse it over and over again.
I hope you found this short article on how to recycle of some use, so get out there and reduce your carbon footprint.
You should have one for glass, plastic, and cardboard. If you drink soda from cans then have one for those aluminum cans as well. Find out where you can take each of these full barrels to be recycled when you need to. There should be centers for them locally around town.
You will often find receptacles out there that allow you to place these items into at collection spots. They are just huge containers that will get emptied out on a regular basis. This is perfect when the community doesn’t have any other method for taking in the items to be recycled.
If your community doesn’t offer them you need to see what you can do to get them in place. You can contact your local officials in person or with a letter asking them to consider offering them. Explain your concerns that without such receptacles in place people won’t be encouraged to recycle in your area.
The concept of recycling can extend to your schools and place of employment as well. Do your best to get this important issue recognized everywhere you can. In many instances people just need to be educated and then reminded about the benefits of recycling for our environment.
Your information can motivate them to take part in it. Don’t overlook the importance of letting children know either. They are often very excited by recycling and find it to be thrilling. They can often help encourage their parents to take part in such efforts as well.
Buying products that have been recycled such as paper products is a great way to show your support for these efforts. You will notice some greeting cards are made from them. Even supplies such as napkins used in fast food restaurants can be made from recycled paper.
It is also very simple to carry around a large mesh bag when you are going to shop for a few items. Rather than getting a paper or plastic bag from them you can place your purchased items into your own bag. Look for one that is durable so it you can reuse it over and over again.
I hope you found this short article on how to recycle of some use, so get out there and reduce your carbon footprint.
Friday 29 April 2011
The Water Voles Are Back Hooray
Hi Everyone
I am so excited I can hardly contain my joy. The very rare water voles are back on our pond after a 3 year absense.
When we moved to our smallholding nearly 9 years ago we allready had them on our pond. The pond was very overgrown and the water relitively shallow and in the summer it nearly dried up. But one day I noticed a water vole sitting on the back chewing some reeds it was a great site as they are so rare and I thought how lucky we were.
That year they bred and occaisionally we saw the young voles and they were so cute. i used to spend ages watching them it was great.
But after about 4 years the pond looked such a mess and got so overgrown I decided to tidy it up so I hired a digger & cleared the pond out and made it a bit bigger and deeper. I also got my big Sthil strimmer and set about strimming all the reeds and overgrown vegetation.
Of course what i didnt realise at the time was that I was destroying the water voles habitat. Some time afterwards I said to "she who must be obeyed" that I hadnt seen the voles for for quite a while. Only after seeing a program on TV about them did I realise my mistake.
So for the past 3 years I havnt touched the pond or vegetaion in the hope that one day the voles might return.
Well, imagine my joy tonight when I was walking round the pond and I heard a small splash, looked down and saw what appearded to be a water vole it swam accross the pond then sat on the bank for a few seconds looked at me then dissapeared into the reeds.I was delighted and ran indoors to tell Sharon. So I cant wait till tomorrow so I can see if I can spot it again
I am so excited I can hardly contain my joy. The very rare water voles are back on our pond after a 3 year absense.
When we moved to our smallholding nearly 9 years ago we allready had them on our pond. The pond was very overgrown and the water relitively shallow and in the summer it nearly dried up. But one day I noticed a water vole sitting on the back chewing some reeds it was a great site as they are so rare and I thought how lucky we were.
That year they bred and occaisionally we saw the young voles and they were so cute. i used to spend ages watching them it was great.
But after about 4 years the pond looked such a mess and got so overgrown I decided to tidy it up so I hired a digger & cleared the pond out and made it a bit bigger and deeper. I also got my big Sthil strimmer and set about strimming all the reeds and overgrown vegetation.
Of course what i didnt realise at the time was that I was destroying the water voles habitat. Some time afterwards I said to "she who must be obeyed" that I hadnt seen the voles for for quite a while. Only after seeing a program on TV about them did I realise my mistake.
So for the past 3 years I havnt touched the pond or vegetaion in the hope that one day the voles might return.
Well, imagine my joy tonight when I was walking round the pond and I heard a small splash, looked down and saw what appearded to be a water vole it swam accross the pond then sat on the bank for a few seconds looked at me then dissapeared into the reeds.I was delighted and ran indoors to tell Sharon. So I cant wait till tomorrow so I can see if I can spot it again
Tuesday 15 March 2011
How To Start Keeping Chickens
Keeping chicken is a practice that dates as far back as when people started domesticating animals. They are fun to have around, are a good food source, and are low maintenance. If you have an ample backyard the idea of keeping chickens may have occurred to you but needed a little more information before getting started.
Of Hens and Cockerals
You do not need a Cockeral. Keeping a cockeral is a matter of choice but not actually a necessity. While having these handsome, brassy, noisy, aggressive characters to have around your hens is an attractive choice, the hens are quite content not having a rooster that keeps mounting them as they can lay eggs without the help of the rooster. Chickens are sociable birds. They want to hang around each other most times and cuddle around each other on cold days. You may need only one chicken for a pet however, chicken are happier when in the company of chickens. If you want to keep a few have at least two or three.
The Hen House
Where there are hens, there are predators. Chickens will be happy to be strutting around free range-like but sooner, without a place to roost, you’ll end up losing some. In the country, they attract a lot, in the city they attract rats let alone cats. The hen house then is a good area to shelter and raise them. There are fanciful chicken pen designs that are available everywhere if you do not want to go through the trouble of building them. Fancy chicken pens are good and attractive accessory to your backyard. There are however the basic elements to have for a good chicken house. First chicken love having dust baths during the day. They do it all the time so they must have access to dirt where they can scratch and dig and have fun.
The Bigger the Better
While chicken are not territorial, they need also their spaces. Crowding them would result to pecking at each other, sometimes even to death. They do this to protect those that catch their fancy. For example, they’ll start pecking at another chicken if it goes too near a string of water droplets running through a hanging string that caught their interest. To prevent overcrowding, allow at least three square feet of space for every chicken. During colder days when they will be huddling hang grass and vegetables that they eat to keep them occupied.
Settling Down
Other people prefer buying pullets and raising them, others want to start with hens. No matter, they will be brought inside their pens to familiarize them to the chicken house. Once there, do not let them out for a while. The chicken has to know very well where the home is otherwise, they will be roosting on branches, roofs, awnings, anywhere they feel safe.
Getting started with chicken is also knowing that they enjoy people leftovers and would fight over it but these days here in England it is actually illegal to feed chickens any cooked food from the kitchen. Their normal fare though is chicken layers pellets and clean water & maybe a sprinkling of mixed corn late in the afternoon when cold.
These are just some of the very basics to get you started for more info please check out
http://www.ilovekeepingchickens.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ilovekeepingchickens
Of Hens and Cockerals
You do not need a Cockeral. Keeping a cockeral is a matter of choice but not actually a necessity. While having these handsome, brassy, noisy, aggressive characters to have around your hens is an attractive choice, the hens are quite content not having a rooster that keeps mounting them as they can lay eggs without the help of the rooster. Chickens are sociable birds. They want to hang around each other most times and cuddle around each other on cold days. You may need only one chicken for a pet however, chicken are happier when in the company of chickens. If you want to keep a few have at least two or three.
The Hen House
Where there are hens, there are predators. Chickens will be happy to be strutting around free range-like but sooner, without a place to roost, you’ll end up losing some. In the country, they attract a lot, in the city they attract rats let alone cats. The hen house then is a good area to shelter and raise them. There are fanciful chicken pen designs that are available everywhere if you do not want to go through the trouble of building them. Fancy chicken pens are good and attractive accessory to your backyard. There are however the basic elements to have for a good chicken house. First chicken love having dust baths during the day. They do it all the time so they must have access to dirt where they can scratch and dig and have fun.
The Bigger the Better
While chicken are not territorial, they need also their spaces. Crowding them would result to pecking at each other, sometimes even to death. They do this to protect those that catch their fancy. For example, they’ll start pecking at another chicken if it goes too near a string of water droplets running through a hanging string that caught their interest. To prevent overcrowding, allow at least three square feet of space for every chicken. During colder days when they will be huddling hang grass and vegetables that they eat to keep them occupied.
Settling Down
Other people prefer buying pullets and raising them, others want to start with hens. No matter, they will be brought inside their pens to familiarize them to the chicken house. Once there, do not let them out for a while. The chicken has to know very well where the home is otherwise, they will be roosting on branches, roofs, awnings, anywhere they feel safe.
Getting started with chicken is also knowing that they enjoy people leftovers and would fight over it but these days here in England it is actually illegal to feed chickens any cooked food from the kitchen. Their normal fare though is chicken layers pellets and clean water & maybe a sprinkling of mixed corn late in the afternoon when cold.
These are just some of the very basics to get you started for more info please check out
http://www.ilovekeepingchickens.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ilovekeepingchickens
Thursday 20 January 2011
Living Green Part 1
With all the information out there in the news and on the internet most people are at least aware of pollution problems. The issue is more serious in some areas but the fact remains that we all contribute to it. The concern is that with more people on Earth now and more pollution we are harming our environment so in my series of posts Living Green we will endeavour to cover some of the aspects to living a greener life and help to maintain a healthy planet.
Since we breath the air that is out there what is in it should be a top concern for each of us. Yet we often go about it without thinking twice about it. There are enough individuals suffering from health concerns due to what they have been breathing in for years.
With all of the pollutants out there right now, imagine what it will be like for future generations. You may don’t care must as you won’t be around. Yet you will have family who will need to deal with the problems. Even y our own children and grandchildren who are the next generations will be affected by it.
Each of us has the power to make some positive changes though. Some people believe that living green is a waste of time because you are only one person. Yet if the educational information out there about it could encourage many individuals to all do their part it would have quite a significant impact overall.
The efforts of only one person over the course of their lifetime will significantly reduce the amount of pollution out there. Teaching children from a young age what they can do and why will allow that process to continue being implemented in our society as well.
We also have the responsibility to let the government and businesses know that we expect them to take action. Buy what you can from companies that due have plenty of living green concepts incorporated for customers to take advantage of. At the same time you need to influence your government to place laws in effect that limit the amount of pollution that can be emitted by a company as well as by individual vehicles on the roads.
If you are ready to start living green and to do your part to reduce the carbon footprints you have placed on this Earth it is time to learn about the various ways you can do so. It is never too late to make some positive changes to your behaviors so that you can live healthier and so can everyone around you.
Stay tuned for Part 2 coming shortly
Since we breath the air that is out there what is in it should be a top concern for each of us. Yet we often go about it without thinking twice about it. There are enough individuals suffering from health concerns due to what they have been breathing in for years.
With all of the pollutants out there right now, imagine what it will be like for future generations. You may don’t care must as you won’t be around. Yet you will have family who will need to deal with the problems. Even y our own children and grandchildren who are the next generations will be affected by it.
Each of us has the power to make some positive changes though. Some people believe that living green is a waste of time because you are only one person. Yet if the educational information out there about it could encourage many individuals to all do their part it would have quite a significant impact overall.
The efforts of only one person over the course of their lifetime will significantly reduce the amount of pollution out there. Teaching children from a young age what they can do and why will allow that process to continue being implemented in our society as well.
We also have the responsibility to let the government and businesses know that we expect them to take action. Buy what you can from companies that due have plenty of living green concepts incorporated for customers to take advantage of. At the same time you need to influence your government to place laws in effect that limit the amount of pollution that can be emitted by a company as well as by individual vehicles on the roads.
If you are ready to start living green and to do your part to reduce the carbon footprints you have placed on this Earth it is time to learn about the various ways you can do so. It is never too late to make some positive changes to your behaviors so that you can live healthier and so can everyone around you.
Stay tuned for Part 2 coming shortly
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