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
Friday, 29 April 2011
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
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Where Did That Horse Come From
Run Forest Run
She Who Must Be Obeyed Getting Involved
Dave The Horse Whisperer
Come Here BoyHi Everyone
A strange thing happened at the weekend. I have always fancied having a horse but I dont really know anything about keeping a horse so it has never been a real goer plus I suspect they cost a fortune to keep, anyway back to the plot.
My daughter Hannah and her boyfriend Dave came to stay for the weekend and we had a few beers Friday night and had a lazy Saturday morning. Dinner time came and Dave & I had a few glasses of wine, we were just chatting when I happened to go into the conservatory and was astonished to see a horse in the back garden quite casually noshing away on my back lawn.
Bloody Hell theres a horse in the garden I shouted, where said Hannah the back garden. We all rushed out and there was this small horse chomping the grass with not a care in the world. "How did it get in here she who must be obeyed asked", "how the hell should I know" was the reply. "You better take it back to Petes" (our nieghbour who breeds these horses) said Sharon.
I rushed round to Petes but he was out so back to plan 1 try and catch it. No chance me & Dave tried every bribe we could think of but the horse wasnt having any of it. I then inspected the fencing to see if I could see where the horse had got through but I really couldnt see anywhere it could have got in.
Plan B then, I got my wire cutters and cut the wire on the fence. Now all that remained was for the duvet sharer and Dave to round the horse up & drive it through the gap back into Petes field, easier said than done, I joined the fray and after about half an hour we finally managed to get it back to its own field.
A quick repair job on the fence and panic over, wait till I see Pete. Life is never dull here at the smallholding me & Dave gracefully retired to the house to finish of the wine, thankfully no horses to interupt proceedings
Monday, 1 February 2010
Chickens For Sale (Sales Are Growing)
Hi Everyone
Last October Sharon started a little Chicken Business. This came about because our chicken field borders the main A16 and people kept coming in asking have you got any chickens for sale or do you sell chickens, but we explained that we didnt and our chickens were just for egg laying, we then sell the eggs which pay for the feed (just). We have got a few rare & pure breeds and Sharon breeds these as a hobby during the spring/summer.
Anyhow Sharon had been working down at the local rest home part time for the past 3/4 years but left in September last year after it was taken over by a big national company who made everyones life unbearable so Sharon left.
The downside was she was going to miss her own bit of money. As she is quite knowledgable about keeping chickens and people had been asking for them I suggested she start her own poultry business, she thought it was a good idea so I set about converting some of the old pig pens which had a large outside run. This was the easy bit as finding a supplier was a devils own job and after about 50 phone calls we found a supplier of top quality Hybrid Hens consisting of 12 different sorts and many different colours. The idea was to give people something different from the ordinary ISA Brown type.
The chap turned up with our first batch of 100 chickens at 8-30 pm and it was pouring down with rain. With all the hens safely in their new quarters we settled up and went in to ponder on what we had let ourselves in for.
By the end of the month Pete turned up with another 100 and we were reasonably happy as we only had 17 left from the previous batch. Things quietened down over December & the early part of January and Pete is coming with 60 more birds tomorrow 2/2/2010 the trouble was we still had 36 left from before.
Anyhow luck has smiled on us as a lady who own a local chinese restaurant called and asked if we had any chickens for sale as she wanted 50 to supply eggs to her restaurants, I said we only had 36 but had some more coming. I gave her my best price and she decided she would have 30 today and 20 more later, she asked if I could deliver them so I said I would.
We got our big wire dog cage and a few boxes together and boxed all 30 hens up ready for delivery. When we arrived everything was ready they had converted a big mobile home and fenced off a nice big area around it. Just so you know they have about half an acre at the back of the restaurant. The birds were unloaded and seemed happy in their new surroundings.
We went over to the restaurant to get paid for the hens and as a joke I said "any chance of some fried rice" the lady said no problem and the chef returned 5 mins later with 2 fried rice 2 sweet & sour prawns and 2 "chicken" chown mein, it was very nice and it saved Sharon cooking when we got back.
So all in all a good day long may it continue.
We now have a website if anyone wants anymore information then please take a look it can be found at http://www.chickens-for-sale.com/
Last October Sharon started a little Chicken Business. This came about because our chicken field borders the main A16 and people kept coming in asking have you got any chickens for sale or do you sell chickens, but we explained that we didnt and our chickens were just for egg laying, we then sell the eggs which pay for the feed (just). We have got a few rare & pure breeds and Sharon breeds these as a hobby during the spring/summer.
Anyhow Sharon had been working down at the local rest home part time for the past 3/4 years but left in September last year after it was taken over by a big national company who made everyones life unbearable so Sharon left.
The downside was she was going to miss her own bit of money. As she is quite knowledgable about keeping chickens and people had been asking for them I suggested she start her own poultry business, she thought it was a good idea so I set about converting some of the old pig pens which had a large outside run. This was the easy bit as finding a supplier was a devils own job and after about 50 phone calls we found a supplier of top quality Hybrid Hens consisting of 12 different sorts and many different colours. The idea was to give people something different from the ordinary ISA Brown type.
The chap turned up with our first batch of 100 chickens at 8-30 pm and it was pouring down with rain. With all the hens safely in their new quarters we settled up and went in to ponder on what we had let ourselves in for.
By the end of the month Pete turned up with another 100 and we were reasonably happy as we only had 17 left from the previous batch. Things quietened down over December & the early part of January and Pete is coming with 60 more birds tomorrow 2/2/2010 the trouble was we still had 36 left from before.
Anyhow luck has smiled on us as a lady who own a local chinese restaurant called and asked if we had any chickens for sale as she wanted 50 to supply eggs to her restaurants, I said we only had 36 but had some more coming. I gave her my best price and she decided she would have 30 today and 20 more later, she asked if I could deliver them so I said I would.
We got our big wire dog cage and a few boxes together and boxed all 30 hens up ready for delivery. When we arrived everything was ready they had converted a big mobile home and fenced off a nice big area around it. Just so you know they have about half an acre at the back of the restaurant. The birds were unloaded and seemed happy in their new surroundings.
We went over to the restaurant to get paid for the hens and as a joke I said "any chance of some fried rice" the lady said no problem and the chef returned 5 mins later with 2 fried rice 2 sweet & sour prawns and 2 "chicken" chown mein, it was very nice and it saved Sharon cooking when we got back.
So all in all a good day long may it continue.
We now have a website if anyone wants anymore information then please take a look it can be found at http://www.chickens-for-sale.com/
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Frozen Chicken
The photos above show the main snow covered chicken area where Sharon keeps her Rare & Pure Breeds
I dont know about you but I've well & truly had enough of this snow, it has been extremly hard work looking after the chickens in this weather, so Sharon & myself decided to have a break and go down to the snow covered chicken field and make our very own Frozen Chicken for a bit of fun.
As you can see from the pictures above it didnt turn out fantastic but I think you can just about make out what its suppose to be and we had a bit of fun doing it, quite a few cars peeped their horn as they went by they must have thought we were mad (which of course we are), but not as mad as the people driving their cars in this weather its no wonder there are so many accidents.
I have made a bit of a resolution to myself this year and that is to post more often on the Smallholding Tips Blog so lets see if I can follow it through, watch this space. I have allready been told off by my Auntie Dot for not posting more often as she said she liked reading the goings on down on the smallholding and as she is a retired school teacher I dont want to run the risk of getting 6 of the best, so I better keep her happy.
Getting back to the snow, it has been a nighmare looking after all the chickens, just simple things like sorting out the frozen drinkers every morning takes over an hour carrying watering cans of warm water back and forwards from the house no easy task as its 100 metres each way. (I really sympathise with farmers with livestock to tend to must be very hard indeed)
Of course the chickens hate the snow and could very well end up as a frozen chicken if they did go out for to long. The trouble is by staying inside creates another problem because they need cleaning out more often all the straw becomes wet & matted and heavy to lift so She who must be obeyed passes that particular job onto yours truly.
Well thats the first post of 2010 done lets hope the weather improves soon and Frozen Chicken becomes just a distant memory.
Monday, 22 June 2009
Smallholding Self Sufficient Meal
Just a short post to let you all know that today we enjoyed our first self sufficient meal of the season.
We know that we are never going to be totally self sufficient here but we do try to grow as much as we can to keep what we have to buy to an absolute minimum.
On todays menu Sharon cooked up our own raised very free range chicken accompanied by cabbage, carrots & new potatoes all from our polytunnel the gravy was made from the vegetable water.
Hopefully there will be many more self sufficient meals to come from our smallholding, I will keep you posted.
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