I lost my lovely Buff Orpington Goldie in June, and my heart's still breaking. It soothes my pained soul to watch the stately grace and grandeur of your gorgeous girls. Buff Orps love to dig! When I'd dig around the yard, it was only a short time before I heard Goldie's businesslike mutter as she came over to inspect my work and offer suggestions. Thanks so much for the therapy, Fiona.
@@EnglishCountryLife Bless you, Love. Goldie was the sun that her flock and I orbited around, and without her presence in the henyard, everything feels out of order. These truly are the greatest birds of all.
Ive just found your channel and I am so grateful. Your voice is so calming. I have just purchased my first buff orpington. Her name is Bernice and she is 6 weeks old today. Feisty little thing! cant wait to watch her and her sisters grow out. Im in my 3rd year of keeping chickens and they bring me so much deep joy. Hard to do anything besides sit with them.
I used to keep just 4 chickens getting 28 eggs a week far more than I could handle. Jars of pickled eggs everywhere.🤣🤣 However I loved them. One of them would jump onto my shoulder when I was having a breather when cleaning the run and we would have a good old natter together, so funny, wished I had a film of it.
Dear Fiona, It has been awhile since I watched one of your videos on chickens. Thank you for producing this one. Very valuable information for new owners of a small flock. Sincerely, Larry Clarence Lewis London, Ontario, Canada.
@@EnglishCountryLife Dear Fiona, Thank you for enquiring how I am doing. On July 31 I turned 81. I have some limitations as the result of old age. This time of the year I take in several Farmers Markets within London, Ontario. I enjoy these very much. I get around the city by bus. It is a very different way of life by bus. But, I have time, and, so, don’t experience frustrations in not having a car. Our days are getting noticeably shorter now in south-western Ontario. We have had a nice summer, quite similar to last summer: some hot weather, but many perfect days and plenty of rain to keep everything green. I have acquired quite a few houseplants which I have been enjoying very much. However, right now my enjoyment is being challenged and tempered by an infestation of spider mites. Several plants are in the infirmary. Also, I have do a culling job(something I know you are familiar with). I don’t look forward to this, but lack of space is making this a necessity. I will simply have to bite the bullet, plan it out, and carry out the deed. I remember all your videos on raising a sustaining flock. You have provided a very fine resource. I have brought your videos, and all the experience therein, to friends who are raising a flock in northern Alberta. Thank you once again for all you have done and continue to do. I pray that these few scraps find you in good health and good spirits. Sincerely, Larry Clarence Lewis London, Ontario, Canada.
Thank you for another great video Fiona. I was new to chicken keeping last year and took on 4 rescue hens. Your videos are a brilliant source of knowledge and good sound all-around advice which helped give me the confidence to keep chickens. I now have 4 more - POL this time, chicken math!! 😂 p.s the poop is off the scale and as mine free range in the garden I have regular poop picking sessions to keep on top of it 🤑 p.p.s good to see you more mobile, hope the leg is getting less painful.
Thanks for this. One thing that I think would help a lot of people is doing research *before* you get chickens. I see so many questions/complaints on different chicken groups that could have been anwered/solved if they had just done a bit of research. Your leg must be better. Thanks for the hard work.
Thank you for your informative video. We are newly hen owners and have recently been learning about the “egg song” fascinating stuff! I do have a question: Houdini (one of our Hens) has a sore bottom and neck (she is a rescue hen) it’s red raw and bald… we bought some first aid chicken spray but I’m just curious as to when the red sore will heal and is she in any way bothered or upset. She seems fine but we’re just concerned it might get infected. We spray daily and that’s been three days so far. We have a big run and a coop that houses 14 Chickens. Could you maybe do a video on such things? If you have I’ll maybe search your content (if you have a link or something that would be fantastic ) Many thanks 🐔
@@VXEO Hi, it's very hard to answer health questions without seeing the bird. BHWT have a list of hen friendly vets who are your best port of call for serious health issues. www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-health/hen-friendly-vets/ Feather loss is common on retired commercial hens & feathers will normally grow back in a few weeks & certainly in this Autumn's moult. The redness could have many sources including sun burn!
Our chickens either didn't read the instructions or something got lost in translation because they lay their eggs on a 24hr cycle, near enough. We got them in November last year and they have consistently popped their eggs out first thing in the morning. Chicken Isla went off lay for a week or so after the attack and chicken Margot who went broody is now back on line and going through her moult. Quick question for Handsome Hugh regarding an earth rod for the electric fence. I might have asked this before but I can't remember when. I have several lengths of re-bar about 1.8 m long. They are a bit rusty as is the way of re-bar but a quick tango with the wire brush will sort that out. So, how shiny should it be and would a coat of zinc spray be of any benefit ?
@@chrishamilton-wearing3232 Hi Chris, iron oxide (rust) is a poor conductor of electricity & your rebar will rust in the ground. Stainless or galvanised is better
@@EnglishCountryLife Hi again. Only me. This time a question for aunty Fabulous. Possibly at the end of September we will be getting 3 more chickens and I am going to build some mesh panels to make a run for them before mixing them with the existing birds. All of the 'internet wisdom ' advocates keeping them separate for about a week, and to get them used to each other to feed treats either side of the mesh barrier so they associate being together with getting some goodies. The beloved has asked me if they need to be kept further apart for bio security, something that had not crossed my mind and I had not seen this refeŕed to out there in interweb land. What would you advise ?
