Recent content by Loving my girls

We have the same problem here in sw France. This year we are due another scorcher according to france meteo. That means days of over 40c in the shade (104f). Night times are pretty unbearable. Around the pouallier is concrete and I hose it down with cold water each evening sometimes once or...

I kept dropping hints to ‘insignificant other’ that I wanted a goat or goats having done lots of research and left computers on significant websites and borrowed books about the subject. I Even bought him a little book about goat breeding. Eventually we agreed to compromised on hens 😉

This is a really interesting and helpful article. My girls free range but they are also spoilt brats and so Christmas is a big thing (yeah I know 🙄🫣) I was going to try them on something for their pouallier, perhaps next to the feeder, but now I won’t, I will stick with can of sweetcorn and tuna...

I have a copele 30kg, I’m really pleased with it but the dust seems to be an issue. I can empty it when it’s empty as My Three Chicks suggested but I have to say that it is heavy so an alternative idea would probably suit me better. If you have pictures ?

Ah right ! That makes sense, I have just been filling it up. I will give it a go by doing the uppie downie thing next time. Thank you :bow

Hi Everyone and thanks for reading this, I have recently purchased a treadle feeder - I am pleased as punch with it … however I seem to be getting dust in the Feed Trough which I am having trouble scooping out. Does anyone else have this problem ? Does anyone know how to resolve it ? I’m sure I...

Oh poor hun but it’s better than a dead chick and your hens getting the vampire disease. Hugz

So rats get into your treadle feeder or am I misunderstanding?

Really helpful as I am looking into a grandpas large treadle at the moment as local rats are going in through the little hen door to eat. This, in turn, scares my girls from going inside to eat. Thinking of putting the treadle outside to rub it in as far as the rats are concerned- a little bit...

Afraid I don’t know much about chicks as such but I recommend you remove the injured bird immediately, they get a blood lust and will continue to pick on her. Then I would check for overcrowding, there is lots of information on this site about how much space each girl will need although I don’t...

Unfortunately the scab is not the problem, bumblefoot is like a dandelion in that it has a root. The root is what must be removed. This involves another operation and after removing about 1mm around the outside the scab (not just the scab) the root must be found and removed or as much as...

Yep, gentle taps then water, till it comes out the bottom of the pot. Then let it stand to drain before putting your saucer underneath. Never let its feet get wet.

Bonjour Stéphan, Bienvenue! I live in sw France too. But on the other side of Agen to you. About two hours from Bordeaux. We have been having some pretty freaky weather, how are you managing to keep your hens cool in these crazy temperatures? Hugz

How exciting and how I envy you. If I knew 30 years ago what I know now I would have gone totally off grid. I’ve done the closest I can by having solar panels and self sufficient in veg (and eggs too of course). I think it’s great that you are homesteading and hope you get all the luck you...

I think you guys are all lucky, I don’t think our vets know how to spell Poule (live hen wandering around) only poulet (chicken already prepared for eating) Hugz