It’s end of day one at the allotment for our new flock. They had a good run this morning, and a brief outing late this afternoon. The new birds are loving their outside time. They’d really worn their little patch of garden lawn to a frazzle, and now they’ve got lovely long grass once again.
To entice them back in, a broccoli works brilliantly. A bit of an indulgence, but they were on special offer at the supermarket.
For the first time, we provided them with a trough feeder full of Garvo breeders mash. They’re grown up enough to cope with an adult formulation, and the previous generation love it. It took them a while to take to it (you can see the rearguard still worrying the broccoli) but it seemed to make a most acceptable supper! The A&P growers pellets in the treadle feeder were spurned in favour of the mash.
Meanwhile, our year 2 chickens are starting their moult. Here they are with their rather larger trough feeder. They qualified for a broccoli treat too.
And we’re down to around two eggs a day. Last year’s flock stopped laying entirely during the moult and didn’t start again until the spring, so we may see the same happen again. That’s fine. They deserve some time off!
John Norman's Blog 
Incredible to realise you actually reared all these fine birds from chicks. It’s beginning to look like an industry.
We’re at a yearly high point for birds (and a low point for eggs). Next year we’ll be selling on the two-year-old hens as layers and before Christmas the new flock will be reduced as the cockerels reach freezer weight.
John, where did you get your egg carrying
box please?
They’re easily available on eBay. Just search for “plastic egg box”. You can get boxes for 12 eggs as well as 6.