Caring for hens - part 1 - Financial Considerations ...

Revised 23.06.14 apologies for the ropey photos - no pro camera when I first wrote this!

When it comes to looking after any type of animal the practical considerations are always going to be pretty much the same, I think.

The top three things to think about are money, space and time.

I have experience of raising and caring for chickens from scratch (as it were) and also of rescuing, rehabilitating and looking after ex-battery hens. It's my personal view (based on my Vegan ethics) that if you wish to care for hens, then rescued ex-bats should always be your first choice. This saves the animals from a horrific death and allows them to have a new lease of life and some enjoyment.

In this post I'm going to discuss the cost implications, because, being realistic about it - choices often come down to money and it's important to be capable of looking after any animal financially. Having to give an animal up due to lack of funds, or worse still, letting them suffer in any way due to lack of funds, is going to cause you and them, great heartache.

Thinking that you can just feed hens all your kitchen scraps is a rose tinted view of the reality. When I began caring for chickens I was prepared for some expenditure to get us started but admit to being a little naive as to the ongoing costs that can be associated with them - particularly with rescued ex-battery hens that often come with health issues as a result of the horrific factory life that they've had. So if money is tight, please consider taking on hens or any animals for that matter, very very carefully.

Some of your set-up costs might include:

Chicken coop and run with wind break, shade from sun, roof or covered area and fox-proofing (may need to be purpose built for your garden) and can cost anywhere from £200 upwards. Other options include electric fencing.

walk in run with roof, windbreak & foxproof edging

traditional wooden coop for 6 birds

Feed hoppers and drinkers (we have galvanised feed hoppers and two self-filling drinkers attached to a small tank which is connected to our house water), along with additional coop cups for grit and treats.

small water tank for fresh water to drinker on demand

drinker, feed hopper & coop cup for grit

Miscellaneous equipment such as nail clippers, plastic syringes (for feeding by hand if needed) and a carrying case for taking chickens to the vet.

Some of your ongoing costs might include:

Bedding for the coop (this has to be dust-free as chickens can suffer from respiratory problems - we use HempBed-E £11.95 for 15kg) changed every week in summer and fortnightly in winter. 

hempbed-E kept in a galvanised bin

A bath! yes chickens take a bath daily and as you watch your ex-bats develop their normal chicken behaviour you'll see that a patch of dry sandy earth is what they love. You can dig a purpose built hole and fill it with top soil and sand then add a cover so that it stays dry for them.

our girls having a dust bath on a warm sunny day

Chippings for the run - if your chickens are in a fixed run they will soon eat all of the grass and its nice for them to have some composted garden greens and / or bark chips or wood chips to rake through to keep them active and fit.

Feed - ex-bats do not have such robust digestive systems as they will have been fed on a special crumb-based feed on the farm. So you will need to continue with this and eventually graduate them on to a layers pellet feed. Mixed corn grain is also an ideal late afternoon feed - for nutrition and to help keep them warm at night. Some greenery each day is also a good idea. Our girls love baby gem lettuce and cauliflower leaves. We use organic greens and feeds only. 

recommended ex-bat feeds

£6.38 for 5kg

Treats - to be fed very sparingly (as too many can cause illnesses such as kidney disease) such as mixed seeds, seed blocks and dried mealworms. This might also include boredom busting toys for them (pecking blocks, cat treat balls, branches to climb on, CDs and mirrors are all fun for them.)

boxes of mixed grit, mixed seeds & mealworms

Cleaning equipment - such as sanitiser for cleaning out the coop, ground sanitiser for fixed runs, gloves, scoops, brushes, sponges and kitchen roll etc.

Health products - there are a myriad of products out there now for back yard chicken carers - the ones we have used include good health 'tonics' to add to drinking water and tonic to add to feeds. We also use citricidal when / if they get a cold and comb and wattle protector gel (like Vaseline) for frosty winter days. You will also need to worm your birds every month and can use herbal tonics (which we have had some success with), or vet-supplied products - which of course come at a higher cost. Other products in our chicken 'cabinet' include antibacterial wound powder, red mite dusting powder and anti-pecking spray.

a range of products we use to keep our girls clean & healthy

Vet bills - it's impossible to get pet insurance for chickens, because of their low monetary cost to buy vs the high cost of vet care when things go wrong. So you need to decide early on how much you are prepared to pay to have your hens looked after if they are ill. If you are taking the view that they are expendable and worth no money then - might I say - you are keeping chickens for the wrong reasons. With each of our girls we have had to attend the vets at one time or another and small consults with a batch of drugs etc may cost about £45, so its not for the faint hearted. But when you come to love your girls as much as we do its a price you end up paying without hesitation. But also be aware that chickens are stoic animals who often only present as being ill when their ailment is quite well advanced. For this reason they can be difficult to cure as illnesses are often too advanced and tough decisions will need to be made at the vets as to whether to pay for investigations that may yield few answers and little hope of saving a hen. I would also say, that in my opinion, because of this animals perceived low monetary value, vets are not trained to the extent they are with other animals, and this can make diagnosis, and hence treatment options, even more difficult.
 

At the end - again something to consider but ex-bats do not live as long as more naturally bred and reared hens and so the drop off rate is likely to be quite high. We have had all of our ladies cremated individually at a wonderful facility here in Devon (Valley Pet Crematorium) that specialises in pets and we have also had their ashes added to small wooden boxes which have name plates. That's how much we came to love them and value their companionship. BUT, I appreciate this is not for everyone and again, it's a major cost consideration as it costs us £60 each time. 

So these are just some of the financial implications of caring for even just a few chickens in your garden at home.

If none of this is an issue then hurrah! get in touch with the BHWT today and off you go...

If its made you think twice then that's also good and what I would say is that scary though that list may be - there are some positives:

• The set up costs are one time only if you look after all of their equipment well.
• If you have a small shed that you can convert to a coop, or if you are DIY-handy then you can make a coop at much less cost.
• If you can allow the hens safe free range then you don't need to build a huge fixed run, and things like a dust bath they will naturally make by themselves.
• You can make your own chips for the run - we have a wood chipper and chip up fallen branches and safe garden prunings etc.
• When you refresh their run and coop the old chips and bedding can all be composted and it will make great free compost for your garden - being rich in chicken poo it will be high in Nitrogen and fab for growing brassicas!
• Allowing your hens to free range when they are strong enough to do so will save on feed costs a little as they will find worms and slugs and eat some grass / greens as well.
• Be creative with boredom busting toys for them - you'll have all sorts of things in your house or garden that will cost you nothing.
• You can save money on their feed by adding vegetable peelings from your kitchen - we boil up carrot, potato peelings and cabbage etc with some of their pellets for a hot mash and they love it. They also like things like porridge and cooked pasta if you have any leftovers.
• All of the tonics and health products last for a very long time if you have a small flock of say 6 hens or so.

So it's not all bad financially once you get into the swing of it!

But BEST OF ALL is that you can't put a price on giving a factory farmed animal the chance to become its proper self and to have a wonderful second chance at life. The joy it will give you to see them blossom into real chickens and to chat away to you, follow you round the garden and get up to all sorts of hilarious capers is wonderful. They will cheer you up when you're down, capture your heart and amuse you for hours - and that's priceless.

Chantal xx

Bridget - one of our chief hens xx

@vegsoup4thesoul @SundayBrunchC4  Great blog on getting started keeping chickens!
— Get Chickens London (@ChickensLondon) August 18, 2013

Want to be Vegetarian / Vegan? - You'll be in good company...

When you start to consider a vegetarian lifestyle it's almost automatic that your interest in all things food and animal will result in a certain amount of Internet research. It's the place we all go to nowadays to find out more isn't it?
In my quest for knowledge (well it is power after all) and to rid myself of the indoctrination of popular culture I research a lot and I keep coming across well known people who are either vegetarian or vegan time and time again. And when I say well known - I mean people who have made a significant impact on history, people often renowned for their intelligence and accomplishments, people who have been at the forefront of human thinking and invention, people who have changed the world, people who have been considered ahead of their time.
This has been a shock to me.
I don't remember ever learning about any of these people at school and hearing that they were vegetarian / vegan. It's a fact that is little known about them and yet once you know it - and hear what they have to say about the issue, its completely unsurprising.

I don't know when our culture of meat eating began or why - I do know that it's perpetuated now for the sake of big business - certainly for no other reason. Humans don't need to consume other animals. These revered people knew it.

Here are just some of the people and some of their thoughts.
Please feel free to add any that you come across.

Leonardo di Vinci

‘The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.’

'It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.'

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

‘The love for all living creatures is the most notable attribute of man.’

George Bernard Shaw – 1856-1950 Nobel Prize winner

‘A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses.’

‘I do not want to make my stomach a graveyard for dead animals.’

 Mahatma Ghandi

‘There are many causes for which I would die but there are no causes for which I would kill.’

Leo Tolstoy

'A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.'

Pythagoras

'As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap the joy of love.'

Who else might you know who's vegetarian / vegan? Find out here:

http://www.happycow.net/famous_vegetarians.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vegetarians

http://www.viva.org.uk/celebs/fulllist.html

http://www.peta.org/interactive/e-cards/Famous-Vegetarians-Share.aspx

http://www.veganwolf.com/famous_vegetarians.htm

Chantal Denny-Harrow [blogger, vegetarian since 01.01.12 embracing veganism since 08.03.13]

Restaurant review - The Merry Harriers, Westcott, Devon

Having a 'local'...

It's one of those things that is increasingly hard to do when you live in a city. And it's one of the things that we love about living in Devon. There are 3 or 4 pubs within 5 miles of where we live where we are recognised and the welcome is warm.

None more so though than our favourite of them all: The Merry Harriers.

And it's about time that I reviewed them really because, warm welcome aside, their consistently great food is the main reason that we go there.

This country pub really is more of an eatery now that happens to serve drinks too and it is perfect for it.

We discovered it when having work done at our cottage and I effectively had no working kitchen. It's fair to say we went there 3 or 4 times a week. We got to know the lovely landlord and his wife - John and Lynn and they looked after us as only a true local can and would.

The vegetarian options on the main menu are limited to 4 or 5 items - but, bless them, once they knew of our predicament they began adding veggie options to their specials and if we called in advance (or even en-spec quite a few times) they would cook something different, just for us.

You just can't get service like that in so many 'chain' owned pubs these days and we knew then that the Harriers would forever be our local.

And so it was that after racking our brains for somewhere different to go for an evening meal last Sunday, we gave up and resorted to this good old favourite. Boy were we glad we did as it turned out they have extended their veggie offering for the Sunday menu and we tried two new main meals whilst they keenly waited for our opinion.

We ordered:

Cheesy garlic bread & 

deep fried brie to begin with...

Homemade nut roast with roast potatoes, seasonal veg and vegetarian gravy & 

homemade spinach and ricotta filled ravioli with a roasted red pepper sauce and salad...

The first thing to say about the Harriers is that all of the food is freshly prepared - sometimes there is a little wait (15-20 minutes or so) but its worth it to get piping hot, fresh food cooked to order for you. AND joy of joy, the plates are always piping hot too (regular readers will know cold plates are a bug bear of mine).

The cheesy garlic bread was (as ever) delicious. Really garlicky and really cheesy and NB this is a pub that knows about veggie cheese - so all is OK with this. I could eat bowlfuls of it quite easily and die a happy woman.

Dave loved the Brie because it was properly cooked and gooey and came with a delicious relish and a large crisp mixed salad (not some wilted after thought, like so many places serve).

My roast consisted of 3 slices of the nut roast, 4 roasties, a yorkie, onion gravy and a side dish of FIVE different veg! The nut roast was one of the best (if not THE best) I have ever had. Just the right texture and really tasty. Potatoes were fab and the veg is a joy because its just wonderful to have that kind of variety.

I have to say that Dave's pasta was incredible. John had been worried that they had rolled the pasta a little too thick - but we felt that it was just right as the parcels were actually full of filling (very rare when you buy ready made) and had held together perfectly when cooked and the sauce was rich, piquant and yummy! Now Dave, is not a pasta man. He felt that he should try this new dish as they had made such a great effort and even he said he would order it again in a flash. Result.

[p.s. note the sneaky portion of chips that Dave ordered when I wasn't listening! can't blame him though, Harriers chips are to die for and a few of them found their way onto my plate!]

 

[another quick note: As you can see from the photos, the only downside to eating at the Harriers is that the portions are so generous that we can never make it to dessert - and the desserts are also homemade and sound wonderful. One of these days I'm going to go in and just have pud. Maybe even two.]

I should mention also, as in all of my reviews, the ambiance. Well, its laid back and relaxed. The greeting is always warm, John and all the staff always have a little chat with you and dogs are welcome - as long as their owners are well behaved...

The pub has a small bar and then a bar lounge area where you can also eat and sit next to the open log fire on a cold day, as well as a more formal dining area where a mix of tables allow them to cater for couples having a quiet romantic meal or groups of friends enjoying a lively chat. It's the perfect combination.

And where else could you go where not only does the landlord serve a fine tipple and some fine fayre with a helping of warmth and friendliness, but also fixes your bike?! (he was helping a lady customer in trouble with hers)

So here's to our local - thank you for the welcome and for making the effort to offer more vegetarian food.

"You know you want to go where everybody knows your naaaaame, la la la la and you're always glad you caaaaame, la la la - you wanna go where people know, people are all the saaame, you wanna go where everybody knows your name - la la la la la la...  " [theme tune to Cheers in case you were wondering - yes it does show my age!]

Chantal xx

Amy - a tribute to our special chatty hen...

Sad news at the 'secret cottage' this week - Amy one of our beautiful exbat hens, whom we've looked after for 14 months since her release, has sadly passed away.

We awoke to her clearly not looking herself. She was quiet (a very drastic change, as she was our chattiest girl - always talking to us when we were near), head lowered and feathers all fluffed out with her tail down (a sure sign when a hen is very poorly.) Feeling that her abdomen was very swollen we rushed her to the vets, who scanned her and then drained some fluid. But she went downhill and when her breathing got worse we were called in fearing the worst and she could not be saved. Stoic to the end, it's such a shame that the prey-nature of hens means that they often mask illness until its too late to help them. She was literally leaping about one day and gone the next.


This post is in honour of her, because she taught us so many surprising things about an animal that humans are indoctrinated to believe is stupid and that exists for no other reason than to provide people with eggs and meat.

Don't get me wrong - our other hens have taught us this too - but Amy, more than any other, formed a bond with us and crossed a line that was so profound that I think it's fair to say she massively contributed to our inevitable decision to become vegetarian.

Amy was intelligent. Very intelligent. She was also communicative and aware that, although we spoke different languages, she could make herself heard and could understand (some of) what I said in return.

She also showed a keen sense of observation and logic.

In the beginning when we picked Amy up from the BHWT (British Hen Welfare Trust - formerly the Battery Hen Welfare Trust) the lady passed us to her and said - she's a feisty one' and boy was she right! The other hen she was with was timid and meek - a shattered soul.
But Amy had the survival spirit in shed-loads. She fought and fought to get to food first when we fed them - so much so we had to feed the other hen (Hermione) separately so that she could build up her strength too.


 pic of Amy (right) and Hermione the day we collected them from BHWT

The minute I opened the door to their run Amy would hop out vertically and keenly explore her garden surroundings - chattering constantly as she did.


Her spirit was incredible.

We knew that integrating Amy and Hermione with our existing flock was going to be problematic. Preliminary 'meetings' saw feathers rise, chests puff out and strange guttural noises from the two chief hens of the other flock and Amy. Hermione stayed very much in the background. But come the day that we did need to integrate them we just had to bite the bullet and let them battle it out.

It turned out to be less traumatic than we feared. A few brief fights ensued but I think Amy had to bow to seniority and our chief hen was having none of it from this feisty young upstart.

As time went on though I observed Amy putting up with not being boss, as she realised that taking 3rd place to boss and deputy was OK and in reality she could manipulate them and situations  anyway, so she opted for less stress of letting them 'believe' they were in charge! This was classic Amy.

Such was the amazingly interesting dynamic that we observed when she joined our flock.

Amy (back left) going for a walk with the other girls ...

And so life went on and she never changed - only got brighter. She was always the first to greet us, talk to us, be out of the run. .

But a real connection was made when, rightly or wrongly, I started mimicking her clucks to me of a morning. 'ba bo, ba bo' she would say and I would say it back and then she would say something else and tilt her head on one side as if to say - why the hell are you just repeating me?!

 Amy coming up to me for a chat...

She never really integrated with the flock it has to be said. Amy was a true free spirit.

Yet for all her strength, when we moved house something so startling happened that I will never forget it. We put all of the hens in a portable run that we had made for quarantine purposes / new hens prior to integration etc. in the back of a hire van. We stopped regularly on the way between Staffordshire and our new Devon home to water, feed and reassure - and the hens seemed OK. But when we placed them in their new home Amy jumped from the ground direct into my arms - and I'm tall at 5'9". She literally clung to me. Obviously through fear. Clearly the trip had terrified her. At the time it crossed my mind that she thought we were taking her to somewhere awful - perhaps she had a comprehension of other hens being taken to slaughter? or that perhaps the whole transfer thing before had been terrible for her. Whatever it was, she clung to me for the next 24 hours.

Beyond that, when she realised she had a wonderful new home - she was fine.

That was until she went through a moult.

To explain a moult - it's like a girl losing her hair and then all of the kids in the playground at school bullying her. When hens moult some of them don't know what to do with themselves. They know they feel scruffy and they probably feel insecure that they look weak and are therefore susceptible (in the wild) to being more prevalent prey victims.
It's not helped by the fact that the rest of the flock may bully them. In Amy's case the others did just that - they pecked her constantly and shooed her away from food at every opportunity. She lost weight and her spirit looked broken. She was so poorly that at one stage we had to separate her from the others and it looked as though she had a virus and she needed 1-2-1 care for a few days.

 

Amy in the living room on my lap when she was poorly - we watched the afternoon film on 5 together and she dozed for a bit...

But bless her she pulled through and gradually with additional feeding (out of the sight of the others) she started to regain weight and confidence and as her full feathers came through - really I would say, for the very first time properly - she looked amazing.

With her confidence back she continued to blossom further still - she would follow me into the feed shed all of the time - and learnt to jump up onto the feed bins, the work table and the food tubs! She would ask me for food very specifically and knew her favourite things.
It was so endearing and so hilarious that I guess I let her do it because I enjoyed our interactions. Yes it was cupboard love I suspect - but I got used to her different phrases and I don't hesitate to say that we had a bond.

 A now fully-feathered Amy gardening with me..

That bond was also evident when I was gardening. I always let the girls out when I'm working the garden as I can keep an eye on them and deter Mr fox (who visits during the day where we live). Amy was the first to clue into the fact that where I might be digging there would be a better chance of worms, without her having to do any hard work!

And yet when I was clearing the flower beds of leaves and cutting old dead foliage back she would scratch away the leaves for me - with no pecking for worms - just to copy what I was doing and / or to help with my work. What a joy to have a hen literally by my side while gardening - chatting away to me like an old friend all the time.

I could go on and on and had she lived longer I'm sure there would have been tales to tell of our lovely chatty girl.

Hens can take you by surprise - all of them totally different in their personalities. And rather than be sad I'm trying to think of how much she made us smile and I'm so glad that she got the chance to be a real chicken - the bright intelligent bird that she was meant to be.

I hope that wherever she's running along now that she's with the other girls we have shared our lives and many laughs with, and that the sun is on her back, the grass is lush and the worms plentiful. 

 

Ah these meal worms look nice!

(note the galvanised feed bins rhs - she jumped up on to get on the table!)

Now to find a way in...

Just need to open these pesky blue clips...

Recipe - stuffed peppers a la noughties.

Stuffed peppers always seemed to me to be something from the 70's that Delia would rustle up. Feeling they were a little old fashioned I had never tried them.... (food snob or what?!).

But during cottage renovations and a kitchen that was knee-deep in dust, I opted to buy some ready made ones from Waitrose, as I was quickly running out of ready made veggie food options.

AND needless to say they were delicious and I instantly regretted having turned my nose up at them for all these years.

Anyhoo, delicious as they were I knew I could do better - so with inclination and ingredients gathered, I made some yesterday evening. They were rockin' if I say so myself and so here's my own personal take on them for the noughties (not quite tweenies I fear, unless I use dehydrated mushrooms, cook them sousvide first and add popping candy). Enjoy!

[serves 2]

Gather

2 large bell peppers (ideally different colours)

1 to 2 tsp oil (I used vegetable)

1/2 onion - finely chopped

4 chestnut mushrooms - finely chopped

1 clove of garlic - finely chopped

small handful chopped mixed nuts or seeds that you like (I just had sesame to hand)

small handful chopped mixed herbs (optional - I had none fresh, I think parsley would be a winner)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

250g couscous (make lots because then you can have it for lunch tomorrow)

400ml veg stock (I used 1 organic garlic and herb stock cube from Kallo)

4 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs

60g strong organic cheddar - finely grated (leave out or subs for vegan cheese to go vegan)

Spritz of oil (I always have sunflower on the go)

Create

1. Preheat oven to 200C / 180C fan (I made these in the aga on 'hot')
2. Gently sautee the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the oil until softened. Add any herbs and nuts.
3. Meanwhile, bring the veg stock to a boil, pour over the couscous, cover and leave to steam for up to 10 mins.
4. Halve the peppers lengthways cutting through the stalk and keeping it attached if you can. Remove seeds and pith.
5. Mix 4 heaped dessert spoons of the cooked couscous with the mushroom and onion mix and season to taste.
6. Stuff the peppers by spooning in the couscous mix and pressing down so they are really packed.
7. Top each with a 1/4 of the cheese, then a spoonful of breadcrumbs and a spritzing of oil.
8. Place on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for approx 30 mins or until golden on top.

Devour

These would be lovely served with a crisp fresh green salad - but I was in the mood for more cold-night comfort, so I made some paprika roasties (skin on) instead, added a dollop of mayo and wallowed in the carb-fest! TFI Friday! :)

p.s.Remember that red peppers are the ripest and sweetest and also the softest, so may need less cooking time. I preferred the yellow pepper as it was slightly firmer.

Chantal xx