keeping chickens | My Food Odyssey

Jun 15

Carnage

It started off as a normal morning. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, Casanova was making a racket in the garden. I was sipping my morning coffee when I heard a knock at the door. It was unusually early for visitors – so early that the door was still locked. I heard Arūnas opening the door, then panicked tones and footsteps running away from the house. I jumped out of bed and ran to the window to see where they were headed, swirls of thoughts rushing through my head. I saw Arūnas arrive at the chicken coop – and then he froze. Read more

Jun 3

25 Comments

New Cock on the Block: Introducing Casanova

When you keep hens for eggs you learn to read your eggs for information on the well-being of your flock. You begin to notice variations in the colour, shape and thickness of the shell, the consistency of the white and the yellowness of the yolk. Shortly after the fall of Beelzebub I noticed something very strange about my eggs – something that should no longer be possible. Most of them were fertilised. Read more

Apr 15

43 Comments

Death of a Ladies’ Man

We both knew it had to be done but we had been procrastinating for weeks. Months, if I’m honest. He was a menace and he needed to go, but somehow neither of us had the heart to do it. Read more

Apr 1

33 Comments

A Bright Pink Cock

As some of you will know, I live with a feisty cock who causes me no end of trouble. I have tried a number of approaches to keeping him at bay, including whacking him (judiciously) over the head, but nothing seems to work. Read more

Dec 29

16 Comments

Warmth

I think the week between Christmas and New Year is probably my favourite week of the year. The stress of Christmas is behind us, tummies are full, hearts are happy and the fridge is full of leftovers. The weather is just cold enough that I don’t feel guilty curling up with a good book and a hot whiskey but not so cold that I can’t get out for a long walk with the dog to work off some of that stuffing. Read more

Oct 11

Chicken Eye Infection | www.myfoododyssey.com

35 Comments

Help! My chickens are sick!

My poor girls. They’re just not well. A few weeks back we noticed that one of our grey marans had started to develop a bit of a cough. None of the other birds seemed to be affected so I wasn’t overly worried. Not wanting to rush to the vet with every little sneeze I googled to see if there was a natural remedy I could administer. Read more

Jul 9

22 Comments

Beelzebub, the Hero

Something is rotten in Toyland. I’m not getting any eggs. I haven’t quite figured out what’s happening but I suspect the hens might be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after an intrusion incident. Read more

Jun 10

38 Comments

Cock Whacking

It appears I have been mollycoddling my cock. I need to treat it a bit more roughly, apparently. To keep it in its place. Easier said than done. My cock woes began the day the fucker arrived. (Sorry, but my thesaurus had no replacements for “fucker”.) He escaped from the run and Arūnas had to wrestle the poor dog to stop him from killing him. In retrospect we should have just let it play out. We spent the next half an hour running round after him like eejits, eventually getting him back, tailless but otherwise intact, into the run. Read more

May 7

24 Comments

Which Came First?

Finally, I have the answer. It’s the chicken. The chicken definitely came first. Six weeks before the egg, to be exact. For six weeks I have been diligently checking the coop every day, patiently waiting for an egg. Friends advised that it might be some considerable time before we got an egg as the hens were so young and their combs and wattles were still quite small. Read more

Mar 29

20 Comments

Cock Chasing

What a bloody palaver. This morning one of our neighbours gave us a present of a cock. He’s a tall and handsome chap and the hens were very happy to see him. The dog however, was not. He immediately jumped up to grab him from Arūnas’s arms. Thwarted, he barked around the perimeter of the run all day. At least the cock was safe in the run, we though. Read more

Mar 24

30 Comments

Home Sweet Home

Our beautiful girls have finally arrived. It feels like a monumental step in our self-sufficiency journey and I’m very, very excited. We decided to buy twelve chickens to start. We had the space so we thought, why not? Chickens are sociable creatures and love company. They will also keep each other warm in the cold Lithuanian winters. Read more

Mar 11

17 Comments

Chicken Run

Spring has come early here in Lithuania. The snow has cleared completely and snowdrops have pushed their lazy, drooping heads through the freshly thawed earth. Birds are chirping in blue skies and the damp, dreary depression that was February is a fast-fading memory. Read more

Sep 14

10 Comments

Walk first, then run

At least, that’s the theory. I’m not sure I’m going to be allowed that luxury. Everything is so new and everything seems to be on a clock, so I’m just going to have to roll with the punches – and get running. Read more