Oldangrey's CHICKENOPOLUS

Great Loss

2010-03-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

This is to let you know Dennis passed away peacefully on 21st June 2009, this site is a dedication to his memory, he loved his birds and was passionate about his hobby. Rest in peace my love - Pauline (Dennis's wife)

Broody at last

2009-06-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

Bantams

2009-05-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Hen House for sale

2009-05-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Many Thanks

2009-05-06T03:17:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank Mr Neil Everley of Cologne Kennells ( Melton Mowbray) for his and his young dogs ( Oatus & Fern ) help in dealing with this problem, cheers Neil

for more info about Mr Everley and his Terriers see link at bottom of this page

Mr Fox has moved

2009-05-06T00:50:00.000-07:00

Mr Fox and I had a little face to face chat this morning, after a winter of killing and me buying new bird we decided it was time for him to move on, no if's but's or maybe's he's gone, and wont be back HOOOOOOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

Tally to date..
FOX 63 CHICKENS
DENNIS 1 FOX

And before any of you jump on me NO !!!!! I didnt kill the fox, he has gone to a newer home for re-habilitation !!!!

Mex hat pig feeders for sale

2009-04-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

I got a couple of heavy duty fibre glass mexican hat pig feeders for sale, £ 15 each, buyer collects, email me at
oldangrey1@yahoo.co.uk

BROODY'S NOT

2009-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

She has changed her mind and is not broody, after 2 days sat tight on the eggs i put under her, arh well fingers crossed one of the other will go broody soon

Hens at Home again

2009-04-16T04:37:00.000-07:00

I have decided to take some hens home and keep them there, i am trying to get some broody's, and as if by magic the Black hen has gone broody over night, she is now sat on 10 mixed eggs, yipppeee, here is a short video clip...

Battery Hens

2009-04-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

Broody Hen ???

2009-04-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

Ok its that time of year when some hens should by rights be going broody, well mine aint !!! I am going to box one up to try and send her broody but i dont like doing it, the method is a bit old fashioned and in some ways a touch cruel.
I have just lost my last Pencil Hamberg hens, she died yesterday, now I am left with just the cockerel, he is a lovely bird, ( if any one wants him he is free on collection) ..

2009-03-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

Ok its been a while, work has not stopped its just been quiet, chickenopolus now has a 5 foot high fence all round, also chicken wire dug in the ground all round, there are just a few bits and bobs to be done and its finished, then it on to the next bit, I want to build a second pen, so I can rotate them and not let one go sour, have a look at the video and have a laugh ;);)

2009-02-02T01:40:00.001-08:00

Here in the UK have had a bit of snow overnight, about 4 to 6 inches, the whole country is closing down !!! WTF !!! We have snow, we have had snow for ever, but as soon as it lands and stays for more than ten minutes its CHAOS, I have just been to let the chickens out and feed/water them, its a journy of about 1 1/2 miles, out of that only about 800 yards of road has been gritted, the rest is snow and slush, I even got overtaken by some idiot, everyone is driving bumper to bumper, some car drivers haven't even bothered to clear the snow off thier vehicle, all of the schools in our town have closed till ferther notice, I spoke to a bus driver while waiting in the traffic queue, he told me all his companies busses are restricted to local runs only, there a lorry in a ditch on our main road into town..............
Before i left this morning my car was totaly cleared of snow and ice, i had a flask of tea, a sleeping bag, some food, all in the car, and i was only going a mile and a half LOL i even put a towel an blanket in for Dj, the snow shovel was already in the boot along with my usual kits ( rope, jump leads, jack, spider spanner, tyre pump, water, floro jacket )..
The council have kindly put GRIT bin along some roads, so in bad weather people can us it to clear the ice off the roads etc, I just went to the one closet to me and its EMPTY !!!!! we have known this snow was coming a week ago !!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There thats my rant and rave over with, now i am going out into the garden to build a snow man

The BIG REBUILD

2009-01-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

As you will know Chickenopolus has been plagued with foxes, most of my original birds have now been gobbled up by Mr Fox and his family, it got to the stage where i very nearly closed the whole thing down, but I enjoy it so much, SO I have made my mind up to keep going !!!

Today we start building the new fence, and in the coming weeks new houses and individual pens for breeding birds too, the old shed/house will be going to a friends ( his dad wants them ) ..
I am going to build using straw bales, the reason is they are environmentaly friendly and i got a great price on 50 bales hehehe, they will be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, so keep watching this space for the developments, I hope to get some photos on here in the next few days..

BATTERY HENS

2009-01-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

I have just collected 20 battery hens, they are great and in very gopod condition, the lot I got last year were very poor, this lot look fine, and are eating and drinking as soon as i put the troughs down, I will add some photos asap

Fox AGAIN

2008-12-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

This is getting beyond a joke, i have caught 3 fox's in the past 4 weeks, but still more come and kill birds, The only thing i can do to protect my birds is to pen them up in secure units, this go's against all i want, my idea is to run them free range, more to follow

Starting over

2008-11-09T02:14:00.000-08:00

Well no one replied so I am asuming no one is reading this....

I have bought all new birds, some 20 layer, 6 ducks and 4 geese, all young and fresh, within 6 hours of them arriving I had my first dozen eggs, the old birds I am fattenng up for the pot, I had planned on selling them off as pets, but the market for pet chicken is not strong round this way.....

Sad News

2008-10-29T01:16:00.000-07:00

Friends of mine have a small holding just out of town, they have the usual, chickens, geese, ducks, pigs, sheep, a pony and an alpaca (? Sp), well He phoned me last night to let me know they were packing up and selling ever thing, I am really gutted for them, they have worked so hard to get it up and running, the main trouble they have had is from the local council, only a month ago we put the plastic on their poly tunnel, they have built fences, planted trees both fruit and others natives.

All that work has now been for nothing, it make my moaning about a fox seem such a little thing.

WELL i have to decide what I am going to do, I have 2 opptions:

1 is to pack up, this will mean selling or giving away the birds and houses I have, and then being bored silly with nothing to do....

or 2, carry on, buy more birds and build stronger fox proof ( ish ) fencing, I have all the materials, its just the labour, at the moment I can do about an hours work before my legs gives me trouble, but I am working so slow nodays, it takes so long to do jobs that i used to in a flash, I do get help from David my brother, but I hate asking, sometimes when i have a little spare money I get Tom ( a friend ) to come and help and pay him for his time, this dont sound much but 1 day of Tom = 1 weeks feed for the chickens...

Any one advise???

The FOX has been again !!!

2008-10-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

Mr Fox has apid another visit, this time killing 21 birds, OK i can hear some of you saying why haven't you made your pen " fox proof " well in some ways i would say the same, and yes i can wire in a small enclosure to keep my birds safe, But then they would be back where they came from, BATTERY CAGES !! I want them to be free range and have loads of room to roam around in.. Mr Fox is only doing what his instinct is telling him, in the wild he would come on a flock of birds and kill as many as he can as fast as possible before they flew off, then he would take them away one at a time and hide the carcases for later consumption, the reason i have found so many dead left laid where they were killed is Mr Fox was disturbed, and took fright..I have bought some new birds to replace the resent lost ones, but as some are young and not in lay yet I am feeding them for nothing, it is draining my pockets dry, I had got to the stage where the birds were self sustaining, ie the sale of the eggs paid for their food and the rent of Chickenopolus and some weeks paid for my petrol too, all this expense is coming from my disapearing wallet :(

Video Clips

2008-03-15T05:11:00.001-07:00

The clips are in reverse order, and numbered so the one with just the name is first then the one numbered 1 then 2 etc after that in that order

Progression of Chickenopolus3

2008-03-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

Progression of Chickenolpolus 2

2008-03-15T04:36:00.000-07:00

Progression of Chickenopolus 1

2008-03-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

Progression of CHICKENOPOLUS

2008-03-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

COMMENT ????

2008-03-15T00:09:00.001-07:00

It would be nice for you to leave some sort of comment if you have been here, even if it's rude ;)

ITS STILL GROWING

2008-03-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Not added for a while as i have been realy hard at it making Chickenopolus bigger and better, have a look at the latest vids

Its Getting bigger everyday

2008-01-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the new video clip, Chickenopolus has grown even more, i now have 40 more hens, and several new cockerels, i still have room to grow about the same size again, also i am renting the rest of the green house number 5, and have already got seeds planted, my plan is to grow veg plants and sell them either at mill house or on a stall on the market

Chickenopolus GROWS again

2008-01-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

Chickenopolus the editers cut

2008-01-27T23:15:00.000-08:00

2008-01-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

alt="The Big Green Idea" style="border: none;" />

SLOWING DOWN FOR CHRISTMAS

2007-12-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

2007-12-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

This is the new cockerel a Barnvelder and my silver Grey Dorking having an early morning crowing duel

Loads of photo's

2007-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

yep there is more of them, some good loads bad, but i try LOL, have a look at my photo bucket space here
http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/oldangrey/?start=all

2007-12-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

Grew these in an unheated greenhouse

Home Made Incubator

2007-11-23T23:33:00.000-08:00

I made this earlier in the year from a poli fish box (free from the local fish mongers, they have to pay for them to be disposed of, so its worth asking ), the thermostat is from eBay ( £9.99) build it yourself, just needs a soldering iron and patients, the heat source is a 12 volt ride on mower bulb and holder, i have got 2 hooked up in case one blows, i have also added a small computer fan to circulate the air better, the power source is an old transformer from a train set( eBay £2.00) it all cosy around £18, and a couple of hours putting it together, i have gone one stage further and made an outside box, the only reason is it looks nicer for the OH when its sat in the living room next to the PC, I spent quite a bit of time getting it all set up with the right temp and humidity, its worth the time playing first before waisting eggs if you get it wrong, the box i have has several holes already in it, so i don't need to add any for gas exchange, come spring i an going to use it for the first time..

Chickenopolus update

2007-11-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

I am putting up a couple of short video clips on " you tube " .. What do you think??

Growing

2007-11-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

My Chicken project is slowly growing, all my birds are at Mill House now, and all have good size pens to run about in, I put my layers in their new home yesterday morning, they now have the large house and a run of about 12 feet square for now, as they have been living on a bed of straw for ages they are loving being able to scratch about, and as i left them last night i had my last look round and one had layed,,,, Yippeeee !!
photos to follow

Older Photo's

2007-11-16T01:26:00.000-08:00

Dont forget to have a look at some of my older photo's and stuff,go to the bottom of this page and click on " older posts "... Enjoy

Pig Pictures

2007-11-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

As promised here are some photo's of the Pigs

Free !!!

2007-11-11T23:44:00.000-08:00

With all but my layers at the workshop, i have given the layers free roam of all the veg patch, now they have loads of room to wander about, even the green house too.. I have just opened their house an d let them out to this new freedom, talk about bewilderment LOL, its taken them 10 minutes to work out whats going on, they are now spread all over their new home.

Mahogony Planter

2007-11-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

I have just made this from Mahogany reclaimed from a sound proofing factory, I'm not sure what they had used it for, but it turns out quite nicely, i hadn't got any oil to finish it with so i used a drop of veg cooking oil mixed with some meths, it works LOL,

Hazel has died

2007-11-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

sorry to have to report that Hazel has passed away, in the end she was clean of mites and seemed unable to process the food she was eating.

Hazel update

2007-11-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

She is doing realy well and following me around the workshop, she had realy bad mites, in the last 2 weeks i have dusted her 3 times and have been cleaning out her box every 3 days, boy you wouldn't recognise her
photo's to follow

NEWS new pigs at Mill House

2007-11-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

photo's to follow

Chickenopolis ??

2007-11-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Ok so Hugh F-Whitingstall said it first, I have moved in another house, this one is for my layers, its got a temp pen, i am going to make it much bigger for them in the next few days, have a look at the pictures, oh yes, there are some of the new house i will be using for the rare breeds, nice and cosy..

PHEW !!!! broke out in a sweat

2007-11-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

Its been one heck of a week, thanks you all that have ordered houses and runs, i have lost another 5 pounds in weight.... LOL.... ok yes i did need to loose some :p

i have a cockerel thats now turn out to be hen, she is not very well, when i first noticed, on inspection she had mites, so she has been well dusted and pampered, Deb's the Mill house manager has named her " Hazel " cus of her eyes, lol I am a bloke so i don't notice these things...
I have had her loose in the workshop, she seems to like pecking around, treated her to a sticky fruit bun yesterday afternoon, and at night she has her own small house to sleep in, i really want her to live, as i have hatched her myself......

Moved the Cockerals

2007-10-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well i finally got them moved to the piece of land i am renting, its a small pen but will have to do for the time being, they are quite happy it seems, its all go on the chicken house building front, got to make 4 this week and have to have them ready for Saturday, 2 of them want pens making too, I have had Tom helping me again today, he is great and willing to do most jobs, or at least try, i can see him doing well, it nice to have him for company too, even though he don't say much lol, here are a few pictures to keep you going for now....

Busy weekend

2007-10-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy weekend, sold 2 hen houses to some very nice people, they had some hens too, i do hope they enjoy them, they also had a bird table, and have ordered another, the hen houses they took were ones i had built for my own hens, so i have had to start over, and make myself some new ones, i got one finished yesterday, and the lad i have help me has painted it forest green.
I had my son George with me all weekend, he is 18 and usually is off with his girlfriend, it was a really great weekend we didn't have a single argument, i think if he really put his mind to it he would be a great woodworker, he has made a couple of really nice wheelbarrow planters, i will add the photo's later, he made them from taking a template from the one my Wife was given by a plant firm, and has enlarged the template to make larger ones, they look really good...

I have been feeling really worn out lately, but have been unable to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time, i think its just worry LOL

2007-10-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

Clean up

2007-10-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Have had a friend in ( Tom ) to give me a hand cleaning up, and having a general tidy up, still not got round to the bench ARGHHHHH!!! i have to do it soon.... I think i have found the best house to make..see pictures

2007-10-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

the chairs below are for sale at £15 each

Creature comforts

2007-10-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

The workshop is becoming a home from home, coffee table and easy chairs LOL you think I'm joking have a look

New Bench

2007-10-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

I made my main working bench in a bit of a hurry and didn't get it quite level, so next week i will re-build it and make it true, its not helped by being on the mill waste, but i will get round it some way..
I am missing the guys at Poultry chat, they are a great bunch of very knowledgeable people on there, and if you ever need to know anything about keeping poultry thats the place to go, there a link to it at the bottom of my blog, there is also a link to a place that sells great FREE RANGE PORK and eggs, Mill house just outside Melton Mowbray on the Leicester Road, i had some Liver from her the other day and it was Beautiful, so if you fancy some really well cared for pork give them a ring

2007-10-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

Portable Duck pond/bath

2007-10-13T22:53:00.001-07:00

I have just made this pond for ducks, it movable and quite light weight when empty, about 5 feet long and 3'6" wide, 10" at the deepest, i have made a ramp for the ducks to waddle up, a bloke down the road is going to field test it for me, he has a few ducks in his back garden, i have been a bit stupid and painted the fibreglass and will have to scrub it off

New " OLD " Timber

2007-10-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

I have just found a large pile of timber, its all reusable, just needs de-nailing, i hope to get it today with luck, it will ideal for making chicken runs and the like, some lengths are 12 feet long, well most of it is really, but after reworking it will get smaller.
I was given some MDF off cuts the other day, i don't usually use MDF, but as it was free what the heck lol, i made a nice chair from some of it, now i can sit and watch the chickens in comfort while i eat lunch.
I cant go into the workshop straight away today, i have to wait for some guys to collect our old TV, we have always rented our TV, but I have bought one from eBay, they are going to collect the old one this morning I hope, i would like them here as early as possible, i have lots to do at the workshop, sorting out this new timber is the main job, it needs de-nailing then sorting into usable and sizes etc.

where i am fishing ( click on the picture )

2007-10-10T18:37:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

2007-10-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a lot of spare time lately, i have been making bird nesting boxes and tables for a local firm, they paint them up and sell them on, also just got some more work from a Cane furniture company, they are moving premises and want me to do some chippy work for them, today i did a stud wall, tomorrow i have to make an office space, its all good, its just a shame i come home in such pain, this Arthritis is a bug-er......... Still i am enjoying myself, and its nice to meet so many new people

2007-10-09T16:26:00.001-07:00

This is me sorry if it scares the children
this is wahts inside the small eggs, no its no yoke lol
Small egg is probably the hens first

New Photo's

2007-10-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Some random pictures i have taken

2007-10-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

the sea looking to Hunstanton Norfolk
opposite direction
this is the machine that takes people to sea the seals on the sand banks in the wash Norfolk
The Wife doing a spot check for naked ladies and the like
the view from my workshop door

NEW WORKSHOP

2007-10-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

I now have a workshop, its great i can work in the rain without getting electric shocks LOL

i am taking orders for all types of Garden Ware, ie bird tables and nest boxes, wishing wells and planters etc.

email me with your drawing at oldangrey@britpost.com
or phone me on 07748925918

Some new houses

2007-10-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

here are some of the newer houses built, and other items i have made

ORDERS FOR HOUSES TAKEN

2007-05-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

I take orders for specialy made Chicken houses, most sizes catered for, from small 2/4 birds upto large 20/30 bird sheds, where possble i used reclaimed timber, and all houses are screwed together NOT nailed ( i did buy a nail gun but it scared the life out of me LOL )..
Please feel free to contact me about your needs.
a small deposit will be needed before work commences
Cages and run can also be constructed

Mail me at
oldangrey@britpost.com

some more of my houses

2007-05-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Helpful People

2007-05-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

If you have any chicken related questions, or need advise, go and ask these people, they are a very friendly bunch, and some are very experienced poultry keepers, also its a good site for a chat and to get to know new chicken friends,, beware it is adictive !!!!!

http://www.poultrychat.com/vb/

I made these

2007-05-17T05:24:00.000-07:00