Hello everyone

Well yesterday I had my first experience at cleaning out chickens!  To start I thought that it would be a heinous task and that I had been lucky to escape it until now, however I was surprised.  We have a selection of Seabrights, Dorkings, RIR house and runs and then some larger chicken houses as well.  So I donned my wellies and got stuck in.

The easiest way I found to clean was to get the bedding out of the nest boxes then just pull out the sliding trays.  I know that we rave about the Ark Maid on the website however it really does make a difference!  When I pulled out the trays the bedding just slid off - trust me as it was starting to rain this was extremely handy.  We put some more Ark Maid down and then some wood chip bedding and it was really as simple as this.  I had heard so many stories of “the ammonia smell” and chicken poop getting stuck to the bottom of the house, but this wasn’t the case - how happy was I?!

We will start to put some Red Mite Powder down soon as the weather gets milder as this will stop any ideas those pesky little creatures have.

Now I have been advised that I will not be cleaning the houses out every week, but I have a feeling that my wellies may be seeing more use in the near future…

Friday morning it was so clear and sunny but cold by 2pm only very specialised 4×4’s could get here!

Got old betsy our old Mazda pickuk out of storage and went out for a drive to collect our chicken feed delivery from 4 miles away where they got stuck

As the weather is going to be cold for upto 2 weeks we have changed their feed to 4 parts mixed corn to 1 part Layers pellets with liquid tonic in the water.

The reason for this is the corn will fill the crop overnight and they can keep warm and use the energy slowly ensuring they keep in best health over the cold snap.

We have also increased the depth of the bedding from 1/2″ to 1″ to increase insulation and also if your house is of good quality and well built ideally do not remove the snow from the roof as it is also a good insulator.

So now we have fed and watered the birds, geese and sheep we are now going to have a nice relaxing day off infront of the fire so enjoy the weather if you can the birds will

Just check they have acess to water during the day check it is not an ice block.

You might have seen this week we have stock of a new, updated Seabright house. 

They are flying off the shelves (well maybe not the shelves as they would have to be pretty strong to hold these ).  Don’t get me wrong, the original Seabright houses were and still are (due to their fantastic clearance price) amazingly popular, however we have sat back and thought about how we can make the house and run even better.

The new Seabright Chicken House and Run comes with new 10mm squared mesh, instead of the original 25mm, and we have upgraded the tongue and grove timber.  We have also ensured that you can construct the house and run as easily as possible and added pre-drilled holes and dowels to make the task less daunting.

We are so pleased here with the upgrade, and I’m sure that when you look at its current price, you’ll be pleased also.

As I was scraping the ice off my car the other morning it dawned on me that I could no longer pretend that I didn’t need the heating on in the morning!

Upon getting to work I was greeted (as I am every morning) by what I now call “the chicken rapids” - a fast flowing stream of chickens hurtling towards the car looking for the little treats I feed them before coming into the office

I then realised how much of a god-send the automatic door openers are.  Without these little devices one of us would be out every morning and night, opening and closing the chicken coops. 

It appears that as soon as the sun disappears, so does any warmth in the air and I know that the last thing I would want once home from work is to get the open fire going, get all snug and warm, only to go outside to make sure all the little ladies are safe and warm also.  (Luckily I’m like and aunty to our pullets here - I get all the good bits then leave them to Trevor as I go home to my own small petting zoo!)

If you are reading this then an automatic door opener is well worth considering.  Once you have one, you will find yourself thinking “how did I live without it?”.

The great thing is that on our automatic door openers you can alter the sensitivity, so you can set it to the correct levels for getting the best out of them; and you can also add a timer making them so versatile.

There are so many joys to keeping chickens, and we are all about making the experience as joyful as possible, so with one if these beauties, you no longer have to go out in the rain/cold (dare I say snow?) and you still know that if you ladies (and of course gents) are being let out and being tucked up at night.

Now if only I could find such a device that walked my dogs….

We are still receiving calls and emails about Red Mite control and thought that it would be good to mention that we now have a pack of fumers, which mean that you can get into the nooks and crannies without having to bend or stretch. 

These Blitz Mini Fumers are selling like hot cakes!  They are powerful and make the job of Red Mite control easier, which I know is what you want to hear

The great thing is that they come in packs of 2 so that once you have used the first one you still have a second application, without having to buy more.  We always recommend to apply a product at least twice, as we find that nothing short of creosote will kill Red Mite eggs.  This means that the first application will kill the mites and then in approximately 5 to 7 days you do the second application which will kill off the recently hatched mites.  These immature Red Mites will not be able to reproduce in that timescale so the pack of two will do the job nicely!

If you have one of our chicken houses or indeed any chicken house that has air vents, please cover these as best you can to keep the smoke inside the house.

Our Red Mites sprays are still a great solution, and with our range expanding we can ensure that we can provide even more, very versatile solutions.

We have had a large influx of enquiries with regards to Red Mites, so I thought I would update the blog with some information and solutions.  Unfortunately due to the weather and time of year, it appear that Red Mites have been on the rampage!  There are many other factors as to how mites make their way to chicken coops and houses, such as the bedding used,  and also felt roofs can harbour the little creatures causing a lot of hassle and also expense to the humble chicken keeper.   This is one of the main reasons why all our chicken houses are felt free.

It doesn’t sound too nice but these pesky creatures come out at night and feed off your bird whilst she is asleep.  This is what gives the mites their name, with them being red after they have fed.  In the day-time they generally do not appear this colour, which can confuse some over the name and what they may see in their chicken house or chicken coop.

If you have red mites you will usually notice that the egg production is down, as the chickens will need to replace the blood they have lost from the mites feeding, meaning that they have less energy to produce eggs.  Also they will start to peck each other, usually around the base of the tail, as this is where they will see the infestation.

Although this sounds rather scary, the good news is that if you do have an infestation of red mite then we have solutions.  Our stongest product is the Red Mite Killer Spray which is available in both 250ml and 500ml sizes.  The can states that the spray is effective for up to 6 weeks, however we recommend that you treat the house and 7 days later you treat it again, to ensure that it is free of mites.  We also have Total Mite Kill Liquid, which will also kill the mites in much the same way, however with this spray we recommend that you use it 3 times, every 3 days to see maximum results.

Of course with the sprays it’s important that your birds are away from the house and it is stripped of its bedding etc, with the house being well ventilated for a few hours before returning the birds.

Now if you do not have red mites and are keen to keep it that way then we have a naturally formulated powder, Red Mite Powder.  As it is natural then it can also be used on the bird as well as in the house.

We like to sprinkle this around the perches and the corner edges of the house when we are cleaning our houses, and we are happy to say that we are mite free. 

I know there is a lot of information out there when it comes to red mite control, but hopefully the above will summarise for you what to look out for and to assist in your quest to keep your houses mite free!

Firstly hello to everyone

Being my first blog (hopefully first of many) I would like to say that before I joined P&T I was not the most experienced of people at all when it came to chicken keeping!  I recall many a day in my childhood on my grandparents farm, collecting eggs in the morning, knowing that I would enjoy them for breakfast that day, but that was probably as far as my knowledge went.

Since joining I have learnt so much and I hope that as this knowledge will expand and I will be able to pass it on and assist others with little “tricks of the trade” so to speak.

As Trevor mentioned we have lots and lots of little chicks who have been successfully hatched from one of our new incubators, and reared in the last few weeks.   I have been eagerly watching them and can say, without doubt that they have blossomed under the brooder hen, and enjoyed every mouthful of the chick crumb!  I never knew they could eat so much.

The next stage has started and we have erected a Seabright chicken house and run today, which looks really good.  There is plenty of space in the run (something I would imagine people would worry about) and as the house is raised the chicks will even have more room to run around in.

As new products, special offers and helpful tips come to my attention, I will be the first to pass this information on, however please feel free to email any questions, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll just ask Trevor!!!!!

We have today finalised our new design and alterations to our super popular Dorking chicken house, we have changed the door opening system and ventilation as well as improving the wood quality and increasing the thickness from 10mm to 12mm. We have also added a small chicken run for those days you can not free range your birds. Can be seen at http://www.pandtpoultry.co.uk/index.php/fuseaction/shop.category/categoryid/10

I am getting asked every day how to contact the BHWT? Well please try http://www.bhwt.org.uk/ this is their main website. My main contact is Lisa Pope but i believe all volunteers are very helpful so done be nervous to contact you local agent, please remember they are volunteers so have day jobs and may take a day or two to get back to you. I know you want your chickens today but you may have to wait until their next rescue date, please do wait if you can as it will be very rewarding for you.

Again please do remember they are not a business, they are a charity and therfore please understand this is done in their free time given to the help of battery hens so responce time may not be same day, please work with the volunteers it will be worth it for you

I am sorry yes our famous 12kg deluxe kits have been delisted due to the problems bringing in all the parts due to the faliures of 2 companies during the recession.

We do however offer a full range of other chicken feeders.