Pirates, arrrrr! Oh, and my homemade chicken feeder.

We had pirates in the backyard yesterday

They had a treasure map and all

They came wielding light sabers

They didn't always agree with each other

Or with me....

They kept a look out

And spotted something for dinner

(Hmm, photographing a black chook and a white one in the same photo gives my camera conniptions)

But the dinner was eating her dinner

And do you like my home made chicken feeder? 

I saw this on the web somewhere and thought I'd give it a go, I wanted some way to stop the chooks from flicking their pallets everywhere as they don't seem inclined to ever clean up the stuff they've flicked around and I think it was starting to attract rats. And pigeons.

I took a large yoghurt container (free brand advertising there, I never bother to remove labels), cut four holes around the bottom (you can see one of them in the picture), hot glued the container on to a largish, deepish dish (I used a thingy that is meant to go under a plant pot, bought it from a large hardware store), filled up the container, put the lid on and there you have it.

I also put any other (small) kitchen scraps I give them in the dish too. The chooks free range our small backyard and really only go in their coop at night, so now I pick up the whole dish and put it in there with them when they go to bed. Their coop is rat proof, so we've seen no more evidence of any critters in the backyard since I've started doing that. 

It's deep enough they don't flick food every where and they have yet to tip it over.

And, they are all now confidently using the ramp!

 Dangermouse (that's the black silkie) eventually figured it out and now trips up and down there several times a day, easy as you please.

The wyandottes are being less annoying too, so they have a reprieve for now, though I really would like a small flock of silkies, they're such silly fluffies.

A happy and safe Easter to all!

Someone laid an egg!

No idea who, though the silkies are about two weeks older than the wyandottes, so maybe it was one of them.

And was it in the comfy, cosy little nest boxes, all set up in hopeful anticipation of some egg laying?

No no, we found this one at the side of the brick path. ON the brick path actually.

They only use the nest boxes for sleeping in I think.

Ah well, I'll just be doing a perimeter check every day now, though the perimeter isn't that large so it's not too much trauma. Silly chooks.

Or maybe it's these two clowns that keep them away from their nest boxes...

Hmm, I wonder...?

Wyandottes and silkies - the new members of our family

See who arrived at our place for Christmas...duly named by their proud owners...

Dangermouse

Penfold

Anakin Skywalker

Shuttle

All a little bigger and braver now, the wyandottes are bantams and the silkies just stay small.....I think.

I didn't do much research, beyond looking up the council rules and regs. 

So now, as well as putting my boys to bed, I put these darn chooks to bed too.

The silkies won't go up the ramp...I discovered silkies don't fly, hence their reluctance to use the ramp and they are inclined to sleep in a heap in the corner. 

Which is ok, except Anakin and Penfold won't go anywhere without their fluffy friends. So they all snuggle in in a corner of their run downstairs. Which again is ok, except when it's cold. Like tonight. (What's up with this WEATHER?? I have my electric blanket heating in the middle of summer.) 

So, after the boys are in bed, I go out and lift Dangermouse (black) who is particularly timid, up into the more enclosed upstairs area. Then I lift up Shuttle (white). Who will go down the ramp, but not up. But she squawks for Dangermouse if one is upstairs and the other not. And the wyandottes won't go up if Shuttle is not up. So up she goes. Then the other two squawk confusedly for a bit, then follow the fluffies in a series of hops and flutters. 

And they all settle in for the night.

In the morning, Shuttle, Anakin Skywalker and Penfold have always made their way downstairs, but Dangermouse just will not go down the ramp. So I lift her down or I'm sure the silly chook would just stay up there and starve.

Here are my boys on Christmas morning...see the miniature cherry trees in the background? 

The boys love having their own trees, I can't help but wonder though, are we the only weird parents who give our kids chooks and trees for Christmas?