Looking after the livestock

While a lot of this week has focused around the garden it has also been a time to check the animals that we rely on, are going into winter in the best condition they can. We have been inspecting the bee gear, tidying up hive equipment and ensure that any hives that need it, are getting fed. I try to leave ample honey on the hives each season, but as they have only just been wintering themselves down, the hives have still got large colonies when there is little pollen and nectar available. Hive health is something I take very seriously. If we look after the bees, they will look after us.

The chickens have stopped laying for the year and we use this time to feed them extra protein as they molt, and to give the coop a massive clean out (we do this four times a year). We could get our girls to lay through winter by providing lighting during the shorter days but we prefer to follow what would be their normal cycle in nature and let them take a break for three months. Laying an egg a day must be quite hard work. This does mean, of course that even we have to resort to buying eggs from the supermarket in winter.

We will be working on the new coops this year, to hold the quail and our young chickens. The quail are great as the cockerels are not noisy like roosters and they lay regularly during winter. The new coop needs to be protected from vermin as rats love the small quail. To ensure that we make the most of the space we will add in some blueberries so the quail have plenty of cover and we have plenty of berries. We are also looking at putting more cherry trees in the small chicken coop to provide shade. The smaller birds can enjoy any that fall off but, if I make sure the tree crown is high enough, they won't be able to get into the tree itself.