Chicken update - avian flu measures

It has been a while since I posted about our chickens. We still have three, but have only been getting one egg per day lately since two of them were moulting. We may be getting two more soon as someone needs to get rid of them.

You may be able to see we have covered the whole run in netting in addition to existing wire stuff. This is due to new regulations since various types of avian flu have been found in the UK. Even those with a few backyard chickens have to take measure. It was fairly cheap to buy the netting. Some of the mesh on the run would have let wild birds get it, so we added this. Around the gate needed doing too.

It is not the neatest job, but it should reduce the chance of birds getting in. I have seen some in there before, including the robins. We do not have contact with other domestic birds, so it should not be a critical issue. We have never had anyone around to inspect our birds and I am not aware of any requirements that they do in normal circumstances. If the flu is in the wild birds then it is hard to control. We will just have to make sure the new chickens are healthy.

We plan to move the run next year. It may end up a bit smaller than it is now, but that is way more than such a small flock needs. They eat any plant than grows in there, so it's a lot of mud.

A more pressing issue for us is having rats in the run. I have not seen them, but they have been digging in there. If it gets worse we may need to get a trap. We are digging over their burrows. They are obviously attracted by the food. We have also had mice get into the food bin through small holes and had to block that. Then we had mice after our wild bird food in the shed. They manage to get into the plastic box I had that in. I am not sure how they manage it, but maybe they can jump from somewhere. A few times I have found a mouse in the box. I really need a metal bin.

So here are our girls. The grey one is the oldest and has some fine plumage after a good moult. The brown one is very curious and comes into the coop when I am cleaning it. I will report on the new arrivals when we have them.