​With the current guidelines in place across the U.K. regarding to the Avian Flu restrictions, back garden chicken keepers may be struggling to keep their hens busy in a smaller and enclosed area. Due to a few recent confirmed cases of Avian Flu we are being requested to keep our chickens in a covered run or building to help stop the virus gathering momentum.
 
Although necessary at the moment this can cause some issues, chickens are creatures of habit a change to their normal free ranging or garden time routine can create stress and boredom and this can result in some strange behaviours.

​There are some very simple ways you can create fun and entertainment in a  small space for your chickens to receive their boredom.

 Our Top 10 Easy Homemade Chicken Boredom Busters. 

1. Hanging things from your run. You can hang different items from the top of the run using string, items can range from healthy treats, i.e. corn on the cob, a cabbage, whole apples (make sure you core them before as the seeds can be poisonous), large chard leaves and so on… this will create a fun swinging feeder and your girls will be busy for hours pecking at it. You can also hang shiny objects such as old DVDs or CDs again, they will love the shiny light reflections and spend hours pecking them to make them swing and change the light reflections.
2. Logs and Sticks. Yes, simple logs and sticks, if you go to your local woods, you can probably forage some branches and maybe a couple of logs etc…  you may already have these things lying around your garden. Gather them up and you can then create some really fun obstacle courses in your run of jumps, walkways, perches and multiple levelled climbs. They will enjoy jumping up and down, walking under them and perching, even the flightless birds will enjoy this as long as you don’t make it too high. They will also love pecking the bark, you should probably disinfect them first with a Virkon sprayer or a hot disinfectant wash to ensure you don’t bring in any wild bird poo etc…
3. Tunnels. You can use hollowed out logs or giant card tubes to create fun tunnels and walkways, they love going inside and popping out the other, just be aware that some card can be toxic, and as chickens do they may peck it so try and use something natural like giant bamboo!
4. Swings. Easy to make and they love them you just need some string and a stick. Hang them from the top of your run and even the flightless birds will jump up on them and swing away… hours of fun.
5. Sand Baths. This is a great way to offer a distraction, if your run is well covered then add a sanded area for the hens to bathe in, they love doing this and it also will help prevent mites and lice naturally. 
6. Mirrors. Believe it or not chickens love to look at their own reflections, attach a mirror to the inside of your run and they will spend hours gazing at themselves. It’s wonderful to watch as well.
7. Herbs. Plant some herbs around your coop, lavender is great they like to peck them and they also offer lots of additional health benefits from anti-inflammatory, B12 vitamin boosts and even calming the hens with lavender. Be prepared to replace them every so often as they will gobble them up. We recommend herbs such as thyme, oregano, parsley, lemon balm and lavender.
8. Old Tyres. Perhaps not the prettiest things but pop them in your chicken run and your girls will love them, you can haphazardly stack them and they will jump on them, run under them, sit in them, be careful to ensure they won’t fall though so you may need to tie them together. You can even fill them with soil and herbs and again the girls will love it.
9. Fresh Sawdust and Bark. Add new sawdust and bark regularly, this is a very simple and great boredom buster idea, we sometimes use this in our rearing sheds. Get a large bale of sawdust, open it up and just leave it in the middle of the run, they will love jumping on it, scratching it up and spreading it about... it’s so simple but can offer hours of entertainment.
10. Upside Down Flower Pots. So, so simple but great fun, you can get multiple sizes and create walkways with them on different levels.  

​As the nights draw in and the daylight hours reduce your hen may begin going through her annual feather moult. It can be quite alarming when you see your beloved chicken is losing her feathers, the sudden change can be very dramatic and happen overnight. Although there are other reasons a chicken can lose her feathers the main cause is when they go through their annual feather moult. Don’t panic! It is completely natural and apart from some extra feed requirements there is not much to worry about.
​Pet Chickens just like other animals go through a natural cycle when they need to reproduce new feather growth. Just like with cats, dogs and even humans, old growth is shed and new fur, skin… feathers are gown. The moulting process allows your chickens to shed old and worn feathers and then re-grow fresh, shiny, new ones. It is a natural cycle and will occur usually at the change of the season from summer into winter as the daylight hours are greatly reduced. The feather moult also allows your laying hens time to rejuvenate their reproductive organs as they will usually stop laying during this time. 

Red mite is pretty easy to see on your hens, check their back end and look under the feather fluff on the skin, if you have mites you will see them. You should check your hens over once every month or so to ensure they are well and looking for mites is key when you do a health check. There are other signs that you may notice that might lead you to want to have a look for mites on your bird. 

• Reduced egg production
• Lethargic & unhappy birds
• Weight loss
• General poor health, your chickens could develop anaemia due to the blood loss – be on the lookout for pale, floppy crowns as a sign.
• Your chickens may not want to be put away at night since the mites attack in the evening, they are reluctant to enter the coop for fear of being nibbled.

​Some of these symptoms could be related to other issues but if you notice any of them it is best to give your hens a good check over. 

With just over a week until Mothering Sunday, what does your Mum really want this Mother's Day?
Chocolates...flowers...smellies?
​
Nah! MORE CHICKENS of course.

Treat your Mum this Mother's day to something she really wants and gift her a Pipinchick Chicken Voucher.
All our vouchers are valid for 1 year from the date of purchase and come with £20% off nationwide delivery!
Our Pipinchick gift vouchers can be sent by post in a chicken themed card or we can send an instant E-v-voucher to your inbox ready to print off and gift on to Mum.

There are so many breeds of chicken available from various types of Hybrid Laying Hens to cute and fluffy Bantams. They come in all sizes and colours and even lay different coloured eggs. Many first-time chicken keepers look at getting laying chickens to give them fresh eggs and provide a learning experience for their children, teaching them how to care for an animal and the rewards that you get form putting in the hard work of looking after them.
But more and more people are looking to chickens as an alternative to a cat or dog as a pet hen, so are chickens good as pets?

​With more families living in smaller starter homes with less space chickens are ideal for pets, they live outside (bonus) and our bantam varieties need very little room and they don’t ruin your garden.
Not only are they great for many reasons as pets from being compact and needing little room, to not needing walks and live outside, but they are also very affectionate, funny, cuddly and make wonderful companions.

Picking the right pet chicken breed is key to making sure you get everything you want from your pet hen, ask our Pipinchick team when looking for a pet chicken for you children (or yourself) and they can advise.

Pipinchick Poultry have recently set up an instagram account.

You can now keep up to date with all our latest news, pictures and chickenings!

Click the picture to follow us!


Thank you XX

This was our very first show and we could not be happier with the result.
We have never shown before and were not quite sure what to expect, we have heard the stories good and bad about showing, so with open minds off we went!

We decided to show at the Royal Bath and West as it is a Royal show with good standards and not too far from us.

Our show preparations began the day before where our kitchen became a fully equipped chicken salon,
with tables, hair dryers, a warm bubble bath and a team of chicken hair stylists ready for action.
We had selected some birds prior to show and kept them seperate form the main flock they wated in the wings for their spa day!
Washing and blow-drying chickens is a strange concept, but actually the birds seemed to love the process and the satisfaction gained seeing freshly blow dried and fluffed hens was very rewarding.

We then put our girls to bed, begged them to not dip their freshly floofed pom poms in any water and off we went to try and sleep, nervous energy and anticipation meant a restless night and morning came way too soon.

5am with the dawn chorus crowing we were up and at 'em!

We arrived at the show nice and early, found our pens and began unloading our giant fluff balls... the energy was tense to say the least. Once all the birds were secured in their show pens, off we went to explore the competition.
There were so many beautiful birds, all different types but the most competitive class had to be the bantam soft feather where our Poland’s were, there were breeds ranging from Pekins, Seabrights to Minauture Silkies!

The day went on and we nervously watched as Judges dutifully looked over every single bird, checking eyes, beak sizes, weight, leg colours, pleaumage etc… they were painstakingly thorough.