Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Thursday, 18 December 2008

15 weeks old and beginning to cluck ( and crow!)

The Sweetie Six are 15 weeks old today!

They are a funny little bunch, full of joy and fun. They come running and flapping, almost taking off in their haste, when ever I appear in the garden!

They ALL love to sit on top of the Broody Ark.
This is The Smallest Chick

This is Long John Silver Dorking. He loves standing on one or other of his legs.

and this is Rocky.

Rocky and Attilla the Hen, who he is eying very nervously. Just wait till he grows up a bit Attilla!

7 comments:

  1. They look like fabulously healthy hens! What breed are they?

    hen
    x

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  2. Hello Hen!

    They are Silver Dorkings!

    They are a slow growing breed, so will get a fair bit bigger before they stop growing! The cockerels are MAGNIFICENT!

    The hens are a bit more subdued but still very pretty I think, with the salmon pink breasts and the lovely body feathers.

    They are very friendly as well, more so to me now they no longer have Sweetipie being "mum"...they have adopted ME as "mum" instead ( ah sweet)

    I am still musing on names for the 4 pullets.......

    The cock who stands on one leg a lot was easy to name ( Long John Silver Dorking)

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  3. Gorgeous looking breed x

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  4. Just found your blog through Simple-Green-Frugal. L.O.V.E. the chickens! "Cluckingham Palace?" "Ghengis Chicken." Attila the Hen?" "Broody Ark?" How creative is that! Very fun to read. My boss and I adore chickens -- she'll really like your site too. I live in the country on 7 acres and am thinking about getting some chickens as pets - love the silky bantams. Any recommendations on the best breed as pets? The eggs would be the icing on the cake. I just want pet chickens!

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  5. Hello there Chili

    Well, Dorkings are apparently very docile, as are Orpintons. I have found our Black Rocks and Rhode Rocks ( Rhode Island Red/Plymouth Rock crosses) very friendly, also.

    But I think with chickens you largely get out what you put in, if you take time to be friends, talk to them, feed them by hand and pet them, then they become more and more friendly.

    Perhaps if you have a friend with chickens you could go and get acquainted ~? and see how you feel about keeping hens?

    They are quite a time consuming animal to own, despite what some web sites claim!

    You don't say if you have kept hens before so if not I would get some good advice, read up a lot and go meet some hens...and good luck!

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  6. Thank you! No, I never owned chickens - my mother has peacocks, and my neighbor's chickens visit on occassion (as do the peacocks and I welcome them!). He lets his chickens roam free anywhere. I'll talk to some folks - there's a hatchery about 2 miles away. My christmas gift this year was a santuary chicken, Mr. Pickles. From www.farmsanctuary.com. He's beautiful! He was saved from a Brooklyn New York pet shop where he was dyed a crazy color at easter and put up for sale. Him and 48 of his friends were saved from the pet shop and live at the sancutary. He's on my blog.

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  7. Well done Chili for sponsoring Mr Pickles :-))

    I wish more people would follow your wonderful example.

    I understand and appreciate that not everyone can keep chickens, but what you have done could oh so easily also be done by lots of other people, and it would make SUCH a difference to ex battery or abused chickens lives.....

    Well done you :-)) and I hope you get to eventually have the chickens you so obviously want to keep.....

    lots of love Cw x

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Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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