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A very early start today. On the 1st of every month I red-mite, worm and give all of my girls a good hands on health check. Handling your girls is very important to keep them in tip top condition. It is difficult to visually see weight loss with all their feathers in the way. Mites are very tiny so regular checks and dusting will save you a lot of time in the long run – prevention is always better than cure. Adding a clove of peeled garlic (slightly crushed) to their water will help to boost their immunity, it is also thought that mites do not like the taste of the girls when they are taking garlic in so it helps keep them at bay! Don’t forget some diatomaceous earth dusted into the coop – it helps make the girls’ environment uninhabitable for the mites. With about 300 girls to do here its going to take me a while !

A hen keeper for more than 20 years with a 300 strong flock on her Surrey / Hampshire smallholding, Suzie Baldwin offers her advice and May tips for keeping chickens:

There’s an abundance of bugs for the girls to chase and eat this month – and plenty of sunshine to laze in. As a result, I am spending too long watching their antics. Elsewhere, my daughter Clara has become a surrogate mother to three Pekin chicks – the hen hatched most of her eggs but then left the last few to become very cold. Clara warmed them inside her clothing where they hatched soon after. Honker the goose is being rather protective of his wife at the moment and the turkeys are keeping everybody amused with their courtship dance.

It’s a good idea to spring-clean your chicken house now – I like to paint mine and give them a makeover. Use an animal-friendly product such as Cuprinol’s Garden Shades range, and air it for a few days after decorating, before allowing the hens back in; put them in a box or dog cage in a garage or shed overnight, and place them in the run during the day. Adding bunting can make predators wary, as it flaps in the wind, while solar-powered lights (on stakes in the ground), when lit, change the appearance of the house so, if moved about regularly, can cause foxes to become cautious.

Click here for details of Suzie’s hen keeping  courses and have a look at some more of Suzies tips for keeping chickens

A hen keeper for more than 20 years with a 300-strong flock on
 her Surrey/Hampshire smallholding, Suzie Baldwin offers her advice and April tips for keeping chickens.

Two of my pekins Fluff and Ethel are the proud Mothers of 18 chicks; they call them with
 a short, low cluck, which gets quicker and louder if their young fail to respond. They remind me of myself and my brood. Every morning, I calmly ask the children to make their beds and get ready for school and, as time ticks on and jobs aren’t being done, 
I raise my voice in a similar fashion. More chicks have hatched in the incubators so the nursery is very full and noisy. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, the March chicks, weather-permitting, will be out in the field with the sun on their feathers and the lush grass in their crops, giving them the best start in life.

April is a popular month for people to start keeping chickens. It’s important to take time to do research, especially when it comes to finding a well-designed coop with adequate ventilation, good perches and nest boxes, and strong bolts to secure it at night, plus a run that’s partly under cover for sheltering in bad weather. The house is the most costly part of hen keeping but a quality one is worth the investment. The good news is that other essential equipment such as feeders, drinkers, food and straw (for bedding), plus wormers (try Verm-X) and red-mite control products (I use Diatom), are relatively inexpensive.

• ADD…two peeled, slightly crushed garlic cloves into chickens’ water to boost immunity
• CHECK…the coop thoroughly for evidence of red mites – they hide in even the smallest cracks and crevices
• GROW…salad leaves on windowsills to provide hens with greens year-round

• GROW…wheat on a windowsill or in an airing cupboard – chickens love the sprouted seed
• TURN…over the ground in fixed runs, apply disinfectant and add fresh bark
• MAKE…an all round tonic using dried seaweed to promote health, increase egg yield and darken yolk colour

• Make a scarecrow, spray it with perfume and place it by the run to deter the foxes
• Boil and mash potato peel, mix with oats, bran and cod liver oil to keep chickens warm
• Check hens’ vent area for small and straw-coloured lice; if you see them, use louse powder