peepie Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Hubby is growing a grape vine in the greenhouse and has now got to the stage where he is cutting off extra growth to allow the grapes to ripen. I found the kids in the garden today with the long branches of the vines running round followed closely by 3 chickens who were jumping in the air to peck the leaves off the vines. They managed to strip one in about 5 mins. i presume they're Ok with these as they can eat grapes (mine don't actually seem to like grapes though!!) The other thing is, we have had 1 chicken that has been pecking feathers off the other 2 to the point that one of our girls has a big bald pink patch on her back. We are going away for 2 weeks and leaving them with friends. I got hold of bumper bits yesterday and put one on the bully but do you think I should do the other 2 as well now in case they start trying to get their own back? They have been fine today and haven't tried to have a go at the one with the bumper. I wouldn't consider it except for the fact we'll be away and they won't get any free ranging time so will be in the run all the time. I'm just wondering if it will be the safest thing to do but feel a bit mean doing it particularly as the one with a bald back has not been at all well recently anyway. Any advice appreciated. Thanks xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 A difficult one peeple. When I used a bumper bit the chicken was a real bully. The 2 'peckees' didn't become aggressive towards her, so they didn't get the bit treatment. See how it goes before you go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoice Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Re; The vine leaves Your chooks will be fine on the vine leaves but I just thought you might've liked to try to eat them yourself. Try making your own stuffed vine leaves. A traditional greek dish and very yummy. http://www.ellenskitchen.com/recipebox/dolmas.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepie Posted August 1, 2008 Author Share Posted August 1, 2008 Do you know, I've never connected the stuffed vine leaves that you pay a fortune at M&S for with the great creeper growing in our greenhouse (dur!) That'll be great for posh dinner parties. Thanks for the website link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
