Design Counts

Photo blog

Female cat - picture of Bobbie on her cat tree in the outdoor cat house

Bobbie - Art image page

Female cat - picture of Meg at the gate of the secure cat run

Meg - Printable Art Page

Picture 3 - My dogs at Staxigoe harbour, on the grass area next to the harbour

Dogs Playing

Picture 4 - Native wild bee

Native wild bee

Cat picture 5 - Toby

Toby

Picture 6 - chicken with an attitude

A chicken with attitude

Bird picture - a young thrush sitting on our paving stones

Bird - A Young Thrush

Bird picture - a young thrush sitting on our paving stones

Flowers in the garden

Cat picture - Toby our cat on his walk around the croft

Flowers in the garden

Native wild bee on Malva flowers

Native wild bee on Malva flowers

Ship anchored off Caithness

Ship off Caithness Coastline

Ships at Scrabster harbour

Scrabster Harbour and Lighthouse

Ship anchored off Caithness

Ships at Scrabster Harbour

Scrabster Harbour, Caithness

Scrabster Harbour

Wild bee on a dead nettle flower - Lamium purpureum

Bee on Dead Nettle Flower

Wild bee on a dead nettle flower - Lamium purpureum

Native Bee on Lamium purpureum flower

Picture - Seagulls on a harbour wall

Seagulls on harbour wall

Picture - Seagull on a harbour wall

Seagulls on harbour wall

Picture - Waves hitting rock

Waves hitting rock

Picture - Small Fishing Boat off Staxigoe

Small Fishing Boat off Staxigoe

Young Point of Lay Hybrid Chicken

Young Point of Lay Chicken

Sheep in a grass field

Sheep in a grass field

Fishing boat arriving home at Dunbeath harbour

Fishing boat arriving home at Dunbeath harbour

Native bee on Allium (chives) flowers

Bee on Allium (chives) flowers

Finch feeding on Niger seeds

Finch feeding on Niger seeds

Lunch at Forse of Nature in Caithness

Lunch at Forse of Nature

Forse of Nature in Caithness, North of Scotland

Forse of Nature

Young pet kunekune pig

Kunekune Piglet - Geordie

Dog Ball Library at Scrabster Beach in Caithness, north of Scotland

Dog Ball Library

Two of our outdoor barn cats

Outdoor Barn Cats

One of our outdoor barn cats - Meg

Outdoor Barn Cat - Meg

Outdoor Cat Meg Chilling in her Catio (outdoor run)

Outdoor Cat Meg Chilling

Collies in the Snow

Collies in the Snow

Cuddles with our pet Kunekune Pig

Gretel - Kunekune Pig

Buddy one of our pet Kunekune Pigs

Buddy - Kunekune Pig

Wick harbour and marina

Wick harbour and marina

Wick harbour and marina - Seacat Rainbow Support Ship

Seacat Rainbow Support Ship

Keeping Chickens and Cockerels as Pets

Keeping chickens and cockerels as pets - art image

Over the years we have kept chickens on our small croft and have purchased point of lay hens from commercial suppliers as well as hatching out our own Scots Greys and Light Sussex breeds. At one point we had around 35 hens and few cockerels as we do not believe in culling hens just because they get older and lay less eggs. After 14 years of the number of hens and ducks has dropped dramatically due to the age of hens and ducks. We are now down to a few hens and ducks and only recently purchased 3 point-of-lay hybrid hens to keep as pets (that will also supply us free range eggs).

One of our friends has over the years taken on rescue cockerels and kept them separate from her (rescue) hens and they appear to get on fairly well together. Cockerels do have a reputation for fighting with each other when kept with hens – not a pleasant sight to behold as cockerels bleed profusely and can do a lot of damage to each other. It is for this reason we only keep one, or at most two cockerels with our free-range hens. Recently I had thought about rehoming a cockerel and when some were offered on one of the Facebook groups I belong to, I offered to help. The short news on this is that we now have three wonderful, young, bantam cockerels. At the moment they are being kept together in a run next to our Call ducks. They are very friendly and can be handled easily (lifted and given a cuddle).

If you have space in your garden and do not live near neighbours (cockerels can be noisy and annoying, especially in the early morning at dawn) then why not consider rehoming a cockerel as a pet? They are lovely to look at and as long as they have a secure chicken house for during the night they can be kept fairly cheaply. Due to bird flu regulations, you may also need to keep them in a secure run to keep them separate from wild birds. You can make your own, or buy from Amazon, or your local agricultural supplier.

Below are pictures of our three pet bantam cockerels.

Bantam Cockerels

Cockerels Photo Art

Bantam Cockerel picture
Bantam Cockerels picture 3
Bantam Cockerels picture 4
Bantam Cockerels picture 5
Bantam Cockerels picture 6
Bantam Cockerel picture 7