Backyard Hens

Reintegration Success

2010-12-01T13:46:00.002+10:30

Our six girls in a chicken pile. I had to take this through our kitchen window so I didn't disturb them. There were a lot of happy sounds coming from them this morning.

We started reintegrating Elsie by allowing her to be with the others when they were all outside foraging. She would stick by herself and for the first few days we had continuing to sleep inside. The space allowed her to talk to the others, but also be able to get away from them if she needed to.

After a couple of days we allowed her to be in the pen with the others for a short time before letting them all out to forage. We allowed the time she spent with them in the smaller area to get longer and longer, and though she was getting picked on, after the first few days it wasn't too bad so we told her she would need to start sorting it out for herself.

Within a couple of weeks she had started to climb the pecking order, but she had learned some bad habits from inside. She now makes such a noise at bedtime - she got used to letting me know when she wanted the lights off and her pen covered with the blanket and I think she still expects me to be able to turn off the sun.

(written on 11/April/2011 and backdated - sorry for the long hiatus)

Bandage Off

2010-11-09T10:50:00.002+10:30

No more bandage

My little girl went to the vet again last Friday. She really doesn't like visiting him but they said she was a very good girl and didn't peck the nurse. I could hear her squawking from the waiting room, the poor darling.

Once we were home I let her have a play outside for an hour and she had a dust bath, but the arm must have been tender. She would get down in the dirt, then flinch and walk around for a bit more.

By Sunday she was feeling much more like a chicken, but she is so well trained it is more like having a little bird shaped dog following me around. We open her crate and say "come outside" and she runs at your heels to the back door. Then "into your crate" and in she jumps back to her little home. After having her outside with the others for the first time on Sunday and leaving them alone for 10 minutes I heard a squawk at the door and it is Elsie telling me she desperately needs to come inside to do her egg.

Yes I can pretty much speak chicken now. She says different things when she's bored, if her cage needs a clean, if she's hungry and if it is egg time or time for sleeping.

So far the reintroduction is slow. Green (Gladys) has decided she doesn't want a bar of her and drives her away. Elsie is happy to leave them alone and is usually by herself when we go to check on her. If there is no improvement by the weekend we'll be removing Green while she talks to the others.

Elsie's wing is drooped but we hope that will get better as she increases her muscle use.

Chicken is Bored!

2010-10-19T10:13:00.003+10:30

I'm feeling much better thanks...

Just over a week with the bandages and my little inside chicken is a bored and noisy chicken. Sorry darling, but you need isolation and rest and can't be trusted! After several hours of noise there was sudden silence. I checked on her and found her on top of her box wondering how to get down again. Well you got up there so you can get down!

The bandage lasted a week before she managed to rip off a section that secures under her belly to hold the wing in the right position. We've patched it with clothtape which she is not happy about. She has started to walk sideways and backwards in an attempt to get the yucky bandage off.

The new dog cage is excellent for her and it folds up so we can store it easily. She has a little nest box and room to stand and walk while being completely enclosed and safe while we're at work. Her favourite time is when I open the door to clean and feed her for the day and out she pops to have a walk around the kitchen. I've moved her so that she can't see as much open space during the day to make her feel more secure but she still gets plenty of light.

To stave off boredom I bought her a mirror and some little balls (cat toys) to play with, but she hasn't been very interested in them when I've watched her. She also has a variety of food, shell grit and some grass from outside as well as mash with ground up cuttlefish for calcium at night. I also sprinkle sunflower seeds (her favourite) in her cage so she has to look for them.

She has started to enjoy having a cuddle and a scratch in the last 2-3 days. I think she is getting very itchy and frustrated at not being able to dust bath. The feathers are starting to get a bit messy.

Three more weeks till she can get the bandage off and be reintroduced to the others. The pecking order will have changed and she will have to reassert herself, but I think we're all looking forward to it.

Lucky Elsie

2010-10-10T23:17:00.005+10:30

Elsie with a broken wing

Elsie is inside at the moment because she was attacked by a cat and I have a big case of the guilts. It is mostly my fault as my other half and I forgot to close up their yard on Tuesday night as daylight savings shifted around all their times and they wouldn't go in at dinner time... but hell! Damn cats!! My pets don't go into your yard and attack your pets!!

She is a lucky lucky little girl and only ended up with a broken wing and a mild case of shock. The poor little darling was so scared - scared double after we ran out screaming to scare the cat and I grabbed her and rushed inside. When she realised she was safe she cuddled right into me and didn't want to get up when we had a safe box organised. We've never had a cat go for them before even when we've been a little late shutting them in. >:(

We got in to see an Avian vet on Friday. I was really impressed - he was a very attentive no fuss man who focused on her and thankfully could set the bone so she didn't need an operation or amputation. It is lucky she is a non-flight bird or it would have been worse. She has tape holding the wing in the right position and a vet bandage over top and the poor little girl looks uncomfortable and off balance. She has a little area in the chicken yard to be near the others, but they want to peck at her bandage which is why there is netting over the temporary fence and I have to ensure she doesn't pull it off or move it herself. In a month she has another trip to the vet to remove the bandages and check the healing. Until then, isolation and preventing her from doing to much with lots of calcium suppliment.

Ysterday she was a little brighter, but we have to keep an eye on her. When it gets too much she likes to come back inside and sit in her box by herself. She was hunched and withdrawn for about three days. I was glad the shock didn't last too long though. Its lucky she is used to being handled!

Anyone who lets their cat roam at night shouldn't have a cat!!

If you ever have an accident with one of your birds and need to treat for shock the best thing is to organise a box or darkened cage where they can be by themselves in darkness and quiet. The first 24 hours is the most critical to keep them quiet and safe. Offer water and food - a bird in shock will often drink a lot of water but won't take food.

Elsie took few seeds on the day after her injury. I made a mash from pollard and natural yoghurt which she ate slowly. It wasn't much, but it was something in her stomach which is a positive sign of recovery.

For her calcium suppliments I am grinding up cuttlefish and adding it to a small mash nightly for her. She is currently eating well again and starting to perk up and look happier.

Egg Accident

2010-08-09T17:23:00.004+09:30

Soft Shelled Egg

We had our first "accident" today. I found this egg in the coop instead of the nest box. I'm not sure if it was laid there or if it was kicked out of the box by someone. It looks odd in the photo because it has a soft shell. It is squishy because the yolk and white are covered only by a membrane.

Oh well, these things happen. Noone will own up to who had the accident. These kinds of eggs are normal and only an issue if you are getting them all the time. My girls have plenty of shell grit, all sorts of food (spoilt!) and have been free ranging a lot lately.

Question Answered for Karen

2010-08-06T15:00:00.002+09:30

Three Stooges :D

Karen recently asked a question, and my reply was turning into an essay so I thought I would make a post about it.

Karen asks:
I stumbled upon your blog this morning, sadly im looking for some chickens as mine dissapeared last night leaving behind just a few feathers, it looks like a fox may have been the culprit. I noticed that your chickens seem to be quite friendly, do they let you pick them up? if so what breed are they? (im deciding what type of chooks to get, looking for a friendly/docile breed that would be fun for kids)

Thanks for the question Karen! Sorry about the fox. My mum unfortunately had a fox incident herself recently and lost hers too. Heartbreaking! :(

My girls are Isa Brown hens. They are very laid back, though a couple of our girls are much more friendly than others. You need to spend a lot of time handling them - hand feeding, patting and picking them up - to get them used to the treatment, but it is worth it.

We try to remember to give everyone a cuddle every day even if it is only a quick one. All their little personalities are so unique so a couple of the more outgoing ladies ended up with more attention than the others and love a longer cuddle, sometimes sitting on a lap for up to 30 minutes! If you listen to their body language you can guage when they want the attention to stop so they don't get too stressed and gradually increase the time they're held. If you can start the handling when they're chicks or pullets you'll have more success too, and take them little nice treats like sunflower seeds to handfeed them.

I think my girls would be great with kids, with supervision of course, as chickens do love to peck at spots or shiney things and still give my earrings and freckles a go if they notice them. I always loved my parents chickens when I was a kid.

Just today I had a lovely cuddle with one girl purring in my lap and another came over and snuggled beside us. We have one girl in particular that will gently peck our pants or shoes to be picked up for a cuddle if she wants it. But of course, they'll all try to avoid a pat if they're too hungry or busy to be bothered too. It's quite amusing having a flock of hens following you around the backyard hoping for a treat.

I'd say that most chicken breeds can be tamed with patience. When I was a kid I loved chickens and would spend a lot of time with my parents hens and the favourites of the bunch would end up being tame enough to pick up and carry around.

Chicken cuddles are the best kind of cuddles!!

How Much is the Chicken in the Window?

2010-03-21T16:33:00.003+10:30

Nice Perch...

Standing on the cupboard wasn't good enough for our Purple to watch their dinner get mixed... She decided to check out the little rooster on the window too.

We're still experimenting slowly with what it is the girls need. We've switched back to a part pellet diet incase the mixed grains are not enough now that there are no greens at all for them to eat. I'm making my own pellet and grain mix because of previous experience with the pre-mix from the fodder store.

The girls are loving their sand pit and spend most of their time in it. Harriet is still the one with the most issues, spending most of her time sitting in front of the food bowl, but surprisingly usually also the one with the least in her crop at the end of the day. We've been thinking about them when it comes to our own meal planning - ie. If we make a stir-fry we can give them some carrot and cabbage scraps!

We've got no other ideas what to do at the moment. Most places seem to suggest a calcium deficiency, however adding calcium suppliment didn't seem to pick them up. The liquid multi-vitamins had the most positive effect, but I am hoping the pellets have some of that stuff in them too. I'm looking forward to winter when we have more greens to give them!

Chooks up to scratch as pets?

2010-03-04T19:35:00.002+10:30

Chooks up to scratch as pets? Yep, I think so and so does the local paper! To read the whole article click here.

I'll be doing a bigger update soon. We've been trying out a whole lot of things to help out our girls through the summer. You can see their new sand pit in the background behind Gladys.

Grape Season

2010-01-25T16:42:00.003+10:30

Delicious Grapes

Here is the latest obsession for the girls. Everything that is up to a certain height has been eaten. They have been jumping up to reach the lower grapes with no thought for whether they will land on two feet or end up caught in the fence instead. This is possibly how the girls are hurting their feet, but how I can stop them when they're growing up their enclosure is beyond me.

The grapes are delicious though. I have been spending the evening eating them straight off the vine, spitting out the seeds and the few sour ones for the girls to eat. They'll be getting all the small ones as we reach the end of grape season as well, so it is a good thing they like them so much.

Harriet Rejoins the Coop

2010-01-17T12:23:00.003+10:30

Harriet eats an apple

So you can see that Harriets week as an indoor chicken has done her very well. She told me she was ready to go back outside on the 11th when she jumped out of her little cardboard surrounded corner, however since it was over 40°C we kept her inside until the cool change came through the next day.

She continued limping for a couple of days and slept on the floor of the coop for 2 days before hopping back to the perch. Her toe is still a little fat, but not as swollen and the scales are flexible again now. I believe the problem was a broken toe.

Today I haven't noticed her tiptoe and she runs around and is inclusive with the other chickens. She is so fast now that she is usually hard on the tail of Gladys who squeezes through the backdoor when we come inside. I think she wonders why she can't come back to her inside area whenever she wants to.

Hazel has also been a worry for a couple of days as she now has a limp. She has a sore on the bottom of her foot so she is getting the foot baths now. It is healing up nicely and she still wants to perch with the others. I don't know what she has managed to hurt herself on, but I don't think it is anything to worry about.

Elsie eating an apple

Today I cut up an apple and the girls are trying to work out how to eat it. They absolutely love fruit. Infact I've found that all of the lower grape bunches on our vines have bite marks and I caught Doris jumping up to get at them yesterday.

Inside Chook

2010-01-05T15:25:00.003+10:30

The Patient

Harriet was isolated yesterday so we could keep an eye on her. After a couple of hours she seemed to feel better and was trying to walk around so we put her back with the girls in a shady corner of their pen where she could still be isolated but close to the others.

After researching just about everything that could be wrong with chicken legs over the last couple of days I had a terrible thought that perhaps she may be egg bound and was ready to take her to the vet. Isolation was initially to see if she would lay an egg which would cancel that out. From what I've read and from what others have said I don't think that is the case though. She is bright enough and is eating (and pooping). She doesn't have a swollen abdomen or any mess around her vent.

This morning I don't think she'd moved, but when I offered food she was interested yet the others got over enthusiastic through the divider fence. I brought her inside where she ate and drank under the airconditioner and noticed that her middle toe on her left food is swollen.

She is now camped out in the corner of my sewing room happily sitting in a box with straw. She has also had a foot spa (soak in warm salty water) and aloe applied to her sore foot.

I hope that is the issue and we can get her back on two feet again soon!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:58:00.004+10:30

Gladys having a Cuddle

Happy New Year everyone!!

It was over 40 degrees yesterday, but it is much cooler today so the girls are busy enjoying themselves in the nice weather... except for Harriet who seems to have done something to her foot/feet and is limping around though I can't see anything wrong from the outside. She is spending a lot of time sleeping under the tree and won't move so I guess I will be checking on her every hour today to make sure she has enough water and she may get a special meal seperate from everyone else today.

Hazel surprised me when I was patting Gladys. She came up to me clucking and had a lovely pat while standing super still and lapping up the attention. Usually everyone except Gladys will want to walk away after a couple of strokes. She got a lovely cuddle and even closed her eyes while in my arms. They're all very cuddly chickens today.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T07:30:00.001+10:30

Doris would like to kindly wish you

Merry Christmas from all the girls!

Time For My Close-Up

2009-12-20T14:32:00.002+10:30

Gladys

As you can see in the background behind Gladys, the ground is very much brown and dry with nothing growing. We've managed to keep most of the new plants alive through our horrible heat wave and only lost 4 or 5. The maple didn't enjoy the weather at all and a couple of other bushes are a little worse for it, but hanging on. I am hoping that our grapes may be edible this year though.

We've recently had our November rains... in December, so hopefully we'll have plenty of water over the Summer with the tanks close to full again. We will probably have to reseed the lawn as it has been eaten, but it wasn't doing very well anyway after last summer so I was happy for the girls to eat it.

The orange tree is still the favourite hang out place closely followed by the back step, where the girls wait patiently for someone to want to go outside in the hope of getting some food.

Gladys is the only girl who stands still long enough for some nice close-ups. She also has the floppiest comb which changes colour from deep red to very pale depending on the temperature.

Lavendar Trampoline

2009-12-13T14:26:00.000+10:30

Lavendar Bush Trampoline

Elsie has discovered that if you bounce on the lavendar like a trampoline, you can get to a few strands of grass that has been growing deep in the centre of the bush.

My lavendar is looking a bit crushed and hollow in the centre. This is the joy of having chickens...

Visitors

2009-12-04T20:12:00.003+10:30

A Duck! ... and a Magpie

This little guy usually heads for our neighbours yard where another duck who only has one wing has been adopted and lives happily. Today this guy ended up in our yard and really wanted to make friends with me and the chickens. He tried to come up to see what food I had, but Gladys wouldn't have more competition and shooed him away.

Before long he'd been bailed up by three magpies and herded into the chicken coop! The magpies are not scared of much around here and I counted at least 8 which is only a small percentage of the local flock. I helped the poor duck get rid of the magpies and he headed out again and found the bird bath. He had a bit of a paddle until Gladys decided that wasn't allowed either and three hens chased him out of that too. He finally gave up on our yard and headed next door where he can play in relative peace and quiet.

A quick update on the tiny egg from last post. It DID have a yolk!

A Tiny Thing

2009-11-23T21:07:00.003+10:30

Teeny Tiny Egg

This is the tiniest egg I have ever seen. I can lay it sideways in the egg carton and it still sits on the bottom. I am looking forward to cracking it open and seeing if it has a yolk or not.

I admit that we just came out of a fortnight worth of hot weather and the girls didn't eat as much as usual. Elsie laid this little egg and she also has the excuse of being approximately a month younger than the other girls.

Now that it is cool again I hope we'll get a bit bigger eggs again. There isn't as much green about the yard either so we've bought them some sunflower, oats and linseed to suppliment their diet. What spoilt chickens!

Heat Wave Over!

2009-11-21T15:15:00.002+10:30

No, you can't come inside!

The weather has finally subsided into Spring again and we have had light rain. What a relief!

I just walked into the laundry to grab the vaccum cleaner and there were all six girls sitting or standing on the steps. I had to grab the camera. I think they are so used to an afternoon siesta after 2 weeks of extreme heat that they don't know what to do with themselves today. Hazel is completely asleep... Gladys and Elsie are sitting and the other three are wandering back and forth.

Apricot Lily

We also have a beautiful lily flower that appeared in the pond this morning. There is another bud sticking up and a massive production of leaves so it is doing really well.

Too Hot for Chickens!

2009-11-14T15:37:00.003+10:30

Swimming Time!

Spring time heat waves are not fun. I hope this means it will be a mild Summer because I am ready to head into Autumn right now! We're up to day 6 or 7 with temperatures up to 40°C with at least another week to go.

Hazel doesn't mind getting her feet wet and is standing in the bird bath water. They haven't worked out how to bath like the magpies, but a couple of the girls will get their feet wet on occassion, while they are spending most of the time burrowing into the dirt around the orange tree.

Their egg laying has dropped off to between 4 eggs on average and they are smaller as well. I would love to bring them all into the house where they could be in the cool airconditioning.

Stacks ON!

2009-11-04T07:09:00.000+10:30

Stacks ON in the Nest Box

This is another photo from earlier in September. I went out one Saturday morning to check on the girls and discovered a line up into the nest box. As one hen finished laying the next would hop in, push the first out and settle in to lay. We had 6 eggs laid within about 20 minutes, and no-one had a chance to sit and admire her work afterwards.

I wanted to post this photo because I hear about a lot of people making extra nesting boxes and finding their girls still only use one or two of them. Usually I will come home and find all of the eggs in one box. The girls only seem to use the second box when the first one is already occupied. You don't need a box per hen because they share quite happily.

Usually our girls lay one at a time throughout the day so two nest boxes is more than enough, but provides choice and a second spot if needed. In the photo above, the girl at the bottom left is hurrying up the one at the top left who has just laid.

Hot Chicks!

2009-11-01T13:57:00.004+10:30

Doris Panting

Poor darlings! I wish I could bring them all into the airconditioning. It is currently approaching 35°C but they have the freedom of the backyard and have been going from garden bed to garden bed as the sun moves across the yard. There is a lot of dust bathing going on today. I think it must help cool them down, or it is cooler in their little dirt holes.

At least they don't seem too worried so far, and this is just the beginning of our Summer heat. Their little wings are spread and their mouths are open, but they are moving around happily, come running when I go out to check on them and have plenty of water around the place.

Gladys stealing the best spot

Gladys looks like she is having an afternoon siesta. Look at those eyes closing in contentment! I agree darling. I am tired of Summer already too... bring on Autumn!

Quick Shade

2009-10-28T19:48:00.002+10:30

New Shade in the Pen

Our darling girls haven't had a lot of time outside of their pen this last week and we've been having a warm spring, so I decided to organise something for them to do tonight.

First, in went a wheelbarrow load of clean sand so they have something more to scratch around in. I'm hoping they might like to play in it because they tend to go for the bare dirt to dust bath as soon as their let out when I get home at about 6pm. They immediately started scratching around in it so I am sure it will be a hit tomorrow.

Next I found a couple of hessian sacks and laid them out on the roof of their pen. The weather has been very calm so I don't think there is any fear of them blowing away and they just cover the area with the sand to give them some more shade tomorrow. The poor girls are panting so I think we might have to think about something more permanent for some extra shade in the summer. The grape vines don't seem to give much cover in the midday sun, and they tend not to go under their coop, even though there is space and shade there.

So now I'll wait and see if the hessian sacks are still in place tomorrow morning, and hope that they have fun with tomorrow's "chicken entertainment" (aka the sand)

Those big pots in the background are our strawberry bushes in the vege patch. They are the sweetest and most delicious strawberries I have ever tasted. Mark is doing a great job!

Blooming Chickens

2009-10-24T11:14:00.002+10:30

Gladys Posing for the Camera

Darling Gladys was such a poser today. Noone else was interested in me when I was following them around trying to take a photo, but Gladys stood and looked straight at me for this one. Look at her floppy comb!

You can see in the background that she and the other girls have been busy making a mess in the garden beds and kicking all the dirt over the side. We have to regularly clean up to fill in the holes and tidy up their mess and then it starts again... but they are so adorable, so who can complain.

Gladys is fast becoming a favourite as when she isn't too absorbed in what she is doing to care about you, she is first in line for a pat or food. She is so placid now that when Mark sits with her in the afternoon she falls asleep on his lap! Harriet is still my favourite girl at the moment as she is timid and near the bottom of the pecking order so I try to give her extra treats to make up for missing out on so much.

Our garden has become an explosion of roses, most of which desperately need a bit of my TLC. Every year I am surprised by my roses because I really don't have much clue how to look after them and they are still doing ok. As soon as they finish flowering I am going to give all of them a good haircut this year, and we're also going to say goodby to a couple in the front yard. Unfortunately roses really don't fit in with my "ideal garden plan".

Well it is time to get back out there and muck out the chicken coop, then I'm off to buy some fish for the new pond.

Where Eggs Come From

2009-10-22T12:52:00.004+10:30

Do you know where eggs come from? You'd be surprised how many people don't. I love taking photos of my darling girls and their crazy chicken antics, however a few weeks ago Hazel surprised me by laying an egg when I had my camera nice and handy... and I probably surprised her by shoving it in her butt! Poor girl. This isn't the first time she has been the subject of an egg video.

When a hen lays and egg she likes to find a nice dark quiet place which is why you should provide some nest boxes where they can hide to do their thing. They can sit for up to an hour or more before the egg emerges. They will nest and make themselves comfortable, then just before they lay, they stand up and lower their bottom toward the ground so the egg doesn't have far to fall.

Since this is a rather "graphic" video of Hazels bum... lets get technical!

Chickens and other birds have a common opening for both defecating and laying eggs which is called a Cloaca, however eggs are always clean when they are laid. They actually come out with a damp film which quickly dries and only get dirty if the hen contaminates it with her feet or feathers. The film that covers the egg is called the "bloom" and helps to keep the egg fresh, which is why I don't wash my eggs until I'm ready to use them.

There is an interesting article following the egg laying process step by step on the Domesticated Bird website, or see the process for your self in my video.

How to Build a Fish Pond

2009-10-19T13:15:00.014+10:30

Water Feature

Our front yard now has a brand new pond and I am very proud of having built it myself so we're taking a little diversion from chickens for today. I started off reading a lot of things on the internet and there is so much conflicting information that I thought I would share how I built our pond in case you would like to replicate it yourself.

Step 1: First dig yourself a good hole. I had a look at pond liners that were available first and knew that I could get one that is 2.5x2m for $39, so that meant that I wanted to keep my pond less than 1.5x1m and no more than 50cm deep. You can use a garden hose to work out your approximate shape.

You want to dig the sides straight down, but be careful that you don’t break off parts of the wall as we want them nice and solid for later. You might want to start a little smaller than your ideal size and make it bigger as you go just incase you do accidentally collapse part of a wall. One point to realise is that once you have put on the rocks at the end it will seem smaller so don’t be afraid if it looks really big right now.

Take off the crumbly top soil to a width of 4-5 inches around the hole if this is an issue for you like it is for me. The top soil for us was only about an inch thick, which gives us a solid foundation for the bricks. Use a straight plank of wood and a spirit level to make sure your sides are reasonably in line across the pond. Use a hand trowel to shave off a little more if some areas are higher than others.

Pond Hole

Create a deep part and a shallow part in your pond. The centre of my hole is about 15cm deeper than the small area at the top. This will allow us to put in a range of plants as we desire. Some plants can only be placed in up to 20cm of water, some like it a lot deeper. Think about the fish you are going to get when you are planning your size as well as Koi need a much deeper, larger area than other fish.

Check for rocks and roots that may puncture your liner. After scraping with the shovel and removing most of the rocks I used my hands to feel around all the areas of the pond and dug out any more small rocks with the trowel.

Step 2: Place your underlay in the hole. I used about an inch of sand in the bottom and on the ledge. You can also use damp newspaper, carpet or special underlay that you can buy from garden centres.

Step 3: Lay your liner over the hole. Try not to drag the liner around too much, but with a little draping and patience, you can achieve a neat look with your liner. I took off my shoes and spent some time pushing it gently into all the corners and doing some initial pleating. You may want to use some black vinyl duct tape to tape down some of the pleats like I did to make them even less noticeable. Use bricks or stones to hold the liner down neatly all around the pond.

Pond Liner

Step 4: This is the step that most instructions jump straight to, though after my first attempt I took the extra time at step 3. Start to fill the pond with water until it is about half full. As it is filling you can gently ease out the liner at any areas where you need to allow more liner to reach the bottom or fix up any pleats.

When you are happy with the liner (take your time and get it right!) place your layer of bricks around the ledge. The purpose of the bricks is so that you will be able to have the water level above the liner so you will not notice it is there. There is nothing more distracting from a pond than seeing the ugly creases in a black plastic pond liner as per our first try, dubbed "Fail Pond".

Half Fill with Water

Step 5: If you are planning on having a pump or water feature, you will want to think about its placement and where the power cables and any other hoses will go at this point. We decided to have a simple water feature, so I placed the pump in the desired position and ran the cord to the side of the pond. I did not run the cord to the back because you don’t want to be looking at the cord when you are standing in front of the pond. The cord runs to the bottom of the photo below and then around the bricks until it comes out the back where you can see the cable (click it for a larger image) as this is the closest point to the house. Test the water feature! It is better to ensure it works now than have to take half of the pond apart to get it back out!

An optional step at this point is to fill any gaps between the bricks with quick setting cement. I used this between each brick so that any dirt or sand packed behind would be less likely to run into the pond when it is full of water. You do not need to make it waterproof as the pond liner takes care of this. Allow your cement to cure for 3-4 hours before proceeding.

Next gently ease the liner straight up behind the bricks and pack dirt up to it like a ramp, then fold the liner down and pack dirt over top. You can see in the photo that the liner comes up to the level of the bricks and then is hidden and slopes away from the pond. This should mean I won’t get a run off (including dirt) flowing into the pond, and any overflow will flow away from it.

Setup Pump and Backfill

Note also that we decided to have a “wetland” area for our pond. At the top of the photo there is a semi-circle of sand where the liner continues flat at the level of the bottom of the bricks under the sand, and then is built up in a mound. The sand area will be constantly wet allowing us to grow plants that like wet feet, but do not like to be submerged. You could do this too, or skip this part for a simple pond.

Step 6: Gently ease your rocks onto the sides and where possible, allow them to overlap the bricks completely. This step allows complete coverage of the pond liner and is the decorative part of the pond. It is handy to have a number of rocks to choose from so you can play with their positioning until you are happy with how it looks.

Position Rocks

Phew! Almost Done!

Great job!! Time you took a break!

Step 7: Waiting 24 hours gives the cement a chance to cure and your bricks and rocks a chance to settle into place. Top up the wetland with more sand as the rocks will hold that in place. Now it is time to fill up the pond until 1-2cm below the top of the bricks and add your plants. Wait at least 2 days before adding fish, or follow the recommendations from your local aquarium expert.

Complete with Plants

Turn on the fountain and Enjoy!