As the pollen count in the UK has begun to rise in the recent weeks, us humans are not the only ones suffering from hayfever. Your pets can also struggle with the allergy so here are some top tips to reduce the side effects.
If your dog likes to run through fields and flowerbeds or roll about in the grass, you might want to think about keeping him or her on a lead for your walks.
Keep your pets well groomed throughout the pollen season. This includes keeping their coats short and giving them weekly baths to make sure there’s no pollen lingering.
Don’t forget to wash their beds as well, too often people concentrate on the animal and not on its habitat. We would suggest a weekly deep clean of all bedding and comforts to remove any excess pollen.
This entry was posted in Vets Corner on June 29th, 2016 by admin
Meet Badger and Melanie, our Pets of the Month for June! These adorable Guinea Pigs belong to our Omlet Graphic Designer, Jen.
She got Badger from a pet shop 2 years ago and Melanie was from a rescue centre a year later, they’ve been inseparable ever since.
Jen said she was looking for a pair of pigs but felt too guilty leaving Badger in the pet shop after buying his brothers Oink and Pearl so she bought him too.
“Badger tended to get bullied though so we decided to separate him from the others and buy him a girlfriend.”
“Badger is a bit pathetic and makes a terrible fuss about things but is very affectionate, Melanie is rather quite and content but does put Badger in his place when he is flapping and annoying her.”
Here at Omlet HQ we find it quite difficult to tell them apart (is it Badger on the left…?) but Jen said that it’s easy to tell the difference as Badger squeals all the time. He’s also very smooth despite his hair lying in the wrong direction whereas Melanie is wirey, fuzzy and big.
They like hay and green vegetables and spend the majority of their time climbing up a ramp in and out of their hutch and jumping onto the roof of their sleeping pods. SO CUTE! <3
This entry was posted in Pet of the Month on June 21st, 2016 by admin
Meet Guirec Soudee, a 24 year old man from Brittany, France and Monique, his pet hen. This unlikely pair are currently sailing around the world, they set out on their voyage 2 years ago and they haven’t looked back since.
Monique is the loyal pet hen of Guirec, who had originally planned on keeping a cat on the boat for company but changed his mind and opted for a feathered friend for companionship. Guirec said that he chose a chicken as they’re very easy to keep, plus he gets to have fresh eggs whilst at sea. Win win.
Others doubted whether this new found friendship would work but Guirec said that Monique took to sea life very quickly and was laying straight away.
The dynamic duo are currently in Greenland but are heading to Alaska soon, Monique continues to lay eggs even in the colder climates, according to Guirec she lays on average 6 eggs a week.
“She follows me everywhere, and doesn’t create any problems. All I need to do is shout ‘Monique!’ and she will come to me, sit on me, give me company. She is amazing.”
We wish Guirec and Monique good luck for their continued travels, we’ll be keeping a close eye on their Instagram and Facebook.
This entry was posted in Keeping Chickens on June 13th, 2016 by admin
In recent years people have tried harder and harder to find healthier alternatives to their favourite foods especially if you’re looking for a gluten free substitute. One popular recipe at the minute is a Cauliflower Pizza Base. We decided to test all the hype and see if it really does taste as good as they say!
Having made them, on reflection we think this was a good alternative to a standard pizza base and it’s particularly great for people who can’t eat gluten however if you put a deep dish pepperoni in front of us, you can probably guess which one we would choose.
Pizza Base
- 2 Cauliflower Heads
- 1 Egg
- 100g of Parmesan
- Tbsp Olive Oil
- Mixed Herbs
- Salt and Pepper to season
Topping
- Passata Sauce or Tomato Puree
- Mozzarella
- Cheddar Cheese
- Other toppings of your choice: Pepperoni, Chorizo, Ham, Mushrooms, Peppers, Onions, Olives, Anchovies etc
Method
Chop the cauliflower up into smaller chunks and put it in a food processor. Blend it up until it’s a fine crumb.
Take the cauliflower out and place it in the middle of a clean tea towel. Roll the corners of the tea towel up to form a ball at the bottom. Wring the tea towel over a sink to remove all the moisture in the cauliflower. Repeat this process quite a few times, you’ll find it surprising how much water cauliflower contains!
Once you think you’ve removed most of the moisture, empty the cauliflower out into a mixing bowl. Grate your parmesan into the bowl, add the egg and your mixed herbs, drizzle olive oil into the bowl and then mix all the ingredients together until it forms a ball.
You can make roughly 3 medium sized pizzas out of this mix so break the ball of dough into 3 parts and pat each one out into a circle onto greaseproof paper.
Place on a baking tray and bake blind for 10 minutes at 180 degress c to crisp up the bases.
Take the bases out the oven and then you can start adding your toppings. Spread your tomato sauce on the base, sprinkle with mozzarella and cheddar, then it’s time for the fun part!
Go wild with your toppings, add anything that takes your fancy. Be careful not to make the toppings too heavy as these bases are more delicate than your average pizza base.
Place back in the oven for another 10 mins and they should come out golden brown and ready to serve, enjoy!
This entry was posted in Recipes on June 10th, 2016 by admin
As the weather starts to heat up we have created a list of our top tips for keeping your chickens cool in the summer months. Chickens can suffer from heat stress and stop laying eggs therefore it’s incredibly important to take measures to ensure their temperature stays as cool as possible in the heat of summer.
When chickens become very hot, you will also see them holding their wings out away from their bodies and ruffling their feathers, this is to help the heat escape. Unlike humans, chickens don’t sweat to release the heat, they pant, similar to a dog. Please keep an eye on them so that they don’t suffer from heat stress.
Signs of heat stress include:
-panting with beak open
-laying around with wings outstretched
-loss of appetite
-slow to respond to stimuli, unresponsive
Top 11 tips to help avoid heat stress
- Make sure you provide plenty of shade for your hens to escape the sun. We have a variety of heavy duty and shade covers for all our Eglu runs.
- Keep your hens hydrated with plenty of fresh water, why not add a few ice cubes to their glugs to keep the water nice and cold for as long as possible
- Create a dust bath area for your chooks to nestle down and find a cool part in the ground.
- One key tip is to look out for the signs of heat stress and act fast, if you think one of your chickens is suffering, dunk them in a bucket of room temperature water keeping their neck and head above the water. Keep them inside in the air con and make sure they get plenty of water.
- Use a sprinkler/mister- the hens won’t like the water very much but it’s for their own good.
- Freeze fruit and veg in ice blocks so that your hens can peck at it. Or just freeze pieces of fruit, Watermelon is a popular favourite among chickens.
- Avoid foods such as corn and scratch as they require longer digestion processes, which creates more body heat.
- If your local climate stays warm at night simply place a large ice block in the coop, your hens will enjoy sleeping near it at night.
- Add vitamins to their water to make sure they are replacing the lost nutrients.
- Pay close attention to bigger/heavier hens
- Plan ahead for next year and plant a tree or bush to provide extra shade!
This entry was posted in Keeping Chickens on June 7th, 2016 by admin
