Still waiting anxiously 

Today I pottered down to the allotment determined as ever to do lots of work. I failed as usual! 

First job was to sort out the chickens in the main coop. Once all fed, watered and eggs collected, I left them to have a look at Polly. Today should be the day we have new chicks. Should. Please note that. 

When I checked there was no sign of any little heads peaking out. Nor were there any when I left this afternoon. Sometimes the chicks can arrive a day late so I plan to get down the allotment asap after work tomorrow. 

Molly continues to do well at sitting on her eggs – she is due next week!

The biggest chicken job was done today – the monthly clean out and spray of the nest box. It usually takes over an hour as all the old bedding and the perches have to come out before the inside is thoroughly sprayed with anti-mite fluid. This needs a good half hour to dry before new bedding mixed with diatumous earth can be put in. Sadly, I found a significant amount of mites. These tiny pests are the bane of any chicken keeper – they are hard to eradicate and can fatally weaken chickens. Usually, the are found on the ends of perches, tucked away into the wood itself. I drowned both ends of the perches in anti-mite spray before covering it all with diatumous earth. Hopefully this will stop the problem although I will probably have to do the same again next week to ensure we are killing them all off.