Relaxing in the sunshine

This morning we ambled down to the allotment. The sunshine continues and it’s so refreshing to get outside and be surrounded by green space especially during lockdown. We let Leia and Rey into their outside run and collected an egg. Leia seems to be laying earlier than Rey at the moment. We put their food bowl and water feeder out with them so they could be outside for a few hours.

My husband went to feed the girls in the main coop whilst I checked on Dolly. She seemed to be walking around well but her beak still isn’t right. It is starting to scissor a little which isn’t good. Dolly is still able to drink and her food bowl was emptier. Not entirely sure whether that’s because she has been eating it or tipping it out. We dosed her, or tried to. She wasn’t quite as feisty as yesterday until I tried to syringe feed her. I think her beak is quite sore. I am going to look up painkillers for chickens later to see if there is anything else we can do to help her.

My husband disappeared off to go for a run, leaving me to potter about the plot. Tracey kindly dropped by her thread box – I am partway through a sewing project and I strongly dislike some of the colours in the pattern. I opened it up to find a mass of different coloured thread, most of it tangled together. In order to pick out the colours I wanted, I had to untangle some of it. It was rather relaxing, sitting in the sunshine, slowly untangling threads whilst listening to an audiobook. Moments like this really make you understand how lucky we are that even during these uncertain times, we can enjoy fresh air outdoors and away from the house. After I had chosen my colours, it seemed silly to leave the rest muddled up in a knot, so I finished off separating the threads and put her box outside her shed. Sewing project will appear on this blog but it may be a while! My progress is rather slow!

A quick chick update – they are growing enormously! I can’t believe how much they are eating. We literally can’t feed them fast enough! They are very curious and are having little standoffs between a couple of them which seems to suggest they are cockerels. Three of them are about a third bigger than the others, stand tall with larger combs. But at this age they change so fast, who knows!

Tomorrow we will check on Dolly and feed her and depending on time and the dreaded British weather, we will plant some potatoes. As usual many weeks too late but ho hum.