RIP Dolly

This morning I dashed down to the allotment before my husband. Abi was dropping by to pick up another three chicks for a friend’s family in Sandbach. She arrived as I was unlocking the gate which was impressive timing. We walked down to the patio, picked out three chicks and she disappeared off to drop them at their new home. The remaining three were a little flighty but then they have been disturbed quite a bit in the last two days. We are keeping the three we have left and I am currently trying to think of names for them.

I changed Leia and Rey’s water and collected two eggs. They seemed happy today, enjoying the sunshine. I noticed one of them had dug a hole and had clearly been having a dust bath. Chickens having dust baths are hilarious. I highly recommend watching – at a safe distance because dirt goes everywhere!

Moving onto the main coop, I collected another two eggs. Georgie came running up to meet me which I hope means she is grateful for our help the other day. I picked her up and checked her vent – still clean although she does still need another bath to get rid of some of the remaining dirt. Her feathers around her vent have all fluffed up and she looks far more comfortable. Georgie has always been at the bottom of the pecking order but in the last couple of days, seems to have risen through the ranks.

I stopped for a quick chat with Sarah and Andy who were busy settings up their plot. They have done a cracking job and the plot looks amazing. As we were chatting, my husband appeared and we went back to the main coop to feed the girls. I filled up Leia and Rey’s food bowl and topped up the food in the main coop. My husband hand fed the old girls with sunflower seeds. They are getting so much more friendly. Pop and Snap in particular are always happy to eat from our hands.

Next we sadly had to bury Dolly. We checked on her when we finished feeding the other girls to find she had passed away in the nest box overnight. It wasn’t unexpected but it’s still sad that all our efforts couldn’t save her. She was a gorgeous chicken and always a good layer. Her comb was ridiculously large and always made me smile when she came running up to say hello.

Afterwards, my husband carried on digging over the plot while I started to excavate the back section of the plot by the row of fruit trees. This area has become rather a dumping ground and I shifted a few things around to repair the back of the raised bed around the fruit trees. Next, I cleared away some of the weeds beside the coop before moving on to remove weeds growing in the fruit section. My arms were shredded as I got rid of tons of grass between the raspberry canes. The heat of the day kept getting more oppressive so eventually I called it a day and went to check on the chicks.

All three of them were there, snuggled up in the nest box in the shade. They really are adorable. Here’s hoping our remaining three are girls! My husband came up and we watched them together for a bit before deciding to head home for a well deserved lunch.

Plan for tomorrow is to finally finish off digging the plot, clean out the greenhouse and restore it back to its former glory. Also, to clean the broody coop now that it’s no longer in use. Here’s hoping one of our girls will go broody so we can try for some more chicks! There is nothing so beautiful as new life on the allotment.