A day of chickens

I walked down to the allotment very late today but satisfied at managing to get two beautiful plants for the allotment plus a pair of ankle wellies to go with my new bee suit (still to arrive much to my annoyance!). First I checked on the chicks. As per yesterday, they were drinking from the bath as they perched on the edge of the tray. I even resorted to trying to hold a chick to keep its feet in the water but it didn’t work. I gave up. Todays ice treats had peas and sweetcorn in. Yet again, the chicks didn’t seem particularly interested. Sometimes I really don’t know why I bother!

I ambled down to the main coop to find Rey was beginning to get into the mix. A relief after nearly a week of living almost exclusively under the nest box. I threw out 4 ice treats and watched as they all tried to get at the corn. Rey didn’t get a look in, with the older girls shoving her out of the way or chasing her off if she tried to get near. I had a couple of treats left so I snuck one under the nest box. Rey had a good few minutes before Hattie discovered Rey’s secret stash!

I moved on to check on Leia. There she was, sitting beautifully on the eggs. As she missed out on the treats yesterday, I gave her a treat. She looked at me suspiciously, checking that I wasn’t after her eggs. Deciding I passed muster, she made a start on the ice disk. Her enthusiasm for the treat, saw her peck it across the nest box. Squalking her frustration at it being out of range, she shuffled around on her eggs. Struck with a sudden idea, I got a lid of an egg box and retrieved the treat, just avoiding a peck from Leia for my trouble. I put the ice disk on the egg box lid and carefully slid it back into Leia’s beak range. Leia studied the new system and gave her approval in the form of attacking the treat.

Next, I went to check on Cliff’s broody. He moved her into a larger coop so that the chicks have more room to explore. I couldn’t see the broody or the chicks so I peaked into the nest box. There she was, with four beautiful little balls of fluff. Even though they are only a few days old, they are already turning from yellow to white. If Leia manages to hatch her eggs, they will look just like these.

By now, I was beginning to melt in the heat so I headed off home to cool off. I have decided to plant the new jasmine and honeysuckle in the raised bed at the back so it can intertwine with the passion flower. Always assuming I can dig into the parched soil to plant them…