Rain at last!

Waking up this morning, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Surely it couldn’t be rain? Thankfully it was! The temperature has dropped significantly as well which is a relief. I grabbed my allotment kit and headed down, enjoying every drop of rain.

Upon arrival, rather unsurprisingly, only a few people were down. I said hello to Mick the Greek, Neil and Geoff as I ambled down to the main coop to check on the girls. When I first walked in, I couldn’t see the chicks, I assumed they were still hiding under the nest box. As I opened up the food bins, I found the chicks hiding place – behind the bin, squashed against the fence. The only problem with this hiding place is that it is small and they are big birds. I topped up the water and food as well as ensuring the chicks feeder with growers pellets in was full. I spent a few minutes standing near them so they could eat in peace.

It only took a few minutes to clean out the nest box and to discover two cream legbar eggs. One laid in each nest box. This means that Rey has finally gone back into lay and she does seem to be integrating better now that the chicks are in. I’m not sure whether this is because the others prefer her to the chicks or whether they have focused all their attention on terrorising the chicks. Either way, Rey is mixing in better. All we need is for Tommy to grow a bit more confident and he will sort out any squabbles!

I checked on Leia next and found her grumpily sitting on her eggs. Broody hens tend not to eat much when sitting so I didn’t need to change her food. When reaching in for the water, I made sure I stayed out of beak range! The lower temperatures must be making her sitting more comfortable as the inside of the nest box was much cooler. Over the past few days when I have visited her, I have kept the nest box door open to try and get some fresh air in to cool things down.

Before I left, I spent several minutes weaving the willow arch. It’s taken over a year but it has finally grown enough to complete the top of the arch! I plaited the new growth into the older branches to keep training it into the right shape. I will definitely have to do some pruning at the end of the summer but it should provide a lovely focal point halfway down the plot.