A Race Against Time

Mid-afternoon, my husband and I ambled down to the allotment armed with coop cleaning supplies and two empty food boxes. Upon our arrival, we chatted briefly to Cliff before we headed off to open up the shed. First job was to sort out cleaning the Omlet. The feathery weed destroyers were left to roam while my husband helped me move the run and nest box. As he got busy digging over the ground, I removed all the old bedding and thoroughly washed the nest box inside and out. Roxy decided she wanted a better vantage point and jumped up onto the table to inspect our work.

Shooing Roxy off the table, we moved on to the main coop. This time it was my husband’s turn to clean out all the old bedding as I topped up the food for Tommy and the girls in the run. Washing out the Nest House was simple enough with a pressure washer. The only issue over the winter, is it takes ages to dry. With all the boards washed, we walked up to the shed for a quick break.

Watching Roxy, Foxy and Trixy is always hilarious but this afternoon they were especially mischievous. By the time the Omlet was dry and we had wrestled it into  its new position, the light was going. Turning around, we spotted poor Foxy trying to get into the run through the fencing. Not the brightest of birds sadly. My husband picked her up and put her in to the run where she dashed to the nest box and settled herself in. Searching around, I discovered Roxy had perched herself on the top of the bench, clearly thinking this was a suitable place to sleep for the night. Fortunately, she was half asleep and easy to catch. Less than impressed at being hauled off her roost, she proceeded to shout her annoyance until I passed her to my husband. Two weed destroyers in. But where was Trixy?

By now the light was going fast and what were the chances of spotting a tiny black hen in the dark? I sent my husband off down the plot to look for her and I chose to search idiotic places, assuming she would have been found quickly if she was on the plot. Where would seem appealling to a sleepy chicken? Suddenly I had an idea, the shed! It has a lovely wicker chair and a table which might be Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a darker patch of black in the shed. Surely that patch of black wasn’t there earlier? Turning on my torch, I found Trixy all curled up, perching on the edge of an empty drawer.

Just like Roxy, she wasn’t particularly impressed with being moved from her new perch. We put her in the run and shut up the now chicken free shed. I checked in the Omlet nest box to put in some bedding. There wasn’t an inch of space left for any bedding as all three of the girls were crammed in with poor Trixy on the bottom! Honestly, these chickens will be the death of me!