The Ancient Ones

This afternoon, while there was still enough light, I finally managed to clean out Maude and Mavis’s coop. Currently, their coop sits on the edge of the patio, sheltered from the wind and rain by the fence and the side of the house. Fortunately, when I bought their Omlet, it came with a 2m long cover for the run. This means that all the Omlet coops, provided they have a proper cover, don’t need any additional work to make them biosecure. What a relief that is!

Both of the Ancient Ones were unimpressed with the disruption to their routine. Mavis was particularly irritated and showed this by hiding in the nest box the entire time I was working. Removing the run from the nest box was easy by lugging it onto the main part of the patio singlehandedly was tricky. At one point, the bottom of the run got caught in the BBQ. I spent several minutes trying to wriggle it free. Inevitably, it suddenly jerked free just as I gave an almighty heave. Staggering slightly, I muttered something unprintable under my breath and put the run down. Removing the old bedding was simple with a scraper and a dust pan.

Lugging the run back into place was nearly a repeat of taking it out. With the exception that I got stuck on the wrong side of the run and spent time trying to squeeze past the wider end to try and release the bit that was stuck at the back. Needless to say my progress was closely watched by both Maude and Mavis. Eventually, the run was back in place and I could make a start on the nest box.

The nest box is so easy to clean – it’s wonderful! Ten minutes later, the nest box was clean with fresh bedding, the run attached and new bedding set out in the run. Neither of the Ancient Ones was keen to come out and explore. But it’s amazing what a handful of corn will do!