Round and round the Garden

At lunchtime, I headed out into the garden to clean out Gertie and Quail Mansions. I started with Gertie. She has been spending lots of time on her perch and not eating much which is worrying. Pondering where to put her, I decided she might enjoy the sunshine for a bit, so I deposited her gently at the bottom of the lawn.

Her coop was quite quick to clean out. Although, carrying the base down the garden without treading on chickens that insisted on getting under my feet made it more difficult. With the old bedding in the garden waste bin, I cleaned it and headed back to the patio. I put in a thick layer of bedding and refilled her water and food bowls. We had picked up some mash in the hopes she will eat it as she completely refuses to eat pellets. I made her usual scrambled egg and sprinkled in some mash, hoping her enthusiasm for egg would mean she would eat the mash without realising. I found Gertie half asleep in the sunshine and took her back to see if she would eat.

After a few mouthfuls, she lost her enthusiasm and I let her be while I tackled Quail Mansions. First job was to catch each quail and carefully transfer them into the pet carrier. Qwerty went in fine albeit with some irate flapping. Queenie was reluctant and I had to chase her around the cage before catching her. Quetzilla had been watching this and calculated her next move. As my back was turned, with my entire focus on catching Quinta, she made her move. Launching herself out of the coop, she flew with a victorious shriek. Hearing the kerfuffle behind me, I turned, just as the coop door slammed shut on my arm. Spying the marauding Quetzilla strutting proudly down the garden path, I tossed Quinta into the pet carrier, secured the door and headed off to catch the escapee.

Quail are fast. Very fast. Added to which, they are excellent flyers. Our garden is small but when you are chasing a sneaky determined little quail all over it, bent double trying to flush out the blasted bird from under every bush, it seemed never-ending. I was very aware that when startled quails leap vertically upwards. With one hand reached out above Quetzilla, I hoped it would dissuade her from rocketing upwards. Spying my plan, she proceeded to stay on the ground in the most inconvenient way possible, disappearing under every bush, branch and pot. Eventually, she heard the cheers of the rest of the quail and I managed to chase her towards Quail Mansions. Of course, it was too much to hope that the idiotic bird would walk up to the pet carrier and wait for me to pick her up. She didn’t do that. But she did slowly wander into the purple Omlet. Hardly believing my luck, I jumped forward and slammed the run door closed.

Then I realised she had pulled off an absolute blinder of a move. Despite being in the coop, there was no way I could catch her without opening the run door. It really is a low point when you realised you have been outsmarted by a bird. I confess to resorting to a broom to try and chase her into the nest box. In true Quetzilla style, she ran towards the open door. I dropped the broom and bodily threw myself on the door, desperately hoping the door would close before she got out. The next five minutes we faced off against each other. Eventually, she made a mistake and wedged herself under the water bowl. Sensing this would be my only opportunity, I swooped, grabbing the aggravating bird and walked towards Quail Mansions. Needless to say, Quetzilla did not approve of being caught and tried her best to escape. She nearly did it too! I unceremoniously lobbed her into the pet carrier where she spent the next two minutes trying to get out.

Somehow this ‘quick job’ had taken the entirety of my lunch break. Muttering under my breath, I finished up cleaning out Quail Mansions and put in new bedding, water and food. The final obstacle was to get all four quails back into their coop. Fully on guard, I got Quinta, Qwerty and Queenie back into the coop. I left Quetzilla until last. We eyeballed each other suspiciously. She was prepared for what was coming, but I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Reaching into the carrier, I grabbed her firmly and held my breath until she was in the coop with the door closed. Exhausted from all the drama, I planned on heading back to work for a break when I realised Gertie had made a break for it. Sighing, I searched around the garden yet again. Finally, I found her hiding by the shed, behind a plant pot. I grabbed Gertie and put her back into her coop.

Seriously, what is up with all these birds today?!