Over the past few weeks, the Omlet in the garden has become a battleground. Three of the silkies have been conducting a battle royale to hog the nest. The majority of the past four weeks, I have daily been turfing off Stratus from the nest. She has absolutely no idea how to be a broody... Continue Reading →
Epic Coop Cleaning
Today was a manic day at the allotment. With no broody hens, I could finally clean out the new coop and whilst I was at it I thought I might as well do the other two. The first nest box was so much easier to clean now that Will has added hinges to the roof.... Continue Reading →
Pitter patter of tiny feet
After spending the afternoon in the shed wrestling with paperwork, I gave up. Granted it was much nicer to look outside and see the plot with Roxy busy foraging away. But paperwork is still paperwork. My ancient laptop battery holds minimal charge but the solar power set up meant I could plug it in to... Continue Reading →
March of the Broody Hens
So today was an interesting day. If broodiness was as infectious as Covid-19, I would have less broody hens. At home, Stratus was still sitting in the nest box, blocking Nimbus and Cirrus from getting into it to lay. I had arranged to collect six hatching eggs from Trixy's breeder this evening. As soon as... Continue Reading →
Mixed News
I ran down to the allotment this morning to do two things. First to dose up Millie and second, to check on Trixy. When I arrived, Trixy wasn't to be seen in the run. A good sign. Rather than disturb her, I walked down to the main coop. Both the bantams were hiding in the... Continue Reading →
Broody or Not Broody – that is the question!
Today we walked down to the allotment in the glorious sunshine. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. All three bantams were out enjoying scratching and dust bathing. It was interesting to see Trixy outside after her attempt at being broody yesterday. Yesterday, I had to extract the eggs she was determinedly sitting on. The... Continue Reading →
A matter of life or death
I had to run into work this morning quickly before going down to the allotment. Upon my arrival, I was met with some bad news about one of the chicks. Cliff had checked on Emily this morning to find her and only two chicks. No sign of the third. After several minutes searching he found... Continue Reading →
New arrivals!
This morning I dashed down to the allotment, desperate for news on Emily's eggs. When I arrived and lofted the lid of the broody box, I spotted a change! Next to Emily, half out from underneath her was an eggshell. Tentatively, I removed it, expecting a sharp peck for my trouble. I bent down and... Continue Reading →
And then there were two!
This morning, I was up early ready to stalk the postman in the hopes the hatching eggs would arrive. They arrived in a carefully taped package and clearly labelled fragile. As keen as I was to open it, I decided it would be safer to open it down the allotment rather than risk any damage... Continue Reading →
Moving a broody chicken
This morning I walked down to the allotment via the corner shop to pick up some biscuits for the clubhouse. The sun was out again but the breeze took the temperature down enough to remind you it is still early April.I swung by the clubhouse briefly on my arrival, waved to the gang before opening... Continue Reading →
Recent Comments