Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Late this morning I walked down to the allotment ready for a full day's work. The weather has been so fickle lately that it either has been too hot or too wet to do anything productive. The mix of sunshine and rain has meant the proliferation of bind weed on an industrial scale. Everyone has... Continue Reading →
This morning, we walked down to the allotment determined to get through the massive list of jobs that I have been ignoring due to the inclement weather. We made a start by feeding Leia who seemed quite perky this morning. I put her out and left her happily exploring while we went down to the... Continue Reading →
There are many different types of rain. Some comes at you sideways, finding every gap in your clothing and flooding it. Another is so light it's like walking through a fine mist. Today's was the British classic, drizzle. Unless you have lived in the UK, drizzle may need a little explanation. Drizzle is always accompanied... Continue Reading →
Today the heat was still horrendous but the temperature had dropped a little. Even better was the slight breeze which occasionally gave a brief break from the relentless heat. Due to the heat, I have been leaving the greenhouse door open to allow through flow of air overnight for the Plymouth Rock chick. I managed... Continue Reading →
Today was hot. Boiling. Rapidly approaching the temperature of the surface of the sun. At 5 pm, it was still 32 degrees. It's inhuman. I ran down to the allotment to refresh the chickens water. In the main coop, the water bowl was nearly empty. I refilled it to the brim and for good measure,... Continue Reading →
Late this afternoon, my husband and I drove our Plymouth Rock chick to the vet. We had an appointment not with an avian vet, but a vet who had a specific interest in poultry. As it turned out, he is a fellow chicken keeper and enthusiast. This morning, our chick had been standing a bit... Continue Reading →
For the last few days, our Plymouth Rock chick has been struggling to stand and walk. At first, I thought it was because the other two chicks were picking on her. They were but her legs don't seem to be in the correct position and she seems to be in pain. On Tuesday morning, I... Continue Reading →
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 →
I got down to the allotment this morning to find Squeak sitting quietly in the corner of the coop. It's rather unusual behaviour for her and even more so when she showed no interest in bread. She is always the first one to get the first piece as she elbows the others out of the... Continue Reading →
Today we both headed down to the allotment to medicate the chickens - their legs have been showing signs of sore legs. Scaley leg is easy to treat using either vaseline to protect the leg from infection or, even better, sudacrem. The antibiotic nappy rash cream is brilliant for treating their legs with an added... Continue Reading →
Ran down to the allotment this morning to move Polly into her new temporary home and to check on poor Doris. On arriving, Polly and Doris were sharing the small nest box with Polly blocking the entrance to stop the over crowding that happened yesterday. With Geoff's help, we moved Polly into her new home... Continue Reading →
Spent a few hours down the allotment yesterday trying to clear some of the weeds. It wasn't particularly successful due to the hardness of the soil, making full root extraction nearly impossible. Hopefully it will rain soon otherwise we are going to struggle! Doris wasn't looking too good so I asked Cliff the Vet to... Continue Reading →
Today when I went down the allotment I was greeted with sad news. I was a little later than usual (the joys of endless medical appointments) to find Phil on his way back home. He told me that he arrived on site this morning to find Lottie's body in the coop. Fortunately he had already... Continue Reading →
Sad news from the allotment this week. Emily's chicks were due to hatch on Thursday and I rushed back from work to find she had left the nest and the eggs were cold. We lost 4 beautiful chicks, who appeared to be healthy and only a few hours from being born. Our disappointment was compounded... Continue Reading →
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