When I opened up the Nest House this morning, I made a sad discovery. It was Lilja, laying on her side on the Nest House floor. I suspect she passed away in her sleep last night. She showed no signs of being ill over the past few days so it was quite a shock. Lilja... Continue Reading →
Being Given the Run Around
The last two days, I have been woken up by Gordon doing his best impression of a cockerel. Despite having very accommodating neighbours, I just couldn't keep him in the garden anymore. The fact he set off three times yesterday shows he is getting more confident in his voice. So my plan was to move... Continue Reading →
A Quartet of Chickens
With the end of a truly dreadful week at work, I trudged down to the allotment. A few weeks ago, I spotted an advert for point of lay hens from a local farm. I contacted the farm and to my delight, found they had pullets available in two of my favourite breeds, Black Rock and... Continue Reading →
Odds and Ends
Today was a plottering day at the allotment. One of those days where you arrive and don't really have much of a plan and spend the day drifting between little jobs. When I arrived, I immediately went to check on the girls in the new coop and say hello to Liz, Sarah and Andy. To... Continue Reading →
Tiptoeing through the ‘Tatoes
An early start this morning saw me down the allotment and sorting out Roxy and Trixy wondering how on earth the nest box would be moved. To be honest, this is the panicked thought that has haunted me over the past few weeks. Will appeared around the shed door and said he and Cliff were... Continue Reading →
Eggs and a delivery
The wind has been really high over night and during the day which has dropped the air temperature significantly. It feels perishing if you have to be outside for more than a few minutes. Sarah messaged me to say our combined seed order had arrived at last. I dropped everything and ran across to meet... Continue Reading →
January Blues
And so as the January weather continues to make the third lockdown more miserable than the last, I escaped down to the allotment for some fresh air. Over the past couple of weeks, I have told myself that I must clean out the main coop. In winter, with the water supply off, the freezing temperatures... Continue Reading →
Chicken Whispering
This afternoon I ambled down to the allotment to feed the chickens. The weather has been typically gloomy and wet. In fact, the rain has been pretty much non stop for nearly two weeks! Down in the greenhouse, Lilja and Leia are getting on better although Lilja seems to spend most of her time up... Continue Reading →
Making friends…or not!
This evening, I introduced Lilja to Leia. Safe to say this did not do entirely according to plan! First, we went to Phil's coop to collect Lilja. Unfortunately she was out and thus would be harder to catch. Between us, we managed to trap her in the nest box without getting attacked by the cockerel.... Continue Reading →
Monsters in the Deep
This morning I got down on site early as today was the day for cleaning out the chickens. It's a long job, usually taking a couple of hours. However, today it took all day. Part of it was my fault for getting distracted with other jobs partway through. Having to go home to sell a... Continue Reading →
Evenings at the allotment
After work today I ambled down the allotment. Although it's been a lovely week, it has been exhausting and I was glad the week was over. When I arrived, my first job was to water the loofa plants. I can't believe how much they have grown since I last came down. I am sure if... Continue Reading →
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