Autumn coming!

Another lapse – apologies- but it was so hard to find the enthusiasm to write about my girls when it all felt so empty.
Gloria was raising the babies well and they were all developing their own individual personalities.

She was so much happier with their company but there was something missing…

more chickens!!!

Now things are back to normal. There are 14 ladies in residence.
Gloria, Wonky (with a deformed toe on each foot), Sushi, Nugget and Burrito. These made up the surviving four.

Joined by …

Beryl, Bean, Nanny P, Durrito, Margaret, Linda, Mabel, Barbara and Beyoncé !

Feeling so much happier now!
Sadly, ‘Flockdown’ will soon be here – damn you Avian Flu! But in the meantime the girls are quite rightly enjoying the last of the autumn sun and the run of the garden!

The next hurdle will be laying eggs!

As I’ve had to start again, all but the white fluff ball Silky are just point of lay so every garden visit is a ‘will they it won’t they’ moment!

Watch this space!

A whole new chapter!

So once again the blog lapsed but for good reason.

I had the worst experience since starting keeping chickens. It was a few months ago and I was up early. I went down the garden to the run to check on the girls and could see a fox on the top of the enclosure. Presuming it would run off, I went further on and realised there were actually two of them and one was on top but one was trapped inside and was freaking out; trying to escape.

Panic rose inside me and I started to run. I was met with absolute carnage.

The whole entire floor was covered in feathers and there were bodies everywhere. Every single one was decapitated apart from Gloria who, very surreally, was just walking around the mess.
I grabbed her and ran her inside.

By the time I had returned, trapped fox was gone and his mate was sat on next doors roof watching me.

Luckily, the babies (4 chicks we’d been raising) were locked in a separate coop as they were too young to mix with the big girls. It had saved them.

Out of 17 chickens I had lost 12.

My 2 silkies, Hazel and Clarabelle, and the 2 Pekin Bantams, Bob and Winter, had been taken with no trace. The rest were scattered around – all heads removed.

To say I was devastated was an understatement. I don’t blame the fox for taking the 4 but it was literally blood thirsty killing for the sake of it.

Clearing up was heartbreaking. The coop was empty, quiet and poor Gloria was heartbroken. She spent the day calling for them and searching around. Petrified of me and completely lost, I decided to integrate the four babies early to give her some comfort.

Integrating birds often can come with pecking and bullying whilst they sort out the pecking order- yes it’s a real thing! – but instantly they settled together.

Gloria, at the grand old age of one, had become mum to 4 boisterous babies!

Welcome Back!

So it’s been a long two years where life has got in the way!
My daughter mentioned the blog and to be honest I’d forgotten all about it.

That prompted me to dust off the keyboard and try to start it up again. ‘The Zoo’ has now expanded and we now have a dog, a cat, a cockatiel, ‘inside and outside’ fish, a tortoise and ………….

17 CHICKENS!!

That was the thing that ticketed me the most, my last post 2 years ago was written incredulously by myself saying I couldn’t believe I had 11 chickens 😂

So we now have …

Maude, Pat (previously Cassandra- long story!), Bob, Winter, Raquel, Marlene, Clarabelle, Hazel, 2brown ones (another story to those for another day), Ella, Evie, Gloria and 4 babies … Nugget, Sushi, Burrito and Hamburger (who may end up being called WonkyToes due to an unfortunate deformity in her toes).

Our new puppy, Twiggy, is only 8 months old and has been with us for 6 months now.
As ‘Flockdown’ was lifted we are now socialising her with the girls and she is beginning to love them as much as I do!

so, a short post for today but here are some updated pictures!

Because face it … we all love pictures of chickens! 😜

And then there were …. 11?!?!

Whoops!

This is Cassandra

And these are Raquel and Marlene!

So I had intended on getting 2 birds to bring the flock to 10 but we couldn’t resist Cassandra!

Marlene and Raquel we just can’t tell the difference between at the moment 😂

They are affectionately known as the twins and whilst they are much more skittish than Cassie, have settled in really well.

Now that the tomatoes have finished, we’ve let the girls back out into the garden and they’re free ranging again and loving it!

The twins have refused to leave the run – they’re only young (but yet laying) and so are too scared.

Cassandra is actually about a year old and much happier to adventure out and so has been enjoying exploring the garden.

Fluffy bottom! …

And big trousers!!

The girls have been exploring and making the most of the dirt!

Unfortunately, it looks like Clarabelle has become broody again so sending them for a run in the garden is hopefully keeping her out the coop!

This hasn’t stopped her running back to check if she can get in again but hopefully she’ll get over it without us having to run an ‘intervention’

I did also buy a leg ring for the twins so we could tell them apart but, although young, they’re actually quite big girls and the large size was too small! 😳

So the name ‘the twins’ seems rather appropriate! 😂

Greedy girls

The girls love greens from the garden – great for weeding- and the odd lettuce or cabbage.

I wanted to find a way to give them a bit of a challenge and enjoy the greens too so I found a feeding bag. It was a huge hit!

Can you spot the problem?

Poor Clarabelle – at the bottom of the picture- the smaller girls were completely pushed out!

So there was only one way to solve that – another bag! 😝

Happy chickens again- totally spoiled!!

Oh and the babies are STILL no longer broody!

Yay!!!!

Keeping them occupied

I’m a sucker for a gimmick but sadly the girls don’t always share my enthusiasm!

Around the coop I place small bird toys in the run in the hope they would find them interesting. No joy lol

I once put a swing in there but only succeeded in traumatising them so that too went on the shed!

However, some things were a success!

Tyres!

Originally I intended to use them as dust baths but they have made great perches instead

I also bought a net bag for the garden leaves. Normally I would just throw them in and let them scratch around but decided to try and make them work for them!

They love it!

So much so, I’ve bought another one as the smaller girls don’t get a look in!

It’s like having kids – you are always buying for them 🙄😂

And the result was ….

So I bet you’re wondering where the update is on the broody chicks?

Well I’ve got shingles at the moment so have we been a bit out of sorts anyway.

I caused a bit of a kerfuffle on a chicken forum I go on on Facebook and it made me question my decision. About 90% of the forum agreed with me that caging them was the right thing to do but I got a few comments implying I was mistreating them and it upset me.

In the end I asked for comments to be locked.

Anyone who knows me will know how much I love my girls and also how spoilt they are! I was overthinking things and felt bad about the method I was using.

Trust me it wasn’t something I did lightly and I had been turfing them out the coop for three weeks with no luck! they weren’t eating properly, the other girls weren’t able to go into the coop and it was causing problems with the status quo in the flock.

It was only for 3 days so I decided to sit it out … and …

Morning!

Playing in the dirt!

Back with their sisters 🥰

Happy again!

They have NOT BEEN IN THE COOP!!!!!!

It worked!

Their habit has been broken ( for now!!) and they have been out all day doing chicken things!

The breed is well known for being broody but I’m hoping it will be a while before it happens again.

I sat down yesterday and spent some quality time with my girls and thought I’d share this video with you so that you could see why I love my chickens so much!

Hope you enjoy it 🤗

The Great Escape!

Ok so today was the day!

After a delay in shipping from Amazon, the dog cage turned up ready for Operation Broody !

I set it up- feeling rather proud of myself ready for the girls to go in.

Water? Check! – Food? Check! – On bricks to allow air flow underneath them to lower their body temperature? – check!

Escape proof? Check! No loose doors, no wobbly bits- sorted.

All I needed was some broody chickens and luckily I have two of them 👍🏻🐔🐓

I was going to break the separately but the cage is big enough for both of them! Bonus!

Cue the new occupants…

Feeling rather chuffed with myself – and this is where I should have realised it was going just TOO well 🤨- I went off to Sainsbury’s with the girls.

I came back to …. THIS!

Empty cage !!!!!!!!! 😳😳😳😳🤔

And found THIS!

‘You got a problem with that?!’

‘Now THIS is where I belong!’

It is Chicken Run in real life!!!!

So I studied how they got out 🤔🤣🤣

That showed me!!!

So after a twist so the larger holes are now at the back I can start again 🙄😂

And so to finish – a tune that sums up today’s efforts 😂

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MbsuAbTTsV8

Tomorrow is the day!

So Hazel and Clarabelle are still broody and there is no other option but ….

The Broody Cage!!

3 days, raised on bricks so cool air can lower her body temperature, obviously food and water provided, but out of the coop- off the nest- and no nest sitting!!! no comfy nest – do not pass go do not collect any baby chicks!

I tried the ‘Chuck out the coop’ method but boy those girls are keen! No wonder they have a reputation for being good mummies! multiple times a day and they’re straight back in.

These girls won’t move for anyone!

Poor Trudy- squeezing in to lay her egg.

I’ve never had a broody girl before so this is a new one for me.

Watch this space to find out who wins! Me or the babies!!!!! 😳😂

Setting them free!

So Bobarina and Winter have been with us for a week now. They have been in a mini coop next to the main girls – far away enough to stay safe and close enough to be seen.

I’ve been letting them out every now and again but ironically it’s the ‘babies’ – the previous newbies – who caused the most problems .

They’re asserting their authority and DESPERATELY trying not to be bottom of the pecking order.

Chasing them is quite normal but I sat dutifully with a water pistol by the door waiting to take charge 😂

All was quiet and the new girls enjoyed a lovely dust bath 🥰

Happy chickies 🥰