Chickens!
We're still moving the Littlees' Eglu evey two days. Yesterday, Milly escaped more times than I can count, and each time she headed for the Choisya in front of the kitchen window. So, when we moved the Eglu last night (with them tucked up inside), we adjusted the netted area so it incorporated said shrub.
DH got up to open the pop hole for them at 7.20, but we kept them in the Eglu run so that they fill up on their nutritious pellets. At 9.30 I took pity on them and let them out, and they both rushed underneath the shrub. They have been rooking around under there ever since. They've only really started to exhibit scratching behaviour in the last week or so, and it's lovely to see them able to express it so fully now. Makes me feel even sadder for Battery Hens.
Meanwhile, the Big Girls have been up since 5am, we don't close their pop hole in the summer so they can get into their enclosed run whenever they like. We let them out to range at 9.00. I went out to hang out some washing a little later and heard that wonderful Motorcycle Noise of Contentment that hens sometimes make. There was Delilah, in her nest amongst the pampas (the resting place so beloved by Washburn the Ginger Cat), purring away.
And sometime later, we had the unmistakeable, ear-splitting, crow announcing "Lo! I Have Laid an Egge and It is The Most Wondrous and Beautiful Egge Ever Laid by Any Chicken. Ever. And Am I Not Wondrous And Beautiful, Not To Mention Clever, For Laying It?".
Although it's very sweet, it's not good to have them laying eggs in the garden as they could so easily get damaged (and I don't want the Girls to get a taste for eggs). So, tomorrow, they may find themselves confined to their (very large) run until they've had a chance to lay.
No sooner had Delilah finished crowing than Washburn appeared, and took up residence. They say if you want to stop a hen getting to a nest you should put a ball in, or an upturned flowerpot. We put a Washburn in. Can you spot him?
And then Delilah came to check it all out. I was sure she was going to peck his tail.
We're still moving the Littlees' Eglu evey two days. Yesterday, Milly escaped more times than I can count, and each time she headed for the Choisya in front of the kitchen window. So, when we moved the Eglu last night (with them tucked up inside), we adjusted the netted area so it incorporated said shrub.
DH got up to open the pop hole for them at 7.20, but we kept them in the Eglu run so that they fill up on their nutritious pellets. At 9.30 I took pity on them and let them out, and they both rushed underneath the shrub. They have been rooking around under there ever since. They've only really started to exhibit scratching behaviour in the last week or so, and it's lovely to see them able to express it so fully now. Makes me feel even sadder for Battery Hens.
Meanwhile, the Big Girls have been up since 5am, we don't close their pop hole in the summer so they can get into their enclosed run whenever they like. We let them out to range at 9.00. I went out to hang out some washing a little later and heard that wonderful Motorcycle Noise of Contentment that hens sometimes make. There was Delilah, in her nest amongst the pampas (the resting place so beloved by Washburn the Ginger Cat), purring away.
And sometime later, we had the unmistakeable, ear-splitting, crow announcing "Lo! I Have Laid an Egge and It is The Most Wondrous and Beautiful Egge Ever Laid by Any Chicken. Ever. And Am I Not Wondrous And Beautiful, Not To Mention Clever, For Laying It?".
Although it's very sweet, it's not good to have them laying eggs in the garden as they could so easily get damaged (and I don't want the Girls to get a taste for eggs). So, tomorrow, they may find themselves confined to their (very large) run until they've had a chance to lay.
No sooner had Delilah finished crowing than Washburn appeared, and took up residence. They say if you want to stop a hen getting to a nest you should put a ball in, or an upturned flowerpot. We put a Washburn in. Can you spot him?
And then Delilah came to check it all out. I was sure she was going to peck his tail.
