Went to the allotment yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks (DH has been doing the duties).
The 3 remaining cockerels are filling out and are now all stunning young men.
The Girls are getting on (reasonably) well together. Mucking out yesterday I can tell that three coops and the temporary shelter are all being used for sleeping. Can't tell who is sleeping where, so I might pop down one evening to have a look.
Norman has finished moulting and is sporting an absolutely stunning new coat of feathers. She's grown back blonde again, and looks fantastic. Siouxsie, Norman's half sister, has almost finished regrowth; and NotNorman, Siouxsie's full sister, is running around looking like a porcupine.
Ruby, one of the two Welsh Blacks, is moulting. She's lost about half her feathers in one go, and is looking very ucared for. Rose (the other Welsh Black) and Mrs (original Sasso) have yet to start.
The young girls have all filled out and look like proper hens now.
Coco, as I think we may call the Chicken of Fate, is still running around looking much younger than the others, but she doesn't seem to be getting picked on. We still can't get close enough to catch her, and she won't eat out of our hands She lays very dark brown eggs - not Welscummer or Maran dark, but much darker than everyone else. I'm really happy about this, because it means that when it comes to incubating eggs next year, we will be able to identify hers and decide whether or not to include some.
With the weather starting to change, we want to get down to one flock. This would also mean that everyone could have access to the shed (currently the Boys sleep there), and we can put a feeder and drinker in there in case of bad weather. However, we have to get down to one cockerel to do this, and be ready to saddle the girls if necessary.
So, it'll be decision time on the cockerels soon. And we'll also start having to make decisions about the Girls. Not really looking forward to that.
The 3 remaining cockerels are filling out and are now all stunning young men.
The Girls are getting on (reasonably) well together. Mucking out yesterday I can tell that three coops and the temporary shelter are all being used for sleeping. Can't tell who is sleeping where, so I might pop down one evening to have a look.
Norman has finished moulting and is sporting an absolutely stunning new coat of feathers. She's grown back blonde again, and looks fantastic. Siouxsie, Norman's half sister, has almost finished regrowth; and NotNorman, Siouxsie's full sister, is running around looking like a porcupine.
Ruby, one of the two Welsh Blacks, is moulting. She's lost about half her feathers in one go, and is looking very ucared for. Rose (the other Welsh Black) and Mrs (original Sasso) have yet to start.
The young girls have all filled out and look like proper hens now.
Coco, as I think we may call the Chicken of Fate, is still running around looking much younger than the others, but she doesn't seem to be getting picked on. We still can't get close enough to catch her, and she won't eat out of our hands She lays very dark brown eggs - not Welscummer or Maran dark, but much darker than everyone else. I'm really happy about this, because it means that when it comes to incubating eggs next year, we will be able to identify hers and decide whether or not to include some.
With the weather starting to change, we want to get down to one flock. This would also mean that everyone could have access to the shed (currently the Boys sleep there), and we can put a feeder and drinker in there in case of bad weather. However, we have to get down to one cockerel to do this, and be ready to saddle the girls if necessary.
So, it'll be decision time on the cockerels soon. And we'll also start having to make decisions about the Girls. Not really looking forward to that.
