Running Start

So much of the new Run is up now, but there is still a lot of work for DH to do.  

I get to help by holding the tape measure so he can check it's all square,  and by saying helpful things like "are you sure they can get down the ladder if we have that there",  or "yes, I'm happy with a door going there",  or "I was just wondering....."

Soon it will be ready for us to decide how to subdivide it to provide separation between the two flocks.   

We might need to include a "no hens land" so they can't actually get to each other through the mesh.  

 

The Oldies tend to gang up on the Newbies, which I find very unfair. I understand the need to establish the pecking order, and so I try not to interfere when there is a one-on-one spat; I don't like it, but it is what it is.     I really don't like it when a second (or more) hen comes in to kick a hen while she's down.

I'm only letting them free range "together" while I am around to keep an eye and ear out for what's going on.  If I go out, I lock one or both sets away.

The weather has been fabulous, and the hens have been taking advantage of there being  very little netting up in the garden at the moment.   As soon as she realised that there were Strange Hens In The Garden,  Violent gave up being broody.  It's unusual for her, she normally sits tight for many many  weeks .

Run free

DH started putting up the new run today.  

He laid out the first side, and then we discussed exactly how this was going to fit to the run over the fruit cage and where the door should be. It was a calm discussion.

We followed this with a livelier discussion about how big the other dimension should be.   I gave in.

Later still, we had a discussion about the end where the cubes will attach.  This was actually a helpful discussion, and the plan is to remove the 1m cube run from the cube, replacing it with a narrow collar so it can dock with the walk in run.

This meant that the Cubes would be moving 1m inwards, with the Girls therefore losing  two 1x1m bits of run.  I suggested lengthening the side by 1 panel to compensate.   DH considered it, but pointed out that it would be awkward because the corner would make it difficult to pass by the quince tree.

He was right.

I didn't really want to lose the space, so I asked if it might be possible to "castellate" the corners at each end, and that looks like it will work.    We are taking the run of the Cube so we can check it all works.  

This would be fab for me as it means I could access the ladder and the coop door, which I've only been able to do , very awkwardly, from side panels before.   If it works, this alone will make replacing the run worthwhile.

With no large run, we've been letting the two groups of girls have the garden to free range in.  There have been a few confrontations, and I've stepped in because it always ends up with multiple Oldies attacking a single Newbie.

For the last week, Fay has been spending time in both camps.  She's laying her eggs in the Newbie's cube.    It worked out quite well, as looked like it helped the Newbies to see a face they knew when the groups were out free ranging. 

I've put out a washing up bowl (which has never been used for that, of course) with some cool water and some frozen peas in.   It's a good way to get hot hens to have an extra drink.       Everyone had plenty,  but it' too soon to have both groups eating at the same time.

I noticed that Fay has been asserting herself within the Oldie group, and I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing The Oldies are a bit fractious with each other, and there was some worrying purple tinge on Astrid's enormous comb this morning.  It had gone back to red later in the morning, but I need to keep an eye on her.

Violent has been broody all this time, but she's come off the nest a couple of times in the last few days to cause trouble.

I really want to trim the feathers which are obscuring Olga's (the matriarch of the Newbies) eyesight.  I'm a bit concerned that I may make matters worse.

 

Run Down

The garden looks bigger and better,  DH has worked like  a trojan.

I've labelled all the poles and the weldmesh bits.
I've managed to find all the bits for the GoUp run, apart from a wire mesh door for the back.  I've got some spare mesh, so DH can make me one. 

I've sorted out the Omlet mesh needed to make a 1m run for the Green Cube which we are selling.   I can't find the side panels which go under the cube, so we'll have to trim some mesh down to fit. I'll also need to get DH to trom some pieces to make a skirt for those panels.

I think I've got enough.  I need to put it all together (and connect it with fence hog rings) and label it. 

Running low

DH has been busy dismantling the walk in run.   It will take a couple more days before it's all down.

 It's caused havoc for the Oldies.  They can no longer get to the orange cube (it's been moved  back, and the access hole has been closed with new weldmesh). I had to move the broody into the purple cube which is now in the fruit cage, she wasn't happy.

I've decided I'm going to sell the spare Cube,  and I wanted to sort out the run for it. I knnew it was in the garage, in the trailer.     Regrettably, lots of other run bits are also in the trailer,  and there was tons of stuff on  the trailer as well.

I pulled out the stuff that was on top first.   Some went iunto the wheelbarrow of doom (to go to the Tip)_;  I listed some for sale;  and I offered some for free.  Some was binned.

Next, I started hoiking the stuff out of the trailer.  Luckily, I'd had the foresight to label a lot of the run pieces, so I was able to create piles around the garden (to keep everything separate).  I went and fuond the instructions for the Cube and the GoUp so I could tick of the pieces.     I had most bits, I just need to lay out the skirt to see if I've got it all.

I also found some additional bits for the walk in run, and loads and loads of 16 gauge weldmesh, which was from our very first walk in run (more than 15 years ago).

I also created an enormous pile of older style movable netting, the sort that can be electrified.   It's all the netting from when we kept hens on our allotment, and I was momentarily saddened by seeing it.   I still wonder about Sasha, Summer, Blondie and Pong. 

I've got stuff everywhere now.

Competition

Last night I had to persuade four of the seven Oldies into the Orange Cube.   The three that were already in, objected. Two ot them stormed out in protest, adn I had to spend ages rounding them up and getting them in.

One of the benefits of the new run, when it's done, will be a door into the run on 3 of the four sides, so that will make evening shenanigans less taxing.

Tonight will be worse because the Oldies will no longer have access to their usual run, they will be confined to the fruit cage run.  

...

This morning, the noise started.

I lay in bed listening to two Newbies and two Oldies having a competition.  It went on, and on, and on.  I started counting eventually and, when I got to 135 squawks (from where I started counting), I couldn't stand it any more.   Goodness knows what our neighbours would be thinking.   I got up, and went out.

Getting up and going outside takes me quite a long time at the moment. I have to sit up, turn off my CPAP, take off my mask;  then I have to stand up and hobble to get something on my feet, then hobble to get my dressing gown, then limp downstairs one step at a time hobble across the kitchen,  find the keys, unlock the door open the door, and hobble outside.

As soon as I got outside, the noise stopped.  Dead.

I went back inside.  On the plus side, marginally less hobbling as my feet were waking up.

I made a cup of tea, and wrapped a parcel and bought postage while it brewed.    I took tea up to DH, had a shower, did some ironing,  got dressed, put some washing on, emptied the dishwasher, started cleaning the kitchen.

Later, I went and let all the Girls out.    The Oldies were understandably confused that I didn't open the normal outside door for them, and it took a while for them to come out.  The Newbies were out straight away.

....

DH is already outside, continuing the dismantling, supervised by 2 cats.

 

Running On

Yesterday DH removed the covers from the Run, so I could take photos for selling.

Today, DH moved one of the coops into the fruit cage run, so that we could move the Girls out of the big run and start dismantling it.  He had to take the coop apart to move it, and take part of the fruit cage run down to get it in. 

We let the Girls into the fruit cage - they've been locked out of it for months - and they were very excited to start excavating.

I don't know if they've realised that their coop is now in there.  Bedtime is likely to be very noisy tonight.

Once it was out of the way, he was able to start to fill the trenches dug under that coop over the years by the Girls

He removed the Chicken Guard auto-door. Then  he fixed the Weldmesh hole for both that and the access hole from the removed coop.

I went round labelling the metal poles,  and putting colour coded cable ties on the roof mesh to help the successful buyer put it all back together again.

Tomorrow we will start dismantling it properly.

Running away

I had this idea about replacing our large, immovable, metal run. The large, immovable, metal run which we'd had to buy  tons of 16g 1x1 weldmesh, costing more than the run,  to make foxproof.

The idea grew in my mind when I saw a fairly large Omlet run for sale for a reasonable price.

That run wasn't big enough,  and then it was sold anyway,  but the idea stayed with me.

And then a bigger run went up for sale, for a good price, only about an hour and a half from my parents.  2 birds, one stone, and I'd bought it before anyone else could. 

DH was, mostly, OK about it.  Resigned, probably.  Usually if I mention buying more run,  it goes down like a lead balloon and I  (usually) don't buy.

My brother agreed to come (well, actually, he agreed to drive me in his people carrier), and I booked an Air bnb  near my parents for the night.

En route, I was explaining why this would be better than current run, when I realised I had an opportunity to build something a bit more elaborate to facilitate integrating the newbies.

Except I wouldn't have quite enough run. Well, I probably wouldn't have, even if I used the stuff we had set aside for the Catio.

And then the first run came back up for sale,  it was vaguely on the way home,   DB was happy to do the long detour on the way home (he is amazingly kind like that), so I bought that too.

I wasn't sure how to break the news to my DH.    

 

If I waited until I got home with it all.......   not a good idea.

 

If I told him in advance, he's probably have got used to the idea by the time I got home.   I messaged DH to say that we were coming home via detour City and he didn't ask why. 

We collected the first run from a lovely lady, stayed for a cup of tea and a chat, went and visited a nearby lighthouse,  and then went on to see my parents.

The next morning we visited my parents for a couple of hours, and then set off homewards.

DH hadn't asked why we were going to detour City, just wished us safe journey.  I messaged him to say that I was picking up a second run.   

He didn't respond, and I wondered if I should have just surprised him with it after all.

We arrived at the second run, and only just managed to get it in the people carrier.  It really was quite a lot of stuff altogether.

We got home after a long day's travelling, and unloaded everything.  I explained, as best as I could, why I'd felt the need to buy the second run, and we had a bit of a lively discussion about it.

The next day, all was well.  DH did some sorting of the runs and some preparatory work on it.  We then agreed an approximate outline of what the new Chickenopolis would look like, and agreed a plan of action.

He took the miles of clear tarp off the current mega run, so I could photograph it ready to sell. He cut the grass so we could start moving the coops around, so the Oldies would have a safe area to live in, temporarily,  while he took the old run down.   

The actual coop move is tomorrow

We think it'll be a week or so before we've got the old one down, the area cleared and filled,  and the new one up and ready.

I'm hoping the old one will sell quickly.

Settling in

The newbies are settling in to their temporary home, very well.#

One of the Araucanas, provisionally named Olga,  seems to b ethe matriarch.  She calls the others over, like a mother Hen, when she finds a tasty morsel.  She also worked out how top operate the treadle feeder very quickly.     I think she has a bit of trouble seeing, and that may be because she has some feathers over her eyes.

The other Araucana, provisionally named Odette,  is a sweetie.  She's bottom of the trio pecking order, and is likely to be bottom of all 10 when they are combined later.  She has, possibly, learned how to use the treadle feeder.   

Both girls are lovely natured.  They don't want to be picked up,  but they are learning to tolerate it when they are given treats.

The thrid girl, a palomino Vorwerk provisjonally named Ophelia, is even less people friendly than her two sisters.   She hasn't been able to work the treadle,  she's determined to be number 2 in the pecking order and is dominating Idette at every chance she gets.    She's yong though, and I hope that she will settle down.  She's a pretty thing, but handsome is as handsome does.

They have been ere 2 weeks now, and in the last couple of days IO've opened up their outside run so they can have a look around the garden.     They haven't gone far. 

The Oldies are Not Happy about the incomers.   The Newbies have been in a flock all their lives, so they have no comprehension of what joining a flock means. 

Ophelia wandered a bit close to the Oldies netted area, and there was a bit of a battle through the netting between her and Poppy (my ancient, 11 year old, hen).   Poor Ophelia also encountered Fay, who was on one of her usual excursions out of the Oldies area.   I stepped between them after a minute or so, and things cooled down.

I'm not looking forward to putting them all together. 

The cats are very wary of the newbies, and have been trying to put on a show for them.   The Newbies weren't too sure at all about these monsters roaming around, and alarm-called loudly for the first fewe days.  Now the cats elicit just a small alarm call when they appear

 The cats go into the netted area whenever they can (especially if either of us is out in the garden), where they make a big show of not being bothered.  Until we go in. 

Lewis (cat) and Odette

 

Tidy

We took down all the chicken fencing so the grass could be mown.  We also moved the Newbies run a little.    

Both sets of Girls were confined to barracks while this was going on.  Neither set was happy, and everyone had to vocalise their annoyance.

Eventually it was all done.   The garden looks so much better without all the chicken fencing up.

DH is out now putting it all back so we can let the  Girls out.

It's time to start letting the Newbies explore the larger garden, before we think about letting the two groups meet under supervised ranging.

I'm gaving mixed feelings about it.  A few days ago, one of the Newbies got out and a fight broke out (across the netting) between her and my most lovely and aged hen, Poppy.  

I don't want to stress Poppy out, and part of me wishes I'd stuck to my original plan of not bringing in any newbies while Poppy was still with us,

But the Newbies are lovely (at least the two Araucana are, not sure about the Vorwerk).   And they are here now, so there's not much point in dwelling on the rights and wrongs of it.

Old bag

The Newbies announces they were up and about at 5.30.  They do it every morning.  

I lay in bed, cringing.

At 6.30, they started again.   Fearing a fox (and we haven't attached the skirt to their temporary 4mx2m run), I had to get up and check.

No fox.

I opened the window and "ssshd" them, which provided relief for about 10 seconds. There was a pigeon roostibgbon the top of their run.  I shut the window, and decided not to get back into bed.  If I did that, I'd just feel like carp for the rest of the day.

I went downstairs to make tea. 

In the kitchen, I could still hear the girls, and I looked out of the window. 

There was a dead black thing in the free range area. 

I walled round to the kitchen door, and saw the cats were also staring at the corpse.  Lewis, usually the.less bold, was stopped halfway through the catflap.

I went out, and Lewis went ahead of me, body low to the ground in hunting mode (him, not me).

I couldn't understand it.  How had I left a girl out?  Or had a fox managed to get one of them?  Hiw cone tge others were all ok?  The Oldies were lined up against the side of their run, watching.

Lewis reached the carcass first.  I saw a wing get lifted up a little  in the wind, and I wondered if it had been dropped by a kittiwake.

Many pairs of eyes were on me. I braced myself as I got to the fence.

Lewis and I looked atbeach other.

It was a large bit of black bin bag.

 

I retrieved it, and turned to take it into the kitchen for burial.    A round of grateful chickeny applause broke out.

Lewis went on patrol.

Clang!

The Newbies are settling in well into their temporary run.

The palomino Vorwerk has turned out to be a bit of a bully, and she's being really horrible to one of the Araucana.  The little Araucana submits,  but the Vorwerk doesn't stop.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on that.

I suspect that the Vorwerk wants to be number 2 (rather than number 3) in the Trio.  I think the other Araucana is Number 1, but it's too early to be sure.

We've adjusted the treadle feeder so they have to stand n it to get it to open.   They aren't particularly scared about the clanging,  but they haven't worked out that putting their foot on the treadle makes it open fully.  

To help things along (and to encourage them to become hand tame), I bought some mealworms.

Today, I put a second, empty, treadle feeder in their run, and put some mealworms (and peas) in it.  I then used a pole to work the treadle when they were close by.   They've opened it a couple of times, but it's been by accident rather than by design.

They love the mealworms.   The Oldies had plenty too.

I'm going to have to message my neighbour to apologise for the clanging.   I can imagine that it is very irritating.

Brain and Body out of synch

I'm now into my 3rd week of CPAP therapy.

My brain is feeling much more alert,  better than it has done for the last 2 years.

My body is improving a bit, but not at the same rate as my brain.  It causes problems sometimes.

Yesterday, I decided to do an enormous amount of Domestics.  I stripped the beds, soaked (we have white sheets) and then washed the bedding,   cleaned the kitchen,  cleaned and washed the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor, the bedroom floor,  the landing and the small room.   I washed, I scrubbed, I tidied...

I listed stuff for sale.    I made a from-scratch curry (another Mrs Balbir SIngh mix). 

I raked out the newbie chicken area, cleaned and refilled the drinkers in both runs.  I tested a sewing machine that I'm selling.  I reorganised some kitchen storage. I laminated my Mrs Balbir Singh recipe cards.  I made foccaccia.  I spent time with my brother.    I remade the beds.

By the early evening, my brain was still firing on all cylinders.  My body, however,  was screaming for mercy. I ended up taking paracetamol.  I usually only take painkillers when I have headaches, I try not to take them for other body aches.

This morning, I'm bodily very tired, but my brain is awake and raring to go. 

More Mrs Singh

Tonight I used Mrs Balbir Singh (MBS)'s Cocktail Kebabs spice mix, with some minced lamb, to make bite sized kebabs.

I cooked them on am enamel plate which I brushed with ghee,  in the Airfryer.  I did them at 180 for 5 mins, turning half way.   They were very moist and soft. 

 DH loves sheek kebabs, and I asked him if he wanted me to use the grill setting to give them a drier outside. He declined.   I served them with 4   home made dips. [I just mixed greek  yoghurt with different things: mango chutney,  mint jelly,   coriander and chilli something or other, and lime pickle.  They worked well.

Really delicious. Will definitely make again.

I also made Chana Masala.  This was good, and I will probably make it again.   I might also try it with pork meatballs instead of chickpeas.   

Clever girls

They were demanding to be let out at 5.30.  I guess they heard the other Girls get up and move around, despite being quite  a way away).

I got up and looked out of the window, just to reassure myself there wasn't a predator about  

Luckily we have a Hentronix opener on that Cube, so I was able to open their door without going downstairs. 

I went back to bed, and then had trouble getting up.  We had Pilates, which was just as well, otherwise I'd have stayed in bed all morning.

Tonight, they put themselves to bed. Clever girls!   

I've set their coop to open at 5.20.  

New Girls

The new Girls arrived today, from OrionTree. We now have a palomino Vorwerk,  and two Araucana.  

They are currently in a run and Cube, away from our existing girls.  They'll stay there for a week or so, befre we think about letting them meet the Oldies beak to beak

The existing flock were not impressed by the arrival of Outsiders, and there was a squawking match between the two groups at one point.     Hopefully that will settle down in a day or two.

One of the araucana seems a bit squawky.  I guess there has to be one, lol.

Normally we shut newbies in their coop for half an hour before letting them out.  Because these girls had been travelling,  I didn't think that was a good idea so I just popped them in their new run.

They weren't impressed by the cauliflower on offer.  But they did munch pellets.  I'd mixed in some of the ones they are used to with some growers pellets for them, to help them transition.

One of them,  investigated the Cube and laid an egg :-)  I haven't named them yet, so I only know which one by looking at this picture.

 

 The picture shows the Araucana egg on the right, next to a Leghorn white egg on the left

Fay

Fay is our Fayoumi.  She  (along with Fleur, our Cuckoo Marans) is 8 years old at the end of this month.

She's a funny little thing.  She hates being picked up.   She sometimes squats,  but she resents having to do it.  She squawks like mad if it even looks like she might be getting touched.

She's lowish in the pecking order, and tends to keep out of the way of the big birds.  She's able to fly over fencing, even tall fencing, despite having a cllipped wing.    She will not stay in any area that she can get out of.  

Often, she flies over the netting, and then just sits with the rest of the girls, but n the other side of the netting.      She drives DH to distraction,  it annoys him that she won't play by the rules.   It used to irritate me,  but I realised that she doesn't do it maliciously,  it's part of her character, and I'd miss it when she dies.

For the last couple of years, she's decided she's a bit of a cockerel.  She doesn't try to tread the other girls,  but she does like to try and crow.  She likes to get as high as possible,  throw her head back, and let rip with the joy of spring. 

This morning, as soon as I let them out into the garden, she climbed to the highest possible point.

 

I left her to it. 

 

Mrs Balbir Singh

I've been having adverts for "Mrs Balbir Singh" spices coming up in my FB feed for some weeks now. I normally grind my own spices, so I  ignored them.

I succumbed a few days ago.  We had recently tried a new (to us) place for Indian takeaway and I'd had the lamb chops. I really liked them, and fancied making them myself.   I'd seen that there was a "Masala Chops" mix available, so I thought I'd buy a few mixes and have a go.

The parcel arrived, and the tins were beautifully packed (my pic is just me stacking the tins back in the box).   and I was struck by the quality of the metal tins.

The smaller ones have inner seals with 3 openings and a fourth, closed, position.  I can see that they will keep the spices as fresh as possible.  

The recipe cards are really good quality.  I'm going to laminate mine, otherwise I'll inevitably get them caked in carp when I'm cooking.

I decided yesterday that  I'd try the Rogan Josh.  This wasn't actually one of the mixes I would have chosen, it just happened to come in the set I picked.  I had some cubed mutton in the freezer, so I decided to use that.

The recipe card was easy to follow.  I kept it out of the way of my cooking, as I hadn't done anything about the laminating at that stage.     It wasn't a complicated recipe, and I had all the ingredients I needed apart from almonds.  I substituted cashews, as I figured that the ground almonds were partly there as a thickener, and cashews do a great job of that in soups.

The Garam Masala, added in the last five minutes of cooking,  smelled divine;  much better than my homemade one (and better than other ones I'd bought in the past).

The result was really, really, good.  Better than I've made before.   My husband commented on how  good it was, and I don't think he even realised that I was trying a new mix.

I've labelled the two pots that I used because I keep my spices in a drawer, so need the description on the top.     I'm looking forward to making it again.

I'm also keen to try some of the other mixes (including the Masala Chops). 

The kits aren't cheap, but  - for me, at least - they are worth the money.

 

Racket

For the last few days, the Girls have been kicking off at Stupid o'clock.

We are down to 7 girls.  6 of them sleep in 1 cube, whilst the oldest, Poppy, sleeps on her own in the other.  She seems to like it that way and I'm not surprised. 

I try to set the Cubes so they open at the same time.   If Poppy's Cube opens first, the occupants of the other  Cube go berserk.

For the last few days, the 6 girls are going nuts anyway.  Something sets them off (it's not a fox, we've checked the cameras).  It's probably one of them starts whingeing, then they all join in,  and none of them stop bickering.

I've gradually moved the opening time on the Cube earlier and earlier, trying to pre-empt it.  Yesterday morning it was set to 6am,  but all that happened was they tumbled out of the Cube and then started whingeing in the Run (which is then even louder).

This morning it was set to a ridiculous 5.15am, in an attempt to beat them. 

At 5.45am, they all started, and I got up (switching off my CPAp and taking off my mask) to look out of the window to see if I could see anything going on.  It looked like only 1 girl was in the Run,. Thinking the autodoor may have failed to open, I got my dressing gown on, hobbled downstairs, foiund the keys to the door, opened the door and  stepped out into the garden.    They were all out in the  Run, and were strategically placed to make as much noise as possible.

Fay was standing on one of the garden chairs in the run, in full Cockerel mode.  Neck extended, head back.  I hissed at them to be quiet, and they all careered towards the door, hoping to be let out.  I refrained.

It was very tempting, but it was only 5.47am.  Perfect fox time.

I went back in, put my CPAP mask back on, went back to bed, and lay there listening to them complaining (less noisily) for the next couple of hours.

It made me question whether we  are doing the right thing on Tuesday..... but it's a bit late now.

I hesitated, but then went ahead and WhatsApped that photo to Miss Teen.  Miss Tween would have been really excited, would have guessed immediately,  and would be demanding more info.   

Miss Teen hasn't responded at all :rollseyes:  

I'm not surprised.   Miss Tween  noticed every tiny change in our house, and would have noticed the 2 incubator boxes stacked n the dining room table for the last couple of weeks the moment she entered the house.  She would have demanded to know what we're doing with them (and would have been sad to her they were sold).    Miss Teen didn't even register them.

I know it's a normal process of growing up, but the passing of the era saddens me.