I don't mind the cold weather, as long as I can have a the stove going. I love the warmth it gives, both in terms of heat and in terms of the feeling. I find it very soothing.
Usually I wait until about 4.30 in the afternoon to light it. It's 10.30am now, and I think I might light it.
One of my older girls. Fleur, is on her way out. She slowed right down in the last week, and has been eating from my hands. I've been giving her extras. She comes out of the coop, ambles round, sits with her friends and frenemies, but is not eating well and is quite light for her size.
Yesterday, I thought she was going to die during the day. She sat quietly, she moved away from the flock under a shrub. Fay, who we got at the same time from the same place, stood with her for over an hour. That, in itself, was very unusual.
Later, Poppy went to see her, and gave her a sharp peck on the head. I was very angry that Poppy should be so cruel. But, I think I misinterpreted it. Fleur got up, and moved over to the others and sat in the middle of them all, including Poppy. I think Poppy may have been encouraging her to join them.
They stayed together for the rest of the afternoon.
Later, I shut them in the run. Just before bed, Fleur put herself in one of the covered dustbaths. The rest of the flock farted around, going to bed and getting up again. I couldn't decide if Fleur had done this because she wanted to be alone, or because she couldn't face climbing the steps into a coop. I carried her as gently as I could, and put her in the nestbox of one of the coops, picking the one that she normally sleeps in and which had Fay and Poppy in already. I watched on the camera as all the girls decided they wanted to be in that one coop (some of them coming out of the other one and going into it).
I got up this morning expecting to find a dead hen in the coop. She wasn't dead. She'd got up, and was sitting quietly in the run. My heart was happy to see her, but it would have been better (for me) if she had gone. Now I have to think about asking DH to despatch her, something I really don't want to have to do and something he definitely won't want to do.
If she looked like she was in pain, I would, of course, despatch her immediately. She doesn't look in pain, she just looks like she wants to slip off quietly. I'd like to give her the dignity and peace of slipping off in her own time, with no additional stress. I find this so difficult, I just want to do what's right for her.
In the meantime, I can't settle to do anything useful.
I might go and light the fire.
