No news

Well, they say "no news" is "good news".

The Girls are still free ranging all day together. Well, not exactly together, but in the same fenced off area IYSWIM. Both Bigees still chase the Littlees; sometimes it's a sort of threat to chase which causes the Litlees to run off, other times its a proper chase. There hasn't been too much pecking (not that I have seen, anyway).

Next step is to move the Eglu, minus it's run, into the main run for a couple of days and nights before integrating the girls fully. I'd like to get on and do it, but Milly is still so small. Honestly, if I didn't know her age (19 weeks last Friday), I'd say she was only 16 or 17 weeks now. That's what's holding me back. It's taken me 8 weeks to get to this point, I don't want to waste all that patience by rushing the last steps.

I'm going to be away for a day in a couple of weeks, which means no free ranging for the girls that day. If I'm going to put them all together it needs to be done well before that so that I can be sure they will be OK shut in together for a day; or I need to leave it until after then to take the step.

I've just re-read that and started to laugh. When I talk about being "shut in" I mean that the girls will be in their extremely large Run, complete with perches all round; a bench and logs to climb on, under and over; two dust baths; hanging feeder; peckablock......

I guess I'll see how it goes for the next few days, and maybe make a decision on Wednesday or so.

That Milly!

That Milly!

I like all my hens, very much, but I am always aware that they are hens. I feel a rush of warmth and affection for them, but I wouldn't say I feel a rush of love. It's not the same as I feel about my cats, for example.

Except sometimes I do feel it a bit with Milly.

It isn't that I like her any more than the others; I've pondered on this, as I don't agree with playing favourites, and I'm really sure that I don't like her more than the others. The more I get to know them, the more I really like them.

I love the way they come running to see me whenever I go in the garden. Yes, I do know it's cupboard love.

Delilah, despite being such a witch at the moment, is such a lovely big Girl. She is really clever, a bu**er to catch, and surprisingly lithe and nippy. She looks at me, sideways on, with those beady little eyes, and she always makes me smile. It doesn't matter how grumpy I am, she cheers me up.

Scarlett is a such a sqwarker, and she irritates me when she goes on and on and on and on and on and ON AND ON AND ON AND.... But she is so special, with that little naked neck of hers. She still reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, and when I pick her up and see that little neck pulsating, I realise I like her in spite of the nuisance she is. And I had to wait a long time for her.

Jasmine... well, it's a bit soon to be able to read Jasmine's character. I like the way she runs around in the morning with her wings out behind her, pretending to be superman. I like her yellow legs, and her beautiful feathering. Her voice - it's a very deep baritone quack at the moment - is amazing. Very un-henlike.

And that Milly! Well, she doesn't stand still waiting to be picked up anymore, but she's really content to be held once I've got her. She's always willing to try new foods, and she's still got that funky hair do. She pulls on my heartstrings. I think it's because she was so willing to be held, right from the beginning. And we were always having to pick her up because she kept escaping from everything. I wonder if she'll stop being so content as she gets older?

Boss chicken

It's been mostly OK. The Littlees tend to dart away as soon as either of the Bigees comes near. I have occasionally seen Delilah move away from wherever she is to charge at the Littlees, which isn't very nice. Normal. Natural. But not "nice".

So today I decided to remind Delilah who was actually top chook: me. When I'm out there she generally behaves, so I only had a few opportunities to boss her. And she moved so quickly that, of those few opportunities, there were only a couple where I managed it.

I'll keep it up for a while, and see whether things improve.

On a positive note, the Littlees were happily eating from the Bigees' feeder (well, until the Bigees came home of course). The Bigees were happily eating from the Littlees' feeder and drinking from their Glug, but that's to be be expected rather than something to be celebrated.

I took down the collapsible trellis that divides the run, and replaced it with the movable netting. This provides a physical barrier, but it's much lighter and less imposing. I toyed with the idea of taking it out completely but, as one of the last steps before complete integrationp will be to move the Eglu into the main Run, Ithought it best to keep it divided for the time being. I have sneakily fixed the netting so that Milly can squeeze through the side, as a few days ago I saw both Bigees try to corner her in there.

My little girl is growing up

This evening, when I picked up Milly to weigh her, I saw that her comb has started to turn pink. It wasn't that pink this morning, it was more sort of...anaemic flesh colour.

It brought a lump to my throat.

Especially as she's had such a tough day.

Painful

Oh god, this is so stressful.

I was out for much longer than I thought this morning, so when I got back I decided to get on with rearranging the netting before letting them all out to range.

They've all been out together for a couple of hours or so now, and Jasmine is definitely abandoning Milly. I went out with some leftover pasta, and Milly stayed out of the way. Of course I wentr and gave her some of her own.

Both Big Girls have lunged at both Littlees. They aren't really pecking, but it is still horrible to watch. Jasmine runs away and then gradually creeps back; Milly runs away and tends to stay away. it's horrible, horrible, horrible.

Sorry to repeat myself but... I know this is the natural way of things, I know it will pass, but I can't believe how tortous it is. At times like this I almost wish I was a "let 'em get on with it" person, but I'm not. I do know they are hens...only hens. I don't feel the same way about them as I do about my cats. But I don't like to see nastiness in nature.

Next step...

Over the last few days I've let the Girls free range "together" under supervision. It started off with 15 mins once a day; yesterday, it was blocks of half an hour, several times a day, and ended with me going into the kitchen and keeping an eye on them from there.

I suspect we're now at the stage where it's better to let them free range together as much as possible, rather than chopping and changing. I let them all have about half an hour in their separate areas first, and now they are all in together.

For the last couple of days they have mostly been ranging in their pairs, and then there is a kerfuffle when the two pairs' paths meet. Mostly, the Littlees have run away, so there has been little real violence, just threats of violence. Of course in the real world, that's just as bad - but not in the chicken world.

This morning, I noticed that Jasmine keeps trying to range with the Bigees. Mostly she's with Milly. But when the four of them are close, I see her edgind towards the Bigees. She tries to eat on the periphery of their "flock" (if you can call two chickens a flock). Then she inches closer, and eventually one of the Bigees will go and chase her away.

It's natural that she's looking for acceptance, but the part of me that wants them to behave like people feels that she's letting Milly down.

I'll leave them out there, kitchen door open, until I have to go out a bit later. I'll let them out together again when I get back, and if the rest of the day goes OK with them, I'll rearrange the netting so it is less complicated, and they have one simple, big, area to range in together. with netting around the perimeter.

In the meantime, I'm dashing to the door every few mins as I hear - or think I hear - a commotion.

Ouch!

Yet another rearranging of the Eglu. The idea this time is that the Eglu run is very close to the Big Run, with the respectve feed stations as close as possible.

The resultant Netting arrangements are a bit complicated, but it means that almost wherever they are, they are adjacent. Each pair has one small area where they are out if sight of the other pair. The idea is that they will get used to the other pair being ever-present.

They've had a few minutes each day of supervised joint free ranging, butduring these periods each pair has mostly kept to themselves.

Today, Milly managed to get into the Big Girls enclosure, and Delilah took exception. Fortunately I was in the kitchen, with the door open, so I heard the kerfuffle. Delilah was attacking Milly, mercilessly. Milly made no attempt to fight back, but she was trying to get away. I rescued her of course, and she's OK.

Now, this is perfectly normal chicken behaviour. I know that. Introducing new birds is stressful, and there *will* be henpecking. It is usually quite vicious and unpleasant. I know this.

But, I suspect like many other people, I secretly had hoped that my lovely well behaved girls would be different, and would just accept it. Maybe just a bit of stand-offishness at first. The odd motherly peck.

But it's not to be.

I'll increase the frequency of the supervised free ranging this week, if weather permits.

Bless!

The Big Girls make me smile.

Occasionally when I let them out to range, they manage to find a way out; usually because I've forgotten to close one of the "gates" on the netting.

Instead of making merry when they do this, they come to the kitchen door and bok loudly to get attention. And, of course, this means that we then go chicken wrangling to get them back into their allocated area. Each time they do it, I wonder why they don't just keep quiet about it.

It happened again this morning. I let the Bigees out; the Littlees hadn't been up very long and have grass in their enclosure anyway, so I decided to let the Bigees range in both areas. Half an hour later I heard that tell tale "Bok bok?" outside the kitchen door, and there was Delilah.

I went out to shepherd her home, but she wanted to explore the pampas. So I let her. I shut the escape route so that Scarlett couldn't get out, and I let Delilah have 10 mins rooking in the pampas before I went wrangling.

Share and share alike

This morning I decided to let Scarlett out of the Broody cage. It was a bit of a risk: if she's still broody, then letting her out puts us back at square one. She had a mooch around, then ran up into the Cube...but then came down again. Although it was only 7.30 I opened up the gate so she could free range - I thought it might keep her mind off things.

While she was out, I decided it was time to clean the big Run. Unlike my weekly clean, this one involves removing everything disposing of all the old flooring material, and spraying all the wooden surfaces for red mite. It didn't take too long to do, and I decided that I would divide the living space while it was all fresh bedding.

Because Milly is such a clever escape artist, I ended up with a Heath Robinson affair. I may have to go and buy some more expanding trellis, but I'm quite pleased with my home made effort.
The picture makes it look like there is a gap at one side. There isn't, I had to use netting to cover it, and it doesn't show up in the photo.

The Littlees only have about a third of the floor space. I might need to put the broody cage back in the Biggees' part!

Out of sight...

...means constant trips to check they are OK.

Scarlett is now in the broody cage and making a real racket. I hope she calms down quickly; we have new next door neighbours moving in tomorrow, and I'd hate for this to be their introduction to our Girls!

At lunchtime today we did a major relocation of the Littlees' Eglu and fencing. They are now at the back of the garden, very near to the Biggees' Cube. The Biggees run area has been curtailed somewhat, and the Littlees Run area now surrounds it almost all the way. The Biggees can get away from the LIttlees under a couple of huge shrubs, and they have a 15foot perimeter which does not adjoin the other Run.

We'll move the Eglu within this new area every few days, and I'm hoping that we can start some form of shared free ranging very soon.

The downside of this is that I can't see the Littlees from the kitchen window now, unless they choose to come into view. Their Eglu is completely hidden from me. Given that they are both quite flighty, and they now have a pear tree in their enclosure, I'm very nervous that they will escape.

I've been outside more times than I care to count.

Broody again?

Scarlett's going broody again.

I found an egg - hers - in the Run this morning. I found her in the nestbox, sitting on one of Delilah's. I retrieved the egg, gave Scarlett a cuddle, and put her outside. She ran round, up the ladder, and into the nestbox again. I hoiked her out, put her on the ground, and shut the nest box door.

She's laid every day for the last 10 days (and has laid 13 eggs in the last 15), so she thinks she has a clutch that needs incubating.

Although we've spotted it early, I'm not sure gentle pressure (like blocking access to the nestbox) will work. She's already tried to fly on top of the Cube today. Looks like we'll have to di out the broody cage.

What a whopper!

Bit of a commotion outside this afternoon. Delilah was crowing like mad, and Scarlett was going bananas. Assuming Delilah was announcing an egg, I went outside to find....

...her attacking Milly, who had got into the Bigees area.

I separated them, and rescued Milly. She looks OK, no obvious cuts or anything. Then I went to check the nest box to see if Delilah has laid. And she had. The biggest egg I've ever seen. I brought it in to weigh it (94g) and went to register it on the Omlet Egg Leader Board...but found that the smallest big egg there is 100g.

Anyway, it is still **ENORMOUS**

Here's a pic. For comparison I've included one of Delilah's usual eggs which, at 62g, is classed as "large".

Make yourselves at home!

The Litlees keep staring into the Big Girls' Run; they seem fascinated by it.

So, whilst the Big Girls were out rooking underneath a shrub, I closed them off from their Run. Tehy can still get into their Cube, and under their Cube. Then I opened one of the Run doors so that the Littlees could get in.

And they did. They had a really good explore; they tried out the perches, the branches, the bench; they rooked around in the Aubiose. And then they tried the Dust bath. They've been in there for ages.

Meanwhile, I diverted the Bigees with a corn cob and a nectarine!

While everyone was occuped I swapped the reinforced netting, which has formed the barrier between the two areas, keeping the Littlees from the Bigees, for normal netting. So they are still separate, but their heads can easily extend into each other's areas now.

Moving the Eglu today we found a pile of pellets, which explains why the Grub was empty last night! The ground is looking really sad now. I need to relocate the Eglu completely in the next couple of days: I'm just not sure where to put it, or how to arrange it.

EDITED TO ADD:
After their bath, the Littlees relaxed on the Bench...

Part Exchange

Jasmine is showing signs of being very ready to mix with the Big Girls.

When the Biggies are in their Run, Jas stands outside watching them, or making a noise, can't describe it. The Biggies stare back at her and start bokking or growling. Jasmine also puffs herself up so she looks a similar size to them. Her comb is developing really well. Milly is still small. Age wise,she's only a week younger - but she seems 2 or 3 weeks younger in terms of her size and development of her Comb.

Today I thought I'd take advantage of a sunny spell, and I dismantled the Cube and cleaned it. As I had the pressure washer out, I did the Eglu as well. Then I thought I'd try swapping the girls over for a few mins.

So, the Littlees had the Run and Cube, and the Bigees has the Eglu. They all seemed very interested in having a look round, but no one visited the sleeping quarters, so I ended up picking them up and putting them in. Scarlett was mostly interested in eating the Littlees' food.

After about 15 minutes, I swapped them back again.

Tomorrow, the Littlees are having Layers Pellets for the first time. Their food will be made up of 1/3rd Layers Pellets, and 2/3rds Growers. If the weather is fine, I might try swapping them around for half an hour again.

Lovely neighbour

My Neighbour is lovely.

When she is going away for a few days she empties her fridge of veggies and brings them round for the Girls. Today's treat for them is a lovely melon - lucky girls!

Weighing In (upd 19 Aug)

We didn't weigh the Littlees until we had had them several weeks.

Tue 22 July: Milly 559g; Jasmine 810g
Tue 29 July: Milly 620g (+61g=+11% on prev week); Jasmine 892g (+82g =10%)
Tue 05 Aug: Milly 715g (+95g=+15% on prev week); Jasmine 987g (+95g = 11%)


We've been weighing their feed consumption, and it's really erratic. It's been between 80g and 260g each day, between them. And it's not constantly increasing, it's up and down. Of course, I'm not able to weigh how much grass and insect they eat!

Edited to Add:
Tue 12 Aug: Milly 825g (+110g=+15%); Jasmine 1084g (+97g = 10%)
Tue 19 Aug: Milly 954g (+129g=+16%);Jasmine 1045g* (+61g=+6%)
*weighed very late in the evening, so assume that crop was less full than Milly's.

Baby Steps

A couple of days ago we moved the netting so there was no no-hens-land between them.

Today, we've gone down to one piece of netting (albeit the reinforced one), and we've rearranged the Littlees ranging area so that there is a really long shared border.

Doing this has necessitated using unreinforced fencing for the rest of the Littlees ranging area. Milly#sbody weight had increased by 50% in the two weeks to Tuesday, so we're hoping that she'll be too big to get through the holes now.

So far, so good.

Milly, who has no sense of fear at all decided to go and rook around the border. The Bigees came over to rook on their side of the perimeter fence. Milly was oblivious to them. She is, however, absolutely *tiny* in comparison to them. I need to wait until she's bigger before we let them free range together.

Over the top

Jasmine managed to get out of the enclosure. We heard a fluttering of wings, and there she was: in thePampas, on the wrong side of the netting.

We don't know whether she flew over from the ground, or whether she jumped on to the Eglu and then from there over the fence.

Anyway, we managed to catch her and put her back in. A few seconds later, another fluttering of wings, and Milly! was out too. She's easy to catch, so it wasn't a problem. We don't know what method she used, either.

We're waiting for them to do it again so we can see how they do it, and that will help us decide our next course of action.

It looks like I need to find a pair of sharp scissors, as wing clipping may be the best option. I don't know why i'm so reluctant to do it, many (most?) people do it as a matter of course. I think I don't like it for my Girls because it means they can't fly up out of harm's way, should that ever be necessary.

Mind you, I suppose they are potentially flying into Harm's Way if I don't clip.

Jasmine

Jasmine, a Welsummer, has the most gorgeous colouring. If I was going to be ginger, I'd want to be her sort of ginger. Sadly, I can't get a photo which does justice to the amazing sheen on her feathers. Anyway, here's a close-up so you can see how her comb and wattles are developing.

Every hen's comb is unique, like a fingerprint. I might take some photos of the 4 girls combs (well, 3, as Milly doesn't have a comb to speak of yet). But in the meantime, here's Jasmine.

Closing the gap

Last night, we moved everyone.

The Big Girls' ranginng area was moved to the back of the garden, so they can range under the lovely shrubs there. The Littlees were moved off the "lawn", and into an area between the Big Girls latest free ranging area and their old one. They are still separate, with a no-hens-land (NHL) in between the two bits of fencing, but we've reduced the size of the gap. We believe that no hen can reach into the other hens' area, but they can easily reach a head stuck into NHL.

The Big Girls are very aware of the newbies. Jasmine is very aware of the Big Girls and has been running up and down The Border. She's also been lunging around stretching her wings, and has shown off by jumping up on top of her Run. Milly seems oblivious to it all; she really has no sense of danger!

We'll move the fences closer still over the next week or so, and then we'll go down to just one piece of netting between them. One step at a time.

No escape?

Milly continued to escape, but now it was by determination rather than by accident. We had bought extra fence poles, so the fencing was pulled tight. She patrolled up and down, testing a hole here, a hole there, until she found one she could jump through.

Close meshed garden netting helped. We draped it over the taut fencing. She found the bits we hadn't draped. We found more mesh, and covered all the fencing. She managed to get underneath the mesh and out through the fencing.

And so it went on. In the end we came back from the garden centre with some semi rigid plant support stuff, and DH cable-tied it all the way along the bottom of the netting. At least we could take off the close-mesh stuff, but the fence is much more of a nuisance to relocate now.

We're still moving the girls every two days, keeping them so that they are close to the Big Girls. Despite keeping the Eglu on the move, the poor "lawn" is looking a bit sorry for itself now. Mind you, it's not just the chickens. All the grass is looking starved of water.

The Littlees are not so little now. Had their second weigh-in yesterday, and thay have each put on more than 10% of their bodyweight in the last seven days. Hopefully it won't be long before Milly is too big to squeeze through the netting, as we've only reinforced the 7m length of it! At the end of this week, when they are 16 and 17 weeks, i;m going to move them off the "lawn", and put them at the chicken end of the garden. At the same time I'll relocate the Big Girls, so they are all in the same area - but still separated by netting-with-no-hens-land (NHL) in the middle. But the size of the NHL will be drastically reduced.

Jasmine's comb is shaping up beautifully. It's still very small and dainty. Her wattles are growing too, and no longer look like turned-over-lips. She weighed 892g, up from 810g. Sadly she no longer cheeps like a chick, but she's not bokking like a hen either.

Milly's nobby bits are now in a line, and I know from Jasmine's growth that they are the basis for a comb. No wattles yet that I can see. She weighed 620g, up from 559g. She's taken to screeching like a baby Pterodactyl.

Scarlett has taken to whingeing, making a sound like a frantic goose, for minutes on end. Honk honk honk honk honk honk. It starts off OK, but the volume keeps creeping up until it's very annoying. I'm sure it's attention seeking; maybe she regards me as a member of her flock and gets concerned when I'm not outside. I'm hoping she'll stop it when they are all down the other end of the garden.

Back to her roots

Our modern domestic chickens are descended from tree-dwelling fowl in Asia.

This evening, Jasmine decided she wanted to go back to her roots, and decided to attempt roosting in a tree.

First, she got on the Eglu run. Twice. And from there, she leapt up into the cherry tree and tried to settle down for the night. DH had to "rescue" her, and she really didn't want to be rescued.

Looks like I might have to clip one of her wings. I know this is a routine thing to do, but I'd rather not unless we really have to. We don't think she'd have been able to get up there without using the Eglu as a launch pad, so we'll see what happens.

Chickens!

Austrian chickens?

I had a wonderful surprise last night. My very dear friend Susi, who is from Austria, emailed me to say she would be in England, in my local town, for half a day, and would I like to meet up for coffee today.

Susi and I worked together for many years, she in Austria and me in the UK, until she left the Company six? years ago. We've remained good friends since, despite not actually seeing each other for several years. We email intermittently, and it's always as though we haven't been apart.

Anyway, what's this doing on my chicken keeping blog?

Well, took her four eggs, including one laid this morning in one of my "Laid by my lovely Garden Girls" boxes.... and it turns out that she has been talking to her husband about keeping chickens! He's not too keen (now where have I heard that before?). How cool is that?

I wish she had been here for longer, she and Gunthe could have come to my house to meet my Girls and their Cube. Next time, maybe.

Never a dull moment

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.

Cat, Hen, Cat, Mouse,Littlee

We've had to be on our toes the last couple of days.

The Big Girls ranging area now includes a large bed, in the middle of which there is an enormous pampas grass. The Girls like to get in there and rook around, sometimes getting right into the pampas to nest.

Yesterday, Delilah was standing in front of one of her nesting places making a huge racket. Her volume is usually much quieter than Scarlett's, so there was obviously something not Not Quite Right. I went to investigate, and eventually spotted Washburn (our ginger cat) curled up in Delilah's pampas nest. He was well camouflaged. Delilah was standing right in front of him, he could have taken her out with out having to get up. But he just lay there watching Delilah squawk!

He was there for hours, he came in for dinner and went out again. We found him later on the other side of the pampas grass, again with Delilah right in front of him. This time though she was just rooking through the grass. Cool Cat! We're very proud of his restraint.

I'll post a pic later.

Oh, Milly escaped and walked along the Big Girls' fence line. Without any hesitation at all, Delilah poked her head through the netting and pecked Milly hard on the top of the head! Milly was uninjured, and it served to reassure us that we are doing the right thing keeping them apart until the Littlees are bigger.

Anyway, on to today.

Today, Milly continues to pop through the netting. She doesn't seem to try to escape, she just stretches for a bit of grass and pops through. We've doubled the netting up all over the place, and I have extra poles on order. This morning we were having brunch outside. One second (literally!) she was inside the netting, next second she was outside. Fortunately she's very happy to be handled, so she stopped to let me pick her up and pop her back. A few minutes later I saw her climb on a brick and walk through the netting again. This time she'd spotted a dead mouse that the Cat had left on the path.

She picked it up, I picked her up - complete with mouse - and put her back in the netting. Chickens love mouse, and will kill a mouse that ventures withing beak range. Jasmine was very interested in Milly's acquisition, and we were treated to the unforgettable sight of Milly running round with a mouse dangling by its tail from her beak, hotly pursued by Jasmine.

The details get a bit gory; after a few minutes Milly's beak had done its job and the mouse went in in one go.

The Big Girls - who have never shown any interest in the Cat's offerings - were very upset that Milly had something, and spent the whole of the time running up and down their fence line bokking furiously.

Cat gets revenge

I found a cat turd in the Big Girls' dust bath today.

Big Girls raise the Alarm

Scarlett has taken to crowing a bit at about 7.30 in the morning. We aren't sure whether she just does it, or whether something sets her off. We have a footpath at the bottom of the garden, and people are always exercising their dogs there, so it's quite possible. She also gets agitated when Cyril the Squirrel is around, and he's been around a lot.

Anyway. Humungus amount of crowing this morning. It was 5.15 am, early even for her. DH got up, bleary eyed, and looked out of the window. Something was definitely up as the Isabelle (our Cat) was lying on the "lawn" near the Littlees Eglu.

I got up, pulled on a dressing gown, and came downstairs. Fumbled trying to find the door keys, I wasn't really awake. As I opened the door I saw the cat lying in an unusual position, and wondered what on earth was going on.

When I opened the door, Izzy tried to get up, but she was caught in the netting. She panicked a bit and struggled, andI tried to calm her down while I approached her. In fact, she managed to wiggle free just as I got there. She's fine. A bit embarrassed/put out perhaps, but no signs of any serious injury.

We don't know whether the Big Girls raised the alarm because the cat got stuck, or whether they raised the alarm because Izzy was investigating the Eglu, causing her to run and then get stuck.

At least we know there was a reason for it.

Not again :-(

Yesterday afternoon, Jasmine stayed in the dustbath on her own for a while. When she got out, she couldn't stand up. She kept falling over, tried to stand, fell over again. It was horrible. I got out all my chicken books, posted on the internet, to try and find out why she should be "off her legs".

After 5-10 minutes she was "OK". She was walking, then sitting, then walking. Much later, she was perfectly fine, no sign of problems at all.

I phoned the breeder for advice. Sounds like she's not getting the nutrients she needs. I feed growers pellets, which should be all they need; they have ad lib access to, and eat, oyster shell & grit; they've been getting cucumber and tomatoes as treats. They've been eating well (100-150g between them). The inputs are OK, which means that she might have a parasite which is stopping her getting the nutrients from the food she eats.

I was going to worm them next week anyway, so I started worming them yesterday. I've also ordered some stuff from my Vet which deals with/and is a preventative for other parasites, such as lice, mites and fleas; it'll be in today, so I'll start her and Milly on that as well.

She seems fine this morning, but we'll keep them in their Eglu run until later on today, then let them out for a bit of ranging. maybe she overdosed on grass instead of pellets for the last couple of days?

Fingers crossed.

the Dust Flies!

The Littlees have been out free ranging around their Eglu and Run for three days now. We've moved everything so it is sideways on to the Big Girls free ranging area, so they are now all very much aware of each other. Over the next week or so we'll move the areas closer together until they are adjoining.

As soon as we gave them free range access, we put a dustbath in the area for them. The Littlees have ignored this completely...until today.

They were having a joint bath together; Jasmine was making the Chicken Motorcycle Noise of Contentment.

Bless!

Give her an inch....

Decided to let the Littlees out for a bit. I staked out about half a square metre outside their Run door, opened the door and waited.

Milly came zooming out, not stopping for the netting. The netting caught her, she reversed up, and tried again. Stopped, ate some grass, looked around to see the Big Girls getting very agitated at the sudden appearance of two new hens.

And then Milly tried again. This time she squeezed and squozed, and popped through the netting. I scooped her up, she tried top eat my jumper at various strategic points, and was very curious about the world around. I put her down in the Run and doubled up the netting. She escaped again while I was doubling up.

She's obviously still a bit too small for Going Outside, so I'll let them have a bit longer this afternoon, while I'm watching them, and then put the netting away and try again next week.

Scratch that. Whilst typing that last paragraph I saw Milly walking down the garden. I rushed out and scooped her up and put her back in the Eglu run. Fortunately, Washburn was busy sitting on the fence and didn't seem to have spotted a small, snack-sized, chicken walking past.

Smile for the Camera

Monday
Mophead continues to be happy being scooped up and/or stroked, especially if cucumber is involved. She's as light as a feather, and very quick witted. The Welsummer (I'm trying "Sonja" now, as she's very red) is still shy. I picked her up from the nestbox, and she really doesn't like it. I'm having to take it very slowly with her; it's difficult to make progress as Mophead always wants to be the centre of attention!

They are both quite large now, compared to what they were when we got them. Mophead's wings still aren't straight, which worries me, but she's so bright and active.

I dusted them both with red mite powder yesterday, as a precaution. I don't think I'll be suffering from red mites in the near future either, as I'm also very well dusted.

They are still eating about 100g or so of pellets between them each day. We are keeping the pop hole shut overnight, at some stage we'll leave it open so they can get used to it.

Haven't let them out to Range yet. They are so small and light, they'd find it really easy to jump over the netting. I'm thinking I might wait until they are both 15 weeks (so 15 and 16 technically), as I'll be able to clip one wing then.

We've put an extra shade over the Eglu run, as it's very bright in there; and the corrugated roofing makes it a bit warm too.

Although they are in the line of sight of the Big Girls, the Big Girls don't seem to be taking any notice.

Mon Afternoon
Have taken loads of pictures, Mophead wanted to get in to all the photos.


We might have names (again). DH started calling Mophead "Mildred", apparently her hair-do reminded him of Mildred Roper in George and Mildred. Well, he had just come back from the pub, so what can you expect? Not too keen on the name "Mildred" as I'm trying to avoid "old lady names" (apologies to anyone I've just offended), but I can live with "Milly" I think. And the Welsummer, who has been through two names so far is now trying on "Jasmine" for size. I'd been reserving "Jasmine" for a completely different type of hen, but the poor baby needs a name! I'll try it for a couple of days and see if it sticks.

Not on the lawn!

Friday (start of week 2)
We continue to move the Eglu every 1.5 to 2 days. Because they are still confined to the Eglu run, the poo quickly covers the available area. We still haven't let them free range, we'll do that when they are a bit more tame.

Washed the Eglu out today. It's definitely quicker to do than the Cube, but it needs doing more often. The Eglu also destroys the grass it sits on - the Cube, being up on wheels, is a much better use of space.

The Legbar (who we've been calling "Mophead" while we think of a name for her), is really inquisitive and grabs anything and everything without any evaluation. She swallowed a poor spider who was minding her own business abseiling down the outside of the Eglu run. Unlike older birds who tend to peck gently, she pecks with a sharp jabbing movement, and with a lot of force. It actually hurts! I've had to get very deft at opening the door and shutting it without having her peck my fingers.

Saturday
Today we moved them to a completely new part of the garden. They are now directly in front of the kitchen window, on the one bit of back garden that we would classify as "lawn" rather than just "grass". This move puts them in sight of the Big Girls for the first time, although both sets of chooks are already aware the other exists.

In this latest move we had an escapee. The Welsummer (who may be named Saffron, we'll see) managed to get out and ran straight under one large shrub. Catching any free hen is a challenge, catching a Littleewho hasn't been handled that much is extra fun. We used some of the moveable netting to get her into a space where we could catch her, and popped her back home again. Her little adventure among the shrub and one of the flowerbeds seems to have done her no harm.

Saturday Evening
Well! I've managed to hold Mophead on my lap four times this evening. She doesn't run away when I stroke her in the Run, and she let me scoop her up and hold her on my lap. The cucumber I was using to bribe her with had more to do with it than my skill with birds did, but I'm still really pleased. Saffron (still not sure about that name) snatched cucumber from my hand, but skirted away from being touched.

Growing girls

The (still unnamed) Littlees are growing!

We keep finding baby feathers around the Run; we haven't seen any signs of feather pecking, so we're assuming that it's just the new feathers growing through.

Yesterday they ate 116g of pellets between them, another increase on the previous day. Had a quick hold last night, but they aren't used to it so I only held them briefly.

This morning, Mophead decided to make a break for freedom. I opened the pophole, and realised I'd forgotten to bring out the pellets. I went back in, got the pellets, and opened the Run door to hang it up. Whoosh! Mophead was out. I fixed the Grub, shut the door, and found her running up and down outside the Eglu run. She didn't really know what to do with her freedom now she had it. She let me catch her, and all was well.

I wanted to go down the garden to check on the Big Girls, of course I had to come in and wash my hands first. No point in keeping them apart for bio security reasons if I'm going to go from one to the other without washing hands!

Three days in

The weather today is atrocious!

Thunder, torrential rain... Despite us covering the top and one side of their Run, the poor Littlees have been going back into the Eglu to shelter from the weather.

Mop-head (we still haven't settled on names) continues to be the most inquisitive of the two, despite the fact that she is much younger. Yesterday, I decided to introduce a "treat" for them, and put some little pieces of cucumber on the Run floor. Mop-head was the first to try; Welsummer, who is a little bit slow on the uptake, kept trying to steal from her friend, ignoring the fact that there was plenty of cucumber for both of them!

Today I tried them on a couple of broccolli florets; same pattern as yesterday. What was really sweet today was that when I "click clicked" they came running out tof the coop to see me. Cupboard love!

Last night, after they'd been in bed for an hour or so, I opened the egg port and took them out one at a time for a hold. They weren't too keen on that idea, so I only held them for a few seconds. I was going to try again tonight, but the weather really is appalling, so it'll have to wait.

We've had them three days, and we've already moved the Eglu twice! There was so much poo! The good thing with the rain is that we'll be able to move them back on to previously used ground in a few days, which is just as well as we've probably got 3 more moves in this part of the garden before we have to find somewhere else in the garden for them to enjoy.

The (existing) Girls don't seem to have realised that there are other chooks around. it's not surprising, as there is a big Pampas grass between them, and the Little-ees only make quiet cheep cheeep cheeeep noises.


We've started to weigh their food now. We didn't do this on the first day, but I know that on the second day they ate 80g between them, and yesterday they ate 95g between them. Once they are hand tame then I'll weigh the birds themselves as well, so we can keep track.

The Cats still seem to be mostly ignoring the newcomers, but that might be because the weather isn't very good for Watching.

They're here! (updated)

Well, the babies are here.

We collected them from the wonderful Alison at Hook Farm this morning. They are very small! The Welsummer is 13 weeks old, the Cream Legbar is 12 weeks old. They're currently shut up in the Eglu to recover from the journey, and I'll be letting them out into their Eglu Run in about half an hour or so.

Washburn appeared within seconds of us putting the girls in, and he's been sniffing all over the Eglu trying to work out how to get in to get his lunch.

Haven't decided on names yet. I've got a couple in mind, but I'm not sure. They're paired names, and I've never paired my pets' names before (as you're potentially left with a pet with a silly sounding name if one of them dies!).

I'll post pics later.

UPDATE: 1pm
We opened the Eglu door at 12.30, and left them to emerge in their own time. Legbar, the youngest, ventured out first, followed later by Welsummer. They spent a few minutes eating grass, worknig their way down the run. Legbar found the water and had a long drink, and some time later she found the pellets.

They've been in and out of the Eglu a few time, but seem OK. It's a lovely day for it; we've put an extra shade cover over the run as it's probably a bit too hot for them.

Have taken some pics, but as thwy were through the run bars you can't see too much. Will see if I can find a reasonable one to add later.

Later
Here are some pics.
Firstly, one so you can see how small they are compared to the Eglu; then a profile of the Legbar; and then one of the pair of them whic is not a flattering pic of the Welsummer, she's stretching upwards and this makes her look like a Game Bird!; and finally a snap of the two of them



Later still (6pm)
They've been rootling about in the grass, eating their pellets, drinking the water, sitting and dozing.... I'm a bit concerned that the Legbar's wings are not horizontal, they are pointing downwards slightly. If you know what you're looking for, you can see it in the second picture above.

I know this isn't a good thing in older birds, so I'm really hoping it's just because she's hot/tired/young. I'll see how she goes tomorrow and, if there's no change, then maybe ring the breeder for advice.

Both Isobelle and Washburn (cats) are feigning indifference to the Littlies.

And It's good night (7.45pm)
At last! After half an hour of to-ing/fro-ing will they/won't they, the Littlies finally went to bed. We closed the pop hole, took the food out of the Run, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Ready for the Newbies

The new Eglu has arrived!

DH built it yesterday, and we've located it away from the Girls for the time being. The Newbies arrive on Friday, and will spend the first five days or so in a different part of the garden to settle in. Then we'll move the Eglu near the Cube so everybird can see everybird else, but will all be well out of pecking range.

And then we'll start the slow process of integrating them. because the Newbies will only be about 14 weeks old, it'll be at least 6 weeks before they can all live together completely.

Back to normal

Well, the Broody Cage worked.

On Friday afternoon, we let Scarlett out for a wander, which she did. Then she tried to get back into the Nesting box, so we popped her back in the Broody Cage. Saturday morning she looked much calmer, so I let her out of the broody cage, and she spent the day free ranging with Delilah.

We had to keep an eye on her though, in case she tried to nest under one of the shrubs. She did sit down a lot, but each time we went to investigate we found Delilah sat beside her.

We decided to leave her out of the broody cage on Saturday night. Sunday, she seemed reasonably back to normal; we took the Brooody cage out of the Run, but we haven't dismantled it yet.

Today (Monday) she seems fine.

Thank goodness that's over with. Until next time.

Tantrums

Scarlett's broodiness is getting worse/

The first couple of days we did the "ice pack" trick, which seemed to be working. However, she didn't snap out of it, and so we moved on to dunking.

She's not eating properly, so today we didn't dunk. Instead, we just made sure she couldn't get back into the nest box. She wasn't happy. She tried everything to get in, including flying on to the top of the coop.

She paced around bokking, and then sat under a bush bokking. Poor little love, she just can't help it.

This evening, we put her in the broody cage, in the middle of the run. We positioned it so she could see Delilah when Delilah goes to bed, and I put in water, food, grit, some cat food and some corn. She ate the corn, nibbled the cat food, and then just started pacing up and down. She's not a happy bunny. It's horrible.

Brooddy baby.

Scarlett is once more trying to go broody.

It's not really a good thing for her, or for Delilah. Now we have only two hens, Delilah gets really upset because she is on her own while Scarlett is in the nest box. We know she's upset because she runs around sqwauking, then stops and moans. A lot. Scarlett, meanwhile, is getting all overheated and not eating properly.

She's been hoggin gthe nest box, sitting on Delilah's egg and her own. We've been removing the eggs and turfing her out of the nest box each day, and it's been ok. Apart from today.

This morning, she went back in the nest box. And again. Of course, there is a chance that she's just taking a long time to lay - but the other symptoms suggest broodiness. She fluffs up, pancakes, and isincredibly hot. The ice pack didn't work today (it has worked before), as she realised all she had to do was get off the icepack and sit somewhere else.

So, we decided we'd have to try dunking her. I filled a small tubtrug with water and did the deed. She was back in the nestbox almost immediately. We gave her a while to see if she laid, then tried again with the tub trug full. It still didn't cover her back. Still no good. My husband tried. Still no good.

I then filled a larger tub trug with water, and tried that. It was horrible, I felt really mean. When she got out she was very wet and bedraggled. She hasn't been back in the nestbox yet, so we might have "won" this round....but that doesn't mean she's snapped out of it. We'll have to see tomorrow.

Not much in it

Scarlett's eggs have gradually been getting bigger, especially over the last few weeks. Today's egg looks very similar in size to Delilah's. In fact, Scarlett's was smaller at 53g; Delilah's was 62g - but it's getting harder to tell them apart.

Everyone's Relaxin'

Wonderful few days. We put the netting over the fruit cage, which means it's easier to extend the girls' ranging area now, as the fruit-cage-netting acts as Hen-proof netting too.

The Girls love rooking under shrubs, and then dozing. I've just put them back in their Run for the evening, as I can't supervise them properly while I'm making dinner. Looked out of the window to see the two cats lolling about on our garden chairs, and the Girls lolling about in their Dustbah. They look like they are in a hottub, all they need is a glass of something within reach of their wingtips to complete the picture.

I don't want to try and take a photo as it'll make them jump up and come running to see if I have anything edible on me.

Eye-watering egg

Scarlett hadn't laid for three days, despite spending time in the nesting box. Her eggs started out at 38g, and recently she's been laying eggs at 51g.

This afternoon I checke the nestbox, and there was a huge, torpedo shaped egg in the nestbox. It weighed 78g. It's enormous, it's like two eggs merged together.

All I can think when I look at it is "Ouch!".

Fowl weather

The weather last night and this morning has been atrocious, and the poor Girls are very soggy.

The rain was coming in sideways into the Run, and nowhere was safe. We had some willow screen fencing left over, so DH went out in the rain and put it on one side of the run, and a little at one of the ends. This will give the Girls some shelter.

Four after all.

Funny how things turn out. All that time ago, right at the beginning when I didn't have any chooks, DH and I had aslightly public disagreement about the number of hens I planned to get. I mentioned the F word, as that's where I'd got to in my thinking, and he was still trying to come to terms with the idea of Three.

Anyway. We agreed that the gap left by Lydia needed filling, and we both agreed that it's not good practice to try and introduce just one hen, so we were both agreed, and the F word stopped being unacceptable.

I spent a lot of time over the last week trawling the internet, phoning breeders, trying to get the chooks that I wanted. My first choice was impossible to get, even Wernlas aren't breeding them at the moment. There then followed a lot of toing and froing while I tried to sort out in my own mind what two chools to get, and then to find a breeder who did both. My second combination was proving impossible, and then my third. And Wernlas weren't even taking orders for these two as their waiting list was already too long. So I picked one of the breeds and a fourth breed and tried again. And then the other and a fourth. And so it went on.

Breeders weren't very good at coming back to me (even though I asked them to call back even if it was a "no"), and I had just about decided to go and get two hybrids of some sort. And then one of the breeders called me back. Yes, I have a - but they are only 8 weeks old, she said. Blimey. Right, can I come and visit tomorrow?

When I got there, not only did she have a -, but she also had a --, one of my originally desired combinations. Blimey again. She also had a couple of other breeds, and I was sorely tempted to sneak in a third, but I resisted. There is always later in the year, I thought.

So my chicks are reserved. I didn't bring them home because they are the perfect size for my cats to want - and be able - to eat, and I don't feel experienced enough yet to take them on at such a tender age. So she's keeping them for me until they reach 14 weeks. It's going to be a looooong 6 weeks while we wait!

Frustrated chickens

Scarlett is turning broody.For the last week (?) she's been staying in the nestbox even after she's laid an egg.

The Girls get themselves up at 5am or 5.30 am, and Scarlett seems to disappear into the nestbox fairly early - and she's still in there at 9, 9.30 etc. The first couple of days she did this, I found that she was sitting on two eggs (hers and Delilah's). She wasn't belligerent, so I just took her out of the nest box.

But it's been getting worse. A few days ago she was in there for ages, but there was no egg. Poor Delilah gets very distressed on these occasions, as we now only have two chickens. This means she ends up running around waiting for her friend to finish. So, we started to slip an icepack under Scarlett while she did this.

The first ice-pack day, she laid an egg and I felt very guilty.

The second icepack day she came out within minutes of me inserting the icepack underneath her, but she was very grumpy for the rest of the day, and eventually laid an egg.

Yesterday, she was out quickly after the ice pack, and was in a foul (fowl) mood all day, being very vociferous and wingey. She didn't lay.

This morning both girls started girl-crowing at 6.30am. Usually they each crow to announce the arrival of an egg, today they were at it simultaneously. And it went on. So I rushed outside in my dressing gown, and checked for eggs: none. Both girls were sitting on the highest perch in the Run, girl-crowing. Something had presumably upset them, but I couldn't see nay evidence of a fox or anything.

When I went into the Run to see if they were OK, Scarlett jumped onto the floor and ran around doing her panicking Chicken-Licken impersonation. In the end I had to bring out half a cauliflower to shut them up. I don't want to make a habit of that, as they will quickly learn that crowing results in food.

She's a little chicken but she makes such a noise!

Huge Melon

Following on from the success with the Cucumber, and in spite of the Honeydew Melon failure, I bought a huge watermelon for the girls.

Today I cut a large chunk out of it, called the Girls and put it into the Run. Delilah was straight in there; Scarlett took a while, then started by eating what Delilah dropped. Then I had the lovely sight of Scarlett on one side nibbling daintily, and Delilah on the other carving out enormous pieces with each strike of her beak.

It didn't last long.

I've got loads left, so they can have a bigger hunk tomorrow.

Cool as a Cucumber

The other day I tried the Girls with Cucumber again. This time, I scored the cucumberl along part of the length to expose the fleshy goodness, and put the cuke on the Run floor. When I went back in, the cucumber had been mined along the ridge where i'd removed the skin, but was otherwise pretty much in tact.

So, I took it out of the Run, cut it in half lengthways, and put it back in. Result! Empty skins very quickly.

Making progress

I've tried to spend some time each day with Scarlett and Delilah, getting them used to being touched and handled again.

On Saturday (2 days ago) and Sunday, I managed to get them to come and sit on my legs while I was sitting on the ground, and they ate their mixed corn quite happily letting me stroke them. Today, I took a small stool/step ladder thingy out and sat on that, and both of them flew up and sat on my knees eating.

Scarlett needed a bit of a bottom bath. She's needed one for a few days, but I didn't really feel up to bringing another chicken into the kitchen just yet, and I felt she wouldn't really take kindly to it this time (although she has had a bath and blow dry before, and seemed fine).

Anyway, today was The Day. I partially filled the kitchen sink with warm water, prepared two bowls of porridge, and took one outside. Scarlett did not want to be caught, but I got her without too much fuss. I left one bowl of porridge for Delilah, who was happy eating it until she realised Scarlett had gone.

By the time I had placed Scarlett in the sink, Delilah started bokking frantically. I couldn't do much, I had a soggy chicken to deal with. Anyway, Scarlett started bokking back, so I had to work fast trying to clean her up. She didn't mind being washed, and she seemed to quite like the hairdryer. I did the last bit on the floor, and she was quite happy to stand over the hairdryer while it was laying on the ground . I only have two hands, one of which is needed over her back, to stop her flapping her wings. I needed to gauge how wet her undercarriage was, and needed to use my dryer hand to do so.

Anyway. She seemed fine, did a massive poo (once again, thank goodness for Karndean), and the job was done fairly quickly. I then put her back outside with her untouched porridge, and she seems quite happy.

I think next time I'll have to bring them both in so they don't panic at being apart.

It also confirmed for me that I need to get some more chooks to try and fill the gap left by Lydia.

I got 3 in the first place in case something happened, as 1 chook left on it's own is very unhappy. Now I have two, I need reinforcements. It's also not good to try and introduce one lone chicken, as it's not fair - so I'll be getting at least 2. Maybe 3. We'll see.

After Lydia.

Well, Scarlett and Delilah don't seem to fazed by Lydia's disappearance. They've been out almost all day for the last couple of days, and the only thing they objected to was the fact that I had rearranged the netting so they couldn't get to the bit of garden they'd occupied in Lydia's last few days. I will let them back in there, just not yet.

There are some things I have noticed though.

Firstly, they haven't escaped - despite the large gaps at the bottom of the netting at certain places. Lydia always found the weak points in any netting arrangement, and exploited them fully.

Secondly, they are so hopeless when it comes to eating "new" food. I had some melon today, and I took some out in a bowl for them. They were so unwilling to try it. Hens are very "grass is greener" creatures, and always assume that whatever another hen has is far tastier than whatever they have, even if it's identical. Prevously, Lydia would come and eat whatever-it-was, and the others would try and steal it from her beak, discover they liked it, and then they'd all settle down to eating/stealing /running off with whatever the new treat was. Today, no such luck.

After much patience on my part, Delilah deigned to try drinking the juice which was now pooling at the bottom of the bowl. I obliged by squeezing some of the melon for her (:rollseyes), and she ended up with melon juice on her comb, head, face and wattles. Scarlett just ran around bokking, although she did pick up a melon seed which she immediately spat out.

They are now happy to climb all over me when I'm sitting on the ground, and I'm making progress with the stroking.

She's gone.

She's gone.

It was obvious from about lunchtime that she was going. She found a quiet shady spot in the garden and settled down, but her breathing became more laboured. I lay down beside her earlier syringing water into her beak, but then she didn't want any more.

I spent the last half hour with her, just waiting.


My husband arrived home, came out to see us, and she had a heart attack and died a few minutes later. The last few moments were awful, and I'm relieved that my DH was there with me.

She was such a lovely girl. So friendly, so willing to be cuddled; always the first to try new food.

I'll miss her so much.

=

Lydia Updates, Week 3, Monday

I can't believe I'm starting Week3. I thought it would all be over by now.

Last night we left the pop hole open, so the girls let themselves out this morning. They didn't make any noise, so I don't know what time they emerged. Got up at 7 and tried hiding the tablet in a grape, which worked. I've got some cucumber and melon available for when Lydia goes off grapes.

She had a beakful of porridge. We need to start weighing her again from tonight so at least we will know which direction the weight is going.

Even now you wouldn't know she was ill, if you didn't know she was ill.

16.40pm Well, they've been in the garden all day, except for an hour when I went to the vets to pick up the antibiotics. She's mostly been sat in the shade, getting up a couple of times to rook through grass or whatever.

For the last couple of hours she's been sitting very quietly with her eyes shut. I put a water bowl right by her beak, and put down some porridge on the grass. She recently started breathing quite heavily - well, I could see her breathing IYSWIM. I've just come back from lying on the grass next to her, where I've been syringing water into her beak.

She looks quite peaceful, and isn't hunched up, but she really does look like she might be going soon. I'm now wondering whether we should just stop the antibiotics, maybe they are just prolonging the "inevitable" and so in a perverse way making it worse for her. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, it makes sense to me.

I'll see how she is later when it's time to give her the evening dose.

Neglected girls

Well today I decided to spend some time with Scarlett and Delilah; I've not been doing much of that as Lydia is taking all the available time at the moment. S&D were having none of it. They didn't want to be stroked, and they most certainly did not want to be picked up.

So I went back to the beginning, and spent some time sitting out on the grass with a bowl of corn, trying to get them used to me touching them. I made some progress with Delilah, but little with Scarlett. I'll try again later.

Lydia Updates, Week 2 (merged)

These were originally separate posts, one for each day.
MONDAY 5th MAY 2008
I can't believe it's been a whole week.

This morning she was again very reluctant to come out of the coop. I know why, it's because she has to negotiate the ramp to get down. Today, as soon as I had opened the pop hole to let the others out, i could see that she was really hesitating, so I took the back of the Cube off and picked her up myself.

Brought her into the house, gave her her penicillin on a quarter grape, then offered chick crumb which she started eating. Also offered growers pellets, which she refused. The chick crumbs take ages to eat, so although she spent a long time at the bowl, the amount she consumed was miniscule. She was also easily distracted, so I ended up having to hold the bowl while she ate. After hours, well, twenty minutes, by which time I was lying on the floor, DH came down and offered to take over.

He spent another 20 mins with her encouraging her to eat and drink. He's so good with her, and so patient. I've lost count of the hours he's now spent sitting or lying on the floor with her over the last week.

Eventually she was finished, but the quantity she had actually consumed was still very small.She's still bright eyed, and seems ok in herself, but has gone back to sitting in the Run. She's not hunched up or anything. I'll phone the Vet tomorrow and get some more penicillin.

1700 Brought her in at 12.30 for penicillin and food. Another long, slow session, with not a lot eaten really. She also ate a miniscule amount of Growers porridge. Back in at 16.30 for penicillin and food. Same old, same old. At the end of this session when she refused to eat or drink anymore I offered her mixed corn which she ate with gusto. I also put down some Growers pellets mixed in natural yoghurt, and she ate some of that too. Back out again, one more try before chooky bedtime.

Oh, the other two girls are getting a bit concerned that Lydia keeps coming into the house. I don't know if they are concerned or jealous. Anyway, I gave them a bowl of layers porridge to eat while she was in this time, out of site of the kitchen so Lydia couldn't see. They gobbled it up.

TUESDAY 6th MAY 2008
Sorry, I couldn't post last night, I was too upset.

She ate hardly anything, drank a little water, and had lost more weight. She wouldn't even eat grapes. When the others had gone to bed she just sat under the ramp, and I lifterd her up and posted her through the nest box.

This morning, she wouldn't eat and did a slighly sloppy poo, followed by something that looked like bits of poo in glue. She drank a bit. I phoned the Vet and got a 940 appointment.

Vet suggested trying a different antibiotic, so she's on a fairly large dose of Baytril. Brought her home, gave her the first dose in a quarter grape, and then offered various piles of food. She ate some mixed corn, drank some water, and I also put down a bit of roast potato, and she ate some of that.

Girls had a lovely afternoon out in the garden. Lydia happily setled in a shady place. Still not eating much. In the evening gave her the antibiotic, then tried to get her to eat. She ate some mixed corn and some peas, drank a little, then wanted to go back out.

Fairly large weight loss.


WEDNESDAY 7th MAY 2008
7.10 Opened up early as DH is going to work, and the girls were making a racket. Brought Lydia in and have spent the last 40 minutes trying to get her to eat anything so I can give her her tablet. She wouldn't even eat the quarter grape. I cut the half tablet into quarters, and tried stuffing it in a pea, a piece of sweetcorn, a piece of grape. She wasn't having any of it.

Eventually at 6.55 she ate a piece of grape and spat out the tablet. I persisted with a pea again, and eventuallyshe ate it. Ten minutes later she finally ate a second pea, so she's had her morning dose. She wasn't interested in anything else, not even water. I've let her go back to the run and will try again later.

9,45 Decided against bringing Lydia into the house for feeding. Instead I made up Layers porridge (yes, Layers not growers) in three bowls and took it out to the run. Scarlett and Delilah were delighted. Lydia was hesitant but did eventually decided to peck at some. A little later, Delilah and Scarlett had retired to the nest box, and Lydia was still slowly pecking at the porridge. At this stage, I don't really care what she eats, I just want her to eat something - and I was thinking she might eat if she sees the others eating. I can't risk putting Growers porridge out for the others (remember the softee last week?), so it has to be layers.

12.30 A little more porridge, a little corn and some grass. She's also had a dustbath. She's now sitting in the shade having a doze.

18,50 Well, she ate some corn, a tomato, lots of grass, and a small amount of porridge earlier this afternoon. Just brought her in to adninister Baytril tablet, and she won't eat anything. Not a grape, not a corn kernel, not a pea. Eventually she ate a pea, and we walked her back to the run. Inside, the Baytril was presumably setting to work (it was already dissolving in the grape/kernel/pea), and she ate some grit and some porridge.

I didn't weigh her. I know I should have done, I just couldn't face it.

Tommorow we'll do what we did today: bring her in twice a day to give her the Baytril tablet, and put fresh porridge in the Run several times a day in the hope that the others eating it will entice her.


THURSDAY 8th MAY 2008
This morning she came down the ramp, albeit slowly.

I went to get her in to give her her anibiotic, and it was a dreadful palaver. I had cut the half tablet into two, on the basis that if one dissolved I would still have the other half. She wouldn't eat anything. Not a pea, not a sweetcorn kernel. She just started honking like a duck.

In the end I opened a tin of sweetcorn (previously she had been eating defrosted frozen) and she ate that with the pill in.

Mid morning I put some pellet porridge in the run. It was all gone when I went back, but I only saw her eat a little of it.

Let them out at about noon as it was so lovely, and she ate some grass. About 1pm I put down some cream of pellet soup (pellet porridge which is blitzed to smooth consistency, and then has natural yoghurt stirred through) which she deigned to eat. A bit. The others ate a lot.

Had to get them in for a while when we went out, she came when I rang the bell and ate a little mixed corn.

Second serving of pellet soup, I didn't put yoghurt in this time and she ate hardly any. She did try to eat my finger; I was sitting on the grass leaning on my hands and she toddled up and put her beak around my finger. Maybe I need to try and get some live mealworms from somewhere?

1815 Just got back from PetsAtHome: they had some live mealworms in stock and didn't shut until 6. Went out into the garden to give Lydia her antibiotic - which she ate in some tinned sweetcorn - and then she hungrily ate the mixed corn. I noticed that all the afternoon soup had gone, don't know how much of that she ate. Then I offered mealworms. Yummy yummy. She ate loads. They are an excellent source of protein, and are a bit fattening so normally it's best not to give too many, but I was so pleased to see her eat something that I let her have quite a lot. Delilah and Scarlett had plenty too.


FRIDAY 9th MAY 2008
I can't believe this.

Last night she was quite bright and chirpy and, if you didn't know she was ill, you wouldn't know she was ill.

This morning she took a few sips of water and then nothing. She refused to look at sweetcorn, meaworms, anything. After struggling for some time in the Run, we brought her in, put her in a box. She refused anything. We left her alone for a while.

For the next three hours I kept trying to get her to take something. Anything. I syringed water into her beak, which she accepted. This tells me she's really poorly, as she normally won't let me do this. Wityh a chicken, you can't really force feed her, she'd probably have a heart attack.

At just before 10am she gave in and ate the sweetcorn kernel which contained the antibiotic. I carried her back to the run, and she jsut stayed sitting on the floor in what can best be described as her broody pose. I went out a few mins later, hoping the antibiotic would have kicked in, and put some mealworms in front of her. And a but later, some cream of pellet soup for her and the other girls. Nothing.

She doesn't look distressed, she's not hunched up, but she really looks like she's slipping away now.


SATURDAY 10th and SUNDAY 11th MAY 2008
Saturday Awful, awful, awful. Lydia wouldn't eat anything that we could hide the pill in, so we had to "force" a sweetcorn kernel in. She drank some, and then wandered back to the Run. We were out all day, so I had put extra Avipro-laced water out, put out mealworms, veggies, etc. Back in the evening, another pill, same routine. Afterwards I let them all out for an hour to eat grass etc, and she seemed relatively perky.

Sunday She was reasonably well when she came out of the coop this morning, scratching around. Same old, same old with the pill. She ate a cherry tomato and some pasta. DH got the pill in, and she's back in the Run now.

Let them all out at lunchtime, Lydia settled in a shady spot. Gave them some corn, which they all ate; some grapes, they all ate; some porridge, they all had some although Lydia only managed a beakful or two.

Went out to administer pill, hidden in grape. Managed to trick Lydia into eating it, so no trauma tonight.