Chickens, Cat and Mouse, and Benny Hill

DH just came in, chuckling. Washburn (ginger cat) had caught a mouse but had then managed to lose it. Cat was watching for Mouse by a planter, with Jasmine (our least intelligent Girl) standing the other side, also watching.

I was getting a sense of deja vu at this point, having been through something similar with Wash and Milly some months ago.

DH went out to rescue Mouse, but the poor thing bit him and got dropped.

Too late to save him, DH came in.

We then saw Delilah running past the kitchen window with the mouse in her beak, hotly pursed by Jasmine. Every time Delilah stopped to try and take a bite Jasmine tied to steal it., so Delilah had to pick it up again and run on (The mouse was definitely dead by now,otherwise we would have intervened).

Delilah hid behind a flowerpot, and I went out to take a picture.


Delilah, presumably thinking I was after her mouse, was then off again pursued relentlessly by Jasmine. They ran past Milly who had no idea what was going on but being a Chicken, decided to join in anyway.
And as Delilah passed Lily, she joined in too


And I had the wonderful spectacle of a full-on chicken chase around the garden, a la Benny Hill.

They were all moving so quickly, it was difficult to get the pictures.

Creatures of Habit

Some time ago, one of my brothers asked if he could have our old "pond". It's one of those cheap circular plastic things that you bury in the ground, we'd been using it to hold our stone fountain but it eventually sagged and needed replacing with something stronger. It was relegated to standing somewhere behind the shed.

When Darling Brother 2 (DB2) asked about it, we eventually uncovered it, cleaned it up, found the flaps, and then put it by the back door ready for him to collect.

During the winter, it filled up with rainwater. And then the chickens started to use it as theit water supply. It never ceases to amaze me that the Girls (and the Cats) like to drink from dirty puddles or other stagnant pools.

The cats drink from anywhere on it, but the Girls only ever drink from one little section. I've now found myself keeping it topped up, and emptying it, cleaning it, and refilling it for them every so often.

It's been very warm for a few days, and the level of the water in their one section has gone down considerably, to the point where they have to stick their heads deep deep deep inside. But still they insist on only using that one section.

Funny girls.

EDITED TO ADD:
I didn't fill up their little section, and they got very vocal about it. In the end, in fear of upsetting the neighbours, I gave in and topped it up.

They rewarded me by having a Benny Hill chase with a mouse.

Marzipanning a Cake

DsD is coming atthe weekend so we can decorate her wedding cakes together. So, today, I needed to get the bottom layer marzipanned.

The cake has been fed once a week or so since it was made, so it looks very rich




I put the apricot jam on to boil...

..and set about kneading the marzipan. The cake is 10 inches in diameter, so it needed about 2 and a half pounds of marzipan.

I used a little bit of the marzipan to fill "sultana" gaps, and taround the bottom of the cake.


Next, I measured out the size of the cake including the sides, so I knew how big a circle of marzipan I need.

By this time, the jam was ready....

..so I covered the cake with it.


And then I rolled out the marzipan, and lifted it on to the cake.....



....then with some smoothing and cutting, it was eventually done.

Getting bigger

Lily laid her second egg for us this morning. At 47g, it was more than 25% heavier than yesterday's.

Last night we tried putting a shade across the front of their Run to discourage them from standing there and squwarking so early. DH is sure it wasn't as loud as normal this morning, I'm not convinced. We'll see tomorrow.

Delilah and Lily laid at a similar time, so the Announcing of The Egg was a bit longer (and louder) than normal, so maybe that coloured my judgement. Fortunately they didn't lay until about 9am, so it's not too unreasonable.

Small but perfectly formed

Our first egg from Lily.

Teeny tiny at 37g, it's small - but perfect. Next to it, for comparison, is one of Delilah's normal eggs.

Nigella's Clementine Cake

My sister-in-law and her husband are staying overnight, and I thought I'd try making Nigella Lawson's infamous Clementine Cake as a treat. I had plenty of Clementines, and plenty of eggs (the recupe requires 6). Even better, Ms Lawson says that it's best made the day before.

So, I made it yesterday. I've just tried it and.... I don't really like it. It's meant to be a "moist" cake, but I would describe it as "soggy". It's definitely cooked, the skewer came out clean. It's just a bit wet. And bitty.

I've looked online but, with one or two exceptions, everyone seems to rave over it.

Oh well. If the inlaws don't like it, the wild birds will have a feast! Just seems such a waste of 6 eggs

Bloody chicken

Just went out to let the girls out to free range, and noticed that there was blood on Lily's head. I managed to scoop her up (fortunately, despite being very flighty, she's started crouching for me) and bundled her into the kitchen. I left her with some corn, and went to look inthe Cube to see if there was blood there too.

There wasn't any in the Cube, and there wasn't any on Lily yesterday when I picked her up, so I'm assuming that it happened this morning. I have to start by assuming that one of the other Girls is the culprit, although I'll go and check the hanging things in the Run shortly. And it could be that she caught herself while scratching.

Chickens get very excited at the sight of blood, and even if it wasn't one of the others that caused the problem, it's common for chickens to start attacking the area that is bleeding.

I was on my own, and holding a flighty chicken while trying to bathe the blood off her with wet cotton wool was not easy. The situation wasn't helped by Washburn, my ginger cat, coming to see what the fuss was about; seeing a chicken trapped in my arms, he was remarkably confident around her, but that didn't last as I let her go to re-wet the cotton wool, she flapped her wings, and Wash ran off.

Anyway. After several attempts, I managed to wash off most of the blood, and I think there is only one wound. I put on some rubber gloves and sprayed the wound with Gentian violet; I didn't realise that Gentian Violet when sprayed is a bit like blowing ink out of a fountain pen. Good job we have a solid floor that is easily cleaned. And a good job I had thought to cover Lily's eyes.

Anyway, aftet I'd GV'd her, I opened the french window and she bolted for freedom, stopping immediately outside to start eating the grass. She looks very punky at the moment.

The other side is a bit more dramatic, as the GV sort of splashed down her side a bit. I've taken a dozen photos but she just moves too quickly for me to catch it.

I've seen Milly chasing her, but I haven't seen any real attacking going on. I'll have to keep a close eye on them to make sure there aren't any problems.

Inspection of the Run shows that the Peckablock couldbe the cause. The end of the hook is quite sharp, and it's possible she caught the top of her head on it while eating the top of the Peckablock. I've bent it round, and will go out with some tape shortly.

The Chicken Roundabout - again

It really is based on true events, even down to the couple next door who hated the chickens!

I enjoyed the book so much that I left a comment on the website about it. To my surprise and delight Tom Honeywood, author, emailed me back to say:

Although the book is a fiction many aspects are inspired by real events.

Certainly the chickens pre-date the roundabout by many years, and there were chickens kept at the gate keepers cottage.

There was an eccentric old lady in the old railway gatekeepers cottage who was placed there by the council because she wouldn't settle into an old peoples home. She was known to hiss at people who walked past!

Of course the building of the bypass over the railway happened in 1983.

There are two individuals living near the roundabout who have been strongly opposed to the chickens and have been (and still are) quite unpleasant to both them and the chicken man, who did indeed appear on an animal champions telly programme.

Locals did indeed stage protests against the council's plans to have the chickens removed.
The maltings was (unsurprisingly) home to a colony of rats and I remember well as a boy being shocked at the size of them.

The maltings caught fire in 1999 and has been a ruin ever since.

There was a house fairly close by that was nearly demolished by a lorry and very close to that a turkey lorry once overturned. There was also a potato lorry that overturned and the side of the roundabout was covered in a huge pile of potatos (I so regret not taking a photo of it).

So as you see there was already the outline of great story waiting to be told!

It also turns out that the profits from the book are going to the local hospital, so it's an even better reason to get a copy!

www.chickenroundabout.co.uk

Elderly couple face eviction over a couple of chickens

Heard about a couple in Gateshead who face being evicted because they keep two chickens (hens, not cockerels) in their garden. Very sad, the garden is plenty big enough for two chickens and they seem to be kept well. If they had a dozen birds I could understand the concern.

Here's the BBC news story (copy/paste it in your browser window)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/7926539.stm

There is a Facebook group to support the Lewises, started by Justine from the Omlet forum http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55594908075

And there is a petition on the No10 website to reform the law so that allows pet chickens to be classed as livestock. Please read the petition (it's not aimed at allowing cockerels or anything), and sign it if you can possibly support it http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/GardenPoultry/

Chicken Roundabout

There is a place on the Norfolk/Suffolk border which is the home of the "Chicken Roundabout". I heard about it on the Omlet forum a few weeks ago, and dound out the story/saw the pictures on the website http://www.chickenroundabout.co.uk/

I was intrigued, and I ordered the book (which is fiction, not meant to be the True History. Although having read it, it would be sooooo funny if it was).

And then last weekend I was going to Ipswich to see my lovely step daughter, and decided to go and have a look.

I went to Nowich first. I don't know what I was thinking, I don't normally brave any town centre on a Saturday, so why I thought it would be interesting to see the sights of Norwich, I have no idea. Anyway, I was hoping to get to Ditchingham around dusk, as I wanted to see the chickens roosting in the trees.

I was a bit early though, so I saw the chickens on the ground. I can't believe that they survive there. I don't mean foxes, I mean human predators. I know there is a local chappy who feeds them (he's in the book), but he can't possibly protect them.

Anyway. It's well worth a visit if you are interested in chickens and you are in the vicinity. And I started to read the book when I got back to my hotel, and I can recommend that too. A great chickeny gift. (No, I'm not on commission).

We know it wasn't Jasmine....

Another brown egg this morning.

Then this evening, I put the Girls away and checked the nestbox, because we hadn't had an egg from Milly And I found two eggs. One blue, and one that could only be from a Welsummer...

Isn't it just the most beautiful egg since....since....since Milly's first Bluey?

Gorgeous Spring Day!

Wow, what a fabulous Spring day!

The weather is warm, but with that sort of refreshing clear ozone-y feel to the air. The sun is shining, and it's a day top be Doing Things.

DH has been out in the garden, adding well rotted manure to the beds. I've been airing the house - every room has the windows W___I____D____E open to let in that fresh air. I'm doing a swish and swipe in every daily-use room, and poor Raymondo (my Roomba) is working overtime trying to keep up with me.

I'd like to get everything respectable so that I can tackle the guest bedroom. We tend to dump stuff in there (packaging and boxes to use for Ebay, items waiting to go in the loft, that sort of thing) so it gets into a real mess, and then I have to blitz it. We've got guests coming in a couple of weeks, and I don't really want to be doing it at the last minute.

Off to do some more...

Who's laying now?

Last week I found a couple of softees in the poo tray (not on the same day).

And for the last three days, we've had a small brown egg in the nest box. Pefectly formed, al ittle rough on the shell, but beautiful. We ate two of them for breakfast this morning (along with 2 of Milly's Beautiful Blues), and we aren't sure who laid them.

It's most likely to be Jasmine. She's well past the age when she should have started laying... but these eggs are quite brown but not dark brown. She's a Welsummer, so she should lay mahogany coloured eggs. Maybe they start out light brown and gradually darken? Jasmine has been crouching for me recently, which makes her the Prime Suspect.

It could be Daisy, and they are the sort of colour I would expect an Amber Star to lay. But Daisy is very young, her comb and wattles are barely there, and she's not been crouching.

Or maybe Delilah. But they are far too small for Delilah. Although she hasn't laid really since she started to moult last November, so it might be her getting back into the swing of it?

I think it's Jasmine. I hope they do get darker though, as the breeder talked me out of buying a Maran in favour of a Welsummer when I said I wanted dark eggs.

Time will tell, I suppose, I'm just not very patient!

Don't move, extend.

Yesterday the lucky Girls had a 1 metre extension added to their (already spacious) Run!

I bought it, third hand, from a fellow Omleteer some months ago, and it's been sitting in the shed waiting until we got the two newbies.

The photos don't do it justice.

No salt peas, we're Chickens

Salt isn't good for the Girls.

For that reason, whenever I heat up some BirdsEye Petits Pois I've taken to not adding salt so that the Girlies can have the spare. Its funny how so many seem to fall in the saucepan now that I've got chickens.

It's taken a while, but I'm about used to salt-less peas now. I never added much salt anyway, as BEPP are so sweet and tender anyway. And I suppose it helps that when our own sugar snap peas are ripe I can't get them into the house before I've eaten them....and there's no salt in the garden.

I've just cooked some Pardina lentils (the only lentils I've every found I could eat) ready to add to the vegetable soup I'm making for my dinner tonight. I wonder if the Girls like lentils?

Power naps

My White Ranger, Lillibet, has started to take power naps. Should I be worried?

She's eating well, still rushing around like she has a rocket up her bottom, still perky. Earlier on when I looked through the kitchen window, she was on one of the garden chairs, all tucked up with her head under her wing. She was breathing slowly, regularly, peacefully.

Then she suddenly leapt up, and went rushing round the garden again.

A few minutes ago, I saw that she was on the arm of the chair, this time she was standing up but with her head under her wing again. She stayed like that for a while, then again leapt up and went off to eat.

How weird!

Noisy girls

The last few nights have been - relatively speaking - fairly mild. Having checked the detailed weather forecast for our area to make sure that there were no overnight freezing temperatures expected, a few nights ago we decided to leave the Cube door partially open. (The run is secure).

The Girls managed to get themselves up in the morning, much earlier than we've been letting them out, which was great. A lie in at last! Trouble is, they've been used to being let out to free range about an hour after being let out of the Cube. So, the noise started.

It's mainly Leelu (Delilah). She starts off with a bit of bokking, which progresses to a bit of a sad wail, which gets louder AND LOUDER AND LOUDER. Can't really hear the others, maybe they don't bother as Leelu is doing such a good job.

Chickens are creatures of habit. When it suits them, anyway. So I thought we might try and get them into a newhabit. A new habit of not-being-let-out-to-free-range-until-five-hours-after-they-get-up type of thing. I appreciate that it might seem a bit....extreme... making them wait 5 hours, but I know that last year the little poppets were getting themselves up at four in the morning in the summer. 4am+5 hours is 9am. It just means that right now, they aren't getting let out until 11am.

When I'm down in the kitchen I can't hear them. Not at all. Not with the doors and windows closed. But they can hear me. And my DH can hear them when he's in his study. When I grind the coffee, the get very excited. When they hear the espresso pump, they are beside themselves.

I try not to look out of the french windows when I'm having my coffee and toast. I can see them all lined up against the side of the run, staring at me. It's very much like "Chicken Run", in fact.

I'm hoping that they will just get used to it.

I've been worried about whether next-door are bothered by it. Their house is at a slight angle to ours, and their child's bedroom is at an angle whereby I'm sure the poor kid can hear them.
They took a parcel in for me today, though, and didn't say anything, so it might be that the noise isn't too bad with the fence in the way.

Cheese, again

We've been maturing the most recent brie, trying several different options.

We cut the brie into three pieces. Well, it would be fairer to say that we cut what was left of the brie into three pieces, and decided to trial different storage methods.

One piece went into one of my airtight cake carriers (it'll never be used for cake again, as that cheesey smell just won't wash out).

Another was put in the fridge in greaseproof paper.

And the third was in the fridge in clingfilm.

Piece One sat on the kitchen table. The box got a bit humid. We got a bit worried. We anticipated mouldy cheese. I mean mouldy as in bad mould , because Brie is covered in mould anyway, that's what the furry white stuff is. In fact, the cheese ripened beautifully in these conditions, we caught it running away through the plastic trivet. We decided that anymore ripeness would be too much ripeness, so we ate most of it and put the rest in the fridge.

The other two pieces stayed firm.

It was all delicious.

I can see naother trip to the supermarket for another 8 pints of milk coming up.....

And now, Beer.

Following the success of the Cider, DH has now decided to try beer. Properly. Our utility rooom is now host to a brewing keg thingummy. Bought some kit from the ever helpful Art-of-Brewing (along the road from Chessington), and decided to start with some premium ale or other. Excluding the outlay on the pressurised keg thing, it should be reasonably cheap. Bad news for the chaps at Stella Artois, if this works, as DH has assured me that he'll be drinking his home brewed bitter instead of buying Stella.

Wonder if it'll taste any good?

Some you win..

Well, the ROsehip & Hibiscus was lovely. And it was even more delicious as the new tea bags are still in date (the old ones had a use-by of Jan 2006).

I mentioned that I bought some additional varieties while I was at it. It's been a bit mixed.

First up, Wintergenuss, which is a a Winter spiced tea. Smells of cloves, juniper, cinnamon. Tastes good. Milfords are promoting their teas for "iced tea" a lot, so I'm going to try it cold as well.

Next, Rosehip and Seabuckthorn. I have no idea what Seabuckthorn is, but I know I like Rosehip. The bags smell divine. The tea...well, it wasn't great. I'll try it as an iced tea sometime, as it might be better cold.

Thirdly, Rooibos and Lemongrass. I like Lemongrass. I liked the sound of Rooibos (Mma Ramotswe drinks it all the time). Not my cup of tea at all.

I've got two other flavours to try. A mint tea, which I'm expecting to be horrible. One of my friends, and one of my daighters-in-law like Peppermint tea; I've got some in the cupboard for them, but I don't like it. And the other is some sort of herbal-g00d-for-you blend. I think I need to work up to that one.

Tea infusions

I've tried various herbal teas and fruit infusions over the years, and I've always been disappointed. They smell tempting, but the taste just doesn't live up to the smell. I've tried various blends, numerous brands, and it's always been the same story.

A few years ago now a colleague of mine was over from Germany, and she'd brought some fruit tea with her. She offered me some and I declined, explaining what I'd found. She told me that this particular tea was different, it was really full flavoured. So, I tried it, and she was right!

I went online and ordered a load from an online German retailer, and stocked up. The shipping costs were quite high, so I bought a lot, to make it worthwhile. I found the tea invaluable when I was trying to lose weight, as I would make myself a cup every time I had a snack craving. No, it wasn't the same as eating chocolate, or cheese, or crisps, or whatever, but it gave me something to do, and gave my stomach something which my mouth liked.

I hadn't drunk it for about a year and, as I'm trying to stop snacking, I rooked around my cupboards to find them. I had a few bags in an airtight container, which taste fine. And an unopened box, which has a use by date of January 2006. These didn't smell of anything, so they've gone on the compost heap.

I've been online and ordered a fresh supply (including some other flavours), and I hope they arrive before I run out of the ones in the airtight box.

Oh, in case you are interested, they are made by an Austrian tea company, Milford, and the flavour is Hagebutte (Rosehip & Hibiscus).

Poor Jasmine

My poor little girl.

Jasmine is a funny little chicken. Well, a funny large chicken. We've had her since she was 12 weeks old, same time as we got Milly. She's always been incredibly shy and prone to panic. When we finally introduced Milly and Jasmine to Scarlett and Delilah, Jasmine was immediately bottom in the pecking order.

Following the (accidental) introduction of Newbies Daisy and Lily, it seems Jasmine remains bottom of the pecking order. Daisy and Lily make her move for no reason, and I always have to find ways of making sure she gets a share of the afternoon treats.

While things have been settling down, Lily and Daisy have been sleeping in the nest box, with the 3 Oldies sleeping on the roosting bars. Last night I went out to shut the Cube door (it's still very cold at night), and was saddened to see that four girls were on the roosting bars and poor Jasmine was on her own in the nest box. I know I'm anthropomorphosising (sp?), but I felt so sorry that she has been pushed out. Poor little heart.

Of course, she might just prefer to be on her own.

Squabbles

There have been a few squabbles, but nothing major, certainly nothing as nasty as when we introduced the Littlees.

There's been a bit of blocking the Newbies out of the Cube; Lily (newbies) has been chasing Jasmine (poor Jasmine!); Daisy (newbie) has been bullying Milly. But now I see them sharing porridge without any trouble, and they continue to spend time as a group of 5 and also in their original 3+2. I guess we'll know that peace has really broken out if and when we see them free ranging in different groups.

The snow has been melting over the last day or two. I miss seeing the chicken footprints (like convict prints) in the snow. The Cube has been incredibly warm inside, 3.9 degrees when the outside temp was 0.7. That's one of the very big positives of having extra duvets in the cube!

We've decided to put a couple more panels of clear corrugated pvc roofing down one side of the Run, replacing the Omlet shade, which will mean the whole of one side has weather protection but still lets in light. The roofing doesn't go completely top to bottom, we want to make sure the air can circulate.

All the girls ate porridge today, four of the five bowls were completely empty. I need to add some Limestone flour to the porridge for couple of days, as the last egg laid by Delilah had quite a thin shell.

The only one regularly laying is Milly, bless her. We get lovely blue egg most days from her.

The Day After

Up ths morning at 6.15. Filled the drinkers in my kitchen, and made chicken porridge. Outside in the dark to put everything out, then opened up the door to let them emerge.

Nothing. It was obvously a bt too early. Milly emerged eventually, and ate porridge while I shone the torch for her. No one else was budging. Investigation showed that Delilah didn't want to come out, and she wasn't letting the others out.

More torch shining, and a bit of minor cursing from me, for getting up too early. Jasmine came down the ramp.

Eventually, the Newbies popped out, but Delilah wasn't budging. She looked OK, so I went back to bed.

Got up again after half an hour, and from my bedroom window I could see that everyone was up and about, and Milly was in the nest box.

After showering and dressing, I came downstairs. Hair wet, so can't risk going outside in the snow. Still no Milly. DH offered to go and check the nestbox to make sure she was OK. She was.

Now it's 8.15. Milly still in the Cube. Others wandering around. Delilah rooking through the flooring. A bit of bossiness going on, intimidation rather than pecking. Poor Jasmine, was bottom of 3 is now going to be bottom of 5, poor thing.

Sleeping arrangements

It's been very stressful today, with them all being together unexpectedly. There was a reluctance to return to Quarters, so they all stayed down by the kitchen. There was obviously some sort of Hen-politicking going on, about who was going to go where first.

Milly and Jasmine lumbered back to the Run eventually. Then Lily. Then Daisy. Then Delilah ambled back. By the time she got to the door, Lily had come out and gone into the Eglu Run. Then Lily came back to get Daisy, and they ambled off towards the Eglu run, but were dithering. Delilah came out of the Run and started to amble back to the kitchen.

I had debated whether to shut them all in the Big Run, but decided that I'd let them choose. We had decided, however, that if the Newbies went back to the Eglu, we'd transfer them to the Cube when it was daark (getting up very early in the morning to let them out before anyone woke up).

As soon as I saw Lily and Daisy waddle off, I regretted my decision to let them choose.

I went out wth some corn, and as soon as they were all in the Big Run, I shut the door and went back into the house. Then we watched and waited, ready to go out and release the Newbies if there was any trouble.

A lot of time passed. More hen-polticking. Then Delilah went to bed. Time passed, and Jasmine followed. Then Milly. Then the Newbies were on their own. Daisy seemed quite calm, but Lily seemed a little stressed, she was walking around the Run a lot.

We discussed whether to let them out and proceed with our transfer plan. We discussed whether to move the Eglu into the Big Run. In the end I decided we'd see what the Girls did. They would (a) try and go into the Cube (b) try and roost on one of the perches or (c) not settle. If it was (b) we'd move them when it was dark; if it was (c) we'd take them to the Eglu or bring the Eglu to them.

Daisy flew up on to one of the perches and settled down.

Then Lily walked up the ladder. I helpd my breath. She got to the top. Would they let her in? (Delilah used to block the entrance so that Milly couldn't enter.

She went in. Daisy flew down from the perch and wandered around, then she climbed the ladder too, and went in!

Oh my goodness!!

This is such good news....although it doesn't mean everything is OK. We'll have to get up before it gets light tomorrow, while the Girls are still asleep, so that we can open the Cube door before they wake up and start fighting.

Chickens in the Snow

I think I might use that last one for this year's Christmas Cards.

Accidental introductions

This morning it's gorgeous outside. Bitterly cold, lots of snow, but it's very sunny. I wanted to empty the poo trays as I was concerned the frozen turds would be acting like little ice blocks in the night.

Opened up the Oldies run so they could come out and explore the snow while I did them, which they did. Did the Newbies poo tray, and then let them out. Went back to the Oldies Cube to put some extra bedding in, and suddenly I was joined by Lily, who had flown over her netting (despite her clipped wing). She landed beside me, and then started to stroll towards the Oldies.

There wasn't any point in trying to stop her, but I was very worried. Then she walked into their run. Delilah, the boss, was in the nestbox, oblivious to the invasion. Jasmine and Milly just stared, as Lily walked around the run, stuck her head in a feeder, and had a good explore. Milly and Jasmine complained, and Delilah came down to see what was happening.

She and LIly just looked at each other. Then Lily continued exploring. Delilah pecked her tail - but not particularly viciously.

Meanwhile, Daisy stayed in the Eglu run. I was concerned now that Lily would join the Oldies, and Daisy would be on her own. I spent ages trying to encourage her out. DH came and helped, still she wouldn't come out.

DH had to go. Milly and Delilah were sharing porridge, Milly had some on her comb. Lily pecked it off Milly's comb. I resisted the urge to rush in and clean Milly. Lilly carried on rooking round in the Hemcore lookng for something to eat.

Much, much later, I managed to get Daisy out of the run, and I temporarily shut the run door so she couldn't get back in. I picked her up and put her down outside the Oldies run. She had an explore in the snow, around a shrub, and worked towards the Run door. Then she was in.

They all look a bit shell shocked, and I feel like I'm holding my breath waiting for the trouble to start. I opened the door at the other end of the Run so that if there is trouble, there is an escape route. In fact, I think I'll go out and open the third door under the Cube, just to make sure it's difficult for a hen to be cornered.

Let it snow!

Wish I'd taken pics before I'd cleared the snow off the Hen Pens!

Wedding cake, part 2

This morning, I made the bottom tier of my (step) daughter's wedding cake. It's in the oven, and will be for some time.

I emailed her with my progress, and I thought I'd share it here.

Equal quantities (350g each) of unsalted butter and soft dark brown sugar are creamed together. We used to go this with a hand mixer, thank goodness for my KitchenAid as this took quite a long time


While this was beating, I weighed out and sieved 350g flour, plus various spices...
..and cracked 6 eggs into a separate bowl and beat them together

Eventually, the butter sugar mixure was smooth and creamy, and had gone a very pale brown. I then started to beat in the egg mixture, a teaspoon at a time. 6 eggs, one teaspoon at a time, took forever.

Time passed.

More time passed.

Even more time passed.

Eventually, all the egg stuff was incorporated, and I could fold in the flour....

...and then the soaked fruit, treacle, lemon & orange zests, nuts...


And then into the prepared tin....
which then has a bt of extra protection, ready for it's long stint in the oven (about 5.5 hours)


Updated Tuesday morning:

I took some photos after I took it out of the oven. I left it in its tin to cool for a few hours, then turned it out.
It weighs 2.8 kilos, 6 pounds 3 oz.

Snow Way!

The Girls aren't too happy about the snow.

The Oldies stood at the top of the steps, and refused to come out; The Newbies peeped around the door, and decided to stay put.

DH went off to get a rake to clear the two Runs as, despite the rooves, there was a thick snow carpet; I made some pellet porridge. The Oldies came out to eat the porridge in the cleared run. The Newbies came out after some persuasion, but still won't eat porridge.

An hour and a half later, I went out with some mixed corn, and checked the water. The mixed corn was devoured quickly,then everyone went back to bed.

UPDATE:
At 11.00, I went out with more porridge. Milly came down and ate lots, Jasmine came down and didn't, Delilah wouldn't come down. I sprinkled mixed corn on the Newbies porridge, hopoing to entice them to eat it.

Checked that the drinkers were still working.

UPDATE:
At 12.30, I went out with mixed corn and a kettle of hot water. I put a little hot water in all the drinkers. Everyone wanted corn. Put some on the bird table for the wild birds as well. Girls went back to bed afterwards.

UPDATE:
Snowing again. At about 3pm, DH and I went out and put some more clear roofing panels on the Newbies run, to give them a bit more protection. More corn.

UPDATE:
4.15pm, went out to give everyone their final bit of corn. Will be shutting them in their respetive houses as soon as they have gone in, so that they start to warm up as early as possible. Think I need to repeat the comb protecton for Milly, and will apply some to Delilah too. Will do it after they've been shut up for the night.

First steps in freedom

Came back from dropping DH at the pub and, although windy and still freezing cold, the sky was beautiful clear blue and the sun was shining. I had about an hour before I needed to go out again, so I decided to let the Newbies out into the garden.

I started by putting a lettuce in the Oldies run, to keep them occupied. Then I let the Newbies out, and left the "gate" open in the fencing. They were soon through the gate, and exploring around the Oldies run. The Oldies suddenly spotted that the Newbies were out, and lined up along the edge of their Run, posturing. The Newbies seemed oblivious to this, and ambled around pecking here, pecking there.

I had to pop out at one pint as I lost sight of them; I coul tell where they probably were by the direction of the stares from the Oldies. The Newbies were exploring the shrubs we have in the middle of the garden.

I don't really want to make them take turns at free ranging like this, but I don't have enought netting to provide two completely safe areas. Still, it will only be for a few days.

Brrrrr

Blimey, it's cold. The wind is vicious, and the chooks are looking very buffeted. They obviously aren't really feeling the cold though, because they are all wandering around nibbling the grass.

Changed the size of the Newbies paddock this morning, and then went out again and changed the shape to try and bring it closer to the house. There seems to be no squabbling over the corn when I put it along the paddock perimeter, which seems a bit too good to be true.

I want to let the Newbies free range for a bit, so they get used to the garden before we move to trying joint free ranging. Trouble is, it means shutting the Oldies away so they can do it. I was going to do it later today, but it really is bitter outside so I'll have to see.

Wedding Cake

I'm making my lovely (step) daughter's wedding cake. When she was younger and lived nearer, she would sometimes help me make the cakes at Christmas, and we were looking forward to making the cake together. Unfortunately, distance and logistics are a bit of a problem at the moment, so I've offered to make the cake(s) myself, and then we'll get together to decorate it (them).

I started off the cake for the bottom tier today, it's going to be a 10 inch round fruit cake. I use Delia's recipe for my Christmas cakes, and I've adapted that for this size. I think. I mean, Delia provides the quantities for 6", 8", 9" and 11" round. I already know that an 8" round is twice the quantity of a 6" round. A 9" is 1.25 times the volume of an 8"; an 11 inch is 2 x the volume of an 8". A 10" will therefore be around 1.5 times the volume of an 8", plus a bit. The important thing will be to keep the proportions within the recipe consistent.

So, first thing is to weigh out the dried fruit, and put it in brandy to soak for at least 24 hours.


700ish grammes of Currants, 275g each of Raisins and Sultanas, 90g each of mixed peel and chopped glace cherries, and 6 tablespoons of Cognac.

It'll need at least 24 hours to soak up the brandy, which is just as well as I need to go shopping for some of the other ingredients.

Garden games

Nice day today, although a bit cold. Decided to let the Newbies out of the Eglu Run, so I created a little garden paddock for them.

Daisy was out like a shot, and started munching the grass. Lillibet found it all a bit too much and, instead of coming out, retreated into the Eglu. Later, Lillibet came out, and then flew over the netting into the main garden. I managed to shepherd her calmly back into her paddock before the Oldies found her.

I came in, got my DH and a sharp pair of scissors, and we managed to catch her fairly easily - and I DH clipped one of her wings. She didn't seem too bothered.

Both Girls have been busy munching grass and playing "King of the Castle" on top of the Eglu.

Hackles up

Day 3, and time to move on to the next step.

This morning I moved the netting away from the Newbies Eglu and run, so that the Oldies could get up close - with the Eglu run providing protection.

I went out with some corn and the Oldies came running over to me, as usual. I sprinkled corn along the skirt of the Eglu run for the Oldies, and inside the Eglu run for the Newbies. At first, the Oldies were too preoccupied munching corn to notice the interlopers.

Then Delilah spotted them. We had a face-off between Delilah and Lily, with a lot of chest puffing and attempted pecking (on both sides). Lily's hackles rose and separated, and she looked like a Cockatoo. This went on for a while. A bit later, Delilah tried it on with Daisy. The other two Oldies were just interested spectators.

After a while, the Oldies moved off to graze on other parts of the garden, but I've seen them back again.

The Newbies seem very interested (in a good way) that there are other Girls about.

The 3 day weather forecast predicts "sunny intervals" tomorrow, so I might try letting the Newbies out of the Eglu Run late afternoon for a bit of an Explore (in a fenced off area).

My current thinking (which may change depending on weather and progress) is to let both sets of girls free range in separate but adjoining areas from next week, and keep that up for a week. If the Newbies seem ready, I'll then try a bit of mixed free ranging for a while, before embarking on the final integration plan.

Progress

This morning, despite the rain, the Newbies came out of the Eglu fairly quickly. They've been in and out all day.

I've seen both of them eating from the feeder, and one of them drinking. If one of them can work the nipple feeder, then the other will soon learn.

I put a lettuce in the run, as they hadn't got to grips with the hanging feeder; they ate some and trod a lot into the ground. They weren't too interested in porridge. They tried some of the boiled rice, leftover from last night's dinner; the Oldies go mad for boiled rice, and Delilah actually trod on Milly to stop her from getting to it today! When I went out an hour later, the Newbies had hoovered up all their rice, so seems as though they like it too.

Gave them all some mixed corn, and the Newbies loved that too. I don't mind the having a bit of extra mixed corn at the moment as they aren't laying anyway.

As I was coming away, Washburn walked down the garden, and the Newbies looked briefly at him, then went back to the corn. That's progress!

End of Day 1

The Newbies spent quite a lot of time in the Eglu today, little poppets.

They both ate a little bit, both used the drinker. They liked the peas and the mixed corn I put in the run for them. They panicked quite a lot, everything must seem so scary to them. Isabelle came and sat by the run for a while, and the chooks weren't too happy about that.

I might try putting the other shade over the Run, to see if feeling more enclosed gives them a bit more confidence.

Hopefully I will get some decent pics in the next couple of days....

Shy

What a horrible morning for the new girls' first day! It's dark, and the fog is freezing. Poor things didn't want to come out when I opened the Eglu door, so I left them to it. They crept out after a while, ate a bit, and then went back in.

DH went out and fitted the Omlet shade, on the basis that the girls were used to being a bit more enclosed. He also put one of the roofing sheets at the end of the run to provide shelter.

It's supposed to be sunny today, and I want the ground to warm up for them; we'll put the rest of the roofy stuff on later today, as it's meant to rain tomorrow.

The Oldies hadn't really noticed the Newbies. There was a bit of squawking earlier on, mainly because the Oldees wanted to be let out and I was busy somewhere else. I came and let them out, and they trundled down to the house - not to the Newbies, as I had feared.

I came into make some coffee and toast, and I could hear a racket of hen squawking. I opened the back door, and the 3 Oldies were standing like statues, necks stretched, looking in the general direction of the Newbies. Feariing a fox, I ran down the garden in my slippers (chicken owners will know how odd that is), and Lily was going beserk. I tried to quieten her down, and a host of thoughts were running through my head "oh my god, she's a he....but if I take her back, will they have to kill her?" but then I saw the reason for her panic. Washburn had emerged from the bushes some way away. He wasn't anywhere near them, wasn't looking at them, poor lad, but the Girls had never seen a Cat before.

The Newbies are on the vegetable patch, which is right next to next-door's fence. My other next-door is lovely, and I know she would be OK about the racket, as long as it was only temporary. But I don't know about the new people on the other side.

I've been planning to take them some eggs, but we've only just started to get a regular enough supply to give some away. I gave 4 to my lovely neighbour yesterday.... I'm concerned that if I take eggs round to the other neighbour now they'll think I have Ulterior Motives.

Oh well. Better to be damned for doing the right thing than be damned for doing the wrong thing, I suppose.

Now we are 5

Collected my two newbies today, a White Ranger and an Amber Star.

I've wanted a White Ranger since I first had hens because they lay large white eggs. They have a reputation as being very flighty though, and so I thought I'd wait until I had a bit more experience. Amber Stars have a reputation as being a very docile friendly bird, which is why I chose her.

Got them home at about three, and shut them in the Eglu for half an hour. Then I opened the Eglu door and let them out into their run.... and it took them ages to come out. The Amber Star emerged first.

They were very nervous, as it was quite noisy. Next door was doing some DIY, the dog two doors away was barking, there were a lot of wild birds around, there was someone playing with a very loud remote control something in the field behind us...poor babies probably suffered from sensory overload.

The White Star was going to be called TinTin, but I think I'm going to call her Lillibet (Lily); the Amber Star was going to be called Mei-Mei (pronounce MehMay), and I think that might stick.

I'll see how the names suit them when they've had a couple of days to get established.

Apple trees

We are lucky to have three apple trees in the garden. They are very old though, and are far too tall. 11 years ago when we moved here, we got a tree surgeon to come and prune them for us, and they did a poor job. They cut off all the lower branches, meaning that the apples are very hard to reach.

We've done a small amount of pruning in the intervening years (we always mean to do a proper job, but when we finally decide to do it, Spring has sprung); but now that we are moving into producing cider from our crop, we needed to get them sorted properly. So, this week we've starte on one of the trees, trying to reduce its height. With this sort of situation, the experts say to do the tree over three years so you don't shock it too much.

The branches are waiting to be cut into logs, and the smaller branches have mostly been made into kindling. There are a lot of small bits which, if desperate, I could use for kindling, but we've decided to burn to make woodash. They are sitting in the incinerator, with more in our green waste bin, waiting for a suitable day.

I've got one last pile of small branches to deal with, but snapping or cutting for kindling is a bit tedious, so I'll save it until we've cut the last of the branches of the first tree.

There's still two apples, a greengage and a plum to go. Not sure we'll get them all done in time.

Parsnips

The Eglu is now built, and positioned on the vegetable bed (thanks to DH, all I did was lift the finished article when he asked me to).

We had to dig up the remainder of our parsnip crop, all in one go, to accomodate the Eglu. Home grown parsnips are far superior to shop bought, as long as they are served almost immediately - before the sugar turns to starch. We had quite a lot of parsnips left in the ground.....


....so we're having a very parsnippy dinner this evening. Curried Parsnip and Aple soup with Parnip Crisps, served with Parsnip, Parmesan and Sage bread.

Is it possible to o/d on parnsip?

EDITED TO ADD:
Well, the soup was lovely, very velvety, but more curried than parsnip.
The parsnip crisps were great, and the parsnip sage and parmesan bread was fantastic.

An excellent combo, definitely have it again.

New girls?

I have been humming and hawing about whether to try and fill the gap left by Scarlett.

It's not a good idea to introduce one new hen, as she will be picked on mercilessly by the existing flock; it's necessary to introduce at least two.

Sometimes I've been thinking it would be a good idea: I could have a white egg layer; it's a better return on assets as the increase in costs is minimal (extra food, bedding and flooring will need to be changed more frequently; more vegetables when they are in their run; more corn)

Sometimes I think it's not a good idea: my current trio seem quite happy (although there is a definite pecking order, which was not the case with my original 3) and I'm concerned about upsetting the balance; there will be more poo; there may be more noise.

Every morning, I thought about possible names. I had the name for the White Ranger fairly quickly, but I was struggling to find a name for a second hen. A few weeks ago, the second name came into my head, and I decided that I would get new girls. I contacted Tracey at the lovely Southmead Poultry to see if she had any White Rangers available. No, all sold, but I could go on the waiting list in case anyone dropped out, or book some from the Feb batch. I went on the wating list.

But then I didn't really want girls in Feb, as I have other plans and wanted to have my new girls settled in already. I'm a fatalist, so I decided if it was meant to be, then Tracey would call to say she had had a cancellation.

Time passed.

Then I received an email saying she unexpectedly had some WHite Rangers available. I was suddently doubting whether I wanted to do this: did I really want to go through the introccuctions again?; I hadn't forewarned DH and I wasn't really looking forward to That Discussion.

Anyhoo. This morning I told him, and we went out into the garden to measure the space in the dormant fruit bed to check that the Eglu would fit there. It wouldn't. (I keep forgetting about the fox resistant skirt, when you've got raspberry canes and blackcurrant bushes, it matters!). Maybe it wasn't meant to be. I'd have to wait until Spring, so that we could put an Eglu on the grass and the grass would be able to recover.

Then DH suggested the vegetabble bed. It was mostly empty, he could level it out for me and we could put the Eglu there. But the ground there would be too soft, a fox could dig underneath? We can put slabs all round.

So, that's it then.

I've left a message for Tracey, just hope I'm not too late.

Friends for dinner

Our friends, S&K, are coming over for dinner tonight. We're having our postponed New Years Eve dinner, so we've been busy in the kitchen since yesterday.

DH made some more cheese yesterday. One gallon of milk (sorry, I have to keep writing that as I can't believe it's so much!) went on making a Cheshire, which we will be able to eat tonight; the second gallon (!) is being made into a Cheddar, which will take 2 or 3 months to mature. DH is using his home made "dutch press" for the first time.

Our Brie from the other week is still ripening. It's delicious, but it's young and firm. I like my Brie like that, but we're hoping it will go all the way, if we can resist eating it. We'll have some tonight, although I seem to remember that K prefers English-type cheeses.


We're having Chicken Liver Pate to start, and DH is busy making this as I type. We've made this twice before, the second time being on the ill-fated New Years Eve. I've got a sort of brown/malty/bread thing going on in the breadmaker, and I thought I'd make some Irish Soda Bread as a contrast. I've got a big jug of buttermilk in the fridge which needs to be used up.

I'm making apple pie and home made custard as soon as the pate is in the fridge. The apples are bought in, but the pastry and the custard will be home made. Custard with our girls' eggs is always wonderful, and a really vivid colour which comes from the bright orange yolks.

I really like having S&K to dinner, it's one of the few times when I don't feel self-conscious about trying to make things from scratch. If the food works, it's great; and if we have a disaster, it doesn't matter.

Welsummer eggs

We think that Jasmine has started laying. We're not quite sure, as we haven't had a full house day, but some days the brown egg in the next box is one particular shape, another day it's a different shape. We were expecting her eggs to be really really really brown, like mahogany, and these aren't.

I asked a friend of mine, who bought a Welsummer from the same place at more or less the same time as me, whether her girl had come into lay. She has, and her eggs are the same as the ones we think are from Jasmine.

So, we just need to see if they get darker. Hope so!

Cheesed Off

We've now made three batches of cheese, using 8 pints of milk for each batch (about 4.5 litres). The resulting cheese for each was between 400 and 500 grammes. Shamefully, we threw the whey away. We had thought to try making Ricotta, but it was Christmas and we had a million other things to be doing..... next time, maybe.

The first two batches were soft cheeses, one we blitzed with some garlic, the other we left and it has the taste and texture if a very mild Cheshire.

We decided to try a hard cheese for the third batch, and this one needs three months to mature so it'll be a while before I can tell you what it tastes like. DH is busy melting wax to coat it with, all good fun.

Say Cheese!

We're embarking upon our latest home-made notion, cheese.

Bought some freeze dried starter culture, and made it up last night. It's all been divided up this evening and portioned into little pots in the freezer, with one batch left in the fridge to make our first cheese.

We're going for a simple soft cheese, and will be making it tomorrow afternoon.

Can't wait!

Peter

I used to own two Dales ponies.

One of them was a really gorgeous (and cheeky) boy called Peter. He's been at a new home for some years now, and the lady who now has him very kindly sends me an update each Christmas.

He's doing sooooo well with her, and I love reading about what they've been up to. This year, in addition to the usual competitions, she's taken him to ride in the sea. He was always a complete wuss, and it sounds like she had to work really hard to get him to go into the sea ("don't like pebbles....., ......don't like sand...., ......don't like the waves" But she goes on to describe the exhilaration of galloping down the beach once she'd got him over these fears.

And she's met Peter's son! He only had the one before he was gelded. And it's amazing, they look identical!

I know it's a bit pathetic, but it made me cry. Not with regret that Peter has gone to a new home, not at all: K is exactly what Peter needs. Not with wishing him back - I so very don't.

I think it was probably a little bit of happiness for him and for her; and, perhaps, a tinge of sadness that he wasn't right for me.

Who's egg?

So, we've been lucky to have had eggs from Milly every day now.

Today, there was a brown egg in the nest, next to Milly's, and we're not sure who laid it. My first thought was that Delilah ("Leelu") had come back into lay after her 8 .5 week break for moulting... but it seemed a bit small for her. Maybe she needs to build up to big eggs again?

DH looked at it and said that he didn't think it was Leelu's. It was a bit darker than Leelu's eggs normally are, and it has tiny speckling on it.

But Jasmine (Welsummer) is going to lay mahogany coloured eggs. The colour of the speckles, but that colour all over. So it can't be hers. Can it?

Well, we don't know who's it is. So, we'll have to try and catch one of them in the act. A bit difficult as it's been so cold we've had the kitchen door shut for the last few weeks.

I'm sure the mystery will be resolved soon....

Oh, and it's been musical bars again. Tonight Jasmine was sleeping in the next box; Milly had moved over to the other side of the roosting bars; and Leelu was sleeping at right angles to everyone.

Home Made Brekkie

At last! This morning Milly delivered her fourth egg, so we had enough to make poached eggs for brekkie.

Home made bread for toast, home made butter, and home grown eggs. Mmmmmmmm.

Major muckout

I normally split cleaning the Cube (and the bit of Run that is part of it) and the WalkIn Run. However, the weather has been so wet lately that I kept putting off and putting off doing a deep clean. I continued to rake the Run every week and dust with Stalosan, plus changing the nestbox bedding (and of course cleaning the poo trays).

The forecast for today was "sunny intervals". As long as it wasn't raining, I had decided I would do it today. 9am, I started. I wanted to detach the Cube, take it apart, pressure wash it and all its bits, and then leave it to drip dry while I got on with the Run.

The actual cleaning of the Cube takes just a few minutes with a pressure washer, and a few more minutes to pressure wash the poo trays, roosting bars., nest box divider, back of the Cube etc.

I left all the bits on the terrace in the "sun" and raked up all the Aubiose from the Cube area. Then I sprinkled Stalosan, and started on the Run. First job, take out all the toys. Second job, pressure wash the poo of their kiddies' bench, then pressure wash all the fixed roosting bars. Next, start to rake out all the old Aubiose.

This took sometime. My compost bins are full, so I had to bag up the stuff and I put it in the trailer for use to take to the Tip. Then, fresh bedding (Hemcore this time), in the house to scrub the feeders and drinkers, put those back out.

Dry off the Cube and bits, and spray with petsafe disinfectant. Leave that to dry while reconnected the Cube to the Run, and then started to put all my tools away.

It took me 2 hours in total, which is unheard of. When I do them separately, it takes me about 30 mins for the Run, and about 45 mins for a deep clean of the Cube, including reassembly and clearing up. It only takes me this long because I have to hoik all the flower pots off the skirt, and then undo the fixings which connect the Cube's run to the main Run...and then put everything back afterwards.

Part of the problem was that the ground was wet, and I moved the Cube bits onto the paving by the compost bin to wash them., instead of washing them on the grass as I normally do. Unfortunately, I hadn't really considered the implications of using a pressure washer there, and I ended up with clean slabs, but carp all over the Cube bits.

Off to the tip, as we had a load of other stuff in the trailer already; and then on to B&Q to get some corrugated plastic roofing to put down half of one side of the Run. We currently have the Cube winter cover up to give some protectin to the Girls against the rain and wind, but it keeps a lot of light out. I noticed that they haven't been toosting on their Bench ehy didn't bother sitting on their bench so much, and I'm sure it's because they can't see out. So, we decide dto put some of the Corolux stuff down part of one side to provide protection without blocking the daylight. We didn't go all the way to the top of the panel, as we want plenty of air to circulate still.

By the time we got home and had cut the panels to size and DH had fitted them, the Girls were ready for bed. It looks much lighter in there now, I'm sure the Girls will appreciate it. So it's been a good day from a chickeny point of view, but not really as productive as I expected from my own.