What goes on in their little heads?

Sunday morning.  We get a lot of egg-announcement type crowing.  Lots of it. Non stop.    When it goes on like this, it usually means that someone is hogging the nestbox, and someone else wants to lay.

I got up and went outside to have a look.  6 hens looked at me, as though butter wouldn't melt in their beaks.  None of them was crowing.   Not even Florence, who I'd seen crowing when I looked out of my bedroom window.


I peeped into the Cube, looking through one of the air vents.  I could see that Custard (one of our 4 youngest girls) was sitting in one of the nest boxes,  and Lily was standing on the roosting bars trying to get into the same next box.  Using the one next door clearly wasn't under consideration.


I watched, and saw Lily trying to get into the nestbox with Custard.  Custard wouldn't budge.  In the end, Lily sat across Custard.  I left them to it and went back to bed.


Later, I got up, showered, dressed.  Went out at 10.00 to let the Girls out and noticed that Lily and Custard were missing.  They were now side by side in the nestbox.


At 10.50, I went out to see whether we had any eggs, and found Lily and Custard still squashed together.    I opened the egg port, and gently felt around underneath them, pulling out 3 eggs.  One was definitely Lily's (white),  one was Florence's, and the third one was either Custard, Roobarb or Tilda's.   I need to see them side by side to be able to tell which is which.


Once I removed the eggs,  the Girls came out of the nestbox.


Surely Custard isn't going broody already?! It's only February!

Funny how things become "normal"

We had 3 hens originally.  

One died very soon after we got them and, as is best practice, we decided to introduce 2 new girls.   After keeping them separate, and then gradually introducing them,  this meant we had 4 girls in our Run.

I remember DH and I talking about whether we would get more, and we both agreed that 4 was probably enough in the size of run we had. (3mx4m + a T piece).  My neighbour asked if we would be getting more, or was 4 enough? (SHe wasn't being funny, it was a genuine enquiry).

Then Scarlett's crop got impacted, and we weren't able to save her.   3 birds didn't seem enough, so, as is best practice,  we got 2 more.  After keeping them separate and then gradually introducing them, this meant we had 5 girls in our run.  We added an extra 1m squared to the T piece of the run.  5 Girls seemed enough.    We couldn't imagine only having 3 again.

Then Jasmine (one of the last two to be added) died suddenly.    We were down to 4 Girls.   It was OK.  We agreed we would wait until we had another loss before adding any more.

On the Allotment, we needed to add to our breeding flock.  We bought 2 gorgeous Welsh Blacks  and, on impulse, some Australorp hatching eggs.  One of the WBs laid an egg on the way home, so we incubated that as well , along with the Australorp eggs, and a few of our Sasso breeding flock eggs.  We only had 1 Australorp hatch,  plus the Egg that was laid on the way home,  and the breeding eggs.  Only 2 of the Sassos  were Girls.


All of the chicks lived happily together.  The Australorp turned out to be a Girl, and I wanted to add her to my garden flock.   You can't introduce only 1, so  I was trying to source a similarly aged Gold Campine girl.   It didn't work out, so we decided we'd add one of the Sassos to the Garden flock as well.  The Egg, a Welsh Black, we had planned for her to join our breeding flock. Youcan't introduce only 1, so we decided to keep the other Sasso as well.

Now, the 4 Girls were very young, far too young to introduce to either grown up flock, so we kept them all together.  We were running out of space at the Allotment, the weather was rubbish,  so we took the decision to introduce all four to our Garden flock,  and then in the Spring we would introduce the two breeders  to the breeding flock.


The introductions, despite taking it very slowly and starting with separate accomodation, were very, very painful.  The four youngsters, despite being at point-of-lay when we finally started to let them mix with the established Garden Girls,  were mercilessly bullied.  There wasn't any blood drawn it rarely got that physical,  but they really were harrassed. It was horrible.

Once minute I felt dreadful for the newbies, who had been living as a little group of 4 so happil, until I introdced them to the Big Girls.  I felt especially awful when they started to try and dominate each other.   The next minute I was feeling awful for my established Girls, who had been living quite happily as a group of 4.  The reorganising of the pecking order meant that myoldest girl, the head chook,  was having her authority challenged and she was losing it.  That would not have happened if I hadn't introduced newbies.

Eventually, peace broke out.  We currently have 8 hens in the Garden.  We extended the T piece by another 1.5 square metres.   They free range all day, every day.   

I'm not sure that the two earmarked for the breeding flock will go and join the breeding flock.  It's not, as you might think, that I have grown so attached to them that I want them as my pets.  Of course, that's part of it.  But that's more of a "..and another thing.." rather than the real reason.

The real reason is that both flocks are stable at the moment.  If I introdue 2 newbies to the breeding flock, we - and they, of course - are going to have to live through those weeks of horribleness.  Not only will it be hard on the two interlopers, it's not going to be much fun for the established breeding girls.  And it may cause pecking order repercussions here.


It's now become "normal" to see 8 girls in my garden.  Of course, I can't imagine having any more than 8.  If and when one of them dies (which is likely to be sooner rather than later,  our oldest Girl is definitely showing her age),  we will not replace her with 2 hens.      We'll wait until we get to 6 or fewer, and then look at additions.

Famous last words?

Net result

We're planning to extend the pens at the Allotment, and so we needed some more electric fencing to cover the new layout.      

I saw recently that Omlet has changed their netting.  The new netting can't be electrified, but it is interesting.  It's significantly taller than the electric netting,  it has much smaller squares at the bottom making it suitable for smaller hens, or partially grown chicks,  and it has a new style of post which is easier to push into the ground.


I coudn't justify buying any for our garden,  although I could see the extra height might reduce Lily's escape episodes.    So when DH mentioned he needed more electric fencing, the solution presented itself.


I bought an appropriate length of new Omlet netting,  and gave DH the equivalent lengtj of my older, electrifiable, stuff.


Everyone is happy.   Apart from the Girls who have discovered that they can't really get their heads through the netting to reach the greener grass.  Lily did have a darned good try though.


I see Omlet have also started to do Walk In Runs, using the same coated weldmesh that they use for their normal runs.  They come complete with fox proof skirts.   If I didn't already have a walk in run, I think I would be looking at buying one of theirs.

Baking, again

This morning I got up early to bake some cakes to take to a business meeting.

First up, some carrot and cardamom cupcakes.  I needed to get these made first as they need to be iced. And to be iced, they need to be cold.     I had weighed out most of the ingredients last night, but the carrots needed to be peeled and grated immediately before using.    Eventually, they were in the oven.

While they were cooking, I started to make the second batch, Banana and Cinnamon Muffins.   Everything was going well,  although I had to steal half a banana set aside for DH breakfast to make up the required 400g.   The Buttermilk was still in the fridge from last week's butter making.... it's started to sour, so I hope it's OK in this recipe.  Again, I had made weighed out the dry ingredients last night.  I had got to the last step (mixing in the mashed bananas) and the cupcakes were still in the oven.  I only have one deep bun tin, so I cleared up.

Cupcakes were done,  out of the tray, put the tray to cool, carried on clearing up.  I'm not normally an especially messy cake cook,  but because I had weighed out so much last night, I had debris everywhere.

Eventually the tin was cool enough for me to put out the muffin cases,  and away we went.   I had my shower and got dressed while they were baking.

The muffin recipe says cook for 20-30 mins.  I had set the timer for 20 mins, and they weren't quite done. Another 5.  Then I was casually reading through the recipe, and I realised that they were on the same heat as the cupcakes (equiv gas mark 4), and they should have been lower.   Bother.

I turned the temperature down. Futile, I know.   The next time I tested them, the skewer came out clean...so they are sitting in the muffin tin now, cooling slightly,  before I turn them out on to a baking sheet.

They smell OK.

I'm normally quite good at cakes, not sure what has happened!  Never mind, if they don't turn out right I can turn them into emergency trifle bases.

Baking

Well, I made the macaroons.

I decided to follow Margeurite Patten's recipe, in her Baking book.  I was a bit unsure about how much to whip the egg whites.  She says "until they are just frothy" and advises against trying to whip them to firm.   But exactly when is "just frothy"?

The first signs of frothiness appeared very quickly.  But I couldn't believe that was it. So I whipped faster and for longer. When I say "I", I mean "using my mixer, I".  I stopped. Still frothy.  I had another whizz. And another.    

Eventually my nerves couldn't stand it, and I stopped.   I muxed everything else in,  and then made little thingummies on baking trays.    I popped two trays in the oven.

How to tell if they are done?  The cooking time depends on size.  Uh-huh.    Right.  Well, I had more balls than the recipe should have yielded,  so let's assume that I need the shortest amount of time.      But looking at them, how can you tell? Should they be crisp? Soggy? Moist? 


I still have 4 egg whites in the fridge, and a big bag of almonds so I can make another batch of ground almonds if necessary.  So, I got them out and they are cooling on the baking sheets as I type.


We'll see.

Whipping up enthusiasm

I've got a load of egg whites in the fridge (from the custard I made the other day).  I keep meaning to try my hand at macaroons.

The last lot of egg whites ended up in the bin.

I've also got a business meeting tomorrow, and I thought I might make some carrot cupcakes and some banana muffins.   I need to go and buy some cream cheese to make the proper frosting for the carrot cakes. 

I just can't get seem to get started on any of it.   

Every time I think "Right, come on then, let's get that recipe book out" I get sidetracked.   I've had to take some photos of the Girls.   I had to investigate a noise. Put some washing on.  Tidy up a bit.   Cancel tomorrow's milk.   Sort out my handwashing (into a pile ready to be handwashed).   Put the heating on.   put the kettlle on.    Hang out the washing.  Reboil the cooled kettle to make the cup of tea.

I'm writing it down here as a way of giving myself a kick up the b*m.   But it's also just another way of procrastinating really. 

Guinea fowl

OC (Other Chap) mentioned that he'd quite like to try raising Guinea Fowl this year.  I had reservations about it, but after DH and I looked into it, I was quite interested in the idea.     Not sure we're going to do it though because (a) they fly. High.  so we aren't sure we'll be able to contain them on the allotment, and (b) they are quite noisy.   

We bought a guinea fowl to try yesterday. Made Delia's recipe, the one with 30 cloves of garlic.   Very easy, very delicious. (although not sure it has as much flavour as our super duper home reared dinner chickens).   We've only eaten the breast so far, we'll be eating the rest for tonight's dinner, and it'll be interesting to see what the darker meat tastes like.

Good old Delia.

Swiss Roll Woes

I have some cream in the fridge which must be used by yesterday.  I fancied custard.  So I started to whip some up.  I have a litre of cream, so I doubled Delia's recipe, using up 6 precious eggs in the process.

Part way through the cream simmering with the vanilla pod, I had a fancy for some Swiss Roll to eat with my custard - specifically some Swiss Roll with Lemon Curd.

I looked in my Delia cookbook. Hmm.   I looked in my Margeurite Patten cookbook and came across  rather more complicated recipe, which promised a lighter result.

So, I got going.     The initial stages were interesting,  and the mix looked fab and light.  Now, Margeurite says it takes 9 minutes for this to cook.    After 9 minutes, mine was no where near cooked.  So I added 2 minutes.  Then I added 2 minutes and turned the oven up (my fan oven, annoyingly, uses the same equivalent for gas 4 and 5).   Then I added another 2 minutes. 


At this point it was starting to look golden brown, and it was a little but more firm, but it wasn't cooked.  So I added another 2 minutes.


I think it's been in for 15 minutes so far.

Roo Trouble

A couple of weeks ago, DH mentioned that Roo occasionally attacks him.  It was always explainable:  DHwas carrying a large yellow trug, or he had gauntlets on, or...something.     We put it down to the start of the breeding season,  and possiby the crows from the cockerel a few plots away.

Today I went with DH to the allotment to clean out the coops whilst he did the waterers and feeders etc.    Roo tried to attack me.  I was carrying a small pink trug, and DH told me that was what had upset Roo.

A few minutes later, I was walking across Roo's pen carrying a tub of Stalosan. Roo tried to attack me.  I put the tub down, and told Roo not to be so stupid.

A bit later,  I was walking back across his pen carrying a small dustpan and brush, and he REALLY attacked me.  It hurt. Quite a bit.   

From then on, I watched out of the corner of my eye everytime I walked across the pen, or while I was working on his coop.  He sidled up to me - not in a "helloooo" kind of way - and then fluffed up. I faced him and glared,  and told him that yes, if e attached me, he would hurt me more than I would hurt him; but he needed to know that we only kept him because he was such a sweetie.  And if he wasn't a sweetie anymore, he could and WOULD be replaced.

I started to work out how we could replace him.  Obviously, we will have his offspring with the Welsh Blacks (Rose and Ruby), and we could easily raise and keep one of the boys from the next hatch.  But we like the Sasso x Welsh Black cross.    We could possibly keep one of Mrs Roo's boys, if we hatch any... but we think they are too closely related, and I'm not sure it would be good to have one of their boys as a stud.        Getting him to fertilise Custard's eggs might be the best option.  Custard is his daughter, but by our other Sasso girl, who is no longer with us.  

I don't really want to put Custard in with the breeding flock, but I'm sure we could arrange for her to visit Roo (or her and one of the others).  But I don't want to separate my garden girls for too long.  And how can I get her (them) on to Breeder pellets, when she's in with everyone else?

Hmmm.   Have to think about it.

Oh, when I got home - covered in Stalosan and Diatom, plus some virkon as I had been scrubbing and sterilising the spare roosting bars ,  I got changed. 

I have several puncture wounds on my leg.  Not as bad as when Flint ripped my jeans, but quite sore.

Butchery

We're going to learn how to butcher a pig. 

I'm still very squeamish when it comes to gutting chickens.    I still cringe a bit when it comes to less usual bits of animals.    But I am determined to get over these irrational things.   Meat is meat, whichever part of the animal it comes from,  and it's not fair on an animal (as much as eating an animal can ever be regarded as "fair") to waste so much.

So.  We're going to learn how to deal with a half pig.  And then I imagine we'll be eating pork for some time to come.

Memories, part 2

I have a habit of writing in notebooks from the back page moving forwards.  It's usually just jottings.

So, sitting waiting for the BBKA meeting to start with my "chicken notes" (now renamed "chicken & bee notes") providing much happy nostalgia, I flipped to the back to see what sort of things I had scribbled there.

Names.

Specifically, potential chicken names.

There on the very first line were the names I had originally chosen: Esme, Gytha, Magrat, Agnes.   I can't see those names now (even when I am reading Terry Pratchett) without chuckling.    Those names are what caused my husband's hen hostility to reach boiling point, so much so that he actually had an outburst in a restaurant.

We had been having lunch out with DS1 (S) and his wife (T).  T was asking me about the upcoming chickens, and we were talking about names.  I told her that I had finally decided on the names, and I reeled off "Esme, Gytha, Magrat and Agnes".    DH choked and snapped at me "When did it get to FOUR??"   I explained about the names, and the breeds (I was going to have a Cochin at the time) and that the Cochin would obviously be Agnes, because she fitted Terry Pratchett's description of Agnes.  And I couldn't go from Gytha to Agnes, I needed to have a Magrat as well.

But then I realised that DH wasn't joking.  He was very, very, unhappy.  He didn't want chickens at all.  He had given up trying to prevent me from getting them, and had accepted the logic behind  3 was better than 2.

Anyway.  The upshot was that I didn't get 4 chickens, I got 3.  And I couldn't bring myself to use those names.

The reason the memory makes me chuckle,  is that we now have 8 Garden Girls, and two flocks of 4 each at the Allotment.  The Allotmenteers are really my DH's chickens.   And he's now really into chickens.

The rest of the names on the pages were all in 3s. 

 "Broody Bunch"  : Jan, Marcia and Cindy
"Upstairs Downstairs": Rose Ruby Daisy 
"TV": Mary, Mungo, Midge;  and "George, Zippy, Bungle" 
"Old Lady Names": none written in, just a comment "very common for hens"

A few groups were highlighted by a cloud, indicating they had made it through to serious consideration

"Chicken names" Pollo, Gallina, Kip (i.e. "chicken" in other languages)
"Firefly": Yo, Saff, Bridge (Yolanda, Saffron, Bridget, the aliases of Mal's "wife") I also had Inara, Kaylee and Zoe written down, but crossed out.
"Goodies": Tim, Bill, Graeme

Then, over the page, in a really BIG cloud
Delilah, Lydia, Scarlett 

And those were the names I chose for my first three Girls. All that work on triptychs,  and I decided to go for unrelated names! 

The reason was that linked names are fine while everyone is OK. But as time goes on and you end up with survivors,   the linked names can sound a bit daft without their counterparts.

Over the page, I had numerous miscellaneous names scribbled on, obviously at different times as the names came to me.  Some of the names (example: Jasmine, Daisy) I chose for later hens.  

And re-reading some of the other names, I wish I'd remembered these notes when naming other hens.  I've got some great names on there.  I'll keep them for my next hens. Whenever they may be.

Memories, part 1.

Went to our first BBKA (British BeeKeeper Association) Meeting the other evening.  It was a really interesting talk about Swarming,  and I was pleased that we were already familiar with a lot of it (thanks to our course at the BCA), but there was also new stuff which were not (quite correctly) part of our course.

I grabbed my old "chicken notes" notebook to take with me andd, of course, I made plenty of notes.

While we were waiting for the evening to get underway I was flicking through the notebook.  It went right back to when the chickens were just a glint in my eye.  I have lists and lists, of breeds I might be considering,  suppliers,   other stuff that needed to be bought and where sold it for the best price.

It went on to show how I narrowed down my breed (and supplier) choices, and the dilemmas I faced about how to get the birds I wanted when no one supplier supplied them all.

I could see the whole path from starting, to ending up with a Transylvanian Naked neck and a Buff Sussex from Wernlas, and a Bluebelle from Sharon Gould at Pinvin.     I had maps and directions and timings about how I would get from one to the other.   My B&B booking at Ludlow at the "Hen and Chickens" guest house (selected entirely on the basis of its name!)

Ah, nostalgia.

I turned to the back pages of the book, and it raised the biggest smile of all....

Maple and Pecan Muffins

I made butter yesterday,  so I made a batch of Maple and Pecan muffins today, to use some of the buttermilk.  I used a recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.


Texture is good, very moist.  Not as mapley (or as pecan-y) as I was perhaps expecting, but they taste fine.    


I didn't think this through.  DH doesn't eat anything with nuts in, so he won't eat them.  There are 12   10 of them.  I can't eat anymore. 2 was more than enough.  I thought about taking them round to my neighbour, but that just seems bizzare.


I can see that these are going to haunt me as I serve them up in various disguises over the next few days.  

EDITED TO ADD:  I took 4 round to my lovely next door neighbour. Hope she likes them.   

Marriages Report

Everyone has now completed their 7 days with the Marriages pellets-with-Flubenvet.  We've had mixed results.

Normally, we feed Smallholder feed to everyone, so we knew we might have a bit of a problem with acceptance at just changing the feed overnight, with no gradual introduction.

Anyway.


At the Allotment we use Grandpa's Feeders (which I highly recommend, worth the money), so we filled the two feeders with 4kg each. We allowed 1kg per bird, which allows for 150g per chook per day.  We expected this to be far too much for our Laydees, who are little things,  and possibly for our Breeding Flock, who aren't laying much at the moment and are eating correspondingly less food.

At home, I measured out 4kg initially spread into their 5 Grubs . During the course of the seven days I added 2x500g, and 1x375g extra.  At the end of the 7 days, the remaining feed was collected and weighed.

At the end of the 7 days, we collected the remaining food from each pen, and weighed it.


In our breeding pen,  the birds consumed an average of 75g per day per bird.  It would have been more, but the cold snap meant that we had been feeding more corn than usual, and obviously this tool the place of some rations. Given that they aren't laying, and Roo doesn't lay at all of course, means that we are reasonably happy with this. 


The Laydees - goodness knows what they were eating, because it certainly wasn't the pellets.   They seem to have eaten only 25g per bird per day  Again, it's possible that the extra-corn-to-combat-the-cold -spell got in the way.   I'm also wondering if I made a mistake with my weighing out?

The Garden Girls, who were a last minute addition to the trial, did really well. I kept them in the Run longer in the mornings, not letting them out until 11am,  and they were back in at 4pm.  I also only gave them a token amount of corn, abd very few treats. They ate an average of 90g per bird per day,  and that seems fine as well, especially as only 4 of them are laying.

So, I will use Marriages-with-Flubenvet again in the summer  I'll measure again next time,  and if the Laydees still don't eat it, I'll resort to the old method of worming them.

It's a shame that the current batch of pellets will expire before they are next due for worming.

Papardelle - perhaps not

Home made meatballs for dinner yesterday. with Papardelle pasta.   This is strange stuff: much, MUCH wider than taglietelle, and actually quite difficult to twirl.   I'd bought it some time ago to have with a rather meaty lamb ragout, when it was eaten with a knife and fork rather than as pasta.  Anyway. As usual I cooked three portions, one for me, one for DH, and one for the Girls.  The Girls' portion was left in fresh water overnight.

At treat time, I snipped it all up and took it out to the Girls.  Despite it being snipped, the pieces were still rather large.  As usual there was a scrummage, and then each Girl shot of in a different direction,  the size of treat varying wildly.   They make such a song and dance of having a treat and running off with it,  you think they'd learn that it was much better to just run off, eat, and come back?  No.   They run off chuntering.  Sometimes they run round in circles past each other chuntering,  with  pasta flailing behind in the wind.


The cleverest ones just gobble it down and come back for more.  Lily and Daisy are able to eat several pieces in the time it takes Roobarb to run round the garden, put her pasta down, pick it up, run around again, put it down, bok loudly, then nibble it.


This pasta produced even more bizarre behaviour than I normally get to see when we have Pasta fun.


When one came back, I'd put down some more.  The others would see more pasta, and come running back, usually irrespective of whether they had finished their piece.    


It made me chuckle to watch them trying to stuff another piece of pasta in their beak when their beak was already fully occupied.     I had to be careful to only put down small amounts, as I think we might have had a few problems.

Bird Feeders

Some time ago I replaced all our bird feeders with some much better, modular, ones which are less susceptible to getting a crust of rotten food stuck at the bottom.

They work really well, and they keep out all the large birds.  I'd love to feed the blackbirds and thrushes, but having feeders they can get to means that we become inundated with Starlings and, worse,  pigeons.   

We already have big fat pigeons in our garden.  They are so huge that they wobble when they sit on the fences.     They are so greedy, and they prevent anyone else from getting feed.

Anyway.   When I replaced the old feeders, I bought 1 for peanuts, 1 for nijer seeds, and 1 for mixed seed.   They started off on a pole in the middle of the garden, where it would be harder for the cats to sneak up on them.   We closed off that bed agfter the sudden death of Jasmine, my Welsummer hen,  and moved the pole to right outiside the kitchen window.

I didn't think that the birds would come, with it being so close to the house.  However, it's also close to he cherry tree and, as it turns out, this means the feeders are really popular. The birds tend to watch from the cherry tree and , when they are sure it's safe, they flit over to the feeder, eat, then fly off again.

There is a big step down to outside from the kitchen, which means that , from inside the house, the feeders end up being at window height. This is great, and I love to see all the birds. 


The peanuts and mixed seeds are eaten quickly, but we didn't get any takers for the nijer seeds for a long time.
Recently though we've had a couple of these little chaps having a nibble...

We also have a couple of robins visiting.  They are very territorial, so only one is at the feeder at once. The other one waits in the cherry tree:

The Girls Help Out Again

DH was out clearing the fruit cage the other day.  The old weed-suppressing fabric needed removing (it's full of holes and not doing it's job) and the tayberry needed pruning.

We'll need to move the Girls' ranging area soon, as we want to reseed some of the back of their pen with Chicken Grass.   We thought that taking the matting of the fruit cage would give them some interest ad give some of the more worn areas of the rest of their "pen" a bit of a rest.

The Girls were beside themselves with excitement as DH lifted each piece, and they leapt in as soon as it was clear 

At times, DH couldn't move without finding a chicken (sometimes literally) on his foot!

Marriages Pellets with Flubenvet

I feel my Girls Smallholder Layers pellets.  They're very happy with them, and I'm not looking to change.

It's time to worm everyone.  I normally do this with a measured dose for each Girl (I have very accurate scales) but find it quite hard on the Allotment where the Girls (and Roo) aren't so happy at being caught and picked up.

I heard that Marriages were now doing 10kg bags of their Pellets-with-Flubenvet,  and I thought I'd give this a whirl for the Allotment crowd.  As I was placing my order, I decided to try it on the Garden Girls as well, so I ended up buying a 20kg sack anyway.

The feed for the Allotment crowd was changed on 27 January. We weighed out 1 kg for each bird (on the basis that each bird would eat 150g per day for 7 days).  In reality, I would expect the smaller Laydees to eat less;  and as the Breeders aren't laying at the moment, they might well only be eating 100g a day each.     We're going to weigh the leftover feed at the end of the seven days, so we can see if the Girls seem to have consumed the right amount.

For the Allotmentees, it has definitely less painful than trying to catch each individual chook each day for 7 days.  Howver,  I haven't been around though to see how well (or not) they have adapted to the change in feed.  Or how well they'll adapt when we change them back on Thursday! 

I've just started the Garden Girls on it., this afternoon. I did it when I shut the Girls up for the evening.   Tilda (youngster) doesn't seem to mind the change, she had her beak in one of the feeders and was chomping away quite happily.    Delilah (oldest girl, very slow now) looked in several of the feeders before giving in and eating something.    Milly (loony, second oldest, bulliest chook) was not impressed, and decided to chase Tilda round the Run. as if it was her fault that the food had changed. The others are still busy rooking for remnants of their afternoon corn, and I don't think they've tried it yet.

I'm not sure about this. Normally I would gradually change the feed over the course of a week or som but that's just not practical with this type of food.  I'll be keeping a close eye on the Girls this week to see how they cope - and how they deal with the change back to Smallholders at the end of the 7 days. Then I can decide what to do next  time.

It would be fab if it works.  It's not a particularly cheap way of getting Flbenvey into them, but (a) it's easier for me,  and (b) it's the best way of making sure each chook gets the right dose.

Lemon Curd in super easy Yoghurt ice cream

I was watching Market Kitchen the other day,  and Rachel Allen showed how to make a Lemon Curd Ice Cream using greek yoghurt and creme fraiche.   I looked up the recipe online and saved it, as that as the recipe that got me to get off my bottom and make the lemon curd.


I made it yesterday.  It was delicious.   She uses Greel Yoghurt + Creme Fraiche + Lemon curd + a bit of grated ginger. stirred, put into a freezer-proof container, and frozen for at least 3 hours.  No stirring to break up ice crystals,  no churning needed.  I almost omitted the ginger, I'm glad I didn't because it didn't overpower the flavours (which is what I had feared), instead it "lifted" the flavours making them seem even more fresh.

Here's a link to her recipe, which includes instructions on making lemon curd:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/641956

Just in case the recipe page moves,  here are my notes for myself:
The recipe is  1.5 parts greek yoghurt, 1.5 parts creme fraiche,  1 part lemon curd,  then 1 teaspoon of ginger per 100ml of lemon curd. 
I made half her stated quantity, which meant 300ml GY, 300ml CF,  200ml Lemon Curd,  2 tsp grated ginger.

Lemon Curd and souffles

Nom nom nom.

Made some lemon curd yesterday. Doubled up the recipe, took forever for the sugar to dissolve.   Made 2 pounds, which is 4 small jars.

Later on, turned one jar, and more eggs,  into hot lemmmmmmon curd souffles.  Delicious!

Thanks laydeees!

All 8 Cuddled

Lily, Daisy (older girls, White Star, Amber Star) Tilda and Custard (last year's babies, both Sassos) are easy to pick up. They crouch, and they are happy to receive some corn from my hand.

Florence (last year baby, AUstralorp) crouches readily, but isn't used to being picked up.  Managed to pick her up today, with minimal struggling from her. She's a big girl, so I had to get DH to offer her corn.

Milly (even older girl), Cream Legbar) doesn't like being picked up, and tries not to crouch.  I've managed to catch her unawares for the last few days and she's crouched for me.  Today I managed to scoop her up and give her some corn.

Delilah (oldest girl, beautiful Bluebelle) is very slow now. She normally managed to give me the slip, but today I was able to pick her up, although she doesn't crouch.   She sat in my lap eating corn.  I took a bit longer with her because I get the feeling we won't have so many more opportunities.


Roobarb (last year baby,  half Indian Game) isn't laying yet, she doesn't crouch, and she doesn't like being picked up.  I normally don't push it, as I'm sure it will get easier once she's in lay.  Today though, having successfully had a cuddle with all  7 of the others, I wanted to pick her up as well.  It took a while and a bit of deception, but I managed to pick her up.  She did manage to wriggle free and stand on my head (ow oW OW) but then she sat on my lap making her really strange noise - more like a guinea fowl than a chicken.


She did, eventually, condescend to eating some corn. She's take a bit, then look around, then take some more.  She's definitely a flock creature,  much happier in the company of others. Other chooks, I mean.


But, although I am frozen now (no coat, no gloves; hadn't expected it all to take so long), I feel a sense of achievement at getting all 8 with only a little bit of hassle with Roobarb.   

I don't think any of the chickens particularly like being picked up.  I think they adore having the corn, and - at best - they don't mind being picked up as they associate it with corn.  I don't want it to be a traumatic experience for them though, so I thnk I'll leave Roob alone until she's in lay.

They all still come running over to see me when I go out (cupboard love),   and if I go in their ranging area, they come over (most of them crouch) and range around me (they see me as their Roo).


I love my chooks.

Compost

It was a dry day today, DH was clearing up after the trees surgeons, so I decided to turn the compost.

The Girls were busy helping DH as he cleared the vegetable patch.  Every time he moved something, or turned over something, the girls were there en masse to inspect.  Poor unsuspecting worms were shucked down in one go.  Wherever DH put his spade, he was surrounded by beady little eyes watching the ground.


The moving of the spare Cube so I could get to the COmpost bins caused a flurry of activity.  Tilda and Lily decided to squeeze underneath the elevated run, and they would not be persuaded out.  Lily jumped on the ladder,  and we moved the Cube - carefully - with them underneath.  DH got them out after we'd lowered it back onto the ground.

The tipping over of the first compost bin brought great excitement, even more when I started tossing the black gold on to the vegetable patch.  Bin 2 being overturned caused a bit of a pile up, and I had to shoo the Girls away so I could shovel bin 2 contents into the now-empty bin 1.  Bin 3, and I was getting tired and kept taking breaks to watch the Girls rook through the compost.


By bin 4, I'd really had enough.  I was tired anyway,   and hesitated before upturning it as I knew I should really call it a day.  But, if I cleared up everything without doing Bin 4 then I'd either have to do it all again later or, more likely, bin 4 would stand there untouched for another month or two.


Of course, bin 4 would be the one that had great solid stinky mats of grass clippings.  The sort that appears in bands through the compost, which have stopped the compost process because the worms are having trouble chomping through it.


The smell was vile, and I was trying to break up the lumps as I went.  This time I kept the Girls away,  as I didn't want them eating the worms here - I wanted the worms in the compost bin!     I emptied the poo trays to provide some extra dry matter in between layers,  and eventually it was done.  Carpets put on the top of all bins - on top of the compost I mean - to help generate some warmth,  and I came in for a well deserved cup of tea.


We've fenced off the vegetable patch now, as it has a lot of compost on it and I read somewhere that it isn't a good idea to let your chooks on to compost.  No idea why, but don't want to take any chances.  The Girls are not amused.

Goodbye Dinners

We despatched the last four Dinner chickens on Monday. We're having 2, and Other Chap is having 2.  


They were meant to be done before Christmas, but the snow made it impractical.  They were 33 weeks old, which is rather older than ideal.,and huge. The dressed out weight is over 6lb.  We're roasting one tonight; if it's a bit tough then we'll make proper coq au vin  (proper as in a recipe designed for ancient old cock birds) with the other. 


I don't find it gets any easier.  We rarely eat chicken now, unless it is one of our own.   I always remind myself that at least I'm eating a bird which has had a good and happy life.  I also like the joy of raising them, right from setting our Girls eggs in the Incubator, through the hatching and rearing, and watching them grow.  Without the Dinner chickens we wouldn't need Roo,  and we wouldn't need our beautiful breeding Girls.   

And we don't waste any of it.    In the BC (Before Chickens) days,  I wouldn't think twice about cooking a chicken and only eating the breast,  or chucking out some past-it's-use-by date chicken breast.   I try to be equally rigorous with any meat we eat now, whatever the animal.


So, our plan is for a minimum of:
- roast chicken (but eating only a breast)
- something delicious with the other breast and maybe the thighs
- chicken fajitas with the legs
- risotto or similar with the remains
- stock

Girls Don't Like The Noise

The Tree surgeons are here.

Girls were shut in, and all their fencing dismantled.  They really didn't like the noise.  Delilah and Milly (the Ancient and the SecondOldest of the flock) took themselves up the steps and into the Cube for refuge.  Delilah doesn't lay any more, so we know she wasn't visiting the nest box.

The poor old greengage tree is no more.  It didn't take long.    It's very sad taking out trees, even if they are "just" fruit trees.   It really was time for it to go.  Even on a ladder and using our super-extended picker, it was difficult to reach the fruit.

It hasn't made as big a difference to the look of the fenceline as I expected - which is a good thing.

We're keeping the logs. They won't be ready to burn until next winter, of course, as they have to season. 


Work has started on thinning the crown of our Russet apple tree. I can't watch.

The Girls Help Out

The Tree Surgeon is coming on Monday to deal with the fruit trees, so we spent some time today moving things which would be in the way.

First up, the Ferns from the shady part of the garden,  and one of those paired-seat things from under the apple tree.   The Girls shouted encouragement from their free range area,

Next, in the Girls free ranging area, we started moving the other Cube. The Girls got very excited and came to help.   I put ome tracks down - a removable garden path - and these had to be inspected. Although the Girls have had free access to the land on which the tracks now sat,  they were very interested in the gaps between the tracks.

They were all over us, and trying to get in and under the Cube as we moved it.  Two of the girls started excavating the area which had been under the cube and that they hadn't been able to get to before.

We parked the Cube, resting it on a raised bed.  Custard got under the CIbe run, and decided to climb the CUbe ladder.  She couldn't understand why the door to the Cube itself was shut.   We got her out, and moved the Cube so the run rested on the ground.

I then took the opportunity to rake up the debris from one of the beds that the Girls have been clearing for us.  As I raked and put the rakings in a box, the Girls couldn't contain their excitement.  They were trying to excavate the box to see what was in there. They were on my rake, under my rake, and then back in the Bed to clear it some more.

I love my chickens.

Proper Pork Scratchings

Horrible things when you buy them in those little packets in the pub.

Had some hand made ones at the Real Food Festival - telll a lie, it was the Ideal Home because my SIL was there - and they were lovely.


When we make sausages, we usually get the belly pork with skin and on the bones, so we can make cracklingng and spare ribs.   This time we decided to try making crackling.

It's delicious.  Like crackling but better.

 

Pork scratchings

DH is making sausages again today,  the pork from thebuttsfarmshop arrived this morning.    We got belly pork on the bone and complete with rind,  so we're marinading the ribs (spare ribs) for dinner on Saturday,  and we're making pork scratchings with the rind.


We usually make crackling when we have rind, but thought pork scratchings woud make a change.


We've used smoked salt on a few of them, so it will be interesting to see what they taste like.


They've had the oven part of the cooking.  We'll do the finishing deep-frying when the sausages are made. 


Mmm. Can't wait.

To Done

• Made Dentist appointment
• Been to Dentist
• Made Cat vet appointment
• Been to Vet

My todo list is now two sheets of A4 paper.   I remember now hy I always used to do the things that could be done quickly rather than write them on a to do list.  

I'll get back into that habit, I think.

 
 
 
 
 

Tree Surgery

We have a number of fruit trees in the garden.  When we moved here, 13 years ago, there were 3 very old apple trees, and ancient plum, greengage, pear and cherry trees.     Not long after we moved in, we employed the services of a proper, qaualified and insured, tree surgeon to sort the trees out.

It was awful. 

We didn't realise at the time, being new to trees never mind fruit trees.  Yes, they tidied the trees up. But they cut away a lot of the accessible branches.

Now we have trees which are too tall, and where a lot of the fruit bearing branches are way, way, waaaaaay out of reach.   We decided to try a tree surgeon again.


So, a lovely chap called Mark came today.  Same tree surgeon we get our logs from.     We decided to have the poor old greengage out completely - no chance of getting fruit bearing branches anywhere in reach.     The three apples will be pruned as well, to reduce height and thin them out.  


I explained what happened last time.    Mark has said he will aim to leave the fruit bearing branches.


Goodness know what it'll cost...we should have the quote in a day or two.

Surprise moult

Did I mention that I kept finding vast quantities of orange feathers in (a) the poo trays, (b) the nest box and (c) the run?

It's Custard.  She has Borg-inspired technology on one side of her neck, which closer inspection shows to be new feather shafts.  So, I can assume she's not being pecked.

I am surprised that she's moulting though.  She was only hatched in 2010, same time as Florence, TIlda and Roobarb.  Mind you, she did start laying at a remarkable young age, so maybe she's on some sort of accelerated development.

I'm just watching them through the kitchen window, it's one of those rare moments when all of them are together:  8 fluffy bottoms.  I love my chooks.

Double take

Lily manages to escape frequently.   She flies over the netting, despite having a newly-clipped wing,  or she just finds a teeny tiny gap and squeezes and squozes until she gets through.

I found one of her gaps yesterday, and blocked it up with a large piece of concrete edging.  I was a little concerned that it might fall and flatten an unsuspecting chook, so I wiggled and woggled it until I was reasonably sure it was safe.   She didn't get out at all yesterday,

This morning I as sitting by the french windows in the kitchen, having a cup of tea and some leftover christmas cake.  I was studying the crossword, but I still saw her out of the corner of my eye.  I looked up, and Lily marched across the paving in front of the window.   I sighed, and got on with my crossword.

Then I saw a darker shape out of the corner of my eye.  I did a double take as I saw Milly looking in the french window at me.   It took a few seconds for my brain to compute that Milly  was out as well.  As I was trying to work this out,   I saw Tilda on the patio as well!

I rushed out, offering corn to them (as a reward for coming to see me) . Milly crouched (I don't remember the last time she did that for me!).  I looked around the fencing and saw that  Lily had managed to dislodge the fencing from the Edging stone.  Cheeky monkey.

All three girls let themselves be caught and returned,  and the gao has been repaired.   Not sure how long it will last.

Tilda and Milly were so excited to be out, both of them left me a present on the patio - one on the mat.   Bless 'em. Our outside tap is turned off at the mains at the moment, because we're getting severe frosts. 

Another new egg!

Yesterday I found a small brown egg in the Run.  I guessed it might belong to 'Tilda, as she has been crouching for me lately.

This morning, I found another small egg, off-white this time, in the nest box,  and 'Tilda was in the Cube.  She came to see me as I was collecting the eggs, and sat and let me stroke her 

So, the evidence suggests the nestbox egg was Tilda's. But it isn't the same as the one I found in the Run,  so does one of them actually belong to Roobarb (the only other yet-to-lay Girl)?    Roobarb is showing no signs of laying..she doesn't crouch.


I expect we'll find out eventually.


Oh, and I also found lots - and lots - of feathers in the poo trays and some in the Run.  I know from the colour that they belong to either 'Tilda or Custard, but I can't tell which one.   Both are too young to moult (I would have thought?).   


Another thing to keep an eye on.

Out of the Blue

A blue egg in the nestbox this morning!

Milly's first egg for.... ages!

To Do

1) Make dentist checkup appointments for self and DH
2) Make Vet appointment for cats for annual check and boosters

I am very aware that in the time it has taken me to write that down, I could have made both sets of appointments.    

Procrastination is such a thief of time,  and I usually DO little things like this instead of writing a "do" list, for that very reason.

But I've been needing to do both of these since before Christmas, and I haven't done them.  Have no idea why I'm procrastinating, so I thought I'd write them here and embarrass myself into Making Those Calls.

Crouching

'Tilda, my lovely less-able-bodied chicken, has started crouching for me!   
She has a bit of trouble getting off the perches: she waits until there are no other chickens around, then she leans forward and lets gravity take control, bouncing a little when she hits the Aubiose (I've piled it up to help break her falls).  So, when I let them out in the morning, I always go and gently pick her up and place her on the ground.  


In recent weeks, she's taken to shaking her body and fluffing herself up afterwards, as hens do after they have received attention from a Roo.    A couple of days ago, when she was on the floor and I approached,  she crouched! I stroked her, she did  the usual post-coital rearranging of her feathers, and walked off quite happily.   She now crouches every time I go near her.


Florence has started crouching again as well, so maybe she's coming back into lay after a short break.


Lily, who has been laying reasonably regularly for the last couple of weeks since she emerged, beautifully re-feathered, from her moult, has also started crouching again.  But sometimes - especially when she has escaped and I am trying to catch her - she manages to crouch but still run whilst crouching. Quite an achievement!

Salami update

The Salami seems to be progressing well.  It's shrinking and shrivelling a bit, so something is definitely happening.

We haven't had any mould on the outside yet. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  The instructions say that mould can just be wiped off - so we aren't sure if mould is expected or just a possibility.  It's quite free and cool  and dry air in the loft, so the conditions aren't really right for mould development.

We tried one of the little "Peperami" style salamis a couple of days ago. Teh flavour was OK, but I didn't really like the ratio of inside to outside.  But I don't like Peperami either, for the same reason.

So I guess it's all going according to plan...

Pogo has disappeared

DH just phoned me from the Allotment. One of our Laydees-who-Lay, Pogo, has disappeared.  No signes of a struggle inside out Hen Pen, but feathers some distance away.

Poor little girl. She and her sistwers were the first chicks we raised ourselves, and from our own eggs. She was the girl who had an injured leg last year, and who we carefuly nurtured back to full health.  So very sad.


We don't know if something got in to the pen and got her,  or whether she managed to fly out and was got that way.   The hen pen is surrounded by Heras fencing, which is partially buried.  And the Heras fencing is surrounded by working electric fencing.    It was unlikely to be a fox, as no one else was taken and there was no carnage.

I hope the end was quick for her.

Stampede!

Yesterday I let the Girls out of the Run and onto our "lawn" (a bit of green grass outside the kitchen window which we try to keep chicken free) because their free range area is still mostly snow covered and I thought they'd enjoy the grass.


I was on tenterhooks, as it is potentially possible for them to escape.. they would need to find their way round to the other side of the ouse, past the waterbutts, along the bed, and right into the bottom to enable Wash and Izzy to get from the front garden to the back garden without having to leap onto and over the fence.


After an hour or so of grazing, I put them back into their own area,  and rummaged around in the shed to find the last remaining piece of netting. This is now rigged up to prevent them from accessing the catgap.    


This morning when I let them out, there was a stampede. Seven chooks came rushing out, along the path, and onto the "lawn".    Tilda stayed behind to eat from the feeders in the run in peace.


Tomorrow, if we keep the arrangement in place, I'll try and get DH to let them out, and I'll stand by with the camera.

Building the beehive

DH makes me smile.

The beehives (and other bee bits) arrived, beautifully packed into a large box, on Christmas Eve.   DH wanted to unpack.  I wasn't sure this was a good idea: it was just before Christmas, we had people coming, and it seemed to me that two beehives (and other bee bits) packed neatly into one box was less trouble than two beehives (and other bee bits) unpacked.

The box was too heavy (alledgedly) to carry upstairs.  I offered to help, but apparently this wasn't a good idea.  DH suggested unpacking it, carrying the stuff upstairs,  and then packing it up again.  I wasn't sure this was a good idea: in my experience of unpacking well-packed boxes, it's usually impossible to repack them. Even with photos taken.

DH suggested that unpacking them and then partially building them would be a good idea, as they woudn't take up much space that wayl the frames could go inside the boxes and supers,  they would be easier to move than a heavy box or lots of unboxed bits.  

Realising that this was not going to end until the box was unpacked, I agreed.  DH unpacked everything.


Sometime later, DH came downstairs and suggested that it might be a good idea to start glueing the bits of hive that needed gluieng. Just to the point where they needed painting, of course.  Apparently, if he was making them up to store them, he might as well be glueing them.

He glued them.


Next it was the paint.  DH suggested we might as well get the paint. Or at least choose the colour.    He chose the colour, I agreed to it. Having chosen the colour, apparently we might as well get it.  Just so we had it ready, for when it was time to paint them.  

We got the paint.


Now that we had the paint, and the hives were partially glued, we might as well paint them. Then he could finish the glueing.

Here's a partially glued super...
 
..now partially painted...

 
Isabelle decided to inspect before painting...

...and then Washburn decided to check the quality of the paint job..

Sprouting off

For the first time EVER (that is, in my adult life since I've been making my own Christmas menu choices),  sprouts will be making an appearance on the Christmas Lunch table.

Sprouts are one of the (many) hated-things I've been trying to train myself to tolerate.   I've succeeded - if the sprouts are fresh and are lightly steamed so they are still a but crunchy.


Frozen sprouts, however they are cooked, still have tht horrible metallic aftertaste.  And fresh sprouts boiled are still inedible.


I've even managed to eat fresh sprouts raw.  Next year (I don't mean at Christmas, I like to try these things out well in advance) I'll progress to trying other ways of cooking sprouts. The TV chefs seem to have lots of ideas,  and I'm looking forward to trying them. But this year, being a First,  I wanted to have sprouts in all their naturally sprouty glory.

Food heroes - The Traditional Beef Company

For the last umpteen years we've bought most of our beef from online supplier Donald Russell.  I love their stuff, superb quality. (We buy our mutton and lamb, and Pork, from other specialist suppliers).  We've tried other suppliers  of beef,from time to time, but have always gone back to Donald Russell because of the quality of the product and the excellent service.

This year we were at the Good Food show at Olympia, and tasted some slow roasted silverside from the Traditional Beef Company,  a supplier we hadn't previously tried.   The beef was excellent, and we bought various items. - a silverside joint,  some Ribeye steaks, some shin for slow cooking   The chap on the stall was the farmer, Robin, and he was lovely. Very passionate about his product.  Having followed his instructions on slow roasting the silverside, resulting in the most juicy and tender non-Christmas cut we'd ever eaten, (and absolutely incredibly moist when cold as well!)  we decided to buy our christmas beef from them this year.

I ordered early, and explained that it was a Christmas order, so elivery was scheduled for w/c 20 December.  I emailed them on Friday last week, to check that everything was OK, and I received an email back saying that  delivery would be on Monday or Tuesday.  I found this a bit odd - how could meat be delivered by courier on Monday, as there wouldn't be a pickup on Sunday. However, I just assumed it would be Tuesday.


On Saturday, the snow which had already reappeared in parts of the country, reached us.  



No delivery on Monday (which wasn't a surprise),  and at lunchtime Tuesday I decided to phone them to check. Just to make sure.   I was thinking that, worst case, I could probably drive there and collect - but if I was going to do that, I'd need to knowso I could make suitable arrangements .  Or if that wasn't going to be possible, at least we'd know and would have time to go and buy something.

Phoned - no answer.  Not worried - they were probably busy.packing orders.   Phoned later, and got Robin's wife on the phone.  Asked about my delivery, and she said they were a day behind because tit snowed heavily on Saturday  and theywere snowed in at the weekend.... but Robin is doing the deliveries himself.   I expressed surprise at this, and said I had assumed they would use a courier - she explained that normally they do,  but they are so remote that they haven't been able to get a courier to come,  and at the moment the couriers can't guarantee a timely delivery so even if they got the boxes to the courier, they couldn't be sure it would get delivered in time.

Thinking she meant Robin was making local deliveries, I said where I was, and offered to meet him somewhere.  She explained that they've borrowed a landrover so they can get off their farm and out of the village,   and Robin is doing all the deliveries. Everywhere. And not to worry, my beef would definitely be here by Christmas.


And it is. It was delivered, personally, today

What a fantastic couple!

Getting braver

It's warmer today. For the second day running, the Girls' drinkers haven't been frozen.  It's lunchtime now, and we've reached +1.

Yesterday I emptied the poo trays, and relined them with newspaper and Aubiose (from the nest box).  I then filled up the nest box using a product called Hempbed, which my supplier (Graham from Pawsnclaws) provided as Aubiose isn't available at the moment.  I also topped up the floor of the run.  I don't normally do this - I prefer to empty out and then put fresh in, but:

(a) It's been really cold
(b) the Aubiose that was on the floor was in quite good condition, just getting a bit sparse (because the girls tend to excavate it, often out of the run)
(c) Have you seen the snow?

The Hempbed, a Dutch product, is similar and yet very different to Aubiose/Hemcore.  It's similar in size to Aubiose,  but  feels much harder.   It smells lovely - not Citronella (like Hemcore)..I can't put my finger (or my nose) on what the smell is. Eucalyptus perhaps?

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked.


So, this morning, ALL the girls came out of the run. Eventually.  It's the first time they've all been out since the snow came last Saturday.  Even Milly and Delilah came out. 

They keep scaring themselves.   Every so often I catch them all, necks erect, all pointed in the same direction, staring at something.  There hasn't been anything there that I can see.

Of course, they haven't all stayed out together long enough for me to get a photo.  I will keep trying.

Roobarb has taken to standing in the snow on one leg. Perfectly still, like a hen on a pole. 

I love my chooks.

Minus 13.5

That's what our outside thermometer is reading.

Chickens in the Snow 2. The three wise hens.

Meanwhile, 'Tilda, Custard and Roobarb came out to watch Lily's exploits