Vitamix, continued

I placed my order with Lakeland.

The machine they offer (the Aspire) has a smaller jug supplied than standard, and only a 5 year guarantee instead of hte 7 year guarantee available on the next model up. Other than that, the spec looked the same.  I emailed Customer Services at Vitamix to check, and they confirmed this.

When the machine arrived, I left it in the box on the worktop: I wasn't sure I had done the right thing. (Mind you, I did the same with the Magimix, and that turned out to be a good investment).   Eventually, I unpacked it.  I read the recipe book that came with it.  

I felt foolish.

I started by making a smoothie with a couple of ripe nectarines. Just nectarines and a bit of ice.  Success!   Delicious.(Mind you, nectarines are delicious, so no surprise).

Cleaning the container really was as easy as suggested.

Making dinner and needing a chopped onion, I used the Vitamix.  If I'm only chopping one onion, I do it by hand as it's too much hassle cleaning the processor.   Very good, especially as I also used it to chop carrot and chop a courgette.

I thought I'd try the recipe book's "Vanilla Pudding", which looked like custard to me.  Disaster.

On a trip to Costco, I bought a bag of  frozen fuit (peaches etc).   I made a frozen fruit sorbet.   Very tasty, but gave me brain freeze.

Carrot soup... qualified success.  In the recipe book, they cook the carrot first.  I felt that if I did this, I wouldn't really be getting that much benefit from the Vitamix, so I tried it with raw carrot.  It worked reasonably well, but wasn't as smooth as I would like.  (I later discovered the Vitamix Lady's website,  and she explained a bit about bittiness and how to stop it).


Hot chocolate. Success! (Although I could have got equally good results by switching on the coffee machine and using the milk frother)

Fresh tomato sauce (Marinara Sauce).  Oh. My. God.  This tasted fantastic when I made it and it was cold. Really fresh, really bright.  Super Success!  It was remiscent of the best tomato we'd had for bruschetta at our local Italian restaurant.     Then I added it to meatballs and baked in the oven for 30 mins.  Qualified Success. It tasted OK, but it had lost a lot of its freshness.

Angel Delight. Success!   I hadn't eaten Angel Delight for years, then my step daughter mentioned it (we used to eat a packet between us when she was younger).   The blitzclean didn't entirely work on Angel Delight though, I had to use my fingers to loosen the stuff at the top of the conainer.  (And, to be fair, Angel Delight is so eay to whip up that I could have done it with a fork).

"Grated" cheese: Success!

Grated Parmesan - not so great.   Because the V. only chops, rather than grates, I ended up with little pieces of parmesan instead of fluffy gratings. Magimix (or hand grater) wins on that.

Yorkshire pudding batter: Success!  I blitzed the egg, milk, water, salt, pepper, for a few seconds,  and then added the (unsifted) flour.   I was hoping this would work because it would be slightly easier to clean up than using a bowl and whisk,   and if I could use unsifted flour that was an added advantage.  I left it to stand so it idn't have too much air in it.

And yesterday we had Roast Pork again, finishing our last pork joint before we collect the next half-pig on Friday.    It took about 5 seconds to do the gravy.  In fact, it was overly thick, more like soup (which, I suppose, it was).  Next time I'll use fewer vegetables in the processing, which has the added benefit of leaving more for me to eat with my dinner),  or I'll add more liquid.   I froze some of this to have as soup,  and some of it to use as a base for gravy next time we have something like Toad in the Hole.

Pureed Cauliflower - hmmm. Not a success, but I don't think the fault lies with the Vitamix.  It did a fnatastic job of puree-ing ny cauiflower and whipping it up to a silky consistency.  However, I didn't like the taste (and I love cauliflower), and the texture was just too weird.   

I've used the Vitamix more than once a day.   For the roast dinner I used it for three things.

There wasn't enough room on my main worktop for this AND the Magimix AND the Mixer.  I've moved the Magimix over to another worktop, so it's still accessible.   The Magimix won't be used for chopping or blending any more,  but it will still be used when I have lots of stuff to slice.

It's still too early to say whether it was a good investment, but I am pleased with it. I won't be making use of Lakeland's no quibble return facility.

First steps in integration

The Littlees are very happy to be allowed to roam in the Big Girls area.  The area is so large, and U shaped, htat it's easy for them to scratch around without the Big Girls realising they are there (or so the Big Girls can pretend they haven't realised, so they don't have to do anything about it). It's not so great the other way around.

When the Big Girls invade the Littlees area, there is nothing the Littlees can do.  Lotti (Exchequer Leghorn) did try and peck Milly (Vicious Old Bag, Cream Legbar) to get her away from the food, but Milly just pecked back and Lotti ran away.

I made a small gap in the fence (where two runs of netting meet) that was big enough to let the Littlees through, but small enought o hinder the Biggees going the other way.    That worked well. For a while.  

This morning, Lotti and Poppy were scratching around, in the Big Girls (BGs)  area, in sight of the BGs.  Everything was fine.    A little while later, the BGs had free ranged round to the Gap.  Roobarb decided she was going through.  She's not a small girl.  She squeezed and she squozed, and then she squoooozed, and eventually popped through.   Milly followed.  Custard, who is rather large and buxom,  tried and failed.  Later still, we saw that FLorence (Florence! She's huge, how did she get in there?!)  had joined them.  Custard tried again, and failed again.

Lotti and Poppy could see that their home had been invaded.  They couldn't work out how to get back.  I left everyone to it. Half an hour later, Lotti and POppy were still looking bothered, so I went and made a gap in a different part of the fence so they could get in. Then I kept an eye on things. 

3 Big Girls to 2 Littlees is still too much in favour of the BGs, but it's the best I can do without more manual interference.  I'll leave them like that for a while, until I have to go out.

I'd have preferred to have waited a couple more weeks tohave started this,  until the LIttlees were a bit more mature and Tilda wasn't mouting so much.   Trouble is I've no idea what the weather will bring, and I'd very much like to get them to the stage where they can all sleep together. 

Vitamix

My brother has had a Vitamix for years, and he goes on and on an on about how fantastic it is. 

Some years ago, I started to save the money to buy one for myself. I eventually saved enough, and planned to buy one at that year's Good Food Show (GFS). The Demo at the GFS was excellent... but I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on a...on a... on a blender.

In the intervening years, I've looked at them occasionally, and I've been very tempted. But it always comes down to how much?? for a blender??!!  and I couldn't do it.   I could absolutely see what a good machne it was,  and I was sure in the hierarchy of  kitchen appliances it was probably "worth" the money, but what it came down to in the end was a sneaking suspicion of would I really use it?

Besides, I have an excellent Mgimix food processor, which I use all the time. It sits on the worktop so it's within easy reach, and I use it for even small jobs like grating lots of cheese.  Would the Vtamix be any better than this?

A few months ago I was making very special gravy. This was superb gravy,  made with lots of vegetables that had sat under a pork joint for a long time. It was gravy which required the vegetabes to be pushed through a sieve or a mouli.  As usual, I used my hand mouli.   It occurred to me, as I was grinding away,  that this was the sort of thing which could be done well in a Vitamix.  The mouli stops the skins going through, the vitamix blitzes the skins as well.

Then Lakeland started to sell Vitamix.  This got me very interested, because of heir "No quibble guarantee", which meant that if I bought a Vitamix and didn't get on with it, I could take it back.  I still couldn't quite bring myself to spend the money, but I did find myself researchnig Vitamix prices, and looking at them on Ebay to see what they sell for.

Over the next month, each time I had a cooking task, I thought about whether it could be done quicker or better in a Vitamix.   Each time I used the Magimix, I took a moment to think about the Vitamix.    The area where the Vitamix looked like it would score over and over again, was the apparent ease of cleaning.   Not that the Magimix is difficult to clean,  but there are always several bots that need doing: the bowl, the lid, the pusher, the blade....   And I don't put it in the dishwasher because (in my experience) it makes the bowls brittle after a while.

Three weeks ago, I had another slow roast pork joint,  and another gravy session.   And that's when I decided to do it.

Allotment Babies

The Allotment Babies are also coming along well.   They are 14 weeks old, and are slower developing than the chicks from last year; I think that is partially to do with the lateness of hatching, and it's a good thing.

They are 14 weeks old. It's possible to tell that some are definitely cockerels, and some are definitely hens, but there are a lot where I'm just not sure.   It won't be long before it becomes obvious.

They've eaten all the grass, and so we are supplementing them with greens every day. There is a small amount of greenery in the cockerel pen, which is currently out of bounds to them. We have it ready so that we can separate the cockerels and hens before the hormones kick in.   I was expecting to have to do it this weekend, but it may be that we have a few more days before we need to separate them.  I don't want to accidentally put a girl in with the boys.

We'll probably open p the cockerel pen so that all the chicks can use it. Then we'll separate it again when necessary.  This means all of them will get the opportunity to eat the vegetation, and it'll mean the area won't be completely new to the cockerels when the time comes.

Yesterday when I went down to see them, one of the boys had got in with the Old Ladies.  I don't think it was anything hormonal, he was probably just looking to eat whatever they had to eat.   When I was poo picking, I realised (from the tiny pile of poo in the nest box) that he must have got stuck in there overnight, and he'd managed to go to bed in one of the nest boxes. Brave boy!

He isn't one of the ones which let me pick them up, so I couldn't catch him. He was also too stoopid to see the gap in the fence that I provided for him to get back.  What a palaver!  After 5 frustrating minutes,  I was tempted to leave him where he was. However,  I could see that the Old Ladies weren't too impressed with having someone new thrust upon them, so  I carried on trying to walk him out. Or catch him.   Eventually I had to open the fencing right up, and lobbed some corn in.  He came running up to near me, so I tried again. He went almost  to the gap, but then ran away.  We tried this a couple more times, and eventually he popped through the gap.

Yellow-Right-Ring is going to be stunning. Grey Ring is going to be gorgeous too, and has a pea comb.  I still think they are both boys , and we have room for only one.  Cross that bridge when we come to it.

I spent nearly a whole day last weekend cleaning and Poultry Shielding all the coops. Hopefully for the last time this year, unless we get a very sunny December day.

Where has the time gone?

Lotti (short for Borlotti, as her markings remind me of said beans) and Poppy are continuing to flourish.  They are getting bigger and heavier. It's not so noticeable with Lotti,who's a flyweight Exchequer Leghorn, but it is noticeable with Poppy who is an Australorp x Indian Game.   They've learned to fly up on to my outstretched arm, a la Falcon,  and I really notice it with Poppy.

They are both very vocal, but as they can only form parping sounds at the moment it's not a problem. Poppy is especially tame. Lotti pretends not to be: it has to be on her terms.

They continue to try and be part of the Big Girl flock at every opportunity.  When the netting separates the two flocks this works well. The Big Girls permit the Littlees to sit "next" to them, and generally pretend they can't see them.  The Littlees pretend the fence isn't there and they are all one happy flock - they have no real concept (yet) of trying to fight for  a place in the pecking order. 

The Littlees are 14 weeks old now, so we've started allowing more joint free ranging.  It generally goes OK, until the Big Girls decide to com and inspect the Littlees area.  The Big Girls come storming in, and the Littlees run away.   I've been trying to prevent that happening, by rearranging the two free range areas. This gives more joint fencing, and there are a couple of gaps in the fencing which are large enough for a Littlee to pop through but too small for the Big Girls.  I've also tried to shoo some of the big Girls out so the Littlees are only invaded by 1 or 2 hens at a time.

In preparation for the Next Big Step, the two free ranging areas are now set up so that I can open up the fruit cage to one or other or  both areas.  We'll be doing that shortly, opening it up to both sets, as it will be neutral ground on which they can meet. And there is lots to do,  and lots of places to shelter from being bullied. . Of course the concept of "neutral ground" is a bit lost on the Big Girls as they seem to think that everything belongs to them.

Tilda, my special-needs chicken, is moulting. She's not a happy bunny.  I've tried cheering her up with extra protein (out of sight of everyone else) in the form of fish flavoured cat food,  hard boiled eggs, tuna....   She is particularly aggressive when she encounters  Lotti or Poppy without a safety net.  I don't blame her: being bottom of 5 hens is bad enough,   being bottom of 7 would be worse. She has to try and assert herself.

Seeing the Littlees trying to join  up with the Big Girls makes me realise that I do need to let them integrate, even though I really want to keep them safe and happy.  Apart from anything else, they could do with extra feathered bodies in the coop to keep them warm as the nights get colder.

So, I'll enable more of the joint free ranging, and I'll aim to open up the fruit cage in a week or so.

Drowned rats

Yesterday the weather tool a slight turn for the worse, and the rain which we have been repeatedly promised for weeks finally arrived.

The Big Girls are fine. They have a lovely clear-roofed walk in run. Their current paddock arrangement lets them use the hedge against the back fence, and several dense shrubs.  They have no need to get wet at all.

The Littlees have a Cube which means they can shelter under it for the worst of the  weather, and they have a bed with several dense, small, shrubs which keep the weather off.  However, the Littlees haven't really seen rain before, and don't understand that their feathers aren't waterproof.

It was too late yesterday to go and find the winter covers, so I decided to do it first thing this morning.

First thing this morning, the rain was torrential.  Still, it meant that the winter covers were needed more than ever, so I braved the rain to go and find them in the shed.   It was too wet to try and do both runs,  so I decided to do the Littlees.

It took a bit longer than I expected, mainly because (a) I hadn't cut the cover to fit in advance and (b) the punched holes weren't in the right places.   Fortunately I had bought a load of Klingons in the past, and a rummage in a cupboard meant I could find four of them. 

The rain got heavier.  DH offered to come and help, but I declined.  Firstly, I was wearing his rain hat as I don't have one of my own;  and secondly,  doing it myself meant I could take my time and tweak it here and there and redo the clips as often as necessary to get it right.

My head was dry, but the rest of me was saturated.  The Littlees still haven't understood the need to keep dry so the 3 of us look like drowned rats.

I may have to get them in later and hairdryer them.

Flock animals

Poppy (new Wlesh Black/Australorp) and Lotti (Exchequer Leghorn) are so lovely, they have already carved out little soft spots for themselves.

Poppy is a really gentle friendly girl. Right from hatching, she was one of the four chicks that clamoured to be picked up.  I've continued to develop this by frequent pick-ups, each rewarded with a treat.  I've also encouraged her to come and see me when I am sitting outside,  and she gets a reward each time she comes into the kitchen to find me (something which I suspect I will regret later).

Lotti is a typical Leghorn. Very skittish and flighty.  She doesn't want to be picked up, thank you. However, she does want to come and land on me.  She's been learning to leap and land on my arm, bird-of-prey style.  I had to do this because her previous habit was aiming herself at Poppy on my arm, or landing willynilly on my head. Highly amusing, but it was wearing a bit thin.   Lotti jas a deformed foot, which doesn't impede her running around or flying, but it does mean she can't grip when she's trying to perch on something.

They roam around the garden together, and snuggle up together for rests.  Occasionally their roaming takes them close to the netting which separates them from the Big Girls.   The Big Girls do their best to ignore the Littlees, but every so often we hear a commotion resulting from one of the Biggees launching themself furiously at the netting, and scaring off the Littlees.   There have been a couple of sharp pecks, but usually the Littlees stay just out of range.

For the last few days I've temporarily opened up both free ranging areas, so they get half the garden each but can't get in to each others areas.   I don't want to do any joint free ranging until the Littlees reach point of lay (or maybe ever) where they might be grown up enough mentally to make a stand.  But this does give both sets some new areas to explore, and they do come across each other at the Borders every so often.

Yesterday, and again today,  I noticed that Poppy and Lotti were snuggled together for a rest - but along one of the borders.  Miles away from where they normally rest.   On the other side of the border, several of the Biggees were also having a rest. 

I don't, for a moment, think the Biggees have accepted the Littlees.  I think it was just a warm day, and everyone was chilling out.  The Littlees (presumably) wanted to feel part of a bigger flock; and the Biggees were (I suspect) pretending they hadn't noticed.

It was rather sweet.

Testing the power of social networks

A guy I used to work with had a baby daughter who had a brain tumour, and died aged 3. To try and help other children, Rob and his wife set up a charity called "Anna's Hope". Story here: http://annas-hope.co.uk/about/

Anna's Hope is one of 25 charities (out of 3500 applications) who has been put forward to win a £250K house. The eventual winner will be chosen by public online vote, closing on 20th September. The winner will be the one who has the most contacts and makes best use of social media .

Rob is competing against much bigger charities with bigger networks and more resources, so we're trying to spread the word. If you would like to help, please vote
http://40.persimmonhomes.com/charity?id=91

Anyone from anywhere in the world can vote. You can vote multiple times, but only once per day. (if you have a Smartphone, you may be able to vote from that in addition to your desktop/laptop, I'm not sure how they are doing the once a day restriction).

Winning the house means that Anna's hope will reach its target of £1m and be able to set up the First Neuro Rehabilitation Service in the UK for Children with Brain Tumours

Thanks for reading.

Preserv

It's been a really mixed year for garden produce. Of course last year was outstanding, so the comparison is all the more stark.

No Quince; low volme of raspberries and strawberries, and those we did have just didn't have much flavour.  A reduced number of apples, and the crop has been devastated by the blasted parakeets;  very few pears, and those have also been stolen by the parakeets.   Sweetcorn did reasonably well; courgettes were good;  tomaotes - much fewer than usual garlic, less than usual. Blackcurrants in abundance. Peas - a small crop; salad leaves - ok, cucumber - ok. Chillies were good. The cherry crop was abysmal.  Basil failed completely. Pumpkins and squash - we have quite a few, haven't tried them yet.

Yesterday DH picked the last of the tomatoes, and he's turning them into passata today.  Last year we produced more jars than I can count.  This year, many of those hars are sitting empty in the cupboard.

We had some wind which had knocked over many of the sweetcorn plants.  I picked them yesterday, then blanched and froze the cobs. 

The Autumn raspberries have been cropping well, and these are much more full of flavour - all that late sunshine.

The hostas have been glorious. Not edible of course, but lovely nonetheless. 

And now we're clearing vegetable beds, cleaning the greenhouse,  doing the autunmn pruning, and generally getting ready for winter.

Next year will, I hope, be better.

The Eyes have it

Well, that was surprisingly easy.

It was a bit odd on the first afternoon and evening.  The next morning I put on my new specs and didn't really think about it too much. No problem descending the stairs (I realised later that I already move my head -rather than my eyes- down to see where I am going, so no issues there).   I'm still needing to make minor adjustments ot my head position when I am reading, but it's barely noticeable.

I'm off to the opticians today to choose my "free" second pair.   And to get my prescription so I can get my old pair re-lensed,  I'm keen to use Cillary Blue again after DH's great experience with them earlier this year.

Eye, eye

Just picked up my new specs, with my first ever pair of varifocal lenses in.

Normal vision is great. It's going to take me a day or two to get used to moving my head (and not overmoving it) to look at things slightly to the side. Or down.

Haven't tried stairs yet.. The road near the opticians was being dug-up, and that was interesting enough for my first trial.

So far, not as difficult as I expected it to be.

Scrape

I'm officially getting old now.  I've reached the age where I need varifocals.

It's been coming for a few years.  When I was in my early 40s, my optician told me that at some point (probably in the then  next year) I'd find that I was having a bit of difficulty reading.   Each year I went back for my eye test, and each year the optician expressed surprise that It hadn't happened.

A couple of years ago, I tried to read something one morning and found I couldn't focus on the page.  A bit later in the day, it was fine.   The same thing happened one evening.   At my next appointment, my optician confirmed that it was nearly time.   She explained the pros and cons of varifocals; however, the incidences of not being able to read were very spaced out,  and I decided to carry on for a while, as the reading problem was very intermittent and wasn't causing any problems.

And then a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't intermittent any more.  I was fine reading my 'puter,  I was fine when there was contrast.  But I was struggling to read the crossword clue numbers in the newspaper, and the print on jars,  and I had to keep adjusting the text size on my Kindle. (What a fantastic thing to be able to do. When my eyes are tired, I make the text bigger. When my eyes are OK, I make the text smaller!).  I can't abide it when people deny they are having sight or hearing problems, so on my next visit to town I called in to the optician to choose some glasses.  I had to have another sight test as I felt my eyes had deteriorated significantly (in the reading capability) and if I was going to get new specs it should be with the latest prescription.

Some time later I emerged and went back to my car.  I was getting in when a man appeared and asked me to take a look at my car.  He pointed to the rear quarter. "Was that there when you left the car?" he asked, indicating a dent and scrape.   No, it hadn't been. My poor car.   He then went on to tell me that he and his passenger had been sitting in the car in front of mine and had heard a crash. They then saw the car behind me continue to force its way out of the space by damaging my car.  The driver drove off without stopping.

He gave me his details, and told me to report it to a local police station.   I was in a bit of shock.   I hadn't noticed, I would have driven home and not noticed until I next passed the back of the car.   I would have had to pay to get it fixed, or lose my no claims discount.  Thank goodness there were witnesses!  I thanked him profusely,  and went to the police station to make my report.

I phoned the insurance company and told them about it.  There are a lot of insurance scams going on, so they asked a lot of questions.   They confirned that the other vehicle was insured, so they would start the process.    Again I was thankful that someone had witnessed the incident and had given me the information.

Some days later, the Constable to whom I reported the incident phoned me.  The driver has 24 hours to report an accident, and no report was received.  (That surprised me a bit, especially as the other driver's insurance company would have been contacted: surely that would have prompted them to 'fess up.)   He had spoken to the witnesses, who confirmed the details. And there was CCTV footage which showed the entire incident.   How lucky was that?!

What a rotten thing for the other driver to have done.   If they had waited for me (or left their details), I would not have been angry, it's just a car after all and it can be fixed. But the fact that they drove off and then failed to report it really has made me cross.   I think it's a s*itty thing to do to someone.

All the hassle (driving to the Police station, the Police report takes quite a while to fill in;  all the extra time on the phone to the Insurance company because it was a hit-and-run,); all the worry of what would happen; all the Police time taken up with this,  the witnesses time;   and what if I hadn't been lucky enough to have witnesses? The driver wasn't to know that.    I hope they throw the book at her.

Baby Girls

The Baby Girls are getting on wonderfully.   We've moved the Cube (again) so that their fenced area includes their own personal flowerbed playground.  We  hacked down some Verbascum that were causing problems with the netting:They'd finished flowering anyway and, as I'm not a great fan of Verbascum,  I was happy to chop them down before the seed pods opened.  I've  no idea where these came from as they only appeared last year and they are now trying to out compete the equally enormous (but much loved by me) Hollyhocks.  I did resist taking the opportunity of chopping down a neighbouring Verbascum who wasn't actually in the way:   I don't hate Verbascum, I'm just not that keen on them.

I also had to prune my Rosemary, which she needed anyway;  and the Bay tree had to have a trim.

The Welsh Black girl continues to be a happy little thing,  pleased to be picked up (usually rewarded, of course) unless she is On A Mission.  The Exchequer doesn't like to be picked up thank you,  but if I have WB on one hand,  the Exchequer launches herself to land either on my head,  or on the WB. This is highly amusing for me, although not the WB,  but I can see this may be less smile inducing as she gets bigger.

Yesterday as she launched herself from the ground I put my arm out; she changed trajectory mid flapflap and landed delicately on my arm.    We did a couple more of these during the day,  I'm looking forward to seeing whether she does the same today.

I still haven't settled on names.

I find myself looking at these two apparently content little girls, and thinking about what will happen when they are old enough to go in with the Big Girls.   Two years ago I had four same-hatchlings who had grown up together and got on well.... and when they were introduced to the Big Girls and had to get established in the pecking order, things changed.  'Tilda, our disabled chicken, started getting picked on, and remains hen pecked today;  Custard turned into a spiteful old bag,  actively seeking out Tilda to bully her; Florence doesn't go quite that far, but asserts her dominance over Tilda at every opportunity; Roobarb, however,  gets on well with TIlda and I've only seen a rare quick tap from her. 

I look at my happy new girls and I find myself thinking maybe keep them as two flocks   II  certainly won't be in a hurry to integrate them, especially while Milly (superbitch) rules the other roost.  She's the one from whom the others learnt to be bullies.

Even poor Tilda turned into a frenzied moster the other day: one of the Littlees escaped and walked near to here Tilda was sunbathing, on the other side of the fencing.   I didn't keep any of last year's hatch because I didn't want to put Tilda through integration

I wasn't going to be adding to the flock this year... but we had to buy-in fertile eggs this year, and the chap I bought from also has Exchequers.   I thought about it, thought about Tilda, and resisted the temptation.  But then the incubator failed,  and we had to go back for a second batch.    Still I resisted, and asked just for 20 Welsh Black eggs.

I collected the eggs this time. When I got there, he didn't have 20 eggs available, he only had 17. I saw it as a (convenient) sign from fate, and I  asked him to add two exchequer eggs.  Only 2. I didn't get 3 and round it up to 20,  I just got two in the hope that one or both would be a girl.  If neither was a girl, well, I wouldn't be keeping any of the hatch then. I'd leave it to Fate.

And here we are.

Goodbye Ruby

Ruby, our remaining Welsh Black lady; sister of Rose, who had a prolapse earlier this year; mother or Aunt of my Garden Girl, Roobarb.  Our lovely Ruby had to be culled today.

She hadn't been herself for a little while.  She looked physically fine,  no problems around the vent, no obvious signs of injury.  She laid softees two days apart, so initially we thought that might be the problem.   We gave her nutridrops, which seemed to perk her up a bit,  gave her water.   She didn't seem ill, just not right.  She let us pick her up, which was odd to start with.

A couple of days ago, DH came home from the allotment. He said that he thought Ruby was blind, in one or both eyes.    Each day, we gave her water, showed her the feed. She didn't seem to want to eat or drink.  When we went to see the chicks the other night, I found her outside the henhouse. I lifted her in, but I realised that she probably couldn't see to get in at night.

With that realisation, we looked at options.   We could, potentially, bring her home and hose her here, where we could put her to bed and help her out each day.  However, our Garden Girls are not the most welcoming, and I couldn't see them tolerating her.  That wouldn't be fair on her.

It became clear that we were going to have to cull her, sooner or later.  It's one thing to be living on the allotment now, while it's warm, but it wasn't fair on her if the weather took a turn for the worse.    It's hard to decide whether a hen is sitting quietly enjoying the sunshine, or whether she was sitting quietly waiting to fade away.   Her comb and wattles were still very red. She didn't want to drink.

This morning, we discussed it again.  We didn't want to do it, but we didn't want to not do it and have Ruby die slowly.  We watched her while we went about our jobs.  In the end, it came down to whether we would do the deed today, tomorrow, Wednesday...   Whatever day, the end result would be the same. If not today, the need to do it would be hanging over us - especially over DH who does the deed.

In the end, we decided to do it today. It was a lovely sunny day, she'd been sitting quietly in the sun and so it would be better than waiting until she was  in extremis.  I offered to do it, as poor DH always ends up with this job and he hates it.  DH declined my offer.

I cried. I always cry. I was crying because we were saying goodbye to our lovely girl.   I stood with DH and Ruby while it was done.

It never gets easier. Even when it's for the best.

 

Babies - update

We paused Doctor Who last night, to drive to the Allotment to check on the CHicks before it got too dark find any lost ones.  There weren't any. Lost ones, I mean. They were all tucked up in the shed, in two distinct groups.

The shed has a long perch along the length, and a perch across the width.  It also has roosting bars in one corner, at a much lower level,    and lots of floor space.  As the birds decide they want to perch, we will add more roosting bars.  Eventually they will all migrate to the perches.

One group were on roosting bars, with two birds perching on the pole above the roosting bars. The other group were in the diagonally opposite corner, on the floor, with one bird perched on the battery box.   DH will take a plank and bricks today, so they can rest there but not on the battery box.

***

This morning, back home, the Baby Girls were up bright and early.

I let the Big Girls out at about 8am, but couldn't let the Littlees out because there was no one around to supervise . We had taken all the chick netting to the allotment and hadn't brought any back. It's not much of a hardship as they have lots of fesh grass in their run. 

After my shower, I let them out and they ran gleefully (yes, gleefully) to the flowerbed. They've been busy excavating it since then.   Distraction is a good technique for helping them not to fret about their missing brothers and sisters.

Back home

Back home we started to sort out the two little Girls.  We let them out to completely free range while we removed one section from their Cube (they still have 3m).  I raked the lawn, and then started to move water from two water butts to soak into the ground.

The Girls were having a whale of a time. They quickly found a flower bed to excavate, and we let them.  We moved the newly shortened Cube to some fresh grass, still leaving the Girls to do as they pleased.

A bit later I bribed green ring to come and sit on my lap.  Exchequer eventually came and joined in,  and then they went and sat on DH's lap.  Isabelle, our cat, was disgusted by this and turned round pointedly so that she had her back to DH.

After much clearing up,  we eventually popped them into the Cube run.  They're sitting together at the moment, and we'll wait and see if they go to bed.  We've put the nest box divider into the Cube to make it a bit more cosy.   We'll have to be very aware of the overnight temperatures so we can make sure they are OK.

It'll be a long time before they are old enough to try integrating with the Big Girls.

Names next, I guess.

Harder than expected

I cried. A lot.

It started as I was getting stuff ready to take to the Allotment, long before it came time to catch the chicks.   We packed the car with the netting, the feeders, the drinker, the stuff to do the water butts, the stuff to adjust their side shelter.  We prepped the two boxes (a dog crate and a sturdy box), and I hung coop feeders into the dog crte with the Garvo Alfa mix in. 

Then we started to catch the chicks, one by one.  The first 8 were easy, they were the ones who were used to being handled. They were quite happy in the crate with the Garvo.  The second 8 were a bit more of a challenge.  Eventually, everyone was in and we carefully carried the boxes to the car.  The two little Girls, left behind, were cheeping frantically. Poor little things.

At the Allotment, we put them in their coop - it's actually a shed, plenty of room for the 16 of them.  We shut them in with a feeder and drinker, and set about putting up double rows of netting. Then we did the water butts. Then replaced a window with fly screen, strimmed the grass that we've been growing especially for them.   Everything took time.  

Eventually we were ready to let them out.  I coaxed them out by shaking some Garvo and calling them.  Eventually they all came out, and they piled onto the grass.   We watched them for a while, then started to pack up the car.

They were starting to explore their area when we left. We'll go back at bed time to see if they've managed to find their way in.

I'll miss them.

The time has almost come..

...to nove the babies to their new home on the Allotment. 

I've been looking forward to this - and the freedom it brings -  for a couple of weeks but, now the move is imminent, I'm not looking forward to it at all.  How perverse!

The chicks are more than ready. They are 8.5 weeks old, and need the space.  I keep telling myself that they will be very happy,  a huge area to explore,  two coops to choose from, lots of spots to dustbathe in.   But I will miss them.

I will miss their happy little cheeping sounds; I'll miss having that wave f chooks come running up to see me when I go out; I'll miss my group of especially firendly chooks who desperately want to be picked up (and rewarded with a treat).  I'll miss the bedtime squabbling, and Yellow doing his rounds when everyone has gone upstairs.

We're going to keep the two garden-destined Girls here.   If they had been younger, I would have sent them all to the Allotment and brought the two girls back later, when they are older.  I feel mean separating them from their brothers and sisters now,  but overall it will be one less upheaval for them to suffer if I separate them now.  And the advantage of keeping them here is that it will be easier to get them happy and relaxed in our company, as we'll see them all the time.

I guess it's a little easier as the choice of who the "lucky" girls are is clear.  Only one of the Exchequers is a girl, so she will be one;  the friendliest of the Welsh Blacks are Yellow, Green and Grey.  Yellow and Grey are both boys,  so Green is the natural choice.    

Tomorrow's the day. Weather permitting.

Stir crazy

Milly is now back to her bullying spiteful self.  She had a couple of quiet days, one with looking very sorry for herself and the oother where she was only in the mood to bully in spurts.

Roobarb, meanwhile, started refusing to go back in the Run.  She's still growing her new feathers and a couple of the others (including Milly) have been taking the opportunity to barge into her a lot.   It's taken several - spaced out - attempts to get her in in the evening.  I had to go and do the allotment Girls on Friday and I shut the chicks in,  then shut the Girls in. Roob refused.  I tried a few times, at intervals, but she just would not go in and she would not be caught.  In frustration, I left her out, telling her that if she got eaten by a fox it would be her own fault.

On Saturday I had a doctors appointment at 9.00.  I let the Girls (and the chicks) out early, then attempted to shut them in again at 8.30.  Everyone except Roobarb.  Several attempts later, I was going to be late, so once again she was left out.

On Saturday night, Milly and Florence decided that if Roobarb got to stay out, they should too.   My frustration - in the midst of heavy rain - almost boiled over. I picked up a garden rake and chased them into the Run.  I felt really sheepish afterwards - sodden and sheepish - but I was reaching the end of my tether.

This morning I had to move the chicks Cube.  It's currently got 3m of run, as well as the 1m under the Cube, so it's quite big to manouevre, especially as I wanted to turn it 90 degrees.   The Chicks thought this was a great game,  and when I had to temporarily move some of the netting, they seized on the opportunity to break free.  I let them.

They were fairly easy to round up,  Garvo was offered as a bribe and this brough 15 of the 18 back in to their area immediately.  The ohter 3 weren't so cooperative,  and I mentally marked their cards.

The Big Girls decided that they were missing out on something, so started wailing in chorus.  I try not to react to them when they start (they quickly learn to associate wailing with attention), but I could feel myself getting really really annoyed.    I came inside and sat down for a few minutes.

I'm going a bit stir crazy.

I know that the chicks have plenty of room in the cube run to be perfectly IK for me to leave them for an hour or so.   However, I also know that it's like kids in the back of the car.  That bit of giggling shoving and puhing can quickly get out of hand and turn nasty.  With chicks, if blood is drawn it could be disastrous.  For that reason, as they are at the age where they are doing a lot of "play" fighting,  I don't like them to be shut in any more than absolutely necessary.

It's only a problem because DH is away, so it's not possible for us to coordinate being in and being out. 

It wil be fine.  It's not for much longer.

Poorly chook

Milly was very unwell on Thursday.  I thought she was going to die, she looked soooo ill.   I thought it might be heatstroke, so I syringed water into her,  and wrapped her in a cool damp towel.  I left her in a shady cool place for the day,  and kept going out to syringe her every hour. I have her some nutridrops.

She looked so ill that I thought the stress of a car journeyto the vets might kill her. I offered her chick crumb in yoghurt, but she didn't want it.  I put her in the nest box in the afternoon, with a coop-cup of water.   Last evening,  she finally stuck her head in the cup, and had a drink, then another one.  I kept going out every half hour to splash the water to get her to drink, until it was dark.

This morning, she was up and unsteady.  She sat outside, so I moved a bowl of water near her, and offered her some mealworms. She ate the mealworms, but had some clear liquid come out of her mouth.   I gave her some chick crumb, and left her to rest quietly.

She's breathing OK now, and has had a bit of a walk around, but she's still spending time resting.  I'm assuming it was heatstroke, and hopefully she'll get back to her normal (spiteful, frankly) self.

Chickeny update

The chicks are now 7 weeks old. They are not chicks any more, they are small chickens.   Some of them are obviously boys, some are obviously girls, and some are anybody's guess.

We added a Grandpa's Feeder to their run a couple of weeks ago, in the open position.   They were very happy using it.    About a week ago, we changed it to the partially open position..... then I raised it up so it clanged more..... then we added a second Grandpa's Feeder two days ago, and removed their Omlet Grubs completely.  All going well so far, and I'm going to try changing the setting to fully closed in a couple of days.

Every day I go in and offer treats (actually Garvo Alfamix chicken feed) to any of the birds that let me pick them up.  The same gang are always "me, me, me, pick me", and these are the ones that we are likely to keep.... as long as only one of them turns out to be a boy.   YellowRight is definitely a boy, and he's the boldest, most eager chick,  so he's likely to be our keeper.  GreenRing is a Girl, she likes sitting on my shoulder, and she will probably come and live in the garden assuming that the second Exchequer Leghorn turns out to be a Girl as well. The first is definitely a boy, a really lovely chap  called Spike.

The other MeMeMees are GreyRing and PurpleRing, who could be girls or boys, we aren't yet sure.

The hopefully-female Exchequer doesn't like me to pick her up, but she does like to fly up and land on my hand or arm, so I guess she'll get it with practice.

They are due to go to the Allotment in a week. Another decision needed: dowe let them all go and then bring back 2 Girls later, if hopefully-Female-Exchequer turns out to be a girl;   or whether to keep the hopefully-female-Exchequer and GreenRing here to grow on and to be integrated with our Big Girls when old enough.    Part of me would like to keep them here so I can continue with the taming,  but it might be better to keep them with everyone else until we are sure of the genders.

Oven Ready Roobarb

A few days ago Roobarb wasrunning around the garden with a bare back. That part of her looked like a supermarket oven ready bird.  Over the following three days, she's lost more and more feathers.  She looks a really sorry sight at the moment.

The others are not joining her yet.  Florence did have a mini moult, but she seems to have gone off the idea.

I'm wondering what sort of colour Roobs will go for this year.   Her original feathers were black with a sort of gold/bronze lacing.  She emerged from last years moult with black feathers with a lot more copper/bronze colouring.   

What will she unveil for us this year?

Happy Birthday 5 weeks old

So, the chicks are 5 weeks old today (well, technically, some aren't 5 weeks old until tomorrow).

DH cut a plank especially to fit across the width of the Cube, so I could remove the plank-on-bricks arrangement that we had before.    The chicks love it....although of course none of them were on it at the moment my camera shutter clicked

I have added an extra feeder, so there are 4 stations now.  This morning I added some growers pellets to each feeder - just a small amount.  The next step will be to introduce the Grandpas Feeder, in the open position, to get them used to it. 

Last night, we waited to see whether they would take themselves to bed.  A couple went in and out a few times.   DH and I went and watched TV to distract ourselves,  popping intot ht ekitchen every 10 minutes to see whether there was any progress.

After about half an hour,  ten of them managed to get themselves to bed. 8 of them failed completely.  We went back to the TV, but the cheeping got louder and louder.  In the end we had to catch them and putthem on the top of the ladder so they could find their way into the Cube.

Today's plan is to move the Cube again. It's a warm day so I've switched the Electric Hen (EH) off.  I might leave it off overnight if its going to be warm.... we're lucky that we have 18 chicks, as this makes it easier and quicker to get them off heat. 

We might let them "free range" (that is, run around outside the Cube in a limited area) later today.

I took a couple of pics yesterday...

Chickywicks aged about 33 days

The chicks have been sleeping outside in the Cube (with an Electric Hen, of course) for the past 3 nights.   They haven't taken themselves to bed yet - they didn't seem to want to stop running around and eating, even at 8.30pm.


Last night, DH and I decided we would walk them up the Cube ladder to bed.  They know perfectly well how to get up the ladder, they are up and down it all day.   They know that they come down the ladder every morning when we open the pop hole... but perhaps they haven't quite connected the dots.


So. Yesterday evening, 8.30pm.  I opened the door nearest the Cube ladder (thank goodness that we fitted extra doors to the Cube).  I leaned in, scooped up a chick,  and put it on the ladder.  It jumped off. Everyone else ran away.


DH tried rattling the treat cup from inside the Cube.  Vacant looks all round.


Deep sigh. (from me).

I squeezed my not inconsiderable frame in between the Cube and the rosemary.  I then manouevred myself so that I could crawl inside  the Cube run.   DH smothered a giggle when he realised where I was.   I really really hate chick poo.

From there, it was a smooth operation.  DH opened the egg port and held in a cup of Garvo Alfamix Chicks (which works superbly as a chick treat).  I caught each chick, and put it on the ladder. Once the first one had gone in,  they were almost all happy to be caught and placed and go in.  Except one Welsh Black, and one of the Exchequers. No surprise there, I'm sure these are the same pair that are last to be caught every evening.

The Exchequer ran round the Cube run a few times. It was impossible to catch himher, s/he's like Roadrunner.  Eventually, she took pity on me and ran up the Cube ladder of her own accord.   The last chick necessitated me squiggling about to catch them,  but as we were both confined to the Run and she was not like Roadrunner, it didn't take too long.

Getting out was worse than getting in as I had to kneel on the wire skirt. Ow, bluddy ow.  And my knees (or, specifically, the knees of my trousets) were covered in chick poo.   

I've made a bargain with the Chicks.  I told them today that once they have taken themselves to bed, I'll let them free range outside the Cube Run.

I hope they do it soon,  as it'll make it much easier to keep the grass in good condition.  This is because there will be 18 chicks over a wider area, so the pressure on the grass at any one time will be less.   They are on new grass at the moment, and two areas they've had over the last 6 days have been raked and watered (from our water butt).    They are on fresh grass today, and I've got one more piece of virginal grass available before we have to start re-using.

Fingers crossed.

Hawk Conservancy, Andover

It was my friend Yvonne's 40th birthday this year, and I decided that a day out playing with birds of prey would be a lovely way to celebrate.

For my brother I.'s 50th, we bought him a day out hunting with a Harris hawk, accompanied by our elder brother.   I didn't think Yvonne would be too happy about the whole hunting thing, so I went for a day at the Hawk Conservancy.

What a fantastic place.  There was so much to see, we bolted our lunch so we could go and have a look around.     I'll definitely go back and take a more leisurely look around.

As for the day,  it was fantastic.  Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable.  We had a small group (with one irrititating chap who had done this once before somewhere else, and he insisted on going on and on and on about how the other place was better, the birds were bigger, there were only two of them so he flew more birds, and how he gave a demonstration at the end and a bird attacked him. ).

We flew so many birds: gorgeous shy vultures, owls, hawks, falcons...  And the weather was superb.

We started off with a couple of vultures, who are really sweet and gentle creatures.  They perform an incredible feat of nature: nt only do they clear carcases, but they can clear diseased carcasses (ones where the disease is fatal to man).   In the wild many species are facing extinction, mostly from a derivative of Voltarol which is given to cattle.    It's sad that vultures can consume anthrax and a whole other host of natural nasties and render them safe,  but die within hours of consuming a carcass where the animal has ingested Voltarol. It's criminal, and should be outlawed.

It was so hot that I had to go to the car and get a hat.

 

 

 

 

At the final session, we were all able to fly Harris Hawks, taking it in turns to send a Hawk off then someone else had to call it back.


Definitely recommend the experience!
http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/index.asp

Will they, won't they?

At 4 o'clock I made a decision.  If the chicks put themselves to bed in the Cube by 6pm, I'd leave them in there. If not, I'd put them back in the shed.

At 5.30, everyone was very industriously stuffing their beaks. A few chicks went up the ladder into the Cube.  And a while later, came down again.

At 5.55, I reluctantly went and sorted out the shed.  At 5.57, I realised that the chicks weren't ready for bed. Yesterday, they had started to snuggle in a pile. Today, everyone was still very active.  The up and down laddering continued.


So, I decided to wait and see.  If they started to create a pile, I'd put them in the shed.  


Meanwhile, I put the Big Girls away. Apart from Milly, who is having her third nevening of not knowing where bed is.  Or is just being Milly.  Coaxing failed, so I just shut the others in and left her out.  I'm sure she'll go and sit by the door when she's ready.


In the meantime, I'm waiting for the chicks to decide where to settle.

The Next Day

All big Girls back to their normal selves.

Chicklets very keen to come out of their pen in the shed to the Cube.  I left them in the Cube for about ten minutes, then opened the door, and was treated to a fantastic display. Some chicks climbed down the ladder, some flew from the door onto the ground. Wish I'd recorded it.     After about an hour we had a heavy rain shower.   They didn't go back into the Cube, but they snuggled in a group by one of the wheels.  I resisted the (very strong) urge to rush out and "save" them.  As soon as the rain stopped, they were out and about again.

 

Battlescars

So, in the end, I forced my way round the inside of the netting, so that it made Roobarb walk out from the Pampas in front of me.

My right arm is somewhat shredded, as Pampas fronds are evil.   I walked Roobarb into a netting corner, picked her up, and put her in the Run.

Everyone is now safely where they should be.

I knew that giant sized tube of Savlon would come in handy one day.

On my feet and on my toes

Today was Disinfecting Day at the Allotment.  I cleaned out the Big Girls coop, and sprayed it with poultry shield.  I emptied, scrubbed and disinfected the drinkers.  I emptied and scrubbed one of the two water barrels. I scrubbed and poultry shielded two sets of roosting bars, and several black trays/ I poultry-shielded the already-swept shed.   I emptied, scrubbed, disinfected the other water barrel.    I Stalosaned and Diatomed the Big Coop, and put fresh Aubiose everywhere.  I refilled the drinkers. I diatomed all the roosting bars.   I was shattered. Came hom, showered. 

Meanwhile, at home...

I cleaned out the shed floore. The chicks have been up and down the CUbe ladder all day.  DH was away.  I decided to see if the chicks put themselves to bed in the Cube. If so, I'd leave them out.     No. They rested in a heap on the floor of the run.

So, I put fresh Aubiose in the shed, and set about catching the chooks.  The first 8 were easy. They all came to eat Garvo.  The next 6 were not to bad.  The next 2 were harder.  Doors in multiple places is only any good if you have someone to man the door.  The last but one was a bit of a toughie.  The last one, one of the Exchequers, was a nightmare.

She ended up escaping, and ran round and round the Cube run. I couldn't catch her.  She squeezed through some trellis and into the fruit bed.  She ran past the cat, several times (well done Wash for not responding to the provocation). I staked out netting, and walked her towards it. She got underneath it. 

After about 20 minutes of walking after her, I was wondering what on earth I was going to do.  We were in the fruit bed for the second time. I thought about getting out the chicken catching net.  I wasn't sure where it was, and I was afraid I wouldn't find her again if I left her to look for it. 

She made a run for it out of the fruit bed.  I walked after her, she was heading for the Shed.  I was confident that I would be able to catch her when she got to the mesh. I was wrong.

She pushed it aside, and ran into the brooder with her brothers and sisters.

That's not the end of the story. Oh no.

I put some runner beans on to boil, a pressie from a fellow allotment holder. (DH is away, so my dinner is a big bowl of runner beans with a raspberry vinegar dressing, followed by rice pudding). While the beans were simmering, I put the Big Girls away.  Except Milly, who was refusing to remember where "home" was, for the second nigt on the trot.   I had no patience left, so I went and found the chicken net.   The Girls went ballistic,  including Milly who managed to scale the netting and escape into the Garden.   I put the net down, and tried to catch her. I only managed it because she became entangled in the netting.

I calmed her down, and put her in the Walk in Run, only to find that the others had disappeared.  Eventually I found them, hiding in the Pampas.  Clever Girls! (although that isn't the phrase I used at the time).   Tilda and Custard followed me for corn, and I popped them in the Run with Milly.  Florence and Roobarb would not move.


I came inside and ate my very mushy runner beans thinking they would walk overe to the Run door when they were ready.  I went out again, and managed to persuade Florence to leave the safety of the Pampas.  Roobarb would not be moved.

Roobarb is uncatcheable. She doesn't like being picked up.   I love her because she is a gorgeous chicken with green legs,  and she doesn't pick on Tilda.   I don't want to chase her, as I've clearly stressed her out more than enough already.  She followed my cunningly laid corn trail to the edge of the pampas, but refused to leave the safety of the fronds.  I've come back in now, to give her a bit more time to relax. 


I should perhaps explain that I can't get round the Pampas when I am inside the Girls free ranging area.  The netting on one side doesn't allow an Upright to pass.   So I can't even walk her away from her hiding place.  


I'll go out again in a few minutes and see if I can get her to move.

Ready for tomorrow

So, we've attached the Cube, which I scrubbed out earlier. We removed one of the Run sections, which still gives them a net increase of 1 metre plus the footprint previously occupied by the Go.

We've (well, DH has) trimmed down one of the large door panels so it fits on the side.


Roosting bars removed, and the Electric Hen is sitting in the back, not plugged in yet.  Tomorrow we'll put the chicks in the back of the Cube for a short while, then let them out.    They'll continue going back into the shed at night for the next few nights.


It's so fantastic having all this Cube run. Last year, we had the chicks free ranging (within a netted area), and we found that one of us had to be here all the time. This was because it meant putting the chicks away - restriucting their area - if we weren't around.   Now, weather permitting,  we don't have to ensure that one of us is here 100% of the time as they have a fox proof run to play in.   


We will let them free range soon..... but that's not in the next few days.
 

Stepping Up

My Dri-box arrived today. It's a black, plastic, waterproof, box which you can use in the garden to keep electrical extensions safe from the weather.    Why is this relevant?  Well, we have the Electric Hen (EH) on in the back of the Go, and we've temporarily been standing the power supply on the chicks ladder and covered with a plastic cloche and secured with a brick.

Today I was able to replace all that, which meant that I could put the ladder inside the run for the chicks to start to get used to.   I put it at a fairly easy angle, lodged at the top near the Go door and at the bottom with a brick.  I came inside to wash my hands,  and when I got back outside the ladder was covered in chicks.

 They were busy making their way to the top of the ladder, and then back down again.   As I watched them, I realised that once they got to the top, they weren't able (or confident) enough to hop up on to the top of the Go.

 

I watched for a little longer, and then decided to take action.  I adjusted the setup so that the ladder went all the way to the top.  It was a bit steep, but I thought I'd see what happened.

A few of them have been up there, all the way to the top.  I'll see how it goes... I might move the Go forward, and put the ladder behind it so that it still reaches the top but is not so steep (the Go is sloped). 


Looks like we might be adding the Cube sooner than I thought.

Back on track

The chicks spent the day outside today.  We put the small Electric Hen (EH) in the back of the Go, but they didn't use it.  I tried them with a small amount of iceberg lettuce. They ran around with bit os it for a while,  others gave chase, but I didn't see much evidence of Iceberg being consumed.


Meanwhile, the Big Girls tucked noisily into chunks of water melon.


Cleaned out the "brooder" floor in the shed, and moved the chicks back in for the evening.   Moved the outside run to new grass,  raked and sprayed today's grass. 

Tomorrow I'll be introducing DH's chick-friendly cube ladder into the run,  with a view to introducing the Cube maybe at the weekend.  Once the Cube is on, it'll be marginally easier to move the run around... mainly because we'll be able to remove the Go (currently it is too big to go in through any of the doors, wso we have to lift the 3m of run right up to get it out and moved).  Looking back through my notes from last year, I see that we kept the Go available (outside the Cube run, within their netted area) as a bit of an unheated rest-area. Maybe I'll do that this year when we let the chicks out o fthe safety of the cube run.  There is less pressure to do so this year because the run is so big anyway (and will be 2m x 1m bigger still when the Cube goes on!).


Hard to believe they are 4 weeks old tomorrow (and Friday). If these were supermarket chickens, they'd be half way through their lives already, and they'd be enormous.