Bathtime!

But Snowdrop who really needed one opted out of the action... and just look how they are wrecking the garden :)

Bringing you up to date...

Hi!

It's been ages since I reported on hen activity here.  I've been away for a week and left the girls in the safe hands of my friend David.  In the week before I went away they started laying 4 a day with just Gingernut wondering what was going on up in the nesting boxes!

I read that it is possible to make some good "biscuits" that I had to make sure not to get mixed up with anything for human consumption as they contain mealworms:

I also bought a cabbage for £1 from Birmingham market that weighed 7lbs 5.5 oz, in fact it is still going strong now!

During my week away they performed well with 32 eggs including a superb monster weighing 72g - 50g is good enough for me!

Since my return I have sold a good few eggs to some neighbours and we have eaten as many as we can - check out the breakfast eggs from last week-end and there are more where they came from:

The colour differential relates to their varied diet as they are both Bluebelle doubles!

Now we are up to 5 a day (maximum) and have 105 laid  in total.

The girls go out most days but once they have been out for a little while they just want to get back in to the run, play with the new bedding and eat their treats:

...and does anyone remember those Beswick salad bowls...

The girls continue to give great entertainment.  Also entertaining was when my boyfriend nearly drove off with a work colleagues weekly order:

Goings on in the henhouse

It's been a while since we've put pen to paper but the light in the coop is not good and we find we constantly squabble about whose turn it is to write and then when we have finally decided it is dark, so tonight we took it in turns... me (Snowdrop) first:

Look what happened last week - someone joined me in the laying arena - in fact I know just who it was - Bluebell, as she insisted upon sitting on top of my whilst I laid mine, so Jane had a little shock when she found 2 hot eggs laid at the same time.

It is not clear from the picture but the non-white egg is slightly torpedo shaped - it proved to be a double-yolker in fact, so now I need to work harder to get my eggs preferred to hers!
 

Blubell here - that's me above - look at my lovely big fluffy bottom - well, I am all proud now that I am laying breakfast for Jane and the boyfriend.  The reason that I have such a large bottom is that I lay double-yolkers - well, one out of one ain't bad!

Gingernut here - we are playing a little trick on Jane, because today we laid 3 eggs between us and now she does not know whether it is me or Jet who has added to the layers amongst us - well, unless you give me a mealworm I'm not telling you...

Jet here - it was me - well, it might have been, only I'm not sure as I am a little bit forgetful - you know how it is, I can get up the ramp to the coop and then say to myself "what have I come up here for then", so it is no use asking me is it...

Cuckoo taking over for the remainder of the blog now and I am also a bit forgetful but don't think it was me, if it was then I forgot to "speckle" it - we will keep her guessing again tomorrow.  Well, we have to as Jane the the boyfriend abandoned us on Saturday night and went galivanting off to Leicestershire to see the boyfriends parents (does that make them Granny and Grandad?) and left us to the care of David - he looks after us well but on principle we will sulk when Jane goes away!

In fact, they also went to an airshow and saw a hen called the Vulcan flying around - I can only assume that she has not had her wings clipped...

We're out!!!!!

It is so easy to find an excuse to NOT let them out - today I seemed to have run out.  We got back from an afternoon out and the girls were cooing and chatting and I just decided to open the door and let them go for it (well, the net arrived the other day and having already walked by the run with it I know that Snowdrop (the fast one) knows what it is for and pops upstairs for a rest when she sees it ;)

  Left to right, Gingernut, Bluebell, Cuckoo, Snowdrop and Jet

They soon had stretched their legs and wings and were enjoying the lush green grass  (note to self, get the lawn mower out next week) whilst I cleaned out the coop and run for them and topped up the water and food.  They seem to like to stick together...

I recommend the self-service here, says Snowdrop:

But the packet was securely shut.  Maybe there's something in here?

Nope, nothing there...

Surprisingly, once the bedding was refreshed in the run they were keen to get back in there.  It was a case of three in, one out, two in, one out, two in, one out and then, WOW, they were all in - time to shut the door and get myself a long cool beer methinks!

Down, up, up, down?

...we don't know what a Bank Holiday is (nor actually what a Bank is, if the truth be told) but presumably it has something to do with wind, rain, more wind, more rain and potatoes and rice.

"The Boyfriend" has been here over the week-end and sometimes he lets us out in the mornings.  "Hellooooo" he says, as he counts us down the ramp.  "Cooooo, cooooo" we say in return and then dig into the layer pellets that mysteriously appear for us overnight and guzzle the garlic water that seems to come with it.

Now we don't know whether we are supposed to call him "Dad" or not, so are waiting to see if Mom gives us any instructions in that area - we like to try and do everything she tells us or we may find that the grapes and wiggly worms stop coming in our direction and we don't want that!

I'm "Ginger" and wonder if I was named after "Ginger" from Chicken Run, the film that Mom and The Boyfriend watched last Thursday night?  She should have called me "Bunty" then she might have had more neggs from us but, as we currently stand, there have been 11 neggs, all white, all laid by Snowdrop and ranging from 38 to 48 grams.

We are learning new words every day and so far, whilst our favourite word is "grape" we also like "potato" and "rice" - "banana" is good too - today we had a whole one and had minutes of fun tearing around trying to cram as much as we could into our crops.

There are two further words that we just can't seem to grasp, they are "up" and "down".  In the mornings when we are let out we come down and then we are up.  If, during the day, we go up for a nap then we go up to go down but then come down again when we get up.  We are like the 10,000 hens that the Grand Old Duke of York had...

..and when they were down they were up, and when they were up they were down and when they were only half way down they were neither up nor down (actually, I like being neither up nor down then no-one else can get past me!)

I'd like one of these!

 Uncle Kazza is coming to stay tomorrow (so Mom says) - so we'd better get a good nights' sleep tonight and make sure to have a good old preen tomorrow morning.

Night night.

The ice cream man cometh...

...just as we are all about to go up the apples and pears to Bedfordshire there is is a sound of distant music - apparently it is the music that the ice cream van driver plays when he has run out of the creamy white stuff (or is that something Jane was told as a child and is never quite certain?) but we never get to sample any - let's have a collective ahhhhhh dear readers please.

Tonight was no exception - "The Yellow Rose of Texas" came nearer and  nearer and up we went to roost with our bellies full of layer pellets, apples cores, banana, grapes and corn (I can recommend the full board menu here!).

Later (the Boyfriend was here and he was getting fed things that didn't look like corn to me) we got cleaned out and a quick check from above, here we are:

...but next time please give us advance warning and we can shut our eyes tightly so as to avoid the flash!

Goodnight from Snowdrop (centre), Cuckoo (bottom), Jet (bottom left), Ginger Nut (top) and me - Bluebell (somewhere under the left hand side!

All quiet on the Western Front

There is very little that I can consider worthy of writing for our activities today - unlesssssss you count the two slices of cucumber that made their way through the mesh this afternoon!  Not that it was the only treat that we had today - no - we had some grapes and an apple core too along with some rolled oats.

We had lots of attention with Grandad being here and so I think Snowdrop got somewhat confused and forget to go and lay a negg again.  She really had better try harder tomorrow as Jane has already eyed up somewhere that we can be taken when we have stopped laying - mind you, as the landowner said...they haven't even STARTED laying yet apart from one ;)

Noooo, she hasn't really found us a retirement home already, but a very nice retired scrap metal dealer who she sometimes sees in Tesco did say that he needs some more hens for his cockerels - he rehouses hens and cockerels from anyone and anywhere and has rather too many boys to his girls!  He has around 70 boys and girls and Jane will pop in to see them next time she is passing!

Make it stop!

We're not sure we like this rain stuff and the thunder above it, that has been pounding down like there is no tomorrow - oh? Maybe there is no tomorrow?

On the egg-laying front Jane is no wiser about what we are up to - Snowdrop laid a nice 42g negg around 2:00 om today - and in the usual place.  It is much whiter than the mystery arrival yesterday - but if it was Snowdrop (says Jane) then why did she later decide to sit on a nesting box and make all the right noises but produce nothing?  I still think Snowdrop just had a day off and Bluebell had her first go at the negg business - time will tell.

This is a view from our run just now:

So we might just have an early night!

Grandad is coming to see us tomorrow so we'd best be on our best behaviour.  We had been looking forward to a run around in the garden today or tomorrow but apparently p175 of "the book" says that we should not be let off to wander until we have established a laying pattern - so it could be weeks...come on girls, let's be having you!

Whose is this then?

If past experience is a guide to the future then at around 12:30 pm today I would have been expecting to get a nice neat white egg laid for me by Snowdrop in the near nesting box.

Past experience is NOT a guide to the future as this turned in at 10:00 am - but not in the nesting box, instead, on the floor of the run:

Number 7 arrived earlier today...

Oh dear - the only theory I had was that it was raining heavily at the time - perhaps she was just too settled to make that move upstairs?

A little corn and a grape or two later and then they had the first (and last) meeting with the spotty dog - the whole experience was a joy for Rosie but rather traumatic for the girls, so Rosie is now barred until the weather turns cold and then she can be confined to the sun lounge.  It's quote a good thing actually because now, instead of her turning up and sitting and eating biscuits here, I can go for a walk with her - better for everyone!

That would have been the end of my story, but... here we are at 12:25 pm and Snowdrop is sitting up in the near nesting box and making those sounds I can only associate with the impending arrival of an egg.  Looking more closely at egg number 7:

Look closer...

Aside from the bits of dirt it is of a softer hue than those above it - looks like I have another layer.  But who? 

The others "should" lay mid brown/dark brown/speckled and plum-coloured eggs.  A bit of internet checking and my odds are on Bluebell (the Bluebelle) as it might class as being plum-colured?

Tomorrow I shall have to lay in wait...oh, and now 12:35 and Snowdrop still sitting on the nest

A neighbourly welcome...

...just look who dropped by to say hello this morning -Sky and her daughter Rosie, they go everywhere together!

Good Morning!

Aside from the feline visitation that ruffled our feathers a little, we are settling in rather well - the grub is great here, yesterday we had cauliflower leaves AND grapes!  Bluebell can get a grape down whole, but I think that is just because she thinks I'm gonna steal it from her?  Well, she is very astute - I would!

Snowdrop continues to be the leader of the flock, but probably because she is the only one of us laying neggs (she need to get her body clock sorted out though, as she is laying neggs every 23 hours on average...if she could last a little longer then she might manage more than 42g a throw - but perhaps she fells that she has to pop one out just as often as she can given that she is the only one of us offering produce?)

The perceived pecking order is currently as follows:

Snowdrop

Cuckoo

Ginger Nut

Me (Jet)

Bluebell (bottom position)

Maybe as the laying starts we will have a reshuffle?  I'm unsure.

Whatever the pecking order is though, it has no bearing on the order that we go up to bed in, which we are all managing to do rather well now, even though I say so myself.

A quiet day today!

Aside from Snowdrop laying a neat little 44g negg early afternoon then today has been a quiet one - apart from the fact that Jet seems to be enjoying making life uncomfortable for Bluebell, who has spent much of the day upstairs in the coop.

Not sure that I can do anything about this - just something that they have to sort out amongst themselves I guess.

I really must keep my eye on the time today and try to catch them going up to bed!

Greased Lightening!

What a laugh we five girls had tonight...we worked out that Jane wanted to know when we were going to bed and to see us do it...we lined up at 20:30 and stared at her - she decided (Jet can read minds you know) to take a little comfort trip upstairs before sitting in for the duration to watch our parade.

Up she went, then the sound of the water running into the drain from the bathroom and the gentle thump of the downstairs journey.  "Qweek qweek girls, qweeeek" said Snowdrop...

...20:32 Jane was back and not a chicken in sight!  Better luck tomorrow :=)

I'm Cuckoo by the way - this isn't me, just a library picture - more pictures of me to follow.  I demanded to write this little story as Jane has never yet seen me go up the ramp - the others go up and down during the day for no reason that I can see - I just go when I have to.

Cluck cluck.

Fried negg for breakfast today...

If you ask me that was my negg that Jane consumed for her breakfast today?

I thought I had got away with it but she had the scales out earlier and now she will know that all I laid for her was a 40g negg.  Never mind, she had another laid one today by me - so now her neggs don't cost quite as much a throw as they did yesterday!

Ooooh, and a nice little pan there too!

Now today the weather has been something close to subtropical and I am sure the rain has never fallen as heavily as it did.  We didn't mind too much but Jane decided that we should have a little protection and popped out for some "sunlite" panels, once of which has been chopped down and placed around the outside of the run - something new to peck at!

Uh-oh, now Bluebell seems to want to be up and down the ramp - don't tell me that she is going to steal my thunder and start laying neggs too?

By the way "the boyfriend" may have found a name for the black one amongst us - "Jet" is under consideration - suits her rather well I think - I will try and find a picture of her for next time.

Time to fill my crop again - it's a busy old life.

Ssssssshhhhh...

...Jane here, just getting a quick few words in before I go to bed - I deserve an early night methinks.  Today my girls have met the "boyfriend" who came by to see them briefly before we went out for a couple of hours.  I think he liked them!  He has the job of naming the black one with the copper neck - he is already feeling the pressure - he wants to be their mother for a day then he'd know the meaning of the word!

Anyways, I snuck back in at 9.40 pm and turned the dining room light on to see how many of them were just sitting around or looking confused like this time yesterday and, hold onto your hats... they were all upstairs in bed!

I took the torch to them just to count them but to be honest it was not possible - they were just all chuntering away with their eyes shut alongside each other - a sign of settling in I guess?

No time like the present - I took the run off, swept out the bark, bagged it, scraped up any residual mess, sprayed it down with Poultry Shield, cleaned and refilled the water (a la garlic) and the feeder then put a bucket of bark and cut straw laced with DE at the ready for tomorrow and reassembled the run, locking it and latching it and now for a well-earned glass of lager - after a scrub up of course.

Night night!

24 hours on...

Hi there, Snowball here.  Just a little update on the first 24 hours of our new location and how the settling in process has gone.

I got a little unsettled late morning and started to ruffle the feathers of the others by doing some rather loud squawks and deciding the run up and down the side of the run and then up and down the ramp, throwing the neatly shredded newspaper around in the coop and the nestboxes and generally making rather a nuisance of myself.  The reason?  Well, I was just wanting to work out quite where best to lay a negg.  As noon came I found myself up in the coop and spent 27 minutes rather quietly sitting and finally having a little something to show for the efforts.  Jane waited a few mins after I had come back down the ramp and then I heard her in the nesting box and reckon that she must have taken it as it wasn't there last time I looked.  Here it is:

I don't remember seeing the number "1" written on it when I looked - how odd.

So, our first negg - am I right calling it a negg?  I'm sure that's the word I heard - I will have to listen out and see what they get called.

As to the rest of the afternoon - well, some of us have been out and about - not sure that we will be let out again until we are a little more sure of our surroundings but Ginger Nut and Cuckoo went out - they went together - and then Bluebell had a little go too - for some reason I have not been allowed out - I rush to the door each time anyone presents themselves but they never seem to let me out - one day maybe... here is Bluebell eyeing up the kitchen.

We had a little treat after our exercise too - some cooked basmati rice - yummy!  Chicken & Rice - that gives me an idea for a recipe!

Good Morning Birmingham!

After a warm still night we were awoken at the ungodly hour of 6:00 am - someone must have written in a book somewhere that we like to get up early?  It's just not true - we would have been more than happy to have another hour or two of shuteye - don't believe everything you read Jane.

Oh, I'm Snowdrop by the way:

...and here, I'm showing you just how a satisfied chicken sits - full of layer pellets, garlic water and lovely yellow corn - yummy!

Anyway, once the daylight filtered in this morning just after 6:20 once Jane had filled the drinker and feeder and turned over the bark for us, I was the one to start the trail down the ramp (in fact I was the only once who made my way up here on my ownsome last night) and now we are all eating, drinking and being merry.

There seems to be this thing called "pecking order" where Cuckoo thinks that she is the ruler of the roost but little does she know that it is me who actually has the job.  Jenna suggested that Bluebell the Bluebelle might be the boss as she is the larger of us all, but all I can cluck is "wrong" - it's me!

I will keep my beady eyes on them all and let them sort themselves out and then stake my claim on the leadership job.  Unfortunately Bluebell is actually the quietest of the team, despite her size.  We all reckoned that she would stand her ground but it just looks like she wants us all to pretend that she is not there so I'll try and make sure we all do just that.

Right, time for a drink now - I am so thirsty, but the others don't seem to be?  Mind you, I reckon I am a little bit older than them and might start to lay eggs before them... we'll have to see.

Uh-oh, Bluebell seems to have gone back up the ramp - not sure that she has eaten much or had any water this morning - she seems a little down.  Hopefully she will perk up later.

Night 1...

Now, there is no-one here to tell us how and where to go to bed, so as it got darker and darker and we got tired Cuckoo discovered that she could sort of perch up in the roof and Snowdrop climbed the ramp and found a purpose-built roost just right for a sleep.

Jane came back from a little light shopping and found just 3 of us still clucking away at ground level.  Jenna had told her that we might need to be shown the way to bed to start with but I am not quite sure that she meant that we were to be grabbed from the doorway and popped in through the roof of the coop, but needs must and now we are all settled and sleepy - all set for some more fun and games tomorrow!

Oh, and Cuckoo had to be coaxed down from her slumbers just to be bundled up to the coop.  Hopefully tomorrow the jigsaw will all start to fit into place and it will be more like our home.

Night, cluck, night.

Day 1...

...hi. I'm Bluebell (and I'm a Bluebelle) and today, me and 4 others made a planned escape from Warwickshire Chicken Coop.  We snuck into some cardboard boxes in the back of an Astro Black Mini and hot-footed it with Jane to the suburbs of Birmingham.  I don't think Jenna saw us get out - we miss her already but am sure that we will find life good here.

The only thing is that we are not sure of the rules?  We got out into the darkness of a coop and made for the sawdust that was just asking to be eaten - yukkkkk, won't try that again!  I let the others go down the ramp when it was revealed a little later and watched them sort out the pecking order from the safety of the top of the ramp.  Snowdrop came back and climbed over me for a little while but she was soon back into the fray and it was just me not joining in.  Maybe I should have gotten in there earlier but eventually the angle of the ramp got the better of me and I joined in the fun.

Sometimes we go back up and then back down again, we eat pellets, turn over the bark, eat the corn that arrived late afternoon and how about this...we got some mealworms...I am sure that they are supposed to move but we get them before they escape ;)

This is the rear view of me watching the others find their feet - maybe I'll find mine later?

This is where we live (before the bits and pieces were added):

I'll leave you all there and go and join the others for some snap so as I don't go to bed on an empty stomach.

Oh, and I should add that Sky and Rosie the cats from next door came on the fence and watched us and watched us and watched us... Snowdrop did a great job of warning us about the predator risk but after a while we got bored of them watching us and they got bored of watching us but well done Snowdrop for showing team spirit.