You can't scratch my back but I will scratch yours!

                     Blodwen obviously has the gift of chicken grooming, perhaps she should open a salon!



I witnessed another fascinating scene the other day with the hens that convinces me that chickens bond with each other or perhaps not in some cases.   

Branwen was happily dust bathing when tiny charity (one of the ex battery hens) came up and tried a bit of mutual grooming.  Branwen was incensed, she made the most terrifying growl that sounded like the biggest dog on the block and pecked her.

Moments later Blodwen her old sister appeared on the scene and went straight into the bug removal process with Branwen rolling over like a soft puppy!

Amazing to watch, it was like an elderly lady going into a hairdresser and being faced with the apprentice stylist when all she wanted was her old sister to give her the weekly beauty treatment.



At last, a cattle grid for chickens!

After months of having the girls follow me down the path every time I leave the garden, I have made my own cattle grid.  It completely threw them as they could see me stepping over it but couldn't follow me.  

You may ask why I don't just shut the gate, well, Charity is so small she slips through so my new invention is doing the job, may just patent the idea, I could make a fortune!

What! Just the one current?

Oh dear, just the one current for Charity to peck at. She looks so focused on that one goal but I think she may enjoy the rest of that hot cross bun anyway.  Easter leftovers are going to a very happy little bunch of hens.

Hope everyone has had a lovely peaceful Easter time.

Love from all of us inside and out of the chicken coop.

x

When is a herb bed not a herb bed? When it just looks like one

At last I finally managed to get the hens out of my herb bed.  I made them a bed that looks like a herb bed except there are no herbs!  Last year they were drawn to it every time I let them have a roam.  They pecked at my parsley, marched right over my marjoram, crushed my coriander and scratched  my sage right out of the ground! I realised this year I had to so something to stop them

Despite  the picture of Charity leaping out of the non-herb bed, they did all stay there for hours. It was great to see them having a dust bath and enjoying the Spring sunshine without inflicting torment on my poor herbs. 

So now at  last they can grow again while the girls enjoy an almost free range of my garden!

Give us an Ugg

"Oh wow, Ugg boots! They look like my size and favourite colour too."

 

"Now let's see, just how do I put them on?"

"Oh I don't think that is quite right, they don't feel too comfortable."

"Hopeless! Just wait until she is inside the coop.  I know how to wear such high fashion items.   Those boots were sooooo made for me!"

Fun in the snow

                                 
                                       " You are kidding, I am not going out there!"

                               
                            " Oh go on, it's great fun just don't put both feet down together."

                             
                        "Ughh, on second thoughts, this is quite deep, where have my legs
                         gone?"

"I know, look what happenend to that lot behind me. I can't look.  I don't think I will stick around here too long".

          
"Come on girls, look what the humans have to shelter in. Is that a spider up there? Mmmm free snacks and less snow, well - almost. I love this place, shall we take over?"

"Yeah, it's a nice place to hang out and spread our wings, even in this weather"

Have fun everyone. We can't do much about the snow at the moment so stay safe and make the best of it.

Take care and best wishes from all of us Inside and out of the Chicken Coop.




What a difference one year makes

 

A year ago I went off to the Battery Hen Welfare Trust collecting station in Oswestry to pick up three little ex battery hens and give them a new home.  I was terrified that they wouldn't even survive the journey home as the change could have been so stressful to them. Even seeing daylight was a massive and new experience for them. But they did survive. Hope, pictured above spent the whole journey looking out to her new life while Faith and Charity sat hunched in the darkness of the cardboard box until I got them home.




After a long 2 hour journey we arrived home.  I put them in a temporary pen away from my other girls in case they didn't get on. It was so incredible to see them exploring and experiencing freedom for the first time in their lives. They looked terrible as they had very few feathers on their necks and wings but to me they were beautiful.  Within a week they joined my other girls in the big house and have enjoyed the most incredible year, starting with presents from Father Christmas an easter egg hunt and their own Olympic games. 





One year later they look very different. I only took this picture this morning and as you can see my beautiful little Hope looks like she is on top of the world.   Animals are incredible how they bounce back after such horrible experiences and take pleasure in the simple things in life.

It's been a wonderful year, they have supplied me with fresh free range eggs every day and saved me around £130 due to the fact that I have never had to buy eggs from the supermarket. Considering I gave a donation of £30 when I adopted them, that is an amazing return on my investment and one that continues to thrive inside the chicken coop.