As one door closes another one opens ...

It's been quite a year inside and out of this chicken coop. I lost four of my hens this year and when my beautiful old Blodwyn passed away before Christmas I decided that I would start the new year with something different.

With that in mind this will be my last post for this blog.  I have loved every minute of it and want to thank everyone for sharing with me the crazy behaviour of my gorgeous little friends. It has helped me develop my writing skills and inspired me to do other things as well as meeting some wonderful blogging friends.

The good news is that the new brood will be face book stars.

I have just set  up a new page called The Happy Hen.

I thought this would be a fresh new approach and I can update it more often than I have with the blog.

Hope to see you there if you wish to pay us a visit

Thank you and keep on clucking!

Diane

Who done it?

After well over 12 years of keeping hens, today I got my first double yolk! The joy of cracking open an egg only to find two for the price of one is amazing. I never take for granted how lovely it is to get fresh eggs every day and love to find the range of colours and sizes they produce but I never thought I would see a double whammy like that. Double yolk eggs are not uncommon but my previous hens have never managed to produce one in all of those years so it was a magical surprise today.



I have an idea who is responsible for this treasure today and know that I can rule out Morvah the little white one below. The egg in question was brown and she only lays the pure the white eggs and anyway she is too busy escaping the coop half the time. She was already out of the coop before this egg was produced at around 9.00 am this morning.

So who could it be out of this little lot?

 

 

Charity, she was a tiny ex battery hen that used to lay eggs all day, now she doesn't have to and she is growing into a beautiful plump hen. Could she be bothered to go to twice the trouble when there is so much fun to be had in the garden?

 

Tegan and Tamara the twins. They look like butter would not melt in their beaks but did they hatch out a plan between them?

 Lamorna, she is the biggest of the lot but size is not everything. She is a quite a scary bird with very odd blue feet.

So now armed with your evidence can you crack the puzzle who done the double?

New Chicks in the house.



Morvah - the houdini of the Chicken world

 I lost a few hens over the last few months and so only Blodwyn and Charity were left.  I thought it was time they had some friends but it has certainly ruffled some feathers in the Chicken coop.  Morvah the little white hen escaped on the way back and sat on my back seat all the way home.  It was only when I stopped the car that the feathers flew. It was a struggle trying to get her back in the crate to carry her up but in the end I managed to get her in.

                                 Lamorna above is very docile and has already started laying.

Tegan is so pretty

 

                                            And Tamara, her almost twin sister is too!

The problem in the coop is poor Charity, she was a rescue hen and has showed her nasty side, she is furious at these intruders, bless her feathers!

Beautiful old Blodwyn is taking it in her stride, she is the last of the original bunch (The Pied rangers) Now at eight years old, she is a wonderful old lady. 

So these are the new girls, hope they take to being blog stars as all of their antics will be followed now they are inside the chicken coop! 

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.

The road to Rio

Hope doing her 'Chicken-Bolt ' pose  

It has been such a wonderful Summer of sport. Even though the weather has not been great, we have so many lovely memories to look back on during the entire Olympics and Paralmpics which have been held in London and end today. I have loved every moment of it all. I am so proud of our humans and of course our animals in the form of our great Equestrian team with their four legged friends that have gone out there to show the world what sport can do in joining people from all nations and all walks of life. 

My ex battery hens didn't have the best start in life but now they are seriously wanting to progress with their own sporting goals and their Olympic prowess is starting to shine through. Hope, who is pictured above is determined to be the female chicken version of Usain Bolt. She even has her winning pose at the end of the track.

In fact they are all getting very competitive with each other and I realise now they are looking forward to the next Olympics in Rio

 

Perhaps they could be in the female football team?



Or the Gymnastic team?

Track and field?

What ever they may choose, it's about having a dream and believing in it that counts. It's not just about the Olympics, this applies to so many things in life.  It doesn't  matter where we come from, how many legs or arms we have. How tall or short we may be. How well we can see, hear, touch, speak or walk. It's what we do with what we have that makes us special. 

Never forget where you're coming from

I have been having a good delve into my family ancestry just lately and it looks like Blodwyn has been doing the same!   I have blogged previously about my old girls Blodwyn and Bethan and their similarity to dinosaurs and now even my little ex battery hens are showing signs of their ancestry too. 

It's amazing how different an individual breed can be.  Blodywn and Bethan, the two old girls are huge hens, they are not fast but they are very feisty.  They stalk around the garden in a very relaxed manner but seem to have no fear of anything, even my rumbling old petrol mower doesn't scare them and the neighbour's cats appear to be terrified of them.  They always give them a very wide berth if passing them in the garden.  I do wonder if they are giving off some sort of signal to say ' I was once a Tyranosaurus Rex, don't mess with me!'

My latest arrivals, Faith, Hope and Charity, the little ex battery hens are very different.  They are small and still have very few feathers.  They are fast and agile and take every opportunity to use their small frame to chase prey.  They really remind me of the little 'Turky sized' Compsognathus, one of the smaller dinosaurs that were mini bipedal carnivores. These tiny hens will chase even the most harmless butterfly to the death and any slugs and worms in the garden are history once they dig them out with their sharp claws and powerful beaks.

There has been a lot of research around this subject and I am convinced that our feathered friends are almost definitely a link back to their pre-historic relatives.  I shall always have to be on my guard when I am inside or out of the chicken coop!

Click here to find out a bit more

'Christus natus est', said the Cockerel

I saw this beautiful stained glass on a recent visit to Oxford. It hangs in Magdalen College Chapel and represents the Nativity.

I found it so beautiful and touching that it was thought on the night of Christ's Nativity, the birds and animals were able to talk and they even spoke in Latin!

I love the fact that the stunning cockerel was at the top of the tree and telling the other animals that Christ was born.

Mystic Hen - The Summer Solstice

It's time to celebrate the Summer Solstice!  I know, we have not seen much of the Sun just lately so most of us don't even feel like it's Summer but we just have to celebrate the fact that it's not freezing cold and snowing!  I had weeks of being in the coop with all that snow and couldn't even get out to scratch around.

This is such a magical time of year for humans and for chickens too so enjoy what bit of sunshine we do have, that way you can re-charge your batteries if it rains again.   

So now for your Hen Horoscope ( Humans may want to take note also, this could apply to you)    

Any Gemini hens out there? This is your time. You are great communicators so get out there and mix with people and do what you are good at.  Just don't try to do too many things at once, concentrate on what is important to you now and you may just find what you are looking for.

                                                                  Gemini - The Twins

A sticky find

The Bitterley Time Team have been at it again! This is their latest find. It's amazing what they dig up when they are left to roam the garden.  Although it may not be worth a great deal of money, I love the fact that they are constantly delving up a bit of history that has lay untouched for years. I believe this style of tin was used in the 1950's so it's certainly getting on for 60 years old. I wouldn't care to use the plasters if there were any inside though!

Bethan in front leads the dig to see what else they can uncover. The great thing is, they do all my weeding too. They cleared the sides of this path within a few minutes and all I had to do was rake it up! 

I should pay them an hourly rate really as they are not just keeping my garden tidy, one day they may just find a hoard of treasure!

I spy five little hens!

It was lovely to let the hens out today after the constant rain we have had recently, and even better to discover that I could still keep an eye on them when I am up in my attic doing a bit of writing.  I've never noticed that before as when I get to my desk, I hardly move until I have finished what I am working on.   

Sometimes I prefer to keep them in until I can be with them as I really worry about what they may get up to. Plus the fact that Mr Fox could visit at any time, or my little ex battery hens may squeeze through places they shouldn't as they are so small compared to Blodwyn and Bethan.

I went out to check them when they moved out of site from my window and they were all sunbathing!

This way, that way.

'Come on, Eggs this way.'

'Oh what fun, really?'

'He said this way, quick, we have to find the eggs.'

'None here.'

'Actually, they are this way.'

'Where? Where are they? There are no eggs here.'

'OK, I reckon Mr Easter Bunny is playing tricks with those little hens. Think I will go and have a quiet word with him.'

'OK Big ears, why are are you sending those little hens on a wild goose chase? They have never had the fun of an Easter Egg hunt and you are spoiling it for them.'

'OK, don't get your feathers in a twist, I was just having some fun. Really, they are that way.'

' I found one, I found one!'

I found two!

'Hope you are you going to share that?

Happy Easter everyone!