Inside the chicken coop: walking with dinosaurs

Monday, 8 June 2009

Meet the ancestors

I wonder if Blodwyn realises, she may have just met one of her distant ancestors.

Scientists are finding constant links that our modern day chicken could be related to the incredible dinosaurs that enjoyed a 'free range' of our world over 100 million years ago.

The terrifying Velociraptor, made famous by the film 'Jurassic Park' was believed to have a fine covering of feathers and possibly not much bigger than a turkey. The picture of Branwen indeed shows a more ferocious side to our feathered friends.

If she was any larger, I think she would certainly be a match for any Velociraptor!

Feet are a great clue to their past. These pair belong to Branwen. Note the sharp claws at the end and scaly skin. Not unlike the Archaeopteryx below - one of the first fossilized birds.

Then there is the Gallimimus which is closely related to the ostrich. Part of the Ornithomimids group and very similar to our ground living birds with a lightly built skeleton, long neck, compact body, small skull and beak.

Note how long my hens necks appear on this photograph and quite similar in structure to the ancient Ornithomimids.

That's the science bit - now for something eggstra!

Dinosaurs laid eggs to hatch their young - just like my girls - I am a little concerned about what is hatching inside the chicken coop though.

Could this be the start of something new? There are dinosaurs all over the place.

Blodwyn is not too happy about sharing the coop with a stegosaurus.

That may be that he is not such a close cousin as the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex. At least she has the upper hand now, as after 100 million years, she is a lot larger, so he is no competition for her.

The Dinosaurs may be extinct, but some of their characteristics live on in our feathered friends. Watch out for that broody hen or the ferocious cockerel next time you go inside the chicken coop.

Inside (and out) of the chicken coop

Hello and welcome to my blog. I hope you have fun viewing some of the photos and stories, a lot of them are aimed at the younger generation, but hope will appeal to anyone who loves keeping chickens as pets. I have been keeping chickens for several years now, they really inspire my writing as they are very comical. My original hens inspired me to write my book 'One Hundred Ways For A Chicken To Train Its Human' which was published by Hodder and Stoughton in March 2007. Now this little clan keep me blogging about them.

Apart from my hens, I do write other stuff too, I am trying to get my Novel - Red Kite, Published but it's so difficult without an agent, and trying to find an agent is equally as hard. However I shall not give up - that's the one thing I am certain of. In the meantime I am writing freelance magazine articles and children's stories.

Gentlemen of the River - Phyllis Blakemore

I am very proud to announce that my Mother has just had her book published. ' Gentlemen of the River - The last Coracle men of the Severn Gorge' is a lovely book about the lives of the coracle men who spent most of their lives around the River Severn in Ironbridge. It spans the generations of the Rogers family who had a long history of coracle making. My Mom knew Eusty very well as she grew up in Ironbridge. He was the very last of the coracle men of that time. I lived there for some time too and he was a wonderful character. It was very sad when he died on January 31 2003 as a lot of skill and a huge amount of memories went with him.

The photographs show a glimpse of what life was like in Ironbridge before it was a major tourist attraction and helps to tell the story of an ancient craft which is still going strong with the modern day coracle makers of today.

It is published by Stenlake Publishing Ltd and priced at a very reasonable £7.99.

Barmouth 2009

We recently took my Mom to Barmouth for a weekend break and had hours of fun on the beach by drawing animals in the sand. We had limited time to create our sand art, as the sea was fast on our heels. My Mom really surprised me when she drew a perfect Micky Mouse, which I feel was good enough for any comic of today. Our chickens were not so good, and they were soon to be washed away by the tide, but the memories of that time on a deserted beach as three adults being children again will remain as a lovely end to the summer of 2009.