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.