I don't believe it!

Despite some seriously inclement weather, I nonetheless dutifully went to the chicken run to check on the mob.   To say I was surprised to see Tu-Tu having a dust bath in the pouring rain would be putting it mildly.   In her defence, she had found a dryish bit of ground beneath an overhanging hedge, but a constant drip of water from one of the leaves still found its way onto her head.  But she's a stayer is our Tu-Tu and she didn't let that deter her.   When a girl's got to bathe, a girl's got to bathe.

I then went to the nest box where I knew I'd find Maggie brooding ...... well just the bedding as it turned out, as there were no eggs under her.  When I opened the nest box lid she looked up and growled at me!   Dogs growl, not chickens!  Unfortunately nobody had ever pointed that out to Maggie.

So I sloshed back to the house and had a nice cup of tea.

A pair of broody chickens

Tu-Tu is seriously considering becoming broody again.   For a while we’ve managed to change her mind, by lifting her out of the nest box and putting her back into the run every time one of us goes down to chat with the chickens.   It only took a few days before she gave it up, but then Maggie decided that she would go broody too.   

Maggie

We took the same action with her, but when we opened the nest box yesterday, we found both Maggie and Tu-Tu jammed into the same nest box.   Tu-Tu had tucked her head under Maggie’s wing in an effort to make her so uncomfortable, she’d leave.   But Maggie was quite determined to stay put.   We were equally determined that they’d both leave and, much to the annoyance of the pair of them, we put the duo back into the run.

We played this game last year and the result was a draw.   Maggie lost interest, Tu-Tu didn’t and we ended up getting 3 fertile Araucana eggs for her to take care of.  

Knitting jumpers for rescue chickens

Take a look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8537773.stm which is a video of a group of knitters in Somerset who knit jumpers for bald rescue chickens.  It shows chickens modelling these jumpers too.   Knowing my knitting capabilities, my daughter suggested I shouldn't bother unless there was a gigantic 3 legged hen who needed a jersey!  How well she knows my knitting capabilities.  But I do admire these ladies and their caring approach.   There are chicken jumper patterns to be found on the web if you feel the need to get your knitting needles out to help your local hen rescue organisation.

A blustery day

Most of the girls really don't like wind.   Titian always makes sure she gets the most sheltered spot, which is the far corner of the cage under the spare coop.   Tu-Tu also usually makes for the spare coop, but today she's trying to decide whether to become broody or not, so has made herself comfortable on some eggs that had been laid earlier by her buddies.

Araucanas are known for being tough cookies, so Punk is scratting around - but close to the spare coop, just in case.   Rebecca, though, takes being tough seriously and is having a dust bath!   However, on occasion I've seen a really strong gust of wind blow them several yards from where they were originally.  They've obviously remembered that, because their "tough" activities are taking place in the sheltered top half of the run.

Punk

Rebecca

On breezy days like today, Maggie generally joins Titian and Tu-Tu, but has decided instead to help Irene quarry through to Australia.

Pom-Pom's egg antics

Pom-Pom laid an egg on my foot this afternoon.   She’s a crested Poland bantam who has never come to terms with the fact that hens lay eggs, let alone that they should be laid in a nest box in the chicken coop.

As a result, her eggs have been found scattered in various parts of the hen run.   We’ve found them by one of the water dishes, in the farthest corner of the cage beneath the coop, on a step, on a concrete ledge and in the very narrow space between the coop and the fence (heaven knows how she squeezed in there).   We’ve even seen her laying them while she was still on the move.

All the other hens instinctively knew that when an egg was getting ready to make an appearance, they should go into the coop and relax quietly in the nest box until it popped out.   Not Pom-Pom.   She marches restlessly round and round and round, not even stopping for a snack or a drink.   Offer her a tasty piece of boiled potato, which normally she’d kill for, and it’s ignored. 

Most days we let our little flock out to devastate the garden for a while, but only when we can sit with them.  When we did this today, we could tell from Pom-Pom’s behaviour that an egg was on the way.   The surprise came when she rushed over to me, stood on my foot, dumped her egg and headed off the to the food dish.