Changing fashions

Most of the chickens are moulting, although Tu-Tu has decided to give it a miss ..... so far.  

Fizz has opted to moult at both ends of his body so as well as losing his tail, his scrawny neck is clearly visible.   Pom-Pom has also lost tail and neck feathers, as well as a bit in the middle - just to keep it even.  

Maggie went for the reverse Mohican look by having a bald patch along her spine, but an abundance of fluff on either side.   Maybe that was what decided Rebecca to take the opportunity to completely overhaul her "look" and try something really different.   She went for what I can only describe as The Vulture.

Is Rebecca searching for carrion?

Maybe she really likes her new image and has decided to keep it, because there's no sign of re-growth at the moment!

Sheepish

Once I've opened the coop up in the morning and chatted to the chickens, I usually wander over to the garden wall and take a few moments to savour the ambience of the field beyond.   It sets me up for the day.

Sometimes there's a combination of early morning light and a slight mist that could have you believe you're in the middle of a film set.

Or it could be the wonderful freshness of North Yorkshire's air.   Often you can hear a cock pheasant in the distance, announcing to the world that this is his personal territory.

Today it was the sheep.   I've been watching this particular flock since many of them were bouncy little lambs.   At this time in the morning they're usually making their way up from the bottom of the field to the top

It seems they were fed up with being scrutinised by me, so as a group of 20 or so walked past they turned the tables.   For the first time ever, each and every one of them stopped in front of me.   Each and every one of them looked at me intently for a few moments, then moved on.

I have a sneaking suspicion they couldn't believe their ovine eyes and my poor taste.   I was wearing a free National Geographic fleece!  Their fleeces were far superior.

Thankyou

I really enjoy writing this blog.   But it's such a morale booster to know that people actually bother to read it and some like it enough to follow it.

It's about time I said thankyou to all of you.  

It's also about time I publicly thanked my son for taking all the photographs that appear here.

Of course if my chickens were anything approaching normal, I'd have nothing to write about!   I shall give them a present of boiled potatoes this afternoon to show my appreciation.

Bedtime shenanigans

Maggie

When it was time to close up the coop yesterday evening, Maggie decided that for once she was going to have a late night.   This is most unusual - generally she can't keep her eyes open and is among the first to go to bed.

So she was picked up and popped into the coop via the nestbox.   But she wasn't ready to nod off yet, she thought she'd made that clear by being outside at bedtime.  The side door was opened to count everyone and make sure they were all present and correct.   So she took the opportunity to make a swift exit through the still open pop-hole.   She was just as swiftly put back into the coop and the pop-hole was closed before she could make another run for it.

The side door was opened again to try again to check and ensure that everyone was where they should be.   That annoyed just about all of them, as they were fed up with the continual disturbance.   So en masse they decided to move off the front perch and take up residence on the back perch.

At this point Maggie spotted Tu-Tu sitting smugly in one of the nest boxes.   Well she had to get her own back on somebody and who better than her second in command?  She marched over and quite literally flipped Tu-Tu out into the main coop area.

When it was finally established that nobody was missing, the coop was closed up for the night.   But judging by the mutterings that emanated from inside, we'd just better offer some superb snacks today.   It will be the only way to get back into their good books I think.

Saturday Night Feather

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk.

Eat your heart out John Travolta

Turf war

For a little while now, Punk has become increasingly aggressive.   First she started picking on Pom-Pom, who now runs away if she sees either Araucana's feet.   Then she started chasing her sister Rebecca away.   Today, she decided to headbutt Irene!

Irene's rather startled - she's never been headbutted before!

The force of it sends her a bit off balance

But she recovered and gave Punk a severe looking at

It could just be that Punk isn't moulting to the same extent as everyone else and feels left out.   Or it could it possibly be that she's trying to show Maggie that she's so tough, she should replace Tu-Tu as No. 2?   But in truth I suspect she's very much her own chicken.

Good career move

Over the past few weeks we've noticed that Maggie and Tu-Tu seem to have developed a close friendship.   On reflection, this friendship seems to have sprung up since they shared a nestbox when they both went into broody mode.

Maggie and Tu-Tu a few weeks ago

These days, particularly when they are out in the garden, it's not at all unusual to see them side by side munching on the grass.

Of course it may be that Tu-Tu has an altogether more ulterior motive and has latched on to Maggie deliberately.   When Queen B was alive, Tu-Tu was second in command and had been right from the word go.   Queen B would issue an order, Tu-Tu would act as enforcer.   Back then, she had a lot of power.

About this time last year she went broody, so we got her some fertile eggs and removed her to her own quarters to incubate them and raise the chicks she hatched.   Her absence from the flock resulted in her plummeting down to the bottom of the pecking order.

Bit by bit, she has worked her way back up through the ranks.   Now that Maggie has taken charge of the No. 1 position, perhaps Tu-Tu has formulated a cunning plan.   I can't help wondering if this new closeness with Maggie isn't related to a shared nest box at all.   In reality, perhaps it's all part of her planned career progression.   

At the moment, Maggie is doing all her own enforcement, but it will be interesting to see how, and if, Tu-Tu makes herself as indispensable to Maggie as she was to Queen B.