November 2007

1	I stroked Aggie on the perch tonight and her new feathers are so soft, they're gorgeous.
2	It's Lacey's anniversary.  She's been with us for one year now and she celebrated by laying an anniversary egg, the first one for 37 days.  Spare a thought for Muppet though, I still miss him.
3	We tried to wash Tat's dirty bottom.  I'm always afraid she'll catch something or get lice/mites with stray poo on her feathers.  She's just so fluffy that she can't seem to miss all of her feathers when she "goes".  However, she's such a big fat healthy hen that she's very hard to get hold of and keep still.  We failed and then she just wouldn't come near the table to allow us a second chance..
4	Tat still won't come near us.  I've tried all day to gain back her confidence.  he was enticed onto table once, but is very wary.
5	Salt & Pepper are such hungry young bullies!  They get all of the treats before the other four chicks get a look in.  Corn is ok as I can spread that over an area so that they can all eat, but anything else like raisins, Salt & Pepper just "push" the others out of the way.  They are so fast on their feet. - even that old bumblefoot!
6	Oh no!  After feeding Salt the last of her medicine, I was cleaning her toe when part of the black scab came off and it started bleeding.  We put her temporarily in the toblerone pen whilst I found some lint etc to cover her open wound.  We left her in there for a few hours to ensure there was no more bleeding, then she came out for a forage with the others.  Amazingly the dressing stayed in place!
7	Bit of a shock!  We think Aggie laid an egg today!  I was convinced she had stopped for her winter break. We could be wrong, but I did see Aggie coming out of the nest and the egg looks too big to be Lacey's and Clover laid an egg later.  Salt's toe got re-dressed, but it took two attempts - the first one just dropped off.  (I've since decided that this was not possible and that the egg must have been Lacey's.)
8	The troop went round the back of the house and we were watching them through one of the dining room windows.  Pepper spotted her food source (us) through the window and tried to jump on windowsill to get to us. I've been examining eggs and I'm now not sure that yesterday's was from Aggie.  Lacey was very forward and hungry this afternoon and there was another egg.  All I can be sure of right now, is that I'm not sure.
9	Very strange happening this morning.  Normally, when the doors to the run are opened, you have to be careful not to get hit by escaping hens in flight, but today they didn't want to come out.  After some while, they timidly crept out and just went under the bushes immediately next to run.  Perhaps the stoat was about?
10	Back to normal this morning - mowed down by the rush when I opened the run.  Then, I could hardly get along the patio with Lacey, Salt & Pepper so close to my feet, it was difficult not to fall over them.  All for a handful of corn.
11	Happy hens running round all day, but no eggs  :-(
12	We've left Salt's toe "undressed" today to allow it to breathe.  Doesn't look any different really - still a great big lump on the side with an awful black top.
13	I'm still in the throws of an egg mystery and I think one of the young chicks is at the bottom of it because yesterday we had two eggs, one was Lacey's and the other was not Tat's (wrong colour) and was just too big to have come from Clover or Aggie.  So, is it Salt or Pepper doing the deed?
14	No eggs today to help solve my little mystery, but Clover laid the 700th of this year yesterday - that's from everyone - not just Clover!
15	An egg from Lacey, proving that she isn't laying the bigger white eggs.
16	Someone's moulting - the run is full of soft fluffy white feathers.
17	It's Tat!  She's lost all of her tail feathers and is looking a bit silly, poor babe.
18	I'm sure I've mentioned in the past that Tat has very dirty feathers around her bottom and I keep fearing she might attract undesirable maggots or something.  Well, problem solved!  She's lost all of those feathers in her moult.  I reckon her bottom hasn't been this clean since she was born.
19	Another one of those mysterious big white eggs and still no more clues.
20	Tat has never deserved her name so much, she's really really tatty at the moment.  With a baldy bottom and neck, she looks like she's preparing herself for the pot.  And after a full day out in the rain, a very sorry site......
21	Salt has laid her first egg - clever girl!  It was light brown, like Tat's, which is as expected.  So, I've had to conclude that it must be Lacey laying the occasional big white egg - unless it's Aggie, of course.
22	Salt laid another egg - didn't expect two days running.  We were out at chicky "bedtime", so had to leave the nest open.  To our surprise, everyone but Tat was perched outside for the night.
23	Another salt egg!  Is she going to be a champion like Tat?  Poor Tat is looking balder than ever and is in the nest tonight with Aggie and Pepper.
24	We got what looked like Pepper's first egg today.
25	Salt laid the most beautifully deep golden brown egg.
26	I arrived home with my hands full of bags and made my way in the door and into the kitchen.  Salt & Pepper immediately followed me into the lobby, as they do, as  I hadn't stopped to close the door due to my full hands.  They're banned now because one of them pooped on the lobby mat - dirty beast!
27	I was kneeling on the doormat, leaning out to feed Tat some sultanas, when Pepper jumped up the step and straight past me into the lobby.  As I went to retrieve her, she ran into the kitchen and I had to chase her around the kitchen island before she retreated.  She's so bold. Poor, poor, tatty Tat.
28	Pepper's had a exciting day.  First, she chased blackbirds around the lawn then later she did her scratchy dance in the big food bowl.  Bird brained or what?
29	Pepper's still exploring - she spent some time trying to climb into a bush - not sure what the attraction was.
30	Aggie is still the most beautiful chicken.  Her new feathers are so so soft and she keeps them so clean.  Meanwhile, there are signs of Tat's feather regrowth. But the big egg mystery continues.  Salt was definitely in the left hand nest this morning but the egg I found there was big and white.  That might mean that the brown eggs have been Pepper's, not Salt's and that the larger white eggs which I've been crediting to Lacey have been Salt's all along! To end the month, a final egg mystery.  I found half of a brown egg shell just outside of the run.  That probably means that Pepper laid an egg in the run and they broke it and ate it....... Egg scores:  Lacey 17, Clover 17, Salt 6 (I think), Tat 3, Pepper 1 (maybe).
	eggs this month
	eggs this year