February 2008

1	Very impressed with my chicks today.  We let them out as they were locked up for most of yesterday.  We had to pop out between 2 and 4 and they obliged by going back into the run for me at 1:30, then had another little forage when we got back at 4.
2	I'm a little bit concerned about Clover as she's too thin and her comb is very pale.  She's running around with the others though, so I'm probably just being over sensitive.
3	Already 10 eggs in the first 3 days.
4	Tat seemed to be spokeschick today - coming to the back door and table every couple of hours to be vocal and try for treats.
5	Aggie's still Queen, boss, head honcho.  I watched her today, eating from the big feeding bowl.  (We've got 2 small and one big bowl.)  The large bowl is big enough for three or four hens to feed from at the same time.  But, not for Aggie - she didn't want to share while she searched out the last oats from the layers pellets.  She made her little warning wittering sound, then pecked Salt & Tat until they left her with the bowl to herself.
6	Pepper gave herself a fright.  We were out & thus late in letting the chicks out, so I didn't try to round them up until about 16:45.  All but Pepper were in the run scoffing pellets & oats.  Pepper was all alone, right down the back garden, quite engrossed in a dust bath.  I had already called her & rattled food bowls to no avail.  Suddenly, she realised she was alone and that the light was starting to dim.  She squawked very loudly, ran and flew up the garden and like an arrow in to the run.
7	It was a bit crowded with Salt, Pepper, Tat and Lacey on the table.  So when I above the window above it, Salt jumped up onto the window ledge and stood for ages having a good tickle.
8	Aggie shared a small food bowl with little gentle Clover.  So, she's not the wicked queen all of the time!
9	Ever since watching Hugh's Chicken Run, we've been meaning to introduce some balls into the chicken run.  I've had trouble finding plastic ones which can be kept clean but finally came across some recently.  We've put one on the ground and hung two up.  All six chicks seem to be totally unimpressed.
10	It's Clover's one year anniversary.
11	Lost four chicks today for a short while.  After some noisy squawking, they emerged from under a bush near our front door.  Not sure what the attraction was under there, but I do see blackbirds going in and out.
12	Did you know that....  in the year 79AD, on the morning that Mount Vesuvius erupted, the priest of the temple of Isis in the southern Italian city of Pompeii was just sitting down to eat some boiled eggs....
13	.... He never got to finish them and centuries later, the eggs, now hard boiled and carbonised, were discovered by archaeologists.
14	For the first time since we "adopted" her, Aggie has failed to give us her first egg of the year by Valentine's Day.  I guess she's feeling her age, poor old dear.
15	Which dirty bird pooped on Clover whilst she slept on the perch below her?
16	Tat, Salt & Pepper are playing games with me at the moment.  We keep getting two big brown eggs each day and I can't be sure whose they are!
17	Well, I can identify Pepper's egg as it's a paler brown but Tat & Salt whilst fast become twin look-alikes are also laying egg look-alikes.
18	Boy does Lacey take hours to lay!  She was in the nest for at least four hours today.
19	Lacey will be a cooked chicken by morning.  She's sat on the top perch next to a standing Tat.  If/when Tat sits, she will be on top of Lacey, unless all the birds shuffle along.
20	I've found a free pattern to make woolly hens, so we might have an indoor flock soon.
21	Tat seems to have stopped laying but she did look plump and beautiful today.
22	Meanwhile, Salt & Pepper are laying almost every day - 20 eggs each so far this month with Lacey a close third at 17.
23	Chickens are a great source of smiles if you're feeling sad........
25	Crow says Pepper tried to fly in via the closed study window and nearly knocked herself out.  Ouch!
27	When we leave the nest open at night, both Tat & Aggie go for home comforts and snuggle down in there, whilst the other four perch outside, even when it's sub-zero.
29	This month's scores: Salt 27, Pepper 26, Lacey 22, Tat 9
	eggs this month
	eggs this year