March 2008

1 As there was no egg collection yesterday, I braved a Lacey pecking as she was in the nest trying to lay another egg on top of the four she was already sitting on.
2 All six chicks found their way behind the stables today where they just loved being leg deep in old rotting leaves!  Plenty of insects in there, I guess.
3 Crow decided to wash the food bowls, one at a time and Pepper followed him everywhere whether the bowl he was carrying was empty or full.
4 The hens have been very active begging at the door today with Lacey as appointed spokeschick.
5 Will Aggie start laying soon?  She's certainly eating well.
6 It's a funny site when I'm in the tack room filling up the food bowls and 6 chickens are hanging about, right outside the closed tack room door.
7 Tat's returned to the laying circle, so 4 eggs awaited me today.
8 Right!  Tomorrow we really, really, really must clean Salt's bottom. (Another 4 egg day.)
9 Oi! you taking a picture of my bottom?Salt was really very good during her bottom washing which turned out to be quite a difficult exercise.  Whatever it was, poo and/or mud, it was rock solid and as if super-glued to her feathers.  I cleaned for a long as Crow could hold her, whilst Pepper stood patiently close by.  Not sure if she was just "caring" for Salt or if she wanted a washing too?

It's not a perfect result..... looks all pink and bare, but I'm sure she will look better when her feathers get dry and fluffy again.

10 Foul weather, rather than fowl weather, today.  Wild, rainy & windy.  Let the girls out after 14:00 for a run around in the pouring rain.  They gingerly made an exit from the run then Aggie sauntered about the lawn as if the sun was shining, whilst the others sheltered in the car port until the rain subsided a little.
11 Has Aggie laid her first egg of the year today?  I think so!!!!  Although there is a very slim chance that it's a Lacey egg that I didn't notice yesterday.  We'll see if she lays again.
12 By the way, Salt's bottom, having dried out, is now suitably clean and fluffy again.  I even think she's managed to clean up the remainder of dirt after we'd dealt with the worst.  I feel much happier now that she's in less danger of picking up some kind of problem.
13 It's official - Aggie IS laying - a haul of 5 eggs today.
14 Uncle Ron is house-sitting and hen-sitting until next week....  The girls don't care, as long as there's a hand to feed them.
20 Are my chicks glad to see me or just starved of treats?  Whatever, they gave us our first 6-egg day of the year!
21 I was tipped off to watch the beginning of the Paul O'Grady show this evening because he had a beautiful white Silkie hen on his "desk" for the first few minutes.  How he got her to sit so still for so long, I'll never understand.
22 It's so lovely to see all six chicks looking so healthy with such vibrant red combs.
23 White out!!!!  Heavy snow for four hours and we're all white.  The chicks DON'T like it at all.  It's so funny - they simply won't walk onto the snow.  I had to be cruel to Pepper and carry her into the snow to get some pics.  Click here to see snowy chick pics.
24 Got the greatest pic of a chick in mid-flight just after jumping for biscuit.  Will appear soon as pic of the month.
25 Was it Tat, Salt or Pepper who poo'd on the table?  I know what you're thinking - I can tell who has laid which egg, can I tell who has done which poo?  Well, I'm  relieved to say that I can't!  So how can I narrow this accusation down to 3 out of 6 hens?  Well, it's just a matter of scale, small hens, small poos, big hens.......  Bet you're glad you know that now.
26 I spotted a very sprightly Aggie chasing a blackbird around the lawn.  Heaven forbid he should eat any tiny morsel meant for a chicken!
27 It's pouring with rain and five chicks are sheltering in the car port, preening themselves, but Aggie is blithely wandering around the lawn wearing her obviously super-waterproof feathery coat.  A funny day, one minute pouting, the next very warm sunshine.  Caught Lacey & Clover basking in the sun at the base of the bamboo.
28 Chicks got into the paddock when Crow left the gate open.  (Doh!!)  Salt came back with a mysterious object in her mouth and was chased around the garden by all the other chicks trying to get it from her.  I could tell she was having trouble pecking it and it didn't look too nice so I went out and eventually managed to shoo her away when she put it down.  Yuk - cannibal chick - it was a dead birds leg!  Needless to say it was confiscated.
One of the moorhens was out for a midnight swim.
29 It's Essex 100 Rally day but I still let the girls out after all the cars departed, then they were very good and went back into their run for me at 15:30, before all the cars arrived back.
30 It's a beautiful day, warm & calm and the chicks loved it.  I caught them snuggled together, basking in the sun under fir trees.  Aaaah, sweet.........
31 A new Longfield world record for egg laying!!  125 eggs this month, the previous best being 111 last June.  And either Salt or Pepper laid EVERY DAY!  They caught me out on 30th when there was one one big brown egg and I'm not sure who laid it, but my best guess is that it was Pepper, so she gets the laying crown for March.
Scores on the doors (I think):  Pepper 31, Salt 30, Lacey 23, Tat 19, Aggie 12, Clover 10
eggs this month
eggs this year