April 2007

1 What a day for Tat to rest, when all of the others laid.  Still she deserved it, having laid for the last ten days.
2 While we were sitting having a coffee break, Tat jumped up on the table looking for treats.  Crow (softie) went indoors to get her a biscuit and when he retuned she was drinking the dregs of his tea from his mug!  She ended up in my lap trying to get the digestive biscuit.
3 First 5 egg dayIt took them a few days to co-ordinate, 

but here it is 

- our first FIVE egg day!

4 Lacey has developed a funny habit.  She must like to lay in private, so if she goes to the nest and there's already someone in there, she stands at the top of the ladder and makes an awful lot of noise.  It's like she's saying "get out of my bed!"
5 Crow was digging one of my veggie beds in the paddock and picking out worms to feed to the hens who were stuck in the run as we were going out later.  It was very comical watching them eat the worms, especially as they wouldn't touch them unless they were wiped clean.  When one landed on Lacey's back she ran round and round in a circle to shake it off - very funny  :-)))
6 I can hardly write this without tears.  Clover is a very sick girl.  I know you'll think we're mad, but these chicks are our pets and we are very attached to them.
Whilst we were out exercising this afternoon, she disappeared.  We searched and searched when we returned and eventually Crow found her in the pond.  She must have fallen in and then exhausted herself trying to get out.  For a moment we thought she had drowned, but as Crow lifted her up we saw she was still breathing, but she was very cold and soaked through and so weak she couldn't stand.  I wrapped her in a towel and sat in the sun with her but she couldn't stop shaking, possibly in shock and maybe hypothermic, poor thing.  So, out came the hairdryer to provide a gentle warm breeze, but she still shivered.  Clover in recoveryNext I wrapped her in my fleecy jumper and cuddled her.  Then I took her into the potting shed, the warmest place I could find and sat her in the sun, still wrapped in my jumper.  There she stayed for an hour whilst I pottered about.  Finally, at 17:30, I brought her indoors in a temporary nest made in one of our recycling bins.  Now we have to wait and see.  She still can't stand up.  Hopefully she won't have swallowed too much pond water which could make her very ill and she'll pull through.  I guess she'll have to sleep in the bedroom with us tonight.......
It's 23:00 and Clover has perked up a little and had a tiny bit of corn but nothing to drink.  Fingers crossed......
7 Clover on the dressing tableClover had a reasonably quiet night in the spare bedroom, but woke us up at 7:00 making a bit of a noise.  When I went through, she had escaped from her box and was sliding around on the dressing table!  Definitely quite perky!
We took her out to the hen house and fairly soon she went into the nest and laid an egg.  That was the last thing I expected after all the trauma.  I guess it's another one of those "isn't nature wonderful?" moments.  She's spent the rest of the day very happily scratching around and  hanging out with the others.  
On top of that, she obviously passed some kind of initiative test and has stayed out on the perches tonight for the first time.  She's on the third perch, one below the others, but I bet it's not long before she graduates to the top with them.
8 Clover makes the top perch!Well, I said it wouldn't take long.....   -->

Lacey laid our 500th egg since I started counting last May 1st.

9 Watching our two little bantams wandering around the garden, there's a marked difference between the cute but squat, waddling Clover and the upright, sprightly and elegant Lacey.
10 Sat out for coffee earlier and Tat jumped straight onto the table for treats.  I tickled her for ages, it's so so hot under those feathers!  Once the biscuits came out I had both big chicks in my lap trying to get them.
11 Tat came right into the kitchen while I was changing my shoes in the lobby.  That means she walked right past me to get there - bold or what!
We've had 5 eggs today and yesterday.  I can't give them away fast enough, I'm thinking I may need to try to sell some.
12 I give up.  Trying to keep the hens from digging up my flower border1 seeds is impossible.
13 50 eggs in thirteen days from our happy, healthy hens.
14 My retail therapy today included a plaque for the chicken run.  What's on it.  Silly question - chickens, of course.
15 Eggs for sale today but no takers yet......
Lacey has been a bit odd.  She's sat on the step of the run like an ornament, then shunned the company of the others by sitting on the top perch for most of the day before laying an egg.  She's also cleaning her feathers an awful lot, I'm hoping there's not an uninvited visitor living in there....  Meanwhile Clover's been exploring next door.
16  Partridge visitorsVisitors feeding in the chicken run -->
Our local neighbourhood partridges.  As it happens, I spotted them just a few yards down the road at the end of my walk yesterday.

It's Lacey whose been through the fence to next door this morning (must order the new fence panels) and Aggie's been having one of her "senior moment wanders" whilst trying to lay..

17 Our chicks seem to have found a new spot.  All five have been sitting in a pile of sandy type stuff behind our garden lean-to.  They had obviously been dust bathing in it, something that was proven with Titfer came over to our table for treats, then shook herself and an enormous cloud of dust burst forth.  It was a bit like standing next to a wet dog when it shakes itself dry, except I was left dusty, rather than wet.
18 Already up to 70 eggs this month :-)), but still no sales  :-((
19 Hens didn't get out until late this afternoon so we let them roam until they returned to the run of their own accord, which turned out to be at 7pm.  (Usually, I get them in earlier as they'll come running for food any time after 4.30.)
20 Sold!  My first 12 eggs.
21 Yesterday's chicky treat was a bunch of oil seed rape leaves and they were absolutely demolished this morning.  Just a few bald stalks left.
All five laid today, but Aggie has gone into the nest tonight.  Hope this isn't the start of the first broody episode.
22 Well, Aggie got up, foraging a while, spent a long time in the nest but laid an egg, had a dirt bath, then went back into the nest overnight.  Perhaps the old lady is just feeling her age?
23 Although Aggie was up and out with the others first thing, she spent a lot time in the nest this afternoon and didn't lay.  I got her out and she had some food but then went back to the nest, so I still fear there's a broody spell on the horizon.
24 It's official - Aggie is definitely broody.  I know she's only missed two days of laying but her behaviour has changed markedly today.  When I lifted her out of the nest she was all floppy and submissive and allowed me to put her down and stroke her.  Then she had paraded around with her features puffed up and making a particular little twittering noise.  She continually tries to get back into the nest and finally she allowed Ray to pick her up and put her in his lap, when normally we can't get near her.  This is definitely Aggie being broody - we know the signs - so no more eggs form her for the next couple of weeks!
25 Who would tend chickens?  When I got up & out this morning Aggie was firmly sat in the nest and Titfer & Tat had already laid.  I let out the foursome, but since Lacey & Clover had still to lay, Aggie was removed from the nest and locked up in the broody pen.  At close to 4pm, both Lacey & Clover were laying, so I let Aggie out of the broody pen.  She was determined to get into the nest, so with a bit of a struggle, I finally got her out of the chicken run altogether and closed the doors.  Lacey came out at about 4:30.  Aggie continually patrolled around the pen, looking for a way in.  Finally at 6:30, Titfer, Tat, Aggie & Lacey were all wanting to be back in the pen, but Clover was still in the nest.  So, I hauled a protesting Clover out of the nest (she was sitting on her egg) and blocked off the nest entrance so that Aggie would perch overnight.
26 Well, I thought I had read that a hen would never be broody in her first year and that was certainly the case with Titfer & Tat.  However, we now seem to have a broody Clover.  We were out today, so Aggie went in the broody pen and Clover was in the nest when we left.  Guess what?  Clover was still in the nest when we returned and she hadn't laid, although she had swapped nests.  We allowed her to stay there, but had to turf her out, despite her loud protests, at 6pm.
Oh - and Tat laid the 100th egg of the month!
27 How can a hen be broody AND laying???  Well, our Clover is.  When I lifted her out of the nest this morning, she was sitting on a tiny egg.  She was unusually submissive and then spent all day clucking (she's temporarily nicknamed "Clucker") around the chicken run, trying to find a way back into the nest.  At one point she jumped up onto my arm and then allowed me to cuddle and stroke her.  That's one confused hen!
In the meantime, Aggie seems not quite so broody.  She still went into the nest at first light and had to be thrown out, but she then spent all day with the others and didn't keep trying to get back to the nest.
28 Aggie's "cured".  No attempt to nest today, quite happy doing the normal garden foraging.
29 Another dozen eggs sold.  "Clucker" is still clucking and trying to sit in the nest, so we dipped her in a water bath to try to cool her down.  She doesn't seem to mind and this worked for Tat last year.
30 Scores on the doors:  Tat 28, Titfer 23, Lacey 21, Clover 21, Aggie 18.
So, Tat's queen again - an absolutely extraordinary performance from her, a great one from Titfer and good performances from the rest, giving us a total of 111 eggs this month and 582 eggs in the last calendar year.
eggs this month
eggs since 1 May 2006