Times a changing.

It's not until you go back through old pictures, that you really notice change.

Mabel before

And after

I'd like to think that I have contributed at least a little bit to her transformation.

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Broodiness...

...what a total joy this is!


Brick has been in lay for just over 4 months.  Half of that time she has been broody, and she is a VERY determined broody.  We're talking Mother of the Year award level broodiness here.  


Sadly for her, I cannot offer her the opportunity to have chicks.  I no longer have a cockerel and I'm certainly not prepared to run the gauntlet of purchasing fertile eggs for her to sit on.  I would undoubtedly end up with six cockerels!  


So I have one very broody and increasingly sad looking hen, doing her utmost to hatch out the little plastic egg I have given her. The daily battle of her acquiring everyone else's eggs and then me reacquiring them off her, was not a suitable arrangement for either of us.  So plastic broody eggs were promptly purchased.

Brick being 'Mother of the Year' while Mabel faffs about in the other nest box.

And then there's Mabel...




If there was social services for chickens, she'd be top of their hit list.


Mabel's outlook on broodiness differs somewhat to that of Brick's.  It mainly involves stomping around the garden for most of the day whilst having a jolly good moan.  Then, two hours before roost time, she retires to a nest box, fluffs herself out and announces to all that she is actually broody, in case you had been fortunate enough to miss the day's ooooooo-ing and aaaaaa-hing all over the garden.




Suffering her friends broodiness with dignity and grace as always, is Betty.
Not one to miss an opportunity, Bet has decided to take full advantage of the current situation.






See if you can spot the recurring feature in these photos...

A shot of the conservatory.

My husband in the living room.

My daughter watching television.

My stepson texting on the sofa.

Me using my laptop.

Yes, I do believe full advantage of the situation is being well & truly taken!

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Chickens New Year.

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On the third day of Christmas...

...three French Hens.

Ok, they might not be French...

                                                  

...but these are!

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Merry Christmas x

Wishing all my blogging friends and their animal friends,  a very Merry Christmas

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three Days Before Christmas!

Brick decided this was the optimum time to require veterinary treatment...THREE days!  I don't expect there's a lot of poultry heading in the direction of the vets for remedial treatment three days before Christmas.

Pippin was most obliging in lending Brick his basket to go to the vets...
...I suspect fowl play.

Brick had sounded like an old squeezebox the day before and I suspected a respiratory infection.  Typically, it was nowhere near as bad this morning but with the vets closed for a few days over Christmas, I wasn't going to risk it.

We were going to drop by the open surgery in the morning but one hour before we were due to set off, Brick decided it was egg laying time.  Two hours later, when she finally emerged, it was too late to go and so a proper, official appointment had to be made.  Our appointment was for 2.50pm.


At 2.30pm Brick decided it was time for a dust bath.  At 2.35pm I was chasing her round the garden.  At 2.40pm we were all in the car.


As always, Brick's name caused confusion.  On the phone to the vet, there was a pause and I was asked to repeat, and spell said name.  At the vets the veterinary nurse just eyed me over a pair of glasses.


Once in, the usual checks took place; the temperature-taking was less fraught than it has been in the past.  I guess once you've laid a few eggs, a thermometer is a walk in the park.


Any way, two injections and thirty pounds lighter, we're on our way home and somewhat amused by the lady in the waiting room who asked if my cat was ok because it didn't sound very well at all... 

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The 9th of December 2011.

The day my chickens FINALLY laid their first egg!!!!!!!!!

Well, actually one of my chickens.  Brick, my Pekin x Silkie, the youngest of my hens...the other two are a pair of slackers!

Home grown, very fresh, free range eggs get a big thumbs up in our house!

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