Chit chat, garden and chooks - and a new personal best - This is my 300th Blog! Wow, what a lot of typing in just a few months

Eggs - Total to date: 244 - Day 109

KoKKo 81 (86grms) 29.11.2005 Personal best
Adelaide 81 (77grms) 13.02.2006 Personal best
Ginger 82 (78grms) 22.2.2006 Personal best *New Personal best today 81grms

Gosh if I thought yesterday was cold – it was mild compared to today and the wind chill factor.

Arum Metallica Pictum - Lords and Ladies - just coming through

I am going to intersperse the text with some photos which I took today of plants in my garden.

Thought it might add a bit of colour to an otherwise dull day.

I think that Adelaide and KoKKo were a bit miffed at me not putting their greens cage into the pen before I went off to see the physio today, as they have not laid an egg as at lunchtime. Ginger did though a new personal best of 81 grams, that is three grams bigger that her biggest egg so far which was in December.

So I wrapped it up in bubble wrap to take with me. (The torture was worse than usual, and as an afterthought involved needles stuck deep into ligaments, must be because I said that I would take two eggs. Subtle ways of getting their own back some people – joke – she is lovely really).


The first daffodils to starting to bud underneath the patio door.


Pat dropped me off near the charity shop where the lady works that has the bantams for sale. Sadly she didn’t have any photos but we did have a nice chat about her animals. ‘About’ twenty chickens including a blind hybrid that lives in a rabbit hutch, a Buff Orpington that was an accident, her daughter bought some eggs to blow, and her brother liked the look of it so persuaded her to put it under a broody hen and got the Buff Orpington! The rest are all sorts of bantams – cross breeds.

I asked her where they all lived, and the bantams just seem to live around the garden – ‘oh and they fly’ she mentioned as an after thought. ‘How high?’ I asked. Apparently high up into the trees to roost. She told me not to go to any expense buying another house or hutch for them as they are really hardy and roost anywhere – and outside in all weathers.



Cream and purple sage that did not die back during the winter


All this means that I shall have to firstly, get the bird netting over the pen sooner rather than later. I was going to do it later for when they formally introduce keeping domestic fowl under cover away from wild birds. Which means that the runs have to be netted to keep any wild birds from getting in and more importantly leaving their droppings.

I could do that now by just putting netting across the top, but I want it higher so that I do not have to stoop. It is about 5 feet 9 inches now, and I am an inch shorter in bare feet, so I want to raise it up to the height of the pergola. Just need a few mild and dry days – some bits of wood and some netting! This will also ensure that the bantams don’t take off over the neighbouring gardens and cause problems!



Snowdrops that just appeared in the raised bed


Talking of potential problems, there is always the pecking order to sort out – so introducing new chickens will mean more pecking. The lady I spoke too, said not to worry about it, just to let them get on with it. The bantams are tough, and if I put in a branch that they can fly up on to – they can keep away from the others when they need too. She said that they also run really fast and are used to looking after themselves – so that is good news. I now know that when they all settle down, they will all fit inside the Eglu to roost, but if they decide not to, I will provide alternative arrangements, but I am sure they will be fine. I think that I will look out for a small tree that has been sawn down, or cut down one out of my cherry tree hedge to put into the pen.



A Christmas Rose

When I came back from town, the chooks greeted me excitedly as usual, which really makes you feel good inside. I took them their greens cage filled with the leaves from another cabbage and some green grapes, and some more layers mash made with warm water – although they don’t seem to mind the cold at all, and stand there with the wind ruffling up their ‘petticoats’ which looks rather fetching.

KoKKo kindly laid me an egg, but Adelaide is being a bit snooty about the whole thing, so will hang onto hers until the last possible minute before she goes to bed no doubt.

I fixed the new door bell that had conked out again, and Pat chose a new ‘tune’by Glenn Miller, but I still rather like the sound of a barking dog!

I am off out to give the girls a leftover Yorkshire pud for their supper.



They always have to take it all out of their food container and throw it around first






Then of course they have to see if anyone has got a better selection than they managed to grab for themselves