Early morning routine - 6 eggs again today

Norfolk Lasses Eggs Total to Date: 335 Day:146

KoKKo 112 Personal best egg weight 86grms 29.11.2005
Adelaide 112 Personal best egg weight 80grms 26.02.2006
Ginger 111 Personal best egg weight 80grms 27.03.2006

London Ladies Bantam Eggs Total to date: 14 Day:15

Dilly 5 Personal best egg weight 36grm 27.03.2006
Freckles 6 Personal best egg weight 37grms 28.03.2006***
Pumpkin 3 Personal best egg weight 31 grms 27.03.06

The early morning routine is never a chore and I can't wait to get out of bed and see what the weather is like and head off out into the garden to say hello to my little flock of chooks.

Firstly they breakfast on organic layers pellets and mash - a feed that I buy by the sackful, and contains all the nutients that they need if they are egg layers. Because their personal runs are covered closed at night, it enables me to put it out fresh when they are roosting ready for the morning, so now that we are having brighter days, they don't have to wait for me to feed them if they get up at 5am in the morning.

By the time I go out to them around 7am now that the clocks have gone forward - but it would have been 6am, it is bright and today, dry.

I let the banties out and fill up their caged feeder and hang it on the big girls run.


Today it is fresh cauliflower, and as you can see, it is the best if both worlds for all of them. The little ones feed from the pen side, and the big girls feed from their side - that way they all get first pick.

They all change places pushing over and under each other. As I watch them it reminds me of a jugglers hands with coloured balls - continually moving around ready to be up in the air again. The chooks are like the handful of balls. Sometimes they drop to the ground looking for dropped pieces, sometimes they reach up on tippy toes to get a bit at the top. Over and under, sideways and frontways. It also reminds me of plaiting.

Fascinating keeping chickens and learning their behaviour patterns.

I leave them to it for a hour or so depending on what I am doing indoors the later when I go to collect the eggs I let the KoKKo, Adelaide and Ginger out, then they all run free in the pen.

I look for things for them to do, so often put in a flower pot that has weeds in the top and let them scrabble about in or on that. I'll hang up a cd on a piece of string attach it to a garden cane and they peck at that. Mostly they just like to scratch about and dig for England - making deep holes in the endevour to trip me up in the dark at night when I lock them in their respective runs.

No eggs early this morning - but that is because the clocks have gone forward for an hour - they all like to have a good breakfast inside them before they do any serious work - a bit like us really.

So I am off for mine. Updates will appear later

9.45am update eggs - Norfolk lasses 1 London Ladies 1 a new pb from Freckles wow

1.30pm another egg from KoKKo this time - I think that Adelaide might have laid an egg in the hedge hide as she has just appeared - off to look then lunch.

Chicken drum sticks really large organic ones covered in garlic powder and dried herbs to coat, home made potato wedges - and this is where I hang my head in shame, a tin of baked beans because Pat really fancied them. Tish junk food! Nice now and again though - but all that sugar and salt!

Well I have had another 6 eggs today - had better make some pasta again and dry it!

Just been out to give the girls their even winter warmer of corn and wheat mix. It is really blustery and windy and cold, but they don't seem to mind and are all tucking in together.

I am already daydreaming about more bantams - and maybe if my bantams turn broody I might get some fertilised eggs and let one of them sit on them.

If you read the comments - you will see that Patsy is tempting me beyond belief to do that.

I will have to look into that though as if it needs more housing and seperate living quarters I do not think that I will be able to do it!