Progress!

Today was a landmark day for a few reasons.

1. The ladies (well, the laying ones - still no eggs from Bessy) all scooted for me when I went to pick them up. They've come to trust me a little...

2. Piper went to see the ladies and they didn't run away. (Piper was on a long-line but she still did well and didn't chase them...)
(Excuse the mess, I was taking the opportunity to do some re-arranging and clearing)

3. Doris (always the first anywhere - especially if she thinks food is on offer) took a peek into the house! Very brave, especially as there was a Piper-dog and 2 cats in the living room.

She took a look around and then decided that there were more bugs outside, than inside.

4. Whilst we had the girls free ranging in the garden (they love that part of the day) two of the cats decided to wander out (Lucie and Seren).
Lucie was quite interested and would get as close as possible and just watch them. Emma was worried that she would make a run at one and as Lucie is quite sick (she has cardiomyopathy) it wouldn't have been the most intelligent thing to do, especially as her breathing isn't great in this weather. She needn't have worried though (I did tell her) as Lucie then became more interested in the cat nip thats planted in the borders!
Seren, the younger cat, also got quite interested, ran up to one of the girls, decided she was too big and too much hassle and ran back in the house!
Its just Tabitha now. She wanders out to the run and watches them, and it very blasé, but Emma thinks she's lulling us into a false sense of security! Tabitha is/was (she's a bit old now) the main hunter of the house and in her hey day has brought home rabbits and pigeons before.

Plus, we also tried them on blueberries. Big fans - most of all, Mabel! See if it makes any difference to the flavour of the eggs.
(3 per day)

Hot, Hot, Hot!

It's so hot!

I don't want anyone to think that I'm complaining because I love the summer when it's not raining; but the ladies are not so impressed.

We've had lots of dust-baths and we've put a blanket over the roof of the run to give them a little more shade and Emma's found a tip on t'interweb that if you fill a bowl with iced water and put fruit in it the chickens will effectively bob for the fruit and it cools their wattles and rehydrates them at the same time.

This worked well on Monday except that not all the fruit floated so there were some grapes sitting at the bottom go the bowl which they wanted...

So they just tipped the bowl over and fished the fruit off the floor. D'oh.

Yesterday Emma tried with peas..

Unfortunately the same thing happened but it took a good few hours for them to get bored of dunking their heads in anyway so it seems to work.


What shall we try today?....

3 layers; 1 chicken chicken

Sorry for the delay... technical issues; we've got a bit of catching up to do...

We've had a number of eggs over the last few days

Today was an attempt at a boiled egg from Heston's recipe

Poached with crispy bacon and home-grown tomatoes

From left to right: Myrtle, Doris, Mabel

Poached with a little black pepper.

You may have noticed a name missing from the pictures above. Bessy still hasn't laid.
She's the flightiest of the 4 ladies and still very nervous after Piper chasing her. We think that she is getting close as she has started to sit in the nest box. She's not scooting yet either whilst the rest of them are quite happily scooting and come running when we go into the run.

We are trying to free range them for some time each day. Again getting Mabel, Doris and Myrtle back into the run at the end of this is fine, but still having trouble getting Bessy back in, so we are having to bribe her with live mealworms. I think she might actually know what she's doing!

In other news, they seem to be big fans of spinach, kale (but not as much as spinach), rocket and grapes.

Other than that, there's not a lot to add so now we're just waiting on Bessy:

Days without eggs from Bessy: 14

P.S. Egg recipes from Heston's Recipes

19th July 2012 - (Day 12, Emma)

After my last whinge about not seeing able to sit outside, I decided that my pregnant wife needed to do some work so we took Piper for a walk when I got back from work and now I am sitting in the garden (see above) updating this page with the ladies scratching at the herb-garden and borders; and Emma cooking supper.

As you can see from the next few pics, they are really enjoying the freedom. I wish we could leave them out like this all day but Emma's worried about Red Kites and cats and i don't know if she's wrong...

(Comments greatly received)

You'll be surprised to know that we're having eggs for supper tonight. We've had 3 today -

1 from Doris (becoming too complacent about these now)

1 from Myrtle (we decided that yesterday's brown egg was Myrtle's because of all the commotion that was coming from the coop when she was in it - Emma was worried that someone was dying!)

and 1 from Mabel. (another brown egg, a little lighter than the Myrtle's)

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take a pic of them this time because Emma's whisked them away (see what i did there...? Whisked....? No...? Wasted on you)

but I will for next time.

That's it from me. Dinner is calling...

18 July 12

Emma here. So I am now starting to forget which 'day' we are on (can I blame pregnancy brain??), so just going to do dates!

We are really starting to get there! I am sure Joe will update at some point to show some more pictures.

We have had our second egg from Doris - double yolker too (apparently very common in young hens who have started laying) and very tasty. I have been going in regularly and sitting with them, plus taking different foods in for them to try. Yesterday was fresh corn on the cob - that is a particular favourite!

So far we have tried them on the following:

Mixed Corn (obvious favourite)

Fresh peas (very keen)

Cauliflower (not touched)

Broccoli (again, not fans)

Fresh Corn (very keen)

Strawberries (again, very keen)

Home grown tomatoes (also like)

Meal worms (like crack to chickens)

Small locusts (a little unsure but they all went!)

Fresh Corn on the Cob (LOVE this)

Freshly cut grass (again, goes very quickly)

They are also getting more confident as wanting to explore a bit more, so after they were cleaned out yesterday (thank you Joe) I sat with them in the garden as it was nice and sunny. They are loving the grass and plants, especially my herb garden! They spent a good 45minutes in the sun. It was nice and relaxing and I think the girls enjoyed it. Didn't take too long to go back in when I had to get back to work.

I have also noticed that 3 of the hens have started "scooting" for me. By all accounts it is when the hens recognise you as their 'rooster' and basically sit to be mounted. Its a good sign and we were told it would take 4-6 weeks. I have also spoken to the people we got them from who have said this also indicates they are getting ready to lay. As Doris was the first to scoot for me, this sounds about right. So far Doris, Mabel and Myrtle are scooting for me. Bessy (who was chased by Piper) is still very nervous so I think it will be a while for her.

Heard one hell of a noise this morning coming from the coop. Myrtle has been going in and out a lot - checked later and we have a brown egg! It may be Myrtle but as Mabel has also been going in, could have been her. Waiting to see if Doris lays again today and then going to take the eggs to my sister to try - she is more of an egg fan!

Joe will probably update later today. He is going to go in with meal worms later to get them more used to him. I think I may look up other options of live food for them.

Joe's update: Emma took a pic of the Myrtle / Mabel egg but wasn't able to put it up so here it is:

Doris's on left and Myrtle/Mabel on right

Day 10 - Double yolkier

Doris has done herself proud today. A double-yolker!

I have to say that it was very nice. I poached it again but this time I over-did it and the yolks had gone more hard than soft. Nevermind - tasted great with buttered toast and cracked black pepper.

Not a lot else to report, really from my end...

I've been at work so not had the pleasure of sitting in the garden with the ladies. I think I'm missing out a little though as Emma's saying that they're "scooting" for her where as they keep running away from me. I definitely need to spend more time feeding them as i reckon they'll learn to recognise me as a food-giver, rather than a person who lets them out then puts them away again and who seems to let the dog chase them.

(I still haven't heard the end of that and i don't think I ever will)

Sorry - bit of a boring one today. I'm sure Emma will be scintilating tomorrow.

Day 9 - Update

Dear readers,

It's been a busy, busy day!

As I said, earlier we had our first, delicious egg.

Then i cleaned out the ladies while Emma was on some work-call upstairs.

So I locked Piper in the living-room and went out to clean out the coop.

Got the bottom tray out and replaced the paper in the bottom of it and replaced it... so far so good.

By this point, the ladies had wandered out of the run and were happily pecking on the grass.

I went back into the house to put the newspaper away and when I came back out, Piper came past me and chased the chickens...again!

She chased Bessy into the living room and there was much squawking and flapping (and that was just from me!).

Bessy's not been the same around me since... I locked Piper in the living-room again and sat in the garden with the ladies, trying to get them to chill a little.
Bessy refused to go near me for the rest of the day - to the point where she got stuck between the run and next-door's fence.

Piper and I are both now in the "Dog-house" (pun intended)



Finally, on a happier note, next-door's cat has found a great viewpoint for keeping an eye on the ladies...