A sad day at RCC

I am heartbroken to report that Jerry the hen was put to sleep this afternoon. She became ill on Friday with peritonitis and despite mine and Kate the vets best efforts we were unable to save her.

She spent the weekend living in the house, sitting on my lap watching TV. I don't think she cared much for the Joe/Gail storyline in Corrie but seemed to really enjoy Glee.

I now have to put my sadness to one side and start looking for some new companions for poor Margot who is having a thoroughly miserable time as a flock of one.

I'll keep you posted.

The Cove

I'm not one for crying at films; Mr Swift is the sensitive creature in our house. He sobbed for the last 15 minutes of Monsters Inc. - I could have died with shame.

However, yesterday I cried my eyes out for most of the Oscar-nominated documentary The Cove (now out on DVD). I won't spoil it for you but it surrounds the Herculean efforts of a group of filmmakers and activists to expose a horrific dolphin culling practice in a Japanese coastal town. If it doesn’t win the Oscar I will be mightily outraged.

Go watch it now, but remember to have your hankie to hand

Psycho chicken

It’s a milestone birthday for my Mother this year (clue - she’s past 50 and not yet in her 60s....). so in order for her to go away on holiday, safe in the knowledge that all’s well at home, I have agreed to spend the week in Shropshire looking after her six hens – Rose, Petal, Hyacinth, Esmée, Violet and Gertrude.

One small problem – it would appear that Hyacinth has anger management issues. Since coming into lay she will attack anyone who disturbs her during this delicate time. My poor Mother had to fend her off with a bucket as she tried to climb her arm and peck her face off.

Imagine me, alone in this house for a week. How long do you think it would be before anyone found me; lying at the foot of the coop, a veritable chicken buffet?

I’m thinking of investing in a taser.

Operation run improvement – stage one

Never let it be said that i don’t deliver as promised. Here are a few pics of the extended run with its new flooring. Unfortunately not all went to plan due to situations way beyond my control . The ground was far too wet to lay paving slabs underneath the pond liner base so this has been shelved until Spring. The corrugated roofing has yet to materialise so I’ve been keeping the bedding (aubiose – wonderful stuff) dry with an IKEA shower curtain and the Eglu winter shade. Not the most ascetically pleasing set-up but as Pluto said, necessity is the mother of invention.

The girls seem to be enjoying the extra space and have really taken to the perches i've built for them using terracotta window boxes and old brances from our apple tree.

Just in case you were wondering quite how bad the run had got i took this photo just before we got started on the new set-up.  Bearing in mind my chickens get a thorough clean-out every Saturday morning this is still what i ended up with after a few weeks of snow and sub-zero temperatures - a woodchip/mud/newspaper sludge.

Thankfully, with the new system in place the run will be lovely whatever the weather - hurrah!