Today was a big day at Cluckingham Palace. The youngest girls ventured out for the very first time. Venus didn’t hesitate. She marched straight out like she owned the place and immediately tried to join the older hens. Unfortunately, the big girls – particularly Ems and Sapphy – were not entirely thrilled with this boldContinue reading “Facing the Future”
Author Archives: vickieclarkebrown
Changes – Valentines edition
The new girls – The Valentine Crew – arrived on Valentine’s Day. My lovely husband drove over an hour each way to collect them from Harrogate. Their day had started much earlier. They’d left an organic farm in Wiltshire at 8am, travelled for eight hours, then been checked over before making the final journey home.Continue reading “Changes – Valentines edition”
The Roles We Play
Since Princess Layer passed away, we’ve been trying to integrate Pumpkin back into the flock. On paper, this should be simple. Pumpkin is by far my largest hen, now the oldest with Princess gone, and she has seriously scary spurs that appeared rather suddenly years ago. By all the usual rules of flock dynamics, sheContinue reading “The Roles We Play”
Be beautifully you, to the very end
This week, we finally said farewell to Princess Layer, our oldest hen. Princess arrived pre-Covid, part of my very first batch of hens. From the start, she knew exactly who she was. She served as the perfect second-in-command to our Head Hen, Henrietta—the enforcer, the disciplinarian, the one who made sure everyone else stayed inContinue reading “Be beautifully you, to the very end”
Suffering in Silence
Original post from 2025 Sad news today. Little Athena chicken passed away quietly in the night. No warning. No visible signs of illness. She simply never woke up. Those are the losses that hit the hardest — the ones you don’t see coming. Athena wasn’t demanding attention, wasn’t obviously unwell, wasn’t drawing concern to herself.Continue reading “Suffering in Silence”
Positive vibes only!
Another old post – Summer 2023 Cobweb has been ailing for quite some time now. She was always an inordinately hefty hen — solid, reassuringly weighty in the hand, the sort of bird you never worried about. Then, slowly, that changed. After a couple of bouts of sour crop, the weight began to fall awayContinue reading “Positive vibes only!”
Besties
Just catching up, this post is actually from summer 2023 It’s a beautiful sunny summer Sunday morning here in Barnsley and the girls are out and about free ranging and sunbathing in the fresh air. I have a very mixed flock now, only Princess Layer from the first girls, Holly and Mistletoe from the BerryContinue reading “Besties”
Choose your friends carefully
The new girls have been with us a few days, their combs are reddening up and they are starting to get use to their surroundings, but we’ve had a bit of an issue. Little Eggatha is small and weak, she limps a bit and is very nervous. Dorothy, on the other hand, is large, strongContinue reading “Choose your friends carefully”
Put yourself first
Cruella has had a few weeks in isolation getting over a very bad respiratory infection. I have to say, she hasn’t been the best of patients, she likes to be out and about, and particularly hates having liquid dropped down her throat, and is very vocal about it (luckily I have lovely neighbours). But lastContinue reading “Put yourself first”
Natural Recovery
Its been a stressful couple of days here at Cluckingham Palace, on Monday morning we woke to a very ill hen. Poor Cruella was gasping for every breathe when I went to let the littles out of their coop. A quick call to the vets and they could see her at lunchtime, so we isolatedContinue reading “Natural Recovery”
Chicken Nuggets 