Author Archives: vickieclarkebrown

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”

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”

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”

The littles have been with us a full week now. They are settling in brilliantly and I’m already learning their individual characters. Yolko, although small, takes the leadership position, they are a tight knit group and tend to stick together.Karhen is the most inquisitive, regularly joined on her chicken adventures with her trusty sidekick Cruella.Continue reading “Pushing your Boundaries”

So, the new girls arrived yesterday morning, they were rescued by a lovely family back in May, but complaints from the neighbours necessitated a rehome, so Karhen, Cruella de Quill and Yolko Oh No (collectively “the littles” because they are much smaller than my older girls) have come to live with us. The girls areContinue reading “Biting off more than you can chew”

Henrietta Chicken Bottom arrived on my birthday in May 2019. She was a rescue, and ex commercial hen who had been been using for egg laying and at 17 months was deemed “uneconomical to keep”, so discarded by the commercial farmer. She had a pronounced limp (which never went away) and a wonky beak, sheContinue reading “True Leaders don’t need to be loud”

Little Ivy Berry bird sadly passed away this week. She was only with us since December last year and she’s never been 100%. Her comb never stood up straight, and she was always slightly slower than the other girls. But do you know what, it didn’t make the slightest bit of difference to the enjoymentContinue reading “Perfection not required”

Over the last few months every day we’ve been getting one egg from the established birds and one egg from the new girls. I’ve always assumed them to be produced by Queenie (the youngest of the older girls by a year or so) and Holly (who is still so busy producing eggs she hasn’t yetContinue reading “Old birds have their uses”

The girls have been sharing the run for a couple of weeks now, albeit with a barrier between them to avoid any bullying between the established flock and the new girls (sorting out the pecking order can be a vicious process). But its been long enough now, they’ve been free ranging together with minimal fussContinue reading “Breaking Down the Barriers”

Sadly Sweetpea is ill again, it looks like the same issue as she’s suffered with previously, so she’s on antibiotics and some food supplements to build her back up. Hopefully she’ll be back to her usual self in a few days. Unfortunately because chickens are prey birds they can turn on weaker members of theContinue reading “Protect yourself”