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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”

Now avian lockdown is over we’re slowly trying the introduce the Berry birds to the main flock. Interesting times! The girls are very territorial and will squabble to establish a pecking order. But in advance of anything getting physical there is loads of posturing that goes on.Queenie (part of the main flock) and Ivy (oneContinue reading “Be Brave Little One!”

The Berry birds have been with us since December last year, so over 4 months now. Whilst Ivy and Mistletoe have plumped up and grown their feathers beautifully little Holly Berry is still very lacking in the plumage department. Every morning from the day she arrived, without fail, this little chicken has presented me withContinue reading “Self-care isn’t Selfish”

A friend mentioned today how strange it was that cute fluffy little chicks turn into ugly old hens (she may not have been quite so harsh, but that was the gist) and when I think about it objectively, she’s not wrong. Now, because my girls are ex commercial hens, I don’t get them as cuteContinue reading “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder”

Henrietta has been looking dreadful the last couple of days, her moult is quite severe and it’s making her grumpy. As the leader she’s usually a benign dictator to the rest of the flock, only giving the briefest of reprimands when absolutely necessary. But this moult has taken it out of her, she’s tired andContinue reading “Darkest Before the Dawn”

It’s Miss Henrietta Chicken-Bottom turn to be down in the dumps today. She’s moulting quite badly, which is always a difficult time for a hen. She’s also got a wonky beak, which makes it tricky for her to eat certainly things and she turns her beak up at the protein-rich sardines and sunflowers hearts whichContinue reading “A little bit of what you fancy….”