Elvis abandons family



Sunday 16th December 2012

A beautiful day, 8 degrees, no wind, no rain, no frost, no snow. Just right for cleaning out the chicken houses, a job which I don't particularly look forward to, but one which at least means I get to spend some quality time with the birds.

For as I empty each house of its old bedding and put in fresh straw and wood shavings, the guineafowl and the hens just love to go in there and scratch around, pecking at all the little insects which, if left to thrive under the straw, would probably become pests.




The hen Copper French Marans
has joined Cocky's gang.

I have noticed that the hen Copper French Marans has joined Cocky's gang - he clearly has more going for him than the younger cockerels, though maybe being allied to him keeps her safe from the advances of the group of strutting teenagers. Anyway, the fate of the younger cockerels is not a good one. It's doubtful they'll be needing to make any New Year resolutions!

Elvis's young family
- old enough to look after themselves



Elvis is back in the building.

Elvis, too, is looking forward to the future. She has left her gang of ten youngsters to fend for themselves and joined the harem again. Knowing her, it won't be long before she goes broody again. I won't let her sit on eggs though, as we do not need more hens at the moment. I would rather she started laying eggs for me, as they are still in very short supply. The chocolate eggs seem to have been short-lived, unless they are being deposited elsewhere in the garden. At least, though, two or three of the older hens have come back into lay.