Egg Skelter Filling Up

Did I tell you I got an Egg Skelter? I got it long before the girls arrived!

I loved the fact that it came with a packet of freebie wee "Fried Egg" sweeties which I kept for ages to photograph for the blog and when I finally got round to doing that I found they had all been eaten! I didn't even get ONE :(

Anyway - the Egg Skelter has moved from the dining room to the kitchen to right beside the kettle (most important spot in the kitchen!) and probably wont be moved anywhere else now. We have had quite a few eggs from the girls now but have never managed to have more than six in the skelter.

One, two, three, four, five, six, eat 'em.

YES? Can I Help You?

The other evening, when I went out to close up I did a cursory glance in the shed and went in to the run to close the pop-hole. I was just about to lower it when something caught my eye in the darkness - there - sitting with her back to me was Hetty roosting on the top of the garden chair we have in the run so we can chill out with the girls. She scared the absolute crap out of me!

She actually had the audacity to turn round and look at me as if to say "YES? Can I help you?"

I lifted her down and put her through the hole thinking about the forum member who lost a chook one night after shutting up without doing a proper head-count and left someone outside who wasn't there the next morning then. At the time I had wondered how on earth she could have not spotted someone missing.

Ever since, I have done a one, two, three, four, five, six before locking up. I count to six so often now that I'm not sure that I know what comes next.

One. two, three, four, five, six, 'nother one??

Summer May Be Thawing

Summer seems to be a little less stand-offish tonight.

When I threw corn for her in her own wee corner she didn't turn and run in the opposite direction and when I threw it for the others she actually went over and HAD SOME! It isn't like her to participate like this and it has given me a lot of hope that she is starting to come round to the idea of living with us. She preened herself on one of the logs and there were TWO OTHER CHICKENS next to her. :O

Maybe some day she might let me cuddle her!

Shower Curtains

We have rain problem. When it rains the run almost floods as the water comes in through the front and half of the sides. (The back of the sides are covered by the shed and the trampoline and the back is a fence totally overgrown with clematis.) The Hemcore is soaking wet and when we walk in to the run the floor is so wet it squelches. I can't go in wearing my crocs as the water rises above the first row of holes and wets my socks :(

To solve this I have been watching similar problems being discussed on the forum and a few people have mentioned the cheap shower curtains from Ikea. Last week I picked up 5 of the 89p curtains and although they really are too thin to be an awful lot of good, Iain and I devised a way of attaching them to the panels. We'll see how it goes - this set-up cost less than a fiver so nothing ventured - nothing gained.

This evening I sat with the girls for quite a while while it was raining. There was a marked difference and I really hope this works as I am loathe to put any fresh Hemcore down until I know it isn't going to be soaking in 20 minutes.

What The . . . ?

OK. Does ANYONE know what on earth is going on here?

They sat like this for about an hour - perfectly happy with each other. Buffy on the top, Lacey on the bottom.

They DID both go on to lay eggs but not for some time.

Let me just add, there are TWO nest boxes in the shed and this isn't one of them! This is the POO TRAY!

GIRLS! PLEASE! NEST BOX! USE IT!