No you're not being unfair. You are rescuing hens, and that is brilliant. Im sure you have a good sized run, and your hens wont suffer for being shut in. They are going to have far more room than they have ever had. As for the late opening up, they will be ok, especially as the days are soon going t...

Hi, hope Rocky is looking a lot better, and is soon 100%.

Day lilies.

My lot have bushes to sit in. I have a bit of dip in the run and I fill it with water so they can have a paddle, they really seem to like it. Hopefully it will rain tomorrow.

http://gallery.cheltenhambears.co.uk/img/gallery/chickens/lg/May-and-June-and-ice-lollies.jpg May and June enjoying home made ice lollies. http://gallery.cheltenhambears.co.uk/img/gallery/chickens/lg/Belle,-Bramble-and-Henrietta-and-ice-lolly.jpg Belle, Bramble and Henrietta and ice lollies Gave my...

Ive had my two new girls for several weeks now, and they've been separated all this time by omlet fencing, apart from just before bed time when they've mixed for a short while. Anyway this morning I took the plunge and left them out together, but Belle my Bluebell was being horrible and trying to pu...

Its been up to 27degrees here in Cheltenham, 26 as I write this at 9.15 in the evening. My girls have been sitting in the shade in the bushes at the side of their run. The new girls are in a separate area and Ive put a sheet over the plastic roof and hung one down the side to give them shade. They a...

The past week Bourbon had been broody. She'd plucked the feathers on her tummy and hid in the nest box. However I decided she took up too much room in there, so I put my dog cage in the run with food and water and moved her in there every morning and let her out at 8pm so she could dive in the coop ...

Hi Kain, I'm sorry to hear about Henrietta, a lovely way for her to go, but a terrible shock for you. Hope your new girls are soon settled in.

If she keeps going in the nest box, do you think, perhaps, she has another egg to lay? or is she standing in there looking miserable? If its the former perhaps you could sit her in a warm bath to relax her muscles and help her pass anything stuck inside, it she is looking miserable but not trying to...

One of mine is broody, and I have her in the run in a dog cage. Its big enough for a bowl of food and one of water to be in there too. Shes a big hen and when she sits with her feathers arranged around her she takes up most of the coop. So every morning I get her out and put her in the cage, and in ...

My hen Bourbon has gone broody, and takes up most of the nest box, so Ive put her in the run in a big dog cage. She has food water and the others for company, and I let her out each evening and she dashes to the nest box to sleep. Last night the two newbies were picked on in the coop by a beastie he...

Thank you for your kind remarks. Bmpsand, I'm sorry haven't a clue what breeds they are. I bought them because I wanted little brown hens. But I probably will get more from the same place, so I'll ask next time. They do have long very pale legs. Im keeping them separate for a while, when they do go ...

Thanks 4clady. Ive got a dog cage which I think I'll put in the run along the lines of your cat basket, and she can nest in there, but I'll leave the door open so she can come and go if she wants. I think she had laid an egg because I'd removed the ones in there, and she was on another egg when I tu...

We spent about 6 hours at the allotment today. John has a problem with the bees, they keep swarming, so he got there early so he could go through the hives and try and work out whats going on. Hopefully they will be ok. I got a lot of weeding done. We went to Lechlade, which is near Cheltenham on Th...