karen's chicken diary

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Linda S
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by Linda S »

So glad Nuggett is better Karen, i know what you mean about the green poo thats what Faith had and its cleared up now. :-D

Iv put somewhere about our girls having a siesta about 3pm but they do have a preen first and then settle down usually all together and have a snooze and make lovely little noises to each other. We cant get near though cause they congregate under the holly tree but we like to sit on our chairs and just watch them doing hardly anything exept be the chickens we love {hug} Lindaxx
And then there was one, Again!!!!
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KarenE
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by KarenE »

Another wet bum day.

The girls do love to potter about in the rain the big dafties. Nugget did have a preen and a snooze on my knee until it started spitting rain. Then she decided her feathers were weatherproof enough, so she wasn't shifting (unlike me, I might add, who was already sitting on a soaking wet bench). Only when it started raining proper did the little madam decide her coiffure would turn frizzy if she didn't move. Toffee and Gabby were already sheltering under the bushes, so off she ambled to join them (not before reprising her signature of pooping all down me).

Later, the weather brightened up a bit so back outside, sitting on a semi-dry step this time. Nugget - who appears to be fine and is definitely moulting again - had another preen and snooze, then scarpered and Gabby took her place! For the first time! Onto my knee she hopped, then plopped straight down (she is so graceless) but unfortunately kept wobbling too much. She tried a new position, plopped down again but wobbled again. So she got fed up and wandered off, but I'm hoping that she'll try again. >fi<

Meanwhile hubby told me that Toffee jumped up next to him on the bench and sat on his knee yesterday - she's never shown any interest in mine, so possibly she was flirting with him. +f+ I'm probably not her type.

Gabby has sprouted a fully formed tail almost overnight, making it really quite hard to tell her and Nugget apart from a distance. She is also a keen amateur archaeologist and decided to excavate the ancient ruins underneath their run today. Not sure what she found (hope it's worth £££s!) as she abandoned her dig when she thought there was mealworms on offer in the garden. There weren't. A valuable lesson learned I'm sure (not!!)
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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aishakali
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by aishakali »

I'm sooooo jealous!! All those lovely lap sitters, you are so lucky Karen, enjoy {hug}
LYN
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Linda S
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by Linda S »

Your Gabby sounds like she enjoys landscaping the garden as much as our Sasha does, hubby is always saying shes digging to Oz again {rofwl}

I do love you diary Karen and your lovely tales of your girls always make me smile :-D Lindaxx
And then there was one, Again!!!!
Jemima
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Honey,Lizzi,Peggy-Mitchel,April,Hope,Faith,Blondie, Sorrel,Scarlet, Penny, Gabby, Rosie, Chick-a-Dee
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Remembering Our Beautiful Foster Boys we are so sorry that we couldn't keep you
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animartco
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by animartco »

Hi Karen. Loved all your stories. I used to have a 'lap sitter'. Se used to fly up into my arms whenever I went in the garden and loved being cuddled and taken indoors to 'lapsit' She even purred. I was also so upset when she died.
I was thinking, about soft shell eggs.ex bats have so much artificial encouragement to lay more than one egg a day often! that they must run out of calcium very quickly, and are probably used to taking vast supplements? It might be a good idea to have a bowl of oyster shell always available, and make sure they know what it is and eat it. Otherwise I think you can buy calcium to put in their food.
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sandy
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by sandy »

Hurray )t' :-D So glad to hear Nugget is well. Love watching the preening, when one starts they all follow suit, probably beauase they are trying to outdo one another in who is going to look the grandest
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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KarenE
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by KarenE »

I think if I read Manda's article right, that Nugget might finally be coming to the end of her moult as she's started dropping big wing feathers now. I think they are the last to go. She's been moulting since about July, the big attention seeker! She's sprouting new feathers all over her head (god knows why she lost them, she only got them last year) and looks like Pinhead from the horror film. And her teeny little Cadfael bald spot is filling in, so she should look glam enough to wear her christmas best this year.

Gabby seems a little down in the beak and today she's started her sitting down thing again which she did earlier this year when growing new feathers, so I assume she's decided to fill a few bald spots in. Today, because Nugget is being all tough with her Pinhead and doesn't want to sit on my knee at the moment, Gabby decided she'd have another go and climbed right on and had a lovely sit down for about 5 minutes! So I think if we take it slowly, she may be a lap sitter yet.

Toffee remains Toffee, shows no sign of sitting on anyone's knee or settling in one place for more than a millisecond. Her role in the flock seems to be to terrorize Jasper, and she nabbed his tail today as he was passing, the poor little fellow.

They definitely seem to be a bit peeved at the change in weather and the earlier nights. Most unhappy, and they've all packed in laying except for Toffee, who seems to be on a go slow. The only positive is that they are getting more corn! Which is possibly connected to the lack of laying/go slow.
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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sandy
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by sandy »

That has made me laugh, poor old Nugget, I would love to see a picture of a girl that looks a cross between Pinhead and Cadfael {rofwl} I reckon your Gabby got on your lap as some sort of bribe for a certain piece of apparatus? I have to say I have lost all control of my diary, some madam seems to think it is now hers..and there will be no stopping her now she has a fellow penpal to talk to.
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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KarenE
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by KarenE »

Hey Sandy, your diary does seem to have taken on a life of it's own (it's even got a name!) I see there's a naughty girl called Gabby giving remote encouragement to these naughty goings on. Shocking! She must have a terrible chicken mum, whoever she is.

I don't think Gwen's got a bald spot? It's more like comb-space :-D

I think I've just had a home invasion while typing this.. Lots of cat bowl pecky noises and now suspicious silence. must go and investigate the mayhem that's probably Been left behind...
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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sandy
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by sandy »

I have been looking at pictures of Nugget, can we have a more recent one of the Pinhead {rofwl} I do love the sounds of the peck,peck,peck in bowls, a very satisfying sound but not to the ears of a feline I suspect? I have decided now Gwen is becoming a big girl she may have her own diary so I can get back to writing mine and conversing with fellow mummies sensibly, you may find your Gabby will already know? Glad all well with you and yours )t'
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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KarenE
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by KarenE »

A lovely sunny day today, so the girls and i caught up on a bit of overdue garden tidy up. Whilst I trimmed climbers and hedges and dug up old veg plants, they helped enormously by pecking at my feet and picking up bits of split bread and corn from the bird feeders. They are natures little helpers.

We have had so many tomatoes this year, even the girls have got fed up of eating them. The massive crop has gone to make ketchup, chutneys, tomato sauces and bruschetta. I grew sweetcorn for the girls but it came on so well and was so delicious that I've frozen it for me!! (Shhh - don't tell them that!)

Nugget interrupted my busy schedule for a snuggle and a spot of sunbathing.

Image

It doesn't quite show her pinhead since she's outgrowing that now, but you might just be able to see the feathers sprouting through her bald spot on this and the next pic

Speaking of which, feathers everywhere at the moment, in a nesting box and all over the run. It can't be Nugget, she's been moulting since July and can't have too much left to moult so it has to be one of the newbies. My money's on Gabby, as a feather came loose as she pottered up to me. I would've thought she was to young to moult, but I reckon she's doing it because she wants to be like Nugget, the daft thing.

Another pic of Nugget

Image

I have no decent pics of Gabby as she refuses to pose and so consequently they are all blurred or of just half her head or whatever. I'll try again next week, as I have realized I have few of her and must get one now that she's grown her massive tail! This is the closest i have to a headshot of her - it's still a bit blurred but you can see how gorgeously blonde she is on her head

Image

Here's one of the supersized gorgeous Toffee

Image

That isn't Gabby at the back of her - that's Cassie before she died, her tail was also massive and I think Gabby's grown it in tribute, as Gabby was rather fond of Cass.

I've been getting quite a few softies this week as well, from either Gabby or Nugget or maybe both. Had a proper egg from Gabby yesterday (no softie) but a softie again today, so I'm thinking its her, which could also explain why she's tiring and sitting down by the end of the day. They get limestone flour in their mash but if she is moulting then that'll be why (and Nugget hasn't started laying again now she's - I think - starting to come out of hers.)

It is so disappointing to have the dark evenings drawing in though! The girls are tucked up in bed by 5pm and soon I won't hardly see them at all {cry}
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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sandy
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by sandy »

Karen what a lovely shot of Gabby, she is stunning )t' Yes you are right Nugget is definetely a pinhead {rofwl} Beryl has a head like that too. Isn't it just great to have the girls company when you can get out and about in the garden. I hope Gabby dosent get wind of the 'sweetcorn incident' sshh
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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KarenE
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by KarenE »

Loose lips sink ships Sandy!
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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KarenE
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by KarenE »

It's been a quiet week this week. I've been away for a fair part of it, and with the days being wet and cold and the nights darker I haven't seen the girls much.

When I went away, I left 3 happy well groomed girls and came back to 3 mucky bums and feathers everywhere. I really can't tell who the moulter is but logic suggests it has to be Nugget, even though I wouldn't have thought she had much more left to lose.

The girls have been peculiarly stand-offish and very sniffy with their treats this week. I think hubby spoils them when i am away. From the filthy looks I've been getting off Gabby I would swear they know about the frozen sweetcorn but how could they? I got them some grapes as I felt guilty but Gabby just turns her beak up which is very unlike her.

So today, we pulled up the tomato plants from the greenhouse, as the stalks were dying and the fruits going a bit manky. The girls had a great time digging over the patch, and then found a huge dandelion plant which the toms had been hiding - all 3 surrounded it and stripped it in 5 seconds flat! They'll be super excited tomorrow as I have finished stripping out the rest of the plants from the greenhouse after they'd gone to bed, so they have lots of lovely dry earth to dig and dustbathe in - we use it as our winter chicken area as i can sit there with them without freezing to death and they can have some nice dry dig-able bathe-able earth.

Tomorrow I'll try and take some more photos of them
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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Kuikentje
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Re: karen's chicken diary

Post by Kuikentje »

Mine love dandelions too. I wonder if it makes them wet the bed?
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