Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousRe: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousI wouldnt go with an implant, heard many sad stories about hens who have had them and they have gone wrong
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/
Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousI havent updated for a while. I'm kept quite busy these days as my 1y/o grandaughter & her mum still live with us, also my son broke his leg quite badly & couldnt go back to uni, so I've been looking after him too. Our house is full of piles of uni stuff, toys, baby clothes, washing...we're bursting at the seams & I'm pretty busy keeping on top of things. (But glad we're all together at the moment)
In the meantime Chickenopolous carried on oblivious to whats going on in the world. Poppy's latest moult has produced some very interesting new feather growth, some lovely saddle & hackle feathers to go with her long spurs. I wonder if she'll live long enough to grow a full cockerel tail. Gibby has had several moults in a row & got a bit thin for a while. Now I'm feeding them Garvo Alpha mix which she likes & she's much happier. The mice like it too, I keep seeing fat, little mice climbing up the sides of Gibbies run "He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousHi , Pleased all is ok .
Moulting time is rough on us humans as well . watch out if you do not know Avian flu is back in England again . Bob Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousLovely photos Kitty bless little Giblet, wish I had given her a hug when I visited.
My godchildren are taking it in turms to be isolated as other children have been tested positive, their mum is tearing her hair out 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/ Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousOh good grief! We come out of lockdown & the chickens go right back into it. Defra has given us till 14th to prepare then we've got to shut them in again. No ifs or buts, no "certain areas", all poultry- farms or gardens to be shut in. There's not much sunshine in the winter where the runs are so the chooks love to spend the morning down by our house, I so hate making them stay up there - just as the weather is getting cold too. Oh well, back to thinking of ways to make temporary run extensions, and a trip to tescos to stock up on end of date fruit & veg to entertain them.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousI can't say I'm looking forward to it at all - my girls hate staying in their run and like yours are spending all their time hanging round our back door. They so desperately want to come in. Talk about an awful year. Still, I'm betting we'll all be joining them in lockdown again in January! Got to think of some things to keep them all hentertained now :( Better that than losing them though.
Good luck to the Opolouses in lockdown! 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 Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousIts handy having these diaries, I searched back to the last time to look for ideas. I dug over patches of the run & lifted up stone slabs so they could scratch & peck. I remember it was not so bad in the cold weather, but harder for them when it got springy & the sun shined. I also had a blooming rat invader last time, which has just happened again! grrr
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousWe have had terrible trouble with rats this year, at the start of the year it was just awful! They went though my shed and took bags of mealworms, and were trying to get into the plastic tub of seeds. They were even dragging boxes of unopened rat poison away! That seemed to do the trick and they have been a lot quieter since (I hate having to use rat poison but there really was no alternative). Marley catches a few every now and then but I know they are still there. I have to remove all the girls food overnight now, which is a complete pain. They have got into my greenhouse recently and eaten all the apples I had stored in there (for the birds over winter) so I've had to clear the greenhouse as well. It's a losing battle really.
Last time we had girls lockdown, I was making them fruit kebabs, hanging up cabbages and such for them and of course lots of seeds scattered. I'll also pile a load of leaves in there too so they can scratch around in them, maybe put some straw down too. I'm sure we can be inventive! 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 Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousThat sounds awful Karen. Ours had started to breach the anti rat defence trench at the back of the run, so I did a bit of digging & added some more concrete powder & stones. There were no signs of them yesterday morning & more mice appeared - a good sign, but they'll find another way in I'm sure. In the meantime, first day of lockdown was not appreciated by the residents of Chickenopolous - especially as the sun came out! I gave them leaves from the composter & scattered treats about, but when I went up there to top up food at 2.30 they'd gone to bed & there wernt many poops about, so I think they'd been in bed most of the day. I hope they dont get too stressed about this, they are old ladies (& a getting on a bit gent) set in their ways, it would be sad if this is what finished them off. DH said he saw chickens wandering the roadside on the edge of the village, as usual lots of people ignore the the regs (or dont know).
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousI spent most of yesterday rigging up a netted area outside the run. I made Giblets garden much smaller so she can come out too. I used mesh that used to cover the veg frame, green plastic netting I had in the back of the greenhouse & bamboo pole tripods holding it up, all tied up with string. Bit of a mess & only gives them a small area, still no sun there but better than nothing. I dont think Bill was impressed, he came out & just stood there staring at the fence for ages.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousUnbeleivable isnt it that our boys and girls are now under lockdown
I can just imagine Bill thinking what on earth is she doing now So proud to have given that handsome boy a cuddle 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/ Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousThe netting run extension got nearly wrecked in the last heavy snow, I've fixed it as best I can. They dont seem keen to leave the proper run in the bad weather anyway. I've ordered some live mealworms to keep them occupied, & got a big bag of soft straw to line the coops. I'm so glad that Giblet has such dense feathers, she was puffed into a big ball last night. At afternoon treat time Bill started escaping the netting while I wasnt looking & heading off down the garden, at first I chased him back in, then he led the others out & they found a sunbeam & started grooming happily. I left them there for a while. I'm afraid Bill keeps "escaping" & leading the girls out into the garden for a little while before bedtime. I know its breaking the rules, but they're old girls - nearly 9 yo & every sunbeam could be their last.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousI totally agree about the sunbeam Kitla. My girls got out yesterday and old Violet found a sunbeam and lay down in it. I hadn't got the heart to hurry her back in so I left her to have a little warmth in the sunshine. Can't believe your girls are 9 yo, what marvellous ages. My Vi is 5 years old and is the oldest chicken I have ever had. I am just keeping everything crossed that she gets through this bitterly cold winter and can find many more sunbeams.
Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousHi , glad things are going ok .
Cold weather is quite good . Summer heat does not do them good with their feather down coverings. My girls look really well. keep safe yourselves. Bob Re: Blind Giblet & friends at ChickenopolousA long time has past. Chickenopolous has bumbled along much the same, a few rats, lots of mice. Old Poppy & Bonny go to bed very early much to Bill's dissapointment as he has to follow them. Giblet has had a mishap, she has laid a soft egg that has broken inside her, she stayed in bed all day yesterday interspersed with syringes of vitamin water, heat pads, egg dept intervention prodding, & cuddles when I had a few mins. I'm babysitting atm, then I'll go & see if she got through the night ok.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
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