Saturday 13 October 2007

Competition for something tasty!

Our hens are normally the best of friends, with very little pecking or bullying. But today I looked out of the window, and saw a full scale chase - Ginger had something in her mouth (I suspect a slug) and the other three were very energetically chasing her round the run. I think Honey actually managed to steal it off her, after a fairly violent assault. Sometimes they are so mean!

We are still getting lots and lots of eggs. Strangely, the colour of them seems to be stabilising as a darker brown - one chicken (I think Ginger) lays very pale eggs, but the other three are almost indistinguishable. They are all definitely laying as we often get 4 egg days now.

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Bedraggled hens

It has been very wet here over the last few days, and the poor chickens have been looking very soggy. Honey and Dopey, the Goldlines, seem to really hate the rain - their feathers seem to absorb the water more. Ginger doesn't seem to mind the rain - she has thicker feathers and seems a bit more 'waterproof'. Speckeldy Selina doesn't mind it much either. Their run is a bit of a mud bath now.

Eggs - we have lots! Generally 3 or 4 a day. They are a little less reliable about laying in the nest box - Ginger in particular often lays in the house or even the run - perhaps this is when the nest box is engaged and she just can't hang onto her egg any longer!