Saturday 16 July 2011

Better late than never?

Yesterday I finally moved my chicken to her summer headquarters.  It took me a couple of hours to get it all ready for her, and just as I finished the rain started.  I am not sure if she's glad: on the one hand she's on grass and she doesn't have to climb to get to bed; on the other she has less protection from the elements. I let her out into the garden early today, as it's raining hard and this gives her a chance to find shelter in the forest-y bit of the garden.  She's usually confined to barracks until lunchtime, so she is forced to eat her layers pellets, which she isn't keen on - she'd rather beg for treats!  Like a little child who'd rather have ice cream than greens, I suppose. 

The hen (Daisy's her name) is very keen on mice and voles - she must have been a kestrel in a previous life.  Last week she and the cat were running round and round after the same mouse (which got away in the end).  Vincent the cat likes to catch them, but not eat them, so they have a nice little partnership going whereby he catches them and she gobbles them up, all in one, like a baby barn owl would. Yuk!

Daisy can't walk properly.  She limps badly, has done for years.  Once or twice she has been off her legs and I found her collapsed in the rain.  I brought her home and dried her, and she spent some time in a cardboard box.  I took her to the vet, who charged be £20 to tell me she had a "sprain".  I don't think he had a clue actually.  My uninformed view is that it's something to do with her nerves.  She's quite happy, red of comb, and can move quickly enough if you try to catch her.  She 3 years old, had sour crop twice, and managed to produce 5 eggs last week, so quite a fighter I think.

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