Posh

Today we got our new egg boxes - pink of course! We have made labels to go on them too!

Pecking

Wellllllllllllllllll as we are not sure why Hazel is pecked and Bald we decided to cover the girls in Red Mite powder - not easy. The man suggest taking each hen dangling them upside down, the only struggle for 30seconds and sprinkle it everywhere! Like I'm gonna do that!!!!! So we picked each girlie up and sprinkle them as much as we could......

Next time we might try the pillow case technique, where you put them in, head out of course, then sprinkle and shake!!!

We have also sprayed them with Ukadex anti peck spray. Excellent idea if if didn't smell so foul!!! It took us days to recover!! Cilit bang wouldn't get it off my hands and the clothes went straight in the machine!

Coops went for his usual sniff of the feathered botty and got the shock of his life!!! Which would be really funny if his face didn't smell of the stuff now! He has had many washes and it's still REALLY bad!!!! lets hope it wears off soon...

Hazel though has a bit of regrowth and looks like she has a beard on her bum !

Hazel's bum emergency

So I trudged up to the girls before they went to bed and shock horror, Hazels bum was bleeding!!!!!! Real blood, not good .......... I picked her up to have a look only to find out that she was BALD!!!! double shock.

We brought her in and gave her a gentle bath in the kitchen sink with cotton wool and Ecover (nice) and put her in a box with some shredded paper and she spent the night in the shower in the dark - bless.....

She went straight back in the next morning with a purple bum after being sprayed with Gentian Violet and Coopers spray that stops him chewing his feet!! Calm has been restored.....

Out in the garden

Well the children are here this weekend and keen to see the chicks in the garden! We have had had much egg checking today! But they were rewarded with 5!!! All good weights too, so they are obviously getting the hang of things.... We are just waiting for little Babette who's yet to grow her comb or wattles, and still has a little pink face!

Fellow Omleteers have reassured me though that they are not essential to laying and maybe she will just go without! she is soooooooo much bigger than when she first arrived though, and is still scoffing for England, so am not too worried....

The kids were thrilled to have them out. We moved the net fencing over to the other side of the garden to try and protect a few small plants that they had previously tried to ravish, and we are pleased to report that it worked. There was a small drama as Coops pushed Penny under it but she was soon rescued.

Emily and Henry were keen to see what the chicks were up too, but alice on the other hand really wanted to pick one up but just couldn't bring herself to do itj!!!!

I brought out the mealworms to encourage the girls to feed from their hands, then they did their really confident thing and started to climb all over them - there was much squeaking from poor old Em. Hen was desperate to get his hands on Hazel, his very own chook, and Alice was determined and got there in the end!!!

Margo

Coops blending in!

harriet