I was fortunate enough today to spend a bit of quality time with the chickens. For those of you who don’t keep chickens I imagine it’s quite a strange concept, but really it’s just fascinating to watch them go about their business and see how they interact with one another. Of course, I was also there to clean them out, collect their eggs and feed and water them but you cant help but lose track of what you’re doing. In fact, I seem to do this everyday.In an effort to keep them entertained amidst constant downpours, I chose to copy an idea that I read about this morning on Ruth’ blog - ‘Country Living Chick’. I absolutely love this blog, in particular the posts about Audrey and Mabel. Following Ruth’s lead, I went about staking a couple of apples with bamboo canes and leaving them for the flock to peck at. At first they were totally bemused, if not a little scared, and they actively went out of their way to avoid the strange red globes. I cut a section from one of the apples to show them just what these alien objects were and in an instant they switched from fear mode and immediately turned in to what can only be described as vultures of the Serengeti scavenging from a lion kill. Within minutes the apples were no more.
It’s great to find new ways to keep the birds entertained as I can’t leave them free range when I’m not there in the day for fear of cats or foxes taking them, the populations of which must be fairly high as both can be seen wandering on daily basis. I often tie up whole cabbages or bundles of comfrey and other green leaves for them to pick at and I also like to leave halved courgettes, the ones that you’ve forgotten about or have gone unnoticed under large leaves and have grown to resemble giant marrows. If anyone has any other suggestions on how I can enrich the chicken coop and feed time I’d love to hear a few suggestions. Just leave a comment below.
In other poultry related news, “Chick”, the big white one in the photograph above, has very nearly completed his transition from scraggly little chicken to fabulous Ixworth cockerel and he’s really turning in to quite a strapping lad. So far, he's not presenting as at all aggressive and he's also yet to crow. He is however, taking some interest in the ladies, even if that does solely consist of him mounting Sophia La Hen, the Ancona hen that hatched and reared him. Despite his uncertain future and going against convention, such is my nature, I have decided to name him as continuing to call him “Chick” just doesn’t feel right. That’s why I’m looking for suggestions for names. I contemplated Boris for some time but it just doesn’t seem to fit and he’s far too likeable to be named after such a well-known pillock. That's why I'm throwing this open to you and I'll gladly welcome any help you can offer, just leave your comment and I’ll have a gander.
