Thursday 9 June 2011

Updating all the drama and gossip

Oh dear life became so complicated with Doves and latterly with Chooks that I got so behind with my blog that catching up seems like an enormous task.  I will go for a very brief (you hope) review of recent events and dramas to bring things up to speed.

Firstly, Pinky.  Pinky wasn't very happy outside all alone, she just wanted to come back indoors and be with me so I let her.  The plan being that I would bring Daisy and May home and release them all together.  They got on very well flying round my study (and pooping all over it) but one day I realised that Pinky wasn't looking too well so I took her into The Haven to let the expert have a look at her.  We have no idea why but she wasn't eating and looked run down.  I have jokingly called her anorexic but she was refusing to eat for no aparent reason.  She stayed at The Haven a few weeks where Owlmomma hand fed her again until she was stronger.  In that time she found herself a boyfriend.  Another young dove who had been Sparrowhawked.  She moved in with him and brightened up a lot.  To cut a very long story short she is now living in my garden under a homing net with her boyfriend who I have called Jed.  She seems healthy and is eating well but I noticed yesterday she is losing feathers on her face.  I have no explanation and am rather worried but am praying its just a moult.

Daisy and May.  They are living outside under the net with Pinky and Jed.  They have been out about a fortnight longer and seem to be doing very well.  I had a bit of a drama today when Daisy managed to get out of a hole in the net where Butterfly the Squirrel (cheers mate) had chewed his way in or out but after a couple of hours outside and a bit of a fly around she seemed very pleased to get back in the net with her sister.  She was trying vainly to get through the mesh when I scooped her up and popped her back inside.

Mr & Mrs Lovey-Dovey.  This lovely pair now have first names.  They are now known as Harry and Esme.  Harry bless him has spent the last three days or so breaking INTO the homing net.  Yup, most other birds try to escape but Harry (Houdini) just keeps scrambling in through that dratted Butterfly's holes.  I don't really mind but Esme is sitting on eggs, or maybe chicks and if he vanishes off round the corner and into the net she will abandon them.  Personally I think he has a crush on May.  He seems very interested in her.  Poor Esme.  Oh and she is called Esme because he is Harry Houdini and I used to have next door neighbours called Harry and Esme so named the birds in their honour.

On to the Chickens.  Chicken Towers finally got finished and I went and collected four ex-battery hens from Little Hen Rescue.  They have very different personalities and a little story each so I will introduce them individually.

First there is Primrose.  She is the Boss Chook.  She keeps everyone in line including other birds who land in the garden and poor little Lizzy dog.  She scared Lizzy so badly earlier this week that she ran out of the garden, through Farmer Dan's yard, out into the street and up the road.  Luckily a kind lady spotted her, stopped her car and grabbed her.  I shudder to think what could have happened if she hadn't.  I now have to be extra careful to make sure where Lizzy is.  I think the problem was that The Hairy One was outside with her and when he came in the chooks were by the door so Lizzy was scared to go past them and got chased away.  So I have to make sure she is always with me when I go indoors.  I can't say I am happy about the situation.

Then there is Ivy.  She is a lovey girl but has a wheeze.  She is very good friends with Primrose and I like to think of her as the Lieutenant of the group.  When she lays eggs they are long and thin!

Next is Rosie.  She is in much poorer condition than Primrose and Ivy, she has a bald bum and raggedy wings.  At first she was very easy to handle but after she developed a limp and I had to give her medicine by dropper twice a day she now runs a mile if I try to touch her.  Poor love thinks I am going to do bad things to her like wrap her in a towel and hold her between my knees while sticking stuff down her throat.

Last of the ex-batts is my darling Snowdrop.  I shouldn't have a favourite but she really is a little darling.  She is much smaller than the others and in very poor nick.  Her whole belly and bum are bald and most of her other feathers are knackered.  The others bullied her so much in the first couple of weeks that she decided she couldn't sleep with them any more and went off alone to roost in the porch of my summerhouse.  It broke my heart to see.  She is now sleeping alone in a rabbit hutch so Chicken Towers has now become a Chicken Housing Estate.  I tried to get her a little friend to boost her confidence which sort of backfired (will explain that in a mo) but in a way seems to have helped because she is trotting round the garden on her rickety little legs a bit more this week.  Snowdrop lays jelly eggs every few days.  They are perfectly formed but with a very soft jelly shell.  I understand this is due to lack of calcium so am trying to build her up with supplements.  I read that trying to lay a soft egg is rather like pushing a balloon full of water down a drain pipe so it can't be pleasant for her.  The past few days her jelly eggs have had a bit of blood on the shell and I think its where she is straining to lay them.

The latest addition to my chook flock is Blossom.  She is a 17 week old pure bred Light Sussex hen.  I bought her as a young friend for Snowdrop.  Unfortunately Snowdrop beat her up as soon as she saw her and Blossom flew out of the run and hid in the wood.  I can't say I blame her really cos Snowdrop had blood on her claws!  I managed to trap Blossom in the main chook run a couple of stressful hours later.  That run has a roof so I left her in there for just over a week to learn where she lives and today have let her out to roam with the others.  She is very nervous of them even though the only ones who chase her are Snowdrop (who does not live with her cos she is in the rabbit hutch) and Primrose who chases everyone who isn't Rosie or Ivy.  I'm hoping bedtime is not too stressful tonight.  Usually Blossom hangs around in the run scared to go in the coop so heaven knows what will happen now she is free.  I do hope she doesn't roost in a tree!

So there you have it, all the latest.  I have no doubt missed half of it out and will have to do another update but at least I have got the gist of it down on cyber paper.

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