I’m sitting inside the chicken run on an upturned plastic tub. The tub was once full of suet treats for garden birds but has become my regular ‘go to’ seat for hen watching. I don’t usually sit inside the chicken run (for a number of good reasons) but today it’s raining; the girls, despite not being waterproof are undeterred by this and are happily scratching around in the garden. Not wanting to deprive them of wet grass, dripping trees, mud and worms I’m letting them get on with it. A few of them pop into the run to see if I’ve got a treat for them but soon rush back out to their mud and worms when I come up empty handed. The apple trees provide some shelter for them and they seem quite content to be out there whilst the rain is only light. They all look a bit disheveled and wet of course but at the same time, incredibly cute.
Meanwhile I’m sat in the run (on my tub) staring through the mesh and the open door of the run thinking that this can’t be quite right! The run is a walk in run – fox proof mesh all round on a wooden frame and 18’x5’x6′ so nice and spacious. The roof and the back ‘wall’ are covered with heavy duty semi-transparent plastic sheeting and the whole run is on concrete paving slabs with a layer of wood chips so it’s reasonably dry and not too bad underfoot. The worst bit is the smell – despite daily poop scooping and three sides of the run being uncovered, the occasional unpleasant aroma still wafts by on the breeze. Sprout has been moulting over the past week as a result of the hormonal implant she had recently and it looks like there’s been a massacre in the run with feathers all over. It’s surprising how many they lose before they even start to look as though they’re losing them. When she shakes or flaps she creates a little feather cloud around her before they all land in a circle on the floor.
I noticed tonight when I was checking all the girls over that Ellie had a tiny amount of dried blood on her left nostril. I cleaned her up and she seems to be fine other than that but I’ll check her again tomorrow.
I’ve decided enough is enough for sitting in the run today and have bribed the girls back in with some rice and crushed sunflower hearts. I’m still trying to get Sprout to eat more and she hasn’t turned her beak up at these yet so anything I can get her to consider is a bonus. They made short work of the treats – I’ve left them preening themselves and I love how they all looking somewhat taken aback by how soggy they are! Here’s hoping for better weather tomorrow!
Happy hen keeping! Sam x
0 comments on “Rainy Days and Feathers”Add yours →