Wet Chickens!

Well after about 2 weeks of rain and flooding we are now down to showers and the chickens couldn't be more pleased.  I just saw them trying to have a dust bath in very damp soil which didn't really work but there is some sunshine forecast in a few days time.  They handled the wet conditions better than I thought they would although there were many times I put on my gum boots and got my big umbrella and went out and told them to get inside their pen as they were saturated! 

The "chill out zone" we made for the two new black chickens came in very handy as initially we put a large tarpaulin on the roof so they had some shade but even though they no longer need this area they did appreciate the shelter when the rain was very heavy. 

In six days we had over 400mls of rain (over 16 inches) so the birds were all looking for somewhere to get up off the ground.  They are going to love the sunshine when it arrives and so will I.  : )

Chicken Update

All is well with the chickens.  The two newcomers have settled in well and they are no longer being pursued by Ruby - well maybe occasionally but she is no where as determined as she was.

We still have the "chill out zone" fenced off in the main pen where we put the two black chickens when we go out but we probably don't need it any more. 

I should stop calling them the newcomers, their names are Jet (after the shiny black stone) and Esmeralda (Spanish for emerald, the colour they shine in the sun).  When I enter their enclosure, they now come running up to me and they will eat out of my hand - not bad for a few weeks considering they were so shy when they first arrived here.

The chickens current favourite food is oats - unhulled, which we give them for a treat but of course, nothing beats mealworms!

Here are a few photos I took today, as you can see, Ruby is big!  :)

Watch that frostbite Tony!!

The Good Old Days?

I have been having some fun looking through an old cookbook, that also includes household hints, (over 100 years old) at  how ingredients have changed over the decades.  One of my favourite things to do is to try out new recipes but I had a bit of trouble trying to tempt Greg with some of these –

 Moulded calf’s head

Tripe

Fried brains

Stewed kidneys on toast

Sheeps’ head pie -  Boil one or two sheep’s head until tender.

Tongue omelette

Devilled sheep’s tongues or

Brawn – Procure a pig’s head and feet!

Or raw beef tea and gruel for when one is ill – enough to convince you to get out of bed!

One cure all was a mixture of laudanum (opium based), brandy and peppermint oil – “this remedy has been used successfully for English cholera!”  I don’t think you would be feeling too much after a few doses of that.   The scary part is laudanum was also recommended for infants!

I like this one To Dye Red Hair Black  “Young ladies need no longer suffer the annoyances attendant upon the red colouring of their hair.  Take black lead and ebony shavings, of each an ounce” etc.   

I have to say the Puddings and Pastry section is a lot more tempting.  Treacle pudding mmmmm.  They are all a bit stodgy but who doesn’t love that once in a while.

No doubt in 100 years time people will scratch their heads and be amazed at what we routinely use everyday also, our chemical hair dyes will probably be one!  Oh well I shouldn’t be making fun of these old traditions, I’m about to try out a new recipe – Raw Maple Nut ‘Cheese Cake’ that has no cheese in it! : ))))

This book belonged to my Grandmother who was a great cook and who also loved trying out new recipes.

A Rainbow Flock

The pecking order in the chicken house has been thrown into question by the arrival of two Australorp pullets - around 12 weeks old and the main offender is Ruby.  Ruby was at the bottom of the pecking order before the new arrivals and she now sees her opportunity to rule the roost and not be so hen pecked!  She is enjoying her new found status and for the first time even clucked like an adult chicken - she has found her voice! 

Ruby understands that she still below Abbey and Skeeta (and Abbey tells her so pretty often) but she has certainly had a promotion and she even seems to have grown in stature.

This is a rainbow flock with one Rhode Island Red - originally bred in America; two Light Sussex - originally bred in England and the two Australorps that were originally bred in Australia.  I'm hoping in another week or so there will be less chasing and more happy mingling.

The Australoprs are soft feathered birds and the feathers glow a beautiful emerald green in the sun.  These two birds are probably about half grown so they will be large chickens.  This one was chased up onto the wagon wheel by young Ruby but they are managing very well and as they are not being pecked or overly harassed, I think they will settle in very well.  : )

A Summer Garden

Yesterday afternoon I sat in the shade under the mulberry tree with the three chickens.  They were resting and occasionally pecked at an ant that wondered in front of them and chatted quietly while I read a book.  Chickens enjoy human company, whenever I sit with them they always come over and peck at a button or something that takes their interest and they always have a little chat to me.

We are enjoying summer in the Southern Hemisphere and our garden in at its best, with luxuriant foliage and bright, tropical flowers.  The chickens are not allowed in the house garden because they scratch everything up but they do have a large area where they are free in scratch and explore to their heart's content.  These are just a few photos of our garden that I took recently. 

Broody Hen

Ok now I know what you meant when you said you felt mean taking Abby's eggs when she was broody!  This morning she built a gorgeous deep nest in the area below the nesting box - ground floor and laid an egg in it.  When we went near the nest she got very stressed so we left her alone. 

As it is very detrimental to her health to sit on eggs that are not going to hatch we thought we better do something quickly so I Googled the subject and got Greg (well why should I be the bad guy) to take the egg, "mess up" her nest and close the door.  I then played some water games with her under a mandarin tree - she likes that on a hot day and the big goanna showed up and helped out with the distractions!

Her timing is very bad as in two days we are going to bring home two Australorp pullets and we have been told to put them in with Ruby (downstairs where she sleeps) after dark so in the morning when they all wake up these two new hens appear and there is less fuss????   : )))))  If Abbey was sitting on eggs in this area and presumably kicked out Ruby, where would we put the new arrivals?   Oh the goings on in a chicken coop!

It looks like we will have to be mean for a few more days and then hopefully she will forget about it especially as she will be wanting to reassert her dominance over the two new arrivals in a few days time.

Enjoy the powder guys!