Alleluia!

It's raining seeds!

A rather fuzzy picture taken through the garden room window, shows the chickens enjoying the bits the sparrows drop (or deliberately chuck out!). It's like chicken occupational therapy. They rush up excitedly every time the little birds visit the feeder.

Must clean garden room windows!

Up-tails all!

All four digging around in the dirt. Just what a chicken likes. Amber decides to dig her own bit though.

Scratching about in the ever-fascinating undergrowth. They haven't left much grass here.

Something to scratch in.

After recent high winds the village is full of fallen leaves. I thought the chickies would enjoy a bit more litter to scratch in so after this morning's session with our village In Bloom group, I wandered up the lane with the wheelbarrow and filled it with autumn leaves.

While the ladies were out in their little 'field' I added the leaf litter to their run. When they got back they spent ages trampling it down to crispy bits and scratting in it. A great success, I think. I may go back next week for another barrow load.

Ready for the rain!

The run is now roofed over, ready for the rain. Where is it? I love a bit of good weather but it's over a month since we had even drizzle. Since I took the picture there's also a length of guttering and a water butt. The drying peas in the photo are all harvested for seed or winter use and the soil is like dust. The only beans with green leaves and pods not drying are the True Red Cranberry pole bean which has such a long season it ends up on newspaper on the windowsill. Still, the girls are enjoying windfall damsons (the ones too high to reach even with the steps) and the small sweetcorns too titchy to bother with. They bother!

Eating marrow and playing dead

I used most of an overblown courgette to make a marrow chutney a couple of days ago, and the chickens tackled the remainder. I cut it into slices and they pecked it away from the middle outwards. I expected to find the rinds but they ate them too!

Rather a contrasty shot but all four were nestling in dusty hollows they had gouged. When I came out with the camera, Topaz ran up to see if it was edible, but I've caught the other 3 playing 'dead chickens' on what used to pass for grass!

Pieces of eight!

Got a chicken on my shoulder. Couldn't afford a parrot!

Guess who? Topaz the Indomitable!

Ruby strutting her stuff.

Amber checking out the trousers. Himself sometimes has seeds in his turn-ups. You never know.

The Chiminea Nest Box

The old patio heater has proved irresistible for egg laying. For the last 3 mornings there have been 2 in there. If nothing else, the chickens have been a bit quieter in the mornings. Maybe the shouting wasn't all "Come and look, I've laid and EGG!" so much as "Shift over quick, I've got to lay an EGG!" Without the queue for the nest box everyone can lay somewhere comfy. According to DEFRA there should be one nest box per 7 hens. We have one between 4 and they all lay so closely in time that there was often an egg under the perch when someone was caught short!