Windy hill chickens - first flock(s) of my own

[kattabelly]

Four eggs from the usual suspects. Nora was sitting in a nest for a while this evening but eventually decided to just go and roost. Tiny and one of the younger Rock pullets chose to roost with the big girls tonight and the other Rock was happy to join them once I grabbed her and stuck her on the roost next to her sister, who she'd been calling for. Roost time ss+35 and the last day we'll see the sun after 4pm for a couple of months (though it's probably been disappearing behind the hill by then for a while already).

Didn't get a picture of them all before my phone died but everyone's been sharing the greenhouse quite happily, including the (not so) littles.

 

[kattabelly]

One of the Hylines dropped dead at my feet earlier. No warning, her usual chatty underfoot self just moments before and then she had a massive seizure and was dead maybe 90 seconds later. I don't need "I'm sorry"s - my head isn't wired to feel sad about death the way most folk do - but it's frustrating when there isn't any warning or hint of a cause. At least it was quick and not the miserable, drawn-out deterioration they so often experience when the reproductive health problems kick in. It might've been better if it'd been the more timid of the two that died, though. I hope she'll not take it too hard.

It's been pissing down most of the day, so I brought her home to maybe necropsy tonight if I decide I can face it when I have to be up at 4:30am.

Bit confused to get eggs from the three surviving regulars who aren't broody, and what looked like a second Sussex egg. Broody shouldn't be laying still, and if it was from Saturday when I last thought her sister hadn't laid then she's somehow managed to keep the egg hidden since then, despite multiple nest checks and even being dragged out for a bum check and trim. Looked too pink to be Nora's.

We're underwater again after a couple more days of heavy rain.

 

[Perris]

usual chatty underfoot self just moments before and then she had a massive seizure and was dead maybe 90 seconds later

sounds just like Uppsala a few days ago. Hopefully idiopathic and not an indication of something nasty in the air/environs.

 

[kattabelly]

sounds just like Uppsala a few days ago. Hopefully idiopathic and not an indication of something nasty in the air/environs.

Yes, I was thinking the same.

 

[kattabelly]

Last stragglers were going to roost at sunset+35 again. That seems to be about their limit, for now at least.