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

[Perris]

Gorgeous photo.

 

[kattabelly]

Double rainbow for luck!

Both single and double rainbows are pretty common here - a side effect of living in a climate that does all of the weather all the time, I guess.

On the island I used to live on, some quirk of geography or other sciencey stuff meant you'd quite often see one that looked like it ended at the local rubbish tip

 

[kattabelly]

Gorgeous photo.

Like all my best Orkney photos, it was taken by blindly stabbing at my phone screen a load of times because there was too much rain/wind/sun/snow in my eyes to be able to see anything.

Most of this batch had either a rusting IBC or an out-of-focus chicken comb in the foreground

 

[kattabelly]

It's a perfect, still morning and the air feels like fresh washing just hung out to dry. The wrens are out making the most of it and I'm so happy to see them again!

A male built a nest in my shed earlier this year (it would've been one of several - the males do the initial construction and then the female will do the interior design, rearranging things and lining her chosen nest with feathers) and when I found it in pieces on the floor I was never sure if it was attempted predation, weather damage or just shoddy workmanship. They're incredibly noisy for birds that weigh around 7-12g (a quarter to just under half an ounce) and he'd always shout at me when he thought I was getting too close. Impossible to get a good picture of them without a lot of patience and a much better camera than my phone has (which is why I started writing this in the morning and then my phone died)

I hadn't seen them around much since then but today they're back, at least one of both adults and juveniles as best I can tell. I only noticed them when some of my biggest, boldest birds started making alarm calls and there's still a lot of concerned buk-buk-ing every time they spot one Only Nora seems intent on killing them; wish she'd do the same with the latest baby rats. She's being really mean to a lot of the chooks today too, even the Sussex girls who were her hatch mates and should be more senior since they're already laying and she isn't. I'm thinking that and the fact she's suddenly found her voice might mean she'll be laying fairly soon herself.

 

[kattabelly]

Where's Wally wrenny?

Rognvald and (my) wifey. There's some perspective at play here, he's actually closer to her in size already. Saddle feathers already coming in at just 9 weeks old.

Wednesday? is spending a lot of time hanging out with his brother (working name: Donald) and grooming his face. Not sure if she actually likes him or just the food around his beak They're all clarted in mash at the minute because I still can't get growers pellets and they waste loads of the chick crumb unless I wet it.

One of the Shetlands has just found out she can fly and she likes it.

 

[BDutch]

On the island I used to live on, some quirk of geography or other sciencey stuff meant you'd quite often see one that looked like it ended at the local rubbish tip

Better move to Ireland. There it ends at the local gold-pot.

 

[kattabelly]

Better move to Ireland. There it ends at the local gold-pot.

It's a common saying / bit of folklore in the UK too, which is why I always found it funny that the pot of gold was apparently at the local rubbish dump

 

[kattabelly]

Well, one of the local cats has finally achieved what I couldn't. Some of the chooks got their first taste of rat tonight.

I got there just in time to see the cat jump back over the fence and scarper. Looked in and there were three neat little piles just inside the gate - head, rest of the skin with legs and tail attached, and guts - still warm enough to be steaming. A few birds were running around squabbling over unidentifiable red scraps or wiping their beaks.

Really not sure if they interrupted the cat's meal or if the cat brought the rat there on purpose. I've found dead but intact rats and a vole left just outside the gate a few times recently, like some kind of gruesome offering. Maybe (s)he thinks I've been doing a rubbish job of teaching my feathered kittens to hunt?!

Showing off her excellent hunting camouflage in the September sun, and today on next door's empty tattie bed (I'll not post photos of the rat )

The littles are 9 weeks old now and, having watched her and them a few times recently, don't really seem to register as prey at this stage.

Four eggs today from the usual suspects. Last stragglers went in to roost 28 minutes after sunset. I still haven't got round to dragging my arse up the hill at the right time to see when they're getting up in the morning.