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

[kattabelly]

I concur; that's what my NG's eggs looked like. Also had a large yolk relative to albumen, fwiw.

I've had a few Sussex eggs that were quite pale and narrow but not that pale and narrow. She's 25 weeks old today, I think.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I was late going up to check on them and top up food today (they did have some, they weren't starving) and wifey came and met me down at the polytunnel. Hope she hadn't been roaming around eating people's veg for too long and isn't going to make a habit of that…

I’ve lost track - which one is wifey again? Unless your love life has suddenly taken off or something.

 

[kattabelly]

I’ve lost track - which one is wifey again? Unless your love life has suddenly taken off or something.

That would be my Good Lady Chickenwife, Tidier of Nests and Teacher Terroriser of Little Chickens

I've tried explaining why it won't work but she's still absolutely determined to have my babies.

 

[kattabelly]

Though the little chickens are almost as big as her now! This was four days ago and they're growing like weeds, so there'll already be even less of a difference than here.

One of those RIR pullets looks more like a game bird at the moment - she's about 90% legs.

 

[kattabelly]

Absolute scenes this morning when her sister and Bertha managed to push her out of the nest, so they could pile in together. We've just about come to an understanding now and I can check for eggs underneath her bare-handed so long as I stick a little bowl of mash in front of her first.

Got eggs from all the others. Went to roost ss+10 but probably because it started raining heavily then.

 

[kattabelly]

Didn't have my phone on me to make a note of the time but I noticed Nora was roosting next to Bertha tonight, in the coveted spot furthest from the door. If those two team up they'll be a force to be reckoned with!

Eggs from both of them and the two Hylines.

I think some of the rats from further down the hill got flooded out of their burrows in the recent rain because there's biblical amounts of them up at the chicken plot now. Spending this evening making up sandwiches of ground up RatX and plastic cheese and modifying some stoat traps to use with snap traps.

 

[kattabelly]

I forgot I'd closed one of the run doors earlier to leave some uncovered snap traps out, so I was faffing around with the littles tonight without realising a load of the others were freaking out at not being able to go to roost. Wifey came and found me to complain while most of the others just stood at the fence worrying, but a few had already decided to go and roost with the big girls - including the two younger Rock pullets. They were still sleeping separately up till now, so I'll be really happy if they carry on roosting with the others after tonight.

Broody's still batshit. I watched her do an actual summersault in the nest today when she went to tuck an egg a bit too far underneath herself

Four eggs. Roost time irrelevant due to my screw up, plus no one could see the sky anyway

 

[kattabelly]

I've been going through a boiled egg phase, so the egg mountain was getting a bit out of hand. Picked up a couple of plastic egg trays this afternoon and I've just now had a sort out.

80 eggs suddenly seems like quite a lot when you unpile them and put them in trays

20 were dated within the last week, so I'll put those in the polytunnel for other folk to take. Need to start collecting empty boxes again.

 

[kattabelly]

Three eggs (Sussex, Bertha & Lady M). Caught three biggish rats plus found a small one outside the back gate - another cat gift? Didn't make a note of roost time but judging by the time I took this I'd say around ss+30.

Broody noises

• kattabelly
• Nov 7, 2025

 

[kattabelly]

Its actually been dry enough the last few days that I had to refill their water today! Not needed to do that for weeks.

Two eggs - Bertha and I think Lady M again. Could be more hidden under the screaming fluff demon. No rats, probably partly because a plot neighbour's terrier was having fun chasing them in the field just outside the chicken plot. That neighbour gave me their spare onion sets and a huge, sweet, intensely carroty carrot in exchange for some eggs, and someone else had left some empty egg boxes for me at my polytunnel plot.