Hours Of Entertainment

Looking Hopeful

A few weeks ago we planted some onions outside and have been told on numerous occasions since that they wont grow. Well on the weekend we found the first shoots appearing and now there are around seven or eight. After that small success I thought id have a quick nip down to the greenhouse to check on the peas and beans albeit doubtfully. Once again to my surprise there were definite shoots on the broad bean side. Its been lovely to come home and say 'guess what, its growing.'

Unfortunately having the girls roaming free at lotty means they assume anything there is chicken fodder, including onion shoots. Not wanting them to go the same way as our pak choi and spinach it was time to construct a chicken barrier around them and at the same time protect the brussels plants. For the brussels I stuck 4 canes in the ground and tied some fabric mesh around while the chickens made the most of their last moments with them. Not being able to find any more suitable mesh for the onions I had to think again. The only other option was to make a cage around them. It wasnt long before I regretted putting the wire panels behind the shed and piling everything else in front of them. Standing precariously on the wood pile, wrestling with the panels took longer than making both barriers.

5 Chickens = Priceless

Ever since we got the first three girls we have always said its the best entertainment you could buy. They have so much personality, from the raptorseque run to Ritas middle aged woman tendencies. Other plot holders tell us how the chickens run along the fence to see them too. Brian has been looking after chicken Johns hens as he's not been well. He called me over and said he'd been bringing extra chicken mash (basically anything left over from the previous nights dinner) for our girls and they loved it. So the next day we took the remains of our Sunday dinner to lotty in a container and set it down in the run. We watched for ten minutes as Alison assaulted any of the grey hens who dared approach the food. She made allowances for Rita as they pretty much seem to be best friends. Even after Alison had had her fill the second the others went near she'd run over and give them a good nip (when I say nip its slightly more aggressive than that) on the neck. We couldnt stop laughing at them. Im quite sure the other girls are terrified of Alison when there's good food on the menu.

Having just discovered that four of the chickens are now laying it was a surprise yesterday to find 5 eggs in the coop. My first thought was I must have missed one the day before and it had been rolled into sight by one of the girls during the night. But this morning there were four eggs in the coop, none of which were Alisons (her eggs are very different from the other girls eggs.) This leads me to believe that Betty is also laying now, though I will give it a few more days before I say it for certain.

Having recently taken more of an interest in the other wildlife around lotty, iv been trying to find ways to attract more birds. Having built a bird feeding table and put the bird house back up, yesterday I bought a wooden feeder and some peanuts to hang on one of the plum trees. Im hoping if they realise there's a constant food supply in our plot they'll want to raise their chicks in our bird houses.

Its been cold and a bit wet lately but its still been a pleasure to spend time at lotty with our girls.