Pirates of the Fluffibbean

Ahoy hoy!

So this is the post I hope all of you have been waiting for! The one filled with uber cute fluffy little chick photos. Because yes, as it stands, we have two chicks! 


But I'll get on to that later...

I'm sure you are all teetering on the edge of your planks wondering how the Dickens we have been getting on with making the chickens proper pirate chickens.  Well you will be pleased to know...it has been done!

Ah Helga, she will do anything for Mealworm and actually seemed to be really rather happy perching on my shoulder! The only down side now, however, is that as soon as I come outside she'll run, jump on the low wall and wait for me to put my arm out with Mealworm in hand! Greedy thing!

Other breaking news: Cat food fight!

So the fight still continues for the cat food, with valiant effort being displayed on both teams. As a twist to the match, (and in an attempt to get the chickens the Hell out of my kitchen) I threw a little handful of the most beloved of biscuits outside. This is what followed...

Both teams started in their opposing corners. Helga, Big Mama, Sally and Audrey in one, Zeppelin in the other. Unfair teams you may think, but this round is a round of stamina, about out lasting your opponent. Not numbers.  The fight progressed well with an all round scattering of frantic pecking and munching.

As the fight continued numbers dwindled until there were just two contestants left in the ring. Zeppelin and Audrey.

Ding Ding Final Round! After much pecking and floor scratching, one contestant was called the 'outlaster of the cat food floor fight' and this contestant was...

Yeah, you know it. Current standings, one all. 


Finally, baby chick news!

So where we left off was wondering what to do about the broody Miss Coco. It seemed pretty mean to not let her hatch some eggs when she so desperately wanted to, so it was just a case of figuring out how to move her across to the separated area.  We decided that waiting and moving her at night was the best option and we were right, it worked a treat! She settled in really nicely and we moved two of the fertilised eggs underneath her! Madonna didn't mind at all, if anything I think she was rather pleased to share the responsibility!  Here they are both together...

After a while however, we realised that at some point she had stolen an egg so they both had 3 underneath them! Fair play I suppose!


As time got closer we put some food and water in with them for the chicks when they hatch. They wouldn't of needed this for the first two or three days of being out of the egg as they soak up the last of the yolk before hand to give them the energy they need. But it meant that both ladies wouldn't have to leave the eggs or chicks behind if they went outside. In saying this though, when one does go outside the other scoops up what she left behind in safe keeping for her return! How very thoughtful! 

So...The Big News!


We have had two very cute and very beautiful chicks hatch, both very yellow and both very sweet. The markings we originally made on the eggs rubbed off so we can't tell what breed they are yet. Though we are pretty sure one is a Poland as she has a rather large fluffy head, and the other one has a dark stripe down her back! So who knows! 


It has been a very exciting process. First we heard lots of cheeping from under Coco. Then we saw this very cute little head under Madonna...

And then this little beauty under Coco...

But eventually they were let out and this is what we saw... 

Just Beautiful. As you can see Coco and Madonna are working really well together and the chicks are just the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. 


So to finish I shall leave you with this video and say no more.  I hope you enjoy. (Sorry about the jaunty angle).

Well that is all for now, until next time...

Feather Island (quite proud of that one)

Ahoy hoy! 

What utter diabolical weather we have been having, as droughts go, this is the wettest one yet! (Might have stolen that from Ewan Cakebread but, eh, I'm going with it). Still it's not over yet!

So I thought I would start by sharing with you how the crew have been finding it! In true Pirate fashion these Cluckaneers were not fazed  in the slightiest of slightest's (insert some kind of water wings joke here, and laugh at your own leisure). In fact for a species that, on paper, doesn't enjoy getting wet, they seemed to stay out far longer than necessary leading to the massacre of hundreds of defenceless earthworms. Brutal.  

So just for you a made this rather stunning 'drippy chicken' collage...Feast your eyes.

Okay...it's a rubbish collage. In fact it is more a mosaic then anything else. (Little thing you can do for fun, write in 'water chicken' in google and see what the first thing to come up is. Interesting. Warning though, not for little faces.




So onto our mam to be. You will all be pleased to know that Madonna is proud as punch still to be sitting on the eggs and since being separated from the crew, has not had a single roll away egg! She comes out some mornings, (almost in fast forward) and quickly has bits to eat and drink and then rushes back to sit on the eggs! (Video to come in the next blog post, promise).

While she was out the other morning I had a feel of one of her eggs, and I can tell you she is defiantly doing her job! It was warm as anything. I was hoping to be able to feel movement inside but can't as of yet.

Still only a week or so left now so it's getting pretty exciting stuff!


We do have more exciting news. Let me show you in picture form:

Yes, Coco is broody! What a surprise! She's been this way for 5 days now, so not long, but here's the dilemma...


Dilemma -  Do we put Coco in with Madonna? I mean after all she was the first to go broody until we stopped her. And after letting Madonna sit on eggs, it seems a bit mean to kick her out of it again!


So let's weigh it up...


Pros - If we put her in with Madonna, and put 3 of the fertilised eggs underneath her, they will both mother all 6 chicks! This would be so great, and we would have our own little mother and baby unit! It'll make no difference to the chicks (although they may naturally stick slightly closer to the mama hen that hatched them), and it'll mean Madonna doesn't have to look after 6 toddlers on her own! What a Billy Bonus!


Cons - It will not be very easy to move Coco as you tend to find that if they have been nesting in one spot, when you move the eggs to another nest box and put her in with them, she will assume her eggs are left in their original nesting spot! Which will be quite distressing as you can imagine. The way around this would be to move her and the nest, as one, at night when they get a bit dopey. Though this comes with its own set of problems! Humph. Also if she decides not to stay broody, it could upset Madonna, if she starts pecking around her.


So I'll let you know what the outcome is! But any thoughts on this would be greatly received! (Whether it's by a Comment, Email or via Twitter)!


Until next time! 

Cleaning up the poop deck. Literally.

Ahoy hoy listeners of chicken related tales! Again, why not start with the most exciting bit? As this is my 3rd post I figured it was about time that I treated you all to a little video of Madonna, who is still very content by the way. Yes you read correctly, A VIDEO! A rather bad one at that, and poorly filmed, but A VIDEO none the less.


So here is the little lady being given (what I can only naturally assume is her craving food), some cucumber! Like I said, really sorry about the poor filming skills, she was bashing the cucumber up and so as it fell I was picking it up and giving it back to her!

It seems Mealworm won't interest her in the slightest. It's cucumber or nothing. The video also illustrates what I said before about Coco being the loudest most fussy little lady in the crew. All that noise was just letting me know that she was about to lay an egg and I should get the hell out of there...which I did. 


Other Clucking Fantastic Events:


In order to help the pirate cause I had a little go at seeing if I could persuade any of the chickens to perch on my arm!  With the help of a low starting wall and A LOT of Mealworm, Big Mama and Audrey gave it a go, and seemed pretty happy to do so. To be honest though Big Mama has always wanted to be close to people and Audrey just loves being up high so the fact that those were the two girls that did it wasn't really much of a surprise.


Also note, if you will, the very stylish way that I have done the button up on my jacket. Obviously I was going for the edgy miss-matched effect you see. We're all cool kids here. 


So the last thing I should mention is that this morning and this afternoon Helga and Audrey did not give up on the cat food fight.  Here's my report:


Events live from the kitchen boxing ring:




In the Garden corner wearing recently re-grown feathers and weighing an astounding 'I'm a lady and therefore do not reveal my weight' lb is, you won't keep me in a cage, Heellgaa.

In the kitchen corner wearing a black fur coat and weighing in at  'I love Felix cat food' lb and a half is, I'm jealous of everything and everyone, Heeeeeeendrix. (Pause for crowd roar).


The match got off to a roaring start with a lot of head bobbing from Helga as she was ducking and weaving to find a way in. 
Hendrix retaliated with some boggy looks and impeccable ignoring manoeuvres which are second to none. 


After a good 30 seconds of pure, heated, on the edge of your seats kind of stuff, action....Helga got bored and left...

So the winner...I wasn't even trying, Heeendrix!!!!


Well that's about it for now, if you're just popping by I would love to know what you think. 


Until next time chicken friends.

The Cluckcaneers (oh, I went there, don't you worry).

Ahoy hoy fine chicken lovers, quite a few events have unfolded today so hell, I thought, I'll jot them down for you to read at your fancy.


Naturally I'll start with Madonna, who you will be please to know is still sitting (rather sweetly) upon her 6 eggs, although already this has not always been the case.  This morning we found that one of the eggs had rolled off the nest box (a Silkie) and had gone cold. BUM BUM BUM (DRAMATIC EFFECT). We're not too worried about this however. Many broody hens have had the same thing happen to them over the years or just decided to sit on different eggs and left theirs to go cold for a few hours before being placed back on their original nest. 9 times out of 10 the eggs will hatch just fine, so hopefully this will be the case with hers. The cause, we think, is that although she sits comfortably on all 6, one of the large hens has taken to laying close to her, causing her to get agitated and so knocking out the egg. It's actually the second time it has happened. Fear not though, a solution was made! Huzzah I hear you cry!


The Solution: Give her a separate space. 
Faff Time: Quite a bit due to messing up first time round.
Effectiveness: So far so good! 


At first we were not planning on separating her from the rest of the crew as we figured that once the chicks were born it would be easier for them to fit in with the pecking order and it would save us trying to introduce them at a later date to the rest of the ladies. However we have now separated her to make sure that she doesn't get upset with hens laying eggs near her, and it avoids her being pecked by the others while she is sitting and of course stops the risk of the newborns being killed by the bigger hens! 

It was really easy for us to do due to the fact that our coop is massive and has two large runs attached! We just popped some chicken wire inside to separate them and they each can go down to their own adjoining runs! Easy as pie. 
We used chicken wire instead of wood in the hope that it will make it easier when we want to join both crews together. Hopefully because they can see each other in the same space, when all have hatched and are old enough it shouldn't be a problem. After all it's how we originally introduced the younger girls to the ex-batts! And the other girls didn't mind being put in the other run, in fact the ex-batts were pleased to be in their original home!

(That coconut treat was gone within the day, they love their suet. Definitely only a once in a while treat at that rate)! As an added little thing we also built up the nest, as you can see in the top picture, in front of Madonna. This was so that if any eggs do slip again she can roll them back underneath her! Phew!


Other Chicken Clucking News!


After having a long time where the chickens were not interested, they have suddenly remembered how much they love cat food! The amount of times today I had to shoo them out of my bloody kitchen! Chicken's are omnivores so meat is fine for them and for some reason really love cat food, however we don't like them to eat it due to the fat content, it's just not made for chickens...in fact it's usually made from chickens! 

Here's Helga making a mess of the kitchen trying to get the last few biscuits. Where were the cats when this was happening, that's what I would like to know!


Well that's about all for the crew and their cackle fruit! All chickens are in bed asleep and I think it's time for me to cosy down to a bubble bath.


Until the next log book, farewell.

Taking a look at me crew.

So I think I will start this blog by saying the very exciting news that my partner and I, at 24, are to become Grandparents. Well, rather that Madonna our Silkie hen is broody and started sitting on fertilised eggs yesterday!


So a brief introduction to our pirate chicks. We started a year or so ago rescuing 8 Ex-Batt hens. These were in pretty bad shape when we had them but naturally we gave them lots of love. Sadly over time 6 have gone, but left from a happy home. However here's our current pirate crew:


So Hen 1: 
Name: Helga
Age: Around 2 maybe
Breed: Hybrid (Ex-Batt)

Named Helga as we thought this suited her rather grumpy and (sadly) ugly vulture face! Poor thing. As you can see she has really changed since we got her and now is a very beautiful lady. In the picture she is running towards me as I had some cucumber in my hand, scrummy.


Hen 2
Name: Big Mama
Age: Around 2
Breed: Hybrid (Ex Batt)

Big Mama got her name as she was the biggest of the crew when we got her, though embarrassingly she is now one of the smallest. When we first got her she was looking quite good compared to the others, apart from a bald patch on her chest which she only ever replaced with soft white feathers! I love how this photo shows how pale her comb and face was, not any more though! Beautiful. She is also the only one who loves to perch on my lap!


Hen 3
Name: Sally
Age: 10 months
Breed: White Sussex

Named Sally as she looks rather like a seagull (Sally the Seagull). A pretty poor picture, but she is the only one of our girls who has their own built in bandanna, way to help the pirate cause! This ladies favourite food is pear (as, if they fall from the tree they are gone before I've walked over to pick them up, rude). Her breed can been known to go broody but as yet...no.


Hen 4
Name: Audrey
Age: 10 months
Breed: Unknown!

This lady is MASSIVE but very fun. It's mainly just funny to laugh at her 'run waddle' she does on realising that most of the crew has moved elsewhere in the garden. Also she goes mad for mealworm, and loves being higher than everyone else. Glad we gave her a posh name!


Hen 5
Name: Coco Chanel (or just Coco for short)
Age: 10 months
Breed: Pekin Silkie Cross

I love this little lady, named Coco Chanel due to the fact that she has a very stylish updo! This photo doesn't show off her beautiful feather pirate boots but trust me, they are pretty special. She is the loudest of all the crew, and was the first to go broody (which we discouraged at the time as she had only started laying 2 weeks earlier! ) Coco is a real moaner, but at least it means we are all made fully aware when she is about to lay an egg!


Hen 5
Name: Madonna
Age: 10 months
Breed: Silkie

Madonna is just so fluffy and beautiful, you can tell she is a pure Silkie from her blue cheeks and black skin! She is a bit of a dither and is always the last to join the others if they have moved on round the garden. But that also means she's not one to follow the flock! The most exciting news, as I said earlier, is that she has just started sitting on some fertilised eggs (seen in the picture)! She is sitting on 1 Frizzle egg, 3 Silkie eggs, 1 Poland egg and 1 unknown surprise egg! So wish her lots of luck with her upcoming motherhood!


Not all posts (you will be pleased to hear) will be this long, but I hope you enjoyed the little chicken introductions! 


So the last thing I should say, with the sitting of un-sexed eggs, is to pray and chant with me...GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS!