The chickens settle in

Another very wet day.  It has stopped raining at the moment but the wind is now getting up.  Mum went back home this morning which I know will be a bit difficult but she will be coming back up here again soon.  At tea time Carl said it felt very strange without her!

This afternoon we collected the ex battery hens from the collection point which was not an experience I will be repeating.   The hens, however, are fine and a lot more curious than the last ones.  Some have got quite a lot of feathers and one clambered up onto the low perch straight away.  Four of them went straight out into the run and started scratching straight away.  It was quite tentative scratching and they all kept one foot of the ground as much as possible.  They don’t seem to be as argumentative as the old hens but that might just be as it is all so new.

The Big Baby has been away for two days on a holiday in the barn but he returned this morning and went straight into Sam’s room, where he has been all day, only emerging to demand food at regular intervals.  He is now back on the bed, curled up in the quilt and purring manically.

Tomorrow is a big alpaca check day.  We do a monthly check on each one - feet, body score, observing their poo, taking a photo, feeling all over and generally irritating them!  They also need their wormer and Vitamin D for the cria.  Carl laughs because I have designed these sheets I write everything down on and take my clipboard down there but I think it is an important record.  We can then think about if our feeding is right, or whether we need to adjust, and whether our breeding plans need adjusting.  We have then got to get back on top of waste management and plan the next bit of fencing.

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