Our weekend

We've had two lovely pigeons lodging with us for most of the week. I managed to hold the darker one and see blue ink on it's flight feathers which clearly showed a 'phone number so I called it and eventually got hold of the owner in Bridlington. I thought the birds had left us last night as they were nowhere in sight at bedtime but today they were back with us. I REALLY love them and secretly hope they never get their bearings and leave. Click to enlarge the pic. They're stunners. No idea where the mainly white one hails from. It has different rings to the grey one who I call "Bridget from Bridlington"

Yesterday Mark built "The Peek Inn" and a fun day was had by all of us and especially the Pekins at bedtime who had to sleep in the same hut for the first time. It started out as a brand new garden store. We've already got one for the ex batts but that is at ground level rather than being raised like the bantams one has been. It's customised to suit them. Roosting bars, cat litter trays as nest boxes in case of chicks, correx floor for easy cleaning and it'll hopefully be painted on the outside this week and look like a Southwold Beach Hut along with the Des Res too ;-)

Today Aunty K came with my dear nephews and we spent the day outside with the chooks. Amber laid an egg that rolled all the way down their carpeted ladder and Fenella laid one at Aunty K's feet so of course we let her take them for the boys breakfast.

In fact K took all of todays fresh eggs which I *think* was 14. No duck egg today but when Jemima does lay an egg we have to get it quickly as the ex batts seem to have a liking for duck eggs.

After K and the boys left I got cracking on the computer sorting out all the hen people for next weekend. Sending reminders to people who registered an interest but hadn't replied when given a date. I'm trying to get everyone on Sat but again, it depends how many reply. I do have one lady coming on Sunday but I'll be over there anyway so don't mind bringing her 7 back then.

Mark will have to go to Bearts this week and stock up on mash again. Seems the best way of doing it rather than lugging it all the way from Norwich when we'll be going to Bearts anyway.

Have now given Chloe a trim and am feeling knackered. Am just eating some cheese ravioli with Reggae sauce then I'm off to sleep.

HAPPY EGGS FROM HAPPY RoSAH HENS

The Pekins have gone outside now

The Pekins have gone outside today and they're all having fun scratting in the straw on the ground.
When I gave the ex batts their warm oats around 3.30pm, I added tinned sweetcorn & a little garlic powder and popped a bowl over for the Pekins and they swooped on it.
Mark has put 2 nest boxes in the "Pekin Palace" (former duck house) and lovely deep sundown bedding so they'll be cosy tonight.

Rita is inside (as expected) looking rather jaundiced from the iodine on her back. She seems to be herself though and is now freeranging the lounge and will be sleeping in the dog crate (well she sleeps anywhere, bloomin' narcoleptic chook)














Look at these lot, crowding around as half past 3 is porridge time and I get mugged until I put the troughs down. Quite nice to get a picture of them close enough together though rather than one here and 2 there.

PS The hens only laid 3 eggs today. I think it was due to the work going on in their pen, they were too nosey to dash off and lay an egg. I imagine the nest boxes in the morning will be full with early morning eggs.

10 eggs to start off the New Year with.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL SUPPORTERS of RoSAH RESCUE

Here is just a basic update of the day. It was just the usual happenings at Rosah Rescue today.

Lyn's not feeling too well, that Fibromyalgia is making her life hell so I've volunteered to help with the blog until she's more up to it. Mark's busy enough without sorting the computer too.
From what I can gather the hens laid 10 eggs today including one by Rita who is getting a nice covering of feathers now- the spikes now have tufts.
Mark and Mini emptied the duck "pond" and refilled it once they had thawed the hose pipe out.
They also sorted the guinea pigs and all the other animals out before going off to sort Dolly (the pony) out. She needs mucking out, bringing in from the field and feeding.
Lyn has currently taken Lizzy back into the house as "she didn't look happy" and also Rita is still in until she has a little more feather growth. Lizzy and Rita are the two with crooked necks.

I've been asked to post that we urgently need homes for the young Giant African Land Snails. Please get in touch asap if you'd like some.

We still also need donations of animal food. Veg & fruit for guinea pigs, rabbits and snails, tinned & dried cat food, hen layers meal , pellets and mixed corn for the resident ex battery hens and also tinned sweetcorn etc...Anything you donate helps the rescued animals out and also Lyn & Mark who fund everything themselves.

Collected the hen crates today/ 10 eggs

I'm chuffed to bits, Hubby took our daughters for a day out to Hampshire and they collected the poultry crates we bought from a chap on eBay. The kids loved driving on the M25 passing Heathrow and a huge jumbo jet appearing out of the mist just above them. I remember driving down that direction many years ago and being shocked how low the jets are over the motorway.

The hens laid ten eggs today. I changed all their bedding to the new one called "Sundown yellow", smells of Eucalyptus but is different texture to the usual Sundown with woodflakes, hard to describe really. It'll be easier to clean out the playhouse now as I'd had straw in that and hate shovelling cack out of straw. The proper hen house had ordinary sundown so was easy enough anyway but I've changed that to the new stuff as I did a mass clean out. The birds freeranged the garden whilst we did it. The ducks were shovelling their beaks full of any soft mud or soil. It took ages cleaning the smaller hen house out as all the ladies kept jumping in the laying boxes to lay an egg. They were queueing up so Edward and I sat outside on the straw bale playing bowling on our DS consoles.

At hen bedtime I wondered where everyone was.
3 white hens were in the playhouse but no ducks or brown hens in sight........and they were ALL in the smaller hen house, crammed in. No idea how the huge ducks got thru the opening! Anyway, I couldn't leave them packed in, it was so humid in there with all their sweaty bodies, they'd have overheated.
I moved the ducks and put them in the playhouse with the white hens and I also put a few brown hens in there too (no idea who, in the dark with just a lantern for vision)
Maybe the ducks wanted company or felt their own kennel/duck house is too small now.
Hopefully they'll all get along in the playhouse. Mark is going to build a shelf in there to accommodate more birds (as the hens don't seem to like perches as ex batts have never had them before)

We'll just close up the kennel/duck house for the time being and save it for when Mark gets his lavender Pekin ladies which he'll get as soon as I find any for sale locally.