A Clucking Eulogy

Frog died last Sunday, it's been a lonely week without her. She was always uncertain of us, holding back where the others would press right forward for a treat, but she'll be missed all the same.

She was much more agile than the rest. She was the one we'd find sitting on top of the coop, or the wrong side of a fence. She was the one who discovered she could balance on the windowsill and therefore gain access to the forbidden vegetable patch. She was notoriously hard to catch, normally had to be pinned into a corner and even then could often wriggle herself out of trouble! 

We're not sure what happened or what the problem was. All we know is she was fine one day and certainly not the next. She went downhill very quickly and was clearly feeling the cold towards the end. We brought her inside in case warmth would help and tried to encourage her to drink, but she passed away shortly afterwards. 

Goodbye Frog. 

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In the Chicken Coop

We've just handed care of Lemon, Pepper and Frog to these two for three months...

... good luck guys!

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October in the Chicken Coop

This month in the chicken coop....

... Frog learns a new trick:

A quick hop up onto the windowsill and she neatly avoids the fence we've built. We don't think she gets into the veg patch this way - we've seen her squeezing through holes in the fence again - but invariably this is how she chooses to get out when she sees us coming (or is bribed!). Typical. The fence still does the trick with the other three which prevents complete destruction, and fortunately there's very little left to harm now anyway, but we'll have to come up with a better solution before next spring. *sighs*

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August in the Chicken Coop

To celebrate the arrival of the hens on The Urban Cottage - and because we've now been chicken keepers for one whole year - we're declaring this to be Chicken and Egg week. Today we're also starting off a new series of chicken related posts called "This month in the chicken coop".

This month our hens have been:

Standing on top of coop proclaiming it's morning. At 5am. Not impressed. Well, Joe's not impressed anyway - Jenny is much better at sleeping through these things than Joe is. There are lots of mutterings of sending them to the big farm in the hills on these mornings; though this isn't as much of a threat as it seems as the farm in the hills is a real place just quarter of hours drive from us where they would be very happy hens!

Frog in her customary "I'm the King of the Castle" pose!

Breaking into the vegetable patch. It seems no hole is too small for Frog who is rather nimble. Reinforcements are now in place on both the gate and the fence.

String stopping the sticks from moving side to side.

Extra sticks running horizontally to fill in the gaps

Starting to moult. Fizzy has started her annual moult - a little early in the year I'll admit, but Fizzy has never been one to do things on schedule.

She's not in a particularly bare phase at the moment,
but you can see all the small new feathers growing on her neck.

And that's about it for August. 

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Who's Who - One Year On

To celebrate the arrival of the hens on The Urban Cottage - and because we've now been chicken keepers for one whole year - we're declaring this to be Chicken and Egg week. Starting the week off - a guide to the girls themselves.

For all our new followers (you're very welcome), and as a reminder for some of our regulars, we thought it was about time we did a who's who in the chicken run. To add a twist we've gathered together the photos we took one year ago, when this was all new and before our garden knew what had hit it - just for comparison.

First up we have Pepper, the bossy boots of the coop and also currently one of the most tame. She's a full size light sussex.

Next up is Lemon. Large and very fluffy, prone to bouts of broodiness and very talkative (read: really loud). She is a full size Orpington.

Moving onto the bantams, we'll start with Fizzy. Fizzy's character is the most changeable. She can be shy or demanding, friendly or scared, top of the group or left on her own. It all depends on the weather it seems.... She's a bantam Orpington.

Finally we come to Frog. Small and unassuming, she's quick and nimble and much more willing to fly than the others. She'll enjoy a cuddle once caught, but good luck catching her! Frog is a bantam Wyandotte.

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