Saturday stuff

Up and busy around the house and garden this morning - very cold but lovely and sunny :) I put Lilac hen outside with the other girls to enjoy the sunshine and she pottered around with them in the garden. She is very thin  and very slow, though ...

The other big girls are laying well so I collected 4 eggs from them and one of the Serama pullets is also laying an egg nearly every day so thank you Mandy ( I think)

Later, after lunch I brought Lilac inside the house and then Compostgirl and I went to Hereford for a shopping trip, collecting a friend of Compostgirl's on the way. They went off and had a look around and I did clothes returning and then book buying, using up loads of money saved up on my loyalty card. Two "free" Robin Hobb books to get stuck into later this week AFTER I have done my tax return I think! We met up for hot chocolate and cake ( them) and coffee for me.

Home (via friend's house to drop her off) to a beef casserole cooked by Compostman while we were out and a sit by the fire to watch TV. Compostgirl and I enjoyed "The Voice" and then we all watched a "Father Brown" we had recorded earlier in the week.


I need to get on with crochet and sewing as I have realised that in another few weeks it will be time to start the seed sowing/chitting/plant propagation etc etc and then I will not have time! Eeek where has the winter gone? 

Washing a hen's pudenda...

Ha! Thought that would get your attention! Copying John Grey's tactics with lurid titles :)

The hen in question is of course Lilac. Her crop seems back to normal and she is in general good health BUT she won't eat much while inside so, although she is alarmingly thin I put her outside in the pale sunshine to wander around the garden with the other hens. She perked up as soon as she saw them and, after a bit of pecking order antics from Sweetiepie to remind Lilac that she is STILL bottom hen, they all ambled off to sunbathe and dig up the veg patch.

Lilac had a mucky bum because she is inside in a cat carrier and she can't perch so is sitting in her (copious) night time droppings, which is why her bottom fluff is getting caked with poo. When it dries it cannot be very comfortable so at the end of the day I gathered her up and washed her poo clogged feathers. I then cut off the offending feathers. Hopefully this will make Lilac more comfortable until she is strong enough to perch in the hen house at night.

In other news I have definitely found I am also intolerant to milk and cheese, as well as wheat. So that will make life a bit more interesting on the food front! On the plus side my weight loss is even more dramatic now I have cut out milk and cheese! I seem ok with butter and natural live yogurt though - apparently that is not unusual.

House hen

Lilac Hen is still inside and on water only - I massaged her crop today and only a very small amount of water came out, far less than she has drunk in the last 18 hours so I am hoping she has absorbed some of the water and is recovering. She is looking brighter, if a little weak and had a wander round the house today to see what I was up to.

Hopefully I can get her to eat some live yogurt and mealworms today.

Wild and windy out there! and an update on Lilac Hen.

Up early as Compostgirl wanted to go to the stables for the day. Spent rest of morning sorting out art supplies - I have a ludicrous amount of stuff so have had a sort through and some of it will be going to an artist friend. I still have loads of art stuff to play with but have now got my stuff in a large wooden box rather than many boxes :)

Foul weather over night and also first thing - very wild and wet and windy - but later on in the day it was sunny and a bit calmer so I pottered around the garden and polytunnel.

Terrible headache started late morning and developed into full blown shivers and aches after lunch. I feared I was coming down with something nasty so I drank some lemon in hot water and rubbed lavender essential oil on my temples to try to banish headache, eventually I sat down and had a rest for a bit as I felt most unwell.

Felt better later and went into Ledbury (again) to do a bit more shopping and to collect various prints and photos from the framers - he has done a lovely job and I will take some photos tomorrow in daylight to show you.

We were invited to the Wassailing up the lane but none of us feel that great and so we decided not to go. Now about to settle down in front of the fire to watch The Voice on TV, Compostgirl and I quite like to watch the blind auditions, at least.

Lilac hen still poorly - I had to milk her sour crop again this morning so she is now on 24 hours water only, as recommended by the vet. Hopefully tomorrow she will be a bit better and I can start her on natural live yogurt to help kill off the thrush in her crop.