Am I boring you?

I really need to do something other than talk about chicks! I've turned into one of those 'new Mums' that think everyone is as enchanted as they are and (sorry to say but it does happen) talk about how amazing they are, how well they are doing, all about the poo..., oh dear!
Anyway, the girls are doing well. I am getting very loath to pass Lola (aka Mega-chicken) to my cousin. The reason we were going to pass her on was because we don't have large fowl but only keep bantams. They do less damage to the garden and look so cute. However Mega-chicken has been delightful despite eating my pea shoots. She is like the pet dog - she runs over when she sees me (for food of course) and ducks down to be stroked if you put a hand over her whereas the others race off. She is curious and stupid and I am very fond of her. If I'm totally honest I know she'll prefer to live here because she has the run of the garden and she is so nosey that a smaller pen will not be enough for her. She spent two years in a tiny run with three other large chickens so now she has a much larger run with only a bantam for company plus the run of two gardens (the long suffering neighbour, Jack, never complains about them). How will she be waking up to a smaller space with four other chickens?
My argument is that we have saved her from her old life, got her very healthy and happy and are passing her on to chickens her own size but I know I'm trying to justify my decision not to keep her. The thing is, we have these three new chicks who will be dwarfed by her and initially frightened. Some people keep lots of different breeds together but the professionals don't really recommend this and we want to do best by our old hen, Buckster. The sensible thing to do is keep to our original idea of having just bantams but the heart gets more attached to that great big thing that comes lolloping over like a too enthusiastic teenager whenever she sees me. The dilemma!
The new girls have been introduced to the joy of tomato seeds today. Poppy has discovered the perch. At least she thinks she has discovered the perch - what she has in fact decided to use as her lounging place is the bamboo cane holding up the food container. All well and good only the silly girl sits on top of the food container and happily defecates into the food! A friend of mine explained that with such a little space for a brain we couldn't expect too much but really! So now the food container is back on the ground which means we will have to clean it out each night because they scratch around and flick dirt into the food. Poppy can still sit atop of the cane and delights in doing so. Mrs Bun (is She a He? I still have my doubts) is the bravest of the new chicks. I told Luke that was because she had more testosterone than the other two which rewarded me with a raised eyebrow and a disproving look. She is growing by the minute. Whilst she would still sit in our palm quite easily she looks like she is probably 25% larger that she was one week ago. I've taken millions of photos that I will add later today. Then I'm going to try very hard not to keep talking about them!

Long day a-coming.

Having worked from 9am till gone 9pm tonight I've completely missed out on any chicken capers but I did spend some time with them yesterday. In fact I was 'Chicken Minder', sitting in the greenhouse door to stop the big girls getting in and the little girls getting out. I have some funny photos of the teeny tweeters inside the greenhouse with the other two peering in from outdoors. Hopefully we'll have added them by tomorrow evening. As soon as I stepped out of the car tonight the heavens opened and it continued to tip down for ten minutes before abruptly stopping again. I think I'm tired enough to sleep through a storm so let it rain as much as it wants. As we say in Britain, "It's good for the ducks".

The north wind does blow..,

After days of wind and rain the garden has taken a battering.

The tulips have become casualties with many snapped off.

The heads were originally upright but have now been blown over to one side. They are still standing though.

 Ah well, I can always pop the broken heads inot a vase and enjoy them in the dry.

Poppy is Luke's favourite.

How can we have favourites? He's got a soft spot for the Gold laced though and if she didn't blend in so well you would be able to view her lovely patterning. She really is a smart girl.

Lola decides to show off her feathers by twisting her head around and having a preen. Is she coming or going?

Little and Large getting close.

Mrs Bun likes to peck any spare bits of food from Lunar's beak.

Busy girls, oh to spend all day just eating!

Elevating herself.

I'm so hoping she is female. I don't want to have to take her back but we can't have a noisy cockerel crowing - the neighbours would not be pleased.

Let the girls do the talking.

I've taken a few overhead shots of the new chicks. You can see the difference in size between Lunar, the 8 week old Lavender chick, Poppy the 7 week old Gold laced and Mrs Bun the 6 week old Buff laced. I'm not totally sure of their ages. Also, they may be totally different sizes whatever their age. Shakira was twice as big as Sweetie even though they were the same breed. personalities also can vary hugely. I handled each one of the chicks last night when they were more docile but whilst Mrs Bun, the baby of the group was pretty calm, Poppy shrieked and squirmed as if her life was in danger. What a drama queen.
Let me introduce them to you now.

From the left, Mrs Bun, camouflaged in the middle, Poppy and on the right, lovely Lunar.

Where's the ark?

Boy, did we have some rain today. From early this morning it bucketed down. The big chicks did venture out but everything was blowing around the place and I expected them to take off at any moment. The three little newcomers, now brave when we visit them at their house inside a greenhouse, chirped away. Apart from taking photos of the damage the wind and Lola, Mega-chicken did to the veg before topping up the suet balls and wild bird seed in the feeders there was nothing to be done. So I spent some time catching up on tagging the posts to make it easier to choose from. Now it's almost ten pm the rain has ceased and tomorrow is back to work again. Sigh!

 The broad beans that grew throughout the winter chills and now have been flowering up and looking good were snapped off in the wind. Mega chicken has taken the tops off the peas that weren't covered up and there's very little in the way of teeny carrot leaves so we've got some work to do if we want a decent amount of veg this summer.

Only the peas that are protected have survived. One greedy chicken and ten minutes to spare. 

The broad beans are now the has-beans. Months in the growing, moments in the destruction.

The three chicks continue to whistle and the youngest, Mrs Bun, still has those baby blue eyes that the others have lost. She pecks any stray crumbs from Lunar's beak and I've been taking them a few grains of seed when I go in to visit them so they equate me with niceness rather than being scared of me. I speak gently to them and they continue to ignore me unless I move and scatter them in all directions. I so want that baby chick to be female, she's got such a pretty pattern on her wing.
The big hens are out in the garden and are still unhappy that they aren't let into the greenhouse to dust bathe but the little ones are still susceptible to diseases.

So, it's official, we've just experienced the wettest April since records began in 1910. Now we are going  into May and I can hear rain hammering down onto the conservatory roof. Sunshine is forecast later today but right now I can't even go up to the shed to get the sanding sheets to do some DIY without getting totally drenched. Britain! No wonder it's known as the "green and pleasant land".