If you love something set it free ..........

....... If it comes back it is yours, if it does not it never was.

Yes, it's time to set Pollyanna free.   She's a year old now and no longer a lamb.  She's just as adorable and we all love her being here but it's time she went off to boarding school.

She's an absolute delight and gets herself into no end of trouble.  If our kitchen door is left open she takes the opportunity to make her way upstairs and rummages through my filing tray.  Bills, statements, they are all very tasty you know.  Here's whats left of a voucher for a meal for 2 at a local restaurant.  You try explaining it wasn't your puppy that ate it but your pet sheep!

Then of course, there are her intrepid trips into Feathers Lodge.  If there's food, she'll find it!  She'll go down on her knees to get their seed or she'll scale the fence to get all the goodies higher up.

Sadly though she needs to be with her own and realise she isn't a dog, a human or indeed a chicken.  She's a beautiful sheep and we felt the best thing for her was to find new accommodation.

Tam O'Shanter very kindly said they would take her back but that's a good 25 min drive from me and I want her to be somewhere that I can visit every day.  Even bring her back here to Taihape House for days out.  Then of course there are her "public".  She is known to everyone and loves to be out and about on her lead with Buffy.

Lady J (her Godmother) suggested some friends who have a small holding only a few minutes walk away and when they kindly agreed to have Polly on a Boarding School residency we were thrilled.  Once they saw how gorgeous Polly is they went as far as to purchase two of her cousins from Tam O'Shanter Farm.  Perfect - you'd think.

Oh no, it was never going to be that easy.  We're now on day three and she still hasn't stayed the night on her own yet.  On day one (Sunday) I stayed with her for a while and then left her with Helena.  Apparently she bleated for almost an hour.  On and on she went but eventually she decided if I wasn't coming back she may as well fill her belly on the lush grass underfoot.  I went back a couple of times and each time she fretted so I brought her back to Taihape House for the night.

On day two I duly went back but Helena wasn't there so when I went to leave she hurled herself over the barbed wire fence to get to me - evidence below!

And so here we are now on day three.  This was a very exciting day because we were collecting her cousins.  First thing this morning I took her down and introduced her to the goats and a few sheep that already reside there.  Half an hour I stayed with her while she followed me round.  She was curious about them but really didn't want to have anything to do with them.  I was pointing out her new friends to her and trying to encourage her to go and play but she steadfastly refused to leave my side.



It really is worse than leaving a child in nursery school. 

Back home she went while we went off to Tam O'Shanter to collect the cousins (as yet unnamed).  This afternoon I spent a couple of hours watching her as she tried to settle in.  The cousins were quite curious and were happy to have a chat to her but she just ran off.  They just carried on grazing away happy in each other's company.  Strangely enough Polly seemed happier with the goats and they seemed to like her too.  Button in particular was nuzzling her and she wasn't at all bothered. 

Tomorrow I'll do it all again.  It will be a slow process but I'm sure it will all work out well in the end.  Like I said, it's just boarding school.  Her home is still with us, we are very much mum and dad and she will come back to visit a few times a week.

3 Girls in 3 Months

2012 has been a bit of a sad time really.  I started the year with these 6 beautiful girls.  Here they are out on walkabout together.  Hetty, Doris, Penny, Joan, Helen and Mary.  First the delightful Doris died, then last month Helen and only yesterday we lost Joan.

I can't tell you how broken I've felt each time it's happened.  I keep telling myself that they're only chickens and think that it should get easier but it doesn't.

I've already blogged about Doris who was never really a well chicken.  She suffered most of her life with breathing difficulties and every few months had to have some medication.  She was a happy girl though, bossy at times but definately the mother hen of the group.  Those last few nights with her were terrible.  I sat up with her willing her to breathe til we could get her to the vet but in the end The Kiwi and I realised the best place for her was the great big chicken coop in the sky.

Helen was a different matter altogether.  She came to us along with Joan in December 2010.  There's a page dedicated to their first few days with me, it's a lovely read if tinged with sadness.  Helen was the most affectionate of my girls.  She'd be cuddled all day long if I'd let her.  I got to the stage where I could do almost anything while holding her.  Any time children came round she was the one I could rely on to oblige when they wanted to see what it was like to stroke a hen and pick one up.  My trustee snuggly girl.   Here she is being held by my good friend "The Dish" who actually didn't want to put her down.  

On 6th April after being very sleepy and withdrawn for a few days I wrapped her up and put her on the chair in my bedroom.  She loved it there - had even laid her eggs there.  I went out to work and when I got home she'd passed away.  After working hard in a battery farm for 18 months she was able to live a happy retirement free ranging and getting daily cuddles until finally falling asleep in her favourite chair.  Wonderful.

And then there was Joan.  She was the smallest of chooks.  Only 2.5lbs and scruffy too.  Here she is sporting the fleece I made for her.  They were so tiny and frail that they had to be clothed to go outside.  She was so good though, she'd stand still while I put it over her head and she stood like a child as I did her buttons up.  Then once out of sight she'd peck at the buttons until they came undone and I'd find her flapping around the garden trying to balance as she stood on one end of her "jacket".  

Once Helen went, Joan just seemed to go down hill.  She would stand all day up by the greenhouse where Helen first started to show signs of being unwell.  After a few days I was convinced that she was on her way out and I spent hours cradling her while she slept.  But every day she would be up with the other girls waiting for her morning feed.  Then on Friday she stayed inside all day.  She slept on my lap while I watched a movie and I left her in the kitchen that night.  Saturday came and she was still with us so I took her to the vet just in case there was anything I could do for her.  I didn't want her pumped with medication though, I just wanted to make her comfortable.  My lovely vet gave me an energy drink for her and said that keeping her hydrated was all I could do.  So, all day Saturday I was syringing water into her.  She'd wake up, shake her head and then go back to sleep again.  I got up early yesterday morning almost hoping that she'd gone but she was still breathing.  She sat on my lap for a couple of hours again then The Kiwi and I went to mass.  When I got home she was just hanging on in there.  Then when I picked her up and took her into the sunshine she just peacefully slipped away in my arms.

I know these are only chickens and their loss can't be compared to the loss of a loved one so don't worry, I haven't got it all out of proportion.  But having nursed these girls to health in the first place, then watched as they learned how to love life, and finally cradling them in their final hours you can't help but ache when it's time to say goodbye.

God bless my darling girls Doris Day, Helen of Troy and Joan of Arc

Layging Again

My original Welsummer Girls, Hetty and Penny had a moult in September and since then there have been no signs of eggs from either of them.  My darling ex bats have produced one egg every other day between them so I've certainly had enough for myself but I usually put a little table at the end of our driveway with some eggs and an honesty box.  All proceeds go to the British Hen Welfare Trust so my girls are helping other caged girls to be set free.

Finally this week Hetty produced one beautiful big brown egg.  The Welsummers lay very dark brown eggs and their yolks are golden and firm - delicious.  I knew for days beforehand that she was going to "drop one".  Her comb was getting larger and redder and she had started to squat when I wanted to catch her.  This means they're ready for mating.  Then the great day came and she squawked before and after announcing to everyone that she had performed her duty.

A couple of days later Penny obliged too and here they both are basking in the glory of their hard morning's work.  Now I can get earning some extra cash for the BHWT, a table will be out there today.  This marks the true beginning of Spring for me.  Daffodils are out and so are the eggs!

RIP Doris - November 2009 - January 2012

Our lovely and very dottie Doris sadly died on January 22nd.  What a terrible couple of weeks it had been.  She's never been a healthy girl, she sneezed from day one, only ever laid one egg but loved to nest and then she developed a larg lump that a couple of vets thought may be a tumour.

About a year ago she started having breathing difficulties and was put on antibiotics and anti-inflamatories.  She was good for most of the time but if she ran anywhere she'd be exhausted and struggled to catch her breath.

She was feeding well though and happy to be out and about with the other girls.  She would keep herself busy and would spend time in the afternoon preening and sunbathing.  Yes, Doris was a very content bird indeed.

A few weeks ago she took a turn for the worse and I took her to her usual vet.  She was dosed up with medicine but it didn't seem to help.  I had her in ICU under the stairs.  A cage all to herself with the door open so she could come and go as she pleased but it meant I could keep an eye on her at night.  If I heard her struggling to breathe I'd sit with her and make her comfortable.

Then on Sunday 15th she looked like she was on her last legs.  I made an emergency call to a vet recommended to me by Polly's Godmother and made an appointment for the next day.  All through the night I was willing her to be OK.  "Stay with me just 8 more hours" I was saying to her at 1am.  Then again at 5am "Just 4 more hours honey, stick with me, they'll make you better".

Lady J came with me to the most wonderful vet the next day and we were given 8 more days of medicine.  She seemed to perk up a bit.  She liked travelling in the car as it seemed to have a calming effect on her so one afternoon I even took her out for a drive!  What is happening to me?!?!

Anyway, a few days later on Sunday 22nd after The Kiwi and I had steadfastly administered her medicine with a syringe she really was in a bad way.  Both of us knew it wasn't fair to keep her any longer.  He said "Darling, we have to let her go, say goodbye to her now".

I clung on to her and kissed and cuddled her but knew it was time so I handed her over and let my poor hubby deal with her.

Strangely enough Helen stayed with her for much of her last week.  Wherever Doris was, Helen would be snuggled up next to her.  Doris had been lovely to Helen when we first got her.  The rest of them would bully Helen and Joan but our Dottie clucked around them and made sure they were OK.  After we lost Doris, Helen was very withdrawn.  Wanted to sleep a lot and wasn't interested in food.  After a few days though a bowl of porridge with sultanas and lots of special snuggles brought her round.

Those of you who had the pleasure of meeting Doris will know she was a fabulous character.  She loved her food and could nest for Britain.  Those of you who didn't get to meet her missed out on one of life's true mother hens.  These phrases all come from somewhere and she is a absolute deserver of that title. 

God bless Dottie Doris Day.  You were one in a million.