While the other two (Penny & Hetty), happily got on with laying their eggs there was no sign of one from Doris. She got quite broody though and started spending all day in a nesting box. I tried all the tricks in the book to bring her out of it, I put her bottom in a cold bucket of water and she just sat there, seemingly enjoying it and then sprinted back to her bed. I locked her out of the run but she just frantically charged at the gate yelling to be let back in again, I tried enticing her out with food (I was on a winner with that one as she's got one hell of an appetite), but she just loved sitting in that bed. She clucked away to herself, collected the straw from around her body and placed it on her back, and sort of spread out like a pancake with all her feathers fluffed up. It's quite amazing to watch really.
During this time she laid an egg. The only egg she's ever laid. If you could call it an egg. It was tiny, and she was so very proud of it!
As you can see here she'll still plonk herself down anywhere she sees a good nesting place.
As you can see here she'll still plonk herself down anywhere she sees a good nesting place.
Eventually the broodiness subsided (we're talking 7 weeks later here), and she went through her first moult. I realised that she wasn't in fact as fat as we all thought, just that her plumage was particularly dense. Their bedroom, run, conservatory and the garden were awash with all these gorgeous white fluffy feathers. They say when you see a white feather your angel is there looking after you - well, I had a lot of angels looking after me during that week!
When we got Helen and Joan she was just like a mother hen to them. The other girls would bully the little ones but she was happy for them to follow her around. She'd peck at them occasionally but more in a "telling them off" kind of way than anything else. When they were finally allowed to sleep outside with the others they were nervous about getting up on the perch because they would be pecked at and pushed off. Not by Doris though, if they snuggled in close enough to her she would put a wing over each of them. They were so tiny she probably thought they were little chicks.
Yes, Doris has the most lovely nature of all of them. That's why back in May I was so terribly upset when she took ill. Her breathing became laboured and one day she ran away from Polly and had what looked like an asthma attack. Her comb went blue and she couldn't breathe. She toppled over onto her side and just lay there - I was frantic with worry. I took her straight off to the vet and he gave her a shot of Baytril, then a few days later we went back and he gave me some Tylan to add to her water and finally I gave her an intense treatment for gapeworm just in case.
It was touch and go with her for a few weeks. At night her breathing would be so rattly I'd go into their bedroom a couple of times and jiggle her about a bit to move any fluid on her chest and clear her airwaves. There were a few mornings I thought I'd find her - you know - not with us anymore. But she pulled through.
Three months on she's much better and for the first time she climbed up onto the perch in their conservatory yesterday. This evening she's on their perch in the bedroom too so fingers crossed she's doing ok now. We think she's got a tumour because there is a large solid lump between her legs. Two vets have checked her out and they're of the same opinion so we don't know how long we'll have her for but we intend giving her the best life possible while she's with us.Seen here with Buffy when she was about 5 months old what on earth has caught their attention?
