An unpleasant job

... but someone's got to do it ...and that someone is me.

My hens are moulting in a gentle, a bit at a time, sort of way. I haven't been concerned about it, until the weekend, when I noticed that Belle (the dark grey hen), was devoid of feathers round her vent and neck areas. Then i saw one of the other hens pecking her as she passed. I really did not want this to get out of hand, with them pecking her now bare skin...so I ordered an anti-feather pecking spray by Nettex. It's not as natural a solution as I'd normally like, but I really wanted to nip the behaviour in the bud.

Well, it arrived yesterday and I sprayed her this morning. The spray is meant to be a)Foul tasting to deter pecking and b) anti-bacterial to encourage any wound to heal.
When they say foul they aren't kidding!! It truly stinks. So lets hope it does the trick.

Simple pleasures

At this time of year when it seems to be grey and wet almost every day, simple colourful things give me so much pleasure. Like a mini-cyclamen I bought in the market for the bathroom...

or an Amarylis that my Aunt gave me, which is now in the kitchen window - the buds slowly opening to a heavenly velvety shade of red...