PA Chickens Blog #17 - Lots of Changes!

Devoted Follower(s)

The hens have been so busy. So much has changed, there has hardly been time to post.

Sad news:

• Monkey died of old age over the Easter holidays. Our beloved blue-egg laying 'legbar' chicken passed away peacefully in her sleep one night.
• Nugget also died - her lump on her head grew so big she found breathing and eating difficult. It is particularly sad as she was young, and had her whole life ahead of her.

We shall miss them both terribly.

Happy news:
We have some lovely new girls,

• Malcom Eggs is a large, very confident chicken. She loves trying to escape, and generally causing trouble. She is also very friendly and likes being picked up for a cuddle. She lays HUGE eggs too.
• Noob is a small chicken, who was very nervous when she arrived. She was so scared of people she would run and hide as soon as she saw anyone! She is now much more confident, and trusts people. This is thanks to the efforts of our fantastic 'Farm Squad' team of students. She also loves food - she is very athletic and will fly or jump very high for a treat!
• Nigel is another 'legbar' chicken, like Monkey. She lays blue/green eggs, and loves food. She can be nervous around people, but as soon as she is given some seeds, or a bit of grass, she will be your best friend!

And as for our other hens...

• Omelette is still as wonderful ever. She is still a beautiful blonde hen, who lays eggs regularly, and is generally great.
• Hotwings is still huge! We think she might be half turkey!
• Allan-Oreo, after spending months being 'broody', has finally started behaving normally! We were advised to dunk her in a bucket of cold water, or put her in an uncomfortable cage, to stop her from sitting in the nest box all day. The bucket of water didn't walk, but the cage did it! We are very pleased because if a chicken spends all day in the nest, she won't eat or drink, and may get very ill or die! Now she is coming out with her friends she is much healthier.

Lots more exciting events to come.

Until next time...

PA Chickens' Blog #16 - Modernity Looms

Devoted Follower (Hello Miss Faulkner)

The girls are well.

They are looking forward to a new spot on the Paddington Academy Social Enterprise Page. They will feature in a video outlining all the exciting activities related to chicken care.

Monkey is very nervous about appearing in a film. Allanoreo doesn't mind being filmed, as long as she can stay in her nest box (she is still broody). Nugget is a bit self conscious about her lumpy eye, but she is still determined to have a big role, as long as her good side is filmed. Omelette can't wait to get in front of the camera, because she knows she is beautiful. Hotwings is indifferent, as long as she gets to eat. She is huge.

Watch this space...

PA Chicken's Blog #15 - Happy Holidays

Devoted Followers,

The girls are enjoying their holiday very much. They like sunshine, and, unlike the rest of us, seem not to care about the cold.

They ate lots of dried mealworms today.

Nugget has (according to the vet) an over-active salivary gland, causing a lump to grow on her cheek, just by her eye. She is being very brave.

Allan-Oreo is broody again. She keeps sitting on eggs instead of getting out in the sunshine with the other girls. We will do our best to snap her out of it.

Miss Coles

PA Chickens' Blog # 14 - the blog is back!

Devoted Followers,

Following a lengthy break, the PA Chicken's blog is back!

Our last post was in July. So, time for a whopping update:

• The girls had a lovely summer holiday... and half term, and Christmas!
• Bog was accidentally stolen by another school! Our girls spent the summer with some other chickens at the farm, and when another school came to get their hens, they picked her by mistake! She may be big and reddish-brown, like most chickens, but we thought it was very sad that this other (mystery) school couldn't identify their own hens! In replacement, we got Shaniqua and Nugget
• Shaniqua's stay with us was cut short by her sudden sex-change. When she began crowing, much like Ghee last year, she had to go before the neighbours complained. Miss Coles has visited her recently and she (sorry, he) is looking very happy (and handsome/masculine)
• Nugget is still with us, thankfully. She has suffered with an over-active salivary gland (very rare in chickens, according to the vet) which has caused a large swelling on her face. Despite this she is still happy enough, and one of our best layers. She lays whoppers, in fact.
• Allan-Oreo had a funny December; she was 'broody' meaning that she kept wanting to lay eggs, even though she didn't need to. She refused to come out of the nest box, even to eat, for quite a while! Luckily she has snapped out of it.
• Omelette and Monkey are the same lovely chickens - no major health or behavioural issues, and plentty of eggs.
• And Hotwings is now... HUGE. She is the biggest hen anyone could ever imagine. We love her.

More exciting news to follow.

PA Chicken's Blog # 13 - Foxy Special

Our chickens are well, and coping much better with the monsoons and heatwaves than we are.

Our foxes seem even better.

The foxes who live next to our girls' coop are seen more and more regularly. Some observations:

• There is a larger one, and two smaller ones.
• They all like jumping about in the long grass
• One of the smaller ones is possibly part albino - its fur is much paler (creamy white?). It also very shortt (It seems to have the same sized head, body, and tail as the others, but has much shorter legs. When Miss Coles first saw it, she thought it was a cross between a fox and a ferret)
• One of the orange ones seems to like sleeping at the entrance to the den, right next to the coop. He/she gets very scared when you go over to feed the chickens, and bolts down the hole.
• Actually, they are all pretty scared, and hard to get close to.
• The chickens, meanwhile, are all totally unafraid of their neighbours.

Miss Coles has spent several mornings/evenings lately creeping about like the next David Attenborough (or possibly Bill Oddie) trying to catch  the foxes on film...

She will let you all know when something interesting happens.

PA chicken's blog #12

Hello all (three of you)

Our new chickens have names.

Introducing...

• Allan-Oreo (many thanks to 7AWI and 12MIN)
• Hotwings (many thanks to 12QIS)

Hotwings is growing fast - her feet are even losing their fluff.

AllanOreo is still small, fluffyfooted and black.

Omelette, Monkey, and Bog are keeping the new girls at the bottom of the pecking order - but are not bullying them to shocking levels.

All chickens are happy and healthy... (and looking forward to the holidays)

PA Chicken's Blog #11 - New Chooks

Paddington Academy has recently welcomed two new hens to its' coop.

Bog, Omelette and Monkey have been joined by two younger hens, who are (although fully feathered) very small, cheeping a lot, and very, very cute. They also have fluffy/extra feathered feet (see pictures). They will start laying eggs in a few months.

These two new hens  are still a little scared of the bigger hens, but otherwise seem to be settling in very well. The light brown one with black spots is currently called 'chicken 1' and the black one is currently called 'chicken 2'.

Their names will be picked at random on the 28th of June. Suggestions from students should be sent via form tutors, and suggestions from any random readers out there could be left as comments on this post. Silly ones will obviously be deleted.