Dermanyssus gallinae,Ardal or Dara?,British Bulldogs and Pippa Jumping

It has been a disgusting morning as I have been cleaning out every hen house with jeyes fluid and a large scrubbing brush. I have noticed that against all their natural routines, several hens from the large hen house have been roosting in the smaller houses, that can only mean that the dreaded chicken mite (dermanyssus gallinae) has reared its red little parasitic head. The little buggers hide in the corners of the coops and only come out at night to suck the blood of the sleeping girls and a good Aggie and Kim clean should get rid of them. Half way through the marathon the heavens opened and undeterred (and stinking of wet chicken shit) I managed to finish soaked and smelling literally very foul!.

Last night Hazel and I went over to the Lowery Theatre to see Ardal O'Hanlon in stand up! It was a little bit of a disappointment for Hazel as she was convinced she was actually going to see Dara O'Briain (pic). In many ways I would have liked to see Dara more as he has a strong charismatic sexy charm but O'Hanlon was pretty personable.

This morning I was caught by several people in the churchyard playing British Bulldogs with the chickens. Sounds bizarre I know but there IS a method in my madness. Smaller but certainly more aggressive, the chickens have a tendency to bully the shy, benign runner ducks when feeding time comes around. I have been wracking my brains to find a solution to this problem without actually separating the two species. This morning I called the hens to the top of their enclosure and threw their fruit, pasta scraps and grain in the upper most corner. When they were busy filling their crops I legged it down to the gate and bunged a load of tasty morsels in the duck bath. The ducks cottoned on pretty sharpish and started to tuck in whilst I stood guard in the centre of the run. Now whoever said chickens were dim, would certainly have eaten their words as if by magic, and realising that the ducks were getting their bills into something they did not have, they craned their heads in the direction of the food filled duck bath with their beaks open in shock.
I grabbed two bright orange buckets ( why??) and there by started the weirdest game of British Bulldog anyone could have played. Whirling the buckets on outstretched arms I bounced right then left and left and right in an effort to stop the hens getting past me and to the duck food! The hens took the challenge very seriously and lined up to get past me like something out of a St Trinian's film. Mildred,and the more aggressive black hookers made a dummy run to the right as the Nolans and Whoopie Goldberg went for a more robust frontal attack. Baby Jane,Glen Close and the others tried to creep by shadowing the fencing and to be honest I should have given up there and then, but I was convinced I could outwit them! suffice to say all were tucking into the duck food seconds later, while I was throwing my buckets around in frustration!


William and George have settled down somewhat, as hormones have diminished. We took them all for a walk on the beach yesterday and William got trapped for a short time on a sand bar (much to my panic and worry). Later I popped down to the farm to photograph Chris jumping on Pippa. There are still not enough time in the average day to finish what we need to do!

Off to London tomorrow to visit Nu ! can't wait