Mixed bag- Hedge cutting, a poorly Nolan,a work plan and Maddie's object of obsession

A local farmer turned up this afternoon and very kindly cut the field border hedge. For just a tenner he has done a cracking job, and now the neighbours will be pleased at the knife edge finish of hawthorn and bramble.

The poorly Nolan is on her last legs. Yesterday Eirlys gave me some intra muscular antibiotics from her extensive poultry medical chest, but like me, she feels that the old hen may beyond help.. The Nolans were some of my very first hens (Robina the pure breed being my first), so I want to try everything before giving up on the old girl. Today I have syringed the sweet juice from a tin of sweetcorn into her mouth, every couple of hours, and she has taken the liquid quite easily. At least, I feel that I have made her more comfortable.

The above picture is of an exhausted Maddie. I took the dogs to Janet's to meet up with the hyperactive Jess. Whist William,Meg,Jess and George spent 3/4 of an hour roughhousing in the garden, Maddie found a new toy-in the shape of a cheap plastic football.

Of all the dogs Maddie is the least playful character. She is standoff-ish with other dogs,and seems to cultivate the persona of a rather crabby elderly spinster. Today however, we witnessed another side to her.Hysterically she has chased,head butted,kicked and unsuccessfully bitten the discarded football with a excitement bordering upon obsession. On numerous occasions she managed to corner the ball in a flower bed or path corner, and when it didn't roll away to her satisfaction, her frustrated growling would raise to fever pitch levels and she would kick at it frantically, until one of us would pick it up and throw it back into the garden for her to chase once more.

When I finally got her home, she has slept for 5 hours without moving. It is the most energy I have ever seen her exert.

It was snowing all night, but most of it had disappeared by dawn when the runners went slip sliding on the icy ground.. A woman from Trelogan called today to arrange to buy a trio of the runner ducks. She remained rather vague about arranging a day to collect them, so I won't hold my breath. The 60 quid would come in very handy at the moment.

I think I will develop a bigger breeding colony of the expensive buffs, and will reduce my bog standard hybrid flock.I have the five young buffs as well as the buxom Shelley and Elizabeth, but will need a lot more breeding hens to give me a potentially larger profit margin.when I sell each bird for 25£ to 30 £. Clover and the smaller cockerel Poppy are just starting to crow (albeit rather pathetically) so it is not surprising they haven't even started to mate with the other girls. Non of the females have even started to lay eggs yet, which I find surprising.

Today I have bought some fertilized eggs off ebay in a hope to increase the flock.

The weather remains cold and miserable, so I have done a "swap" of some duck eggs for two dvd's we can watch later: Gone Baby Gone (2007) and Femmes de l'ombre, Les (2008) Thanks to C.F. for that.