Hello again, my lovelies!

Yes, Mother Hen has finally emerged from five fantastic days in Devon with all my chicks in the same nest, having celebrated the BEST 30th Wedding Anniversary ever. I am so grateful to my sneaky family for sorting out the much needed surprise holiday. The sun and surf were just the tonic we all needed to unwind, and though I spent much of the time with my nose happily buried in a book, I very much enjoyed lounging on the beach, eating for England, thrashing the boys at Pinochle and tinkling the ivories on the antique piano at our holiday cottage. It was bliss, indeed!

If you’re curious, here is a link to the lovely Georgian cottage we stayed in. If ever you’re in North Devon, I can recommend Grey Cottage highly! It’s got a 5* TripAdvisor rating, if that’s any help to you, and the location a peaceful tonic to a hectic life.

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I return home to find all my animals alive and well, thanks to the excellent care of our house sitter, James. I was SOOO happy to see my bunnies again and to give plenty of cuddles. The chickens, while less cuddly, were happy to see  me on account of my pocket full of corn. (Traitors!)

Charlotte – easily the sweetest, calmest broody I’ve ever dealt with. She doesn’t peck or scream or fluff up, just sits chirping sweetly to me and allowing herself to be pet. What a sweetie…

Good  news is my two broodies are still sitting happily on very, very large clutches of eggs, which makes me extra happy! My pet chicken Dusty has gone into her second brood of the season, and though we lost six of her previous seven chicks to the fox, she is now sitting on a fresh clutch of nine eggs and all chickens are safely behind a six foot fence unless I am with them. I have not yet candled the eggs, but I expect a high viability rate given her early separation from the flock and the warm weather of late.

As an added surprise, my silver lace Wyandotte (Charlotte “the bearded lady”) went into a gentle but determined brood earlier this month. Nine of her ten eggs have candled beautifully with healthy blood vessels and active chicks.

What this means is that I am expecting around eighteen chicks within the next couple weeks.

The only black spot on my horizon is the fact my son and his wife have returned home to Texas… I have so enjoyed “mothering” them again on this side of the water. 

If I had taken a selfie at the airport this morning when I said goodbye, it would have looked something like this:

Bahaha! Have a glorious week, everyone! May your skies be blue and your eggs tasty.

Mother Hen

photos of Grey Cottage courtesy of greycottage.co.uk

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