FLOCK DIARY, May 1998: N B: all pictures and text copyright of Kirsty Tallon
On 2nd May 1998 I weighed the pullets again, when they were 12 weeks old. I also named them White Tara and Keridwen
Keridwen {theWelsummer} = 2 lb
White Tara {theLight Sussex} = 2 lb 4 oz
The birds are gaining weight nicely. They have also started to moult, and are growing many new feathers, especially on the body under the wings. The Light Sussex is gaining more weight as the purpose of this breed is mainly meat production, whereas the Welsummer is intended for egg-laying only and therefore does not need so much bulk.
Above: Keridwen (the brown Welsummer) and White Tara (the white Light Sussex)
Above: Tara and Keridwen on 15th May 1998
I can distinguish the voices of the three large hens really well, now. Henny Penny is very high-pitched, almost like a seagull, and she has a very, very loud cluck. Little Red Hen has a deep, grinding, throaty voice, sounding almost as though she has smoked too many cigarettes (of course, I would never actually allow a hen to smoke a cigarette)! Ernie's voice is somewhere in between, and sounds more like the average person would expect a chicken to sound. I have also recognised a basic vocabulary in the hens' clucks:
A single, stattaco cluck from a held hen usually precedes a struggle. This cluck is repeated at intervals of several seconds, the intervals between clucks shortening as the struggles become more determined. This cluck obviously means "put me down, please."
A foraging hen will cluck softly to its' friends occaisionally, to ascertain their wherabouts.
A series of clucks and a soft squawk are used when the hens can't see each other, and want to find each other. If one hen squawks like this, the others immediately make their presence known by revealing themselves to the other bird either visually or by a return squawk. This becomes louder if the hen cannot locate any companions, and more call-like.
My hens seem to have designated Henny Penny as the 'lookout' for the small flock. As soon as she catches sight of anything approaching, she produces a single whistle, and all the hens stand uttterly still and scan the area for possible danger. This is an 'Alarm Call'.
A harsh, loud squawk is given out when a danger can actually be seen, for example: a cat, neighbour's dog, or a black bird larger than a jackdaw flying overhead.
Above: Ernie, Red and Henny Penny in the garden, May 1998
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Unfortunately, on Sunday May 17th, Little Red Hen was taken by a fox. When I went to check the birds in the afternoon, I couldn't find Little Red Hen. She had pushed her way through the fence at the far end of the garden to scratch on the other side of it. There was a large depression in the nettles nearby, and some feathers which looked like Red's. There was a trail of feathers leading to some wilderness land a few metres away. Immediately, we fixed the fence so that no other hens could escape. We knew the fox would probably come back, too.
Below are some photoes of Little Red hen having a dust bath, a few days before she died.
The other hens had noticed that Red had gone, but I don't know if they knew what had happened to her. Ernie liked to stay close to me more than she usually does, seeming to want to be picked up and stroked. The next day, Ernie laid a white egg. There was no trace of blue in the shell whatsoever, and Ernie seemed OK health wise. She was still seeking attention, and even Henny Penny didn't run away so enthusiastically when approached. Sometimes Penny would even crouch and wait to be picked up. Her 'Alarm Call' behaviour changed, too. Instead of simply whistling if anything that wasn't Ernie came close to her, she would fluff out all her feathers, put up her tail and spread it and her wings, open her mouth and make an angry noise somewhere between a whistle and a squawk. She'd do this to the young pullets, especially.
For the week of 18th May, the hens and pullets were confined to the shed during the day and let out in enclosures for a short while in the afternoons. They could only be let out freely in the garden when supervision was available for them, as I was so worried that the fox would return.
On Tuesday 19th, Ernie laid a second white egg. On Wednesday 20th, the egg had an extremely slight tint of blue to it. On every day that followed, the egg's tint would get slightly darker until the colour returned to normal a week later. (This series of eggs have been blown and kept, and are pictured below:).
In both of these pictures of Ernie's unusual eggs, the top row of eggs show the bizarre series of colour alteration from 18th to 23rd May. The bottom row of eggs show a gradual change to Ernie's normal eggshell colour.
Henny Penny is becoming friendlier and friendlier by the day, and I can now carry her about under my arm without her struggling. The pullets have become only slightly calmer, and continue to struggle and flap about as soon as they get a chance.
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Unfortunately, on Thursday 28th May the fox returned.
The hens were enclosed in thecage, which was held to the ground with tent pegs securely, and the door locked shut. The pullets were enclosed within a circleof 4.5 ft tall stiff wire mesh. As I was making a cup of tea, I heard loud squawking from all the chickens, and I ran and check the birds. The squawking continued, and before I had a chance to open the garden gate, Ernie hen came leaping over it and into my arms. I looked up to see a fox cantering up the garden, away, with a bird in it's jaws. I put Ernie safely into the shed and closed it, and ran up the garden in the direction of the fox. I saw Henny Penny and Keridwen lying in the grass, hurt. The poor birds were still squawking, kicking and shouting in pain, and I could recognise Henny Penny's voice clearly. By the time we got to the injured birds, they were dead.
We surveyed the situation, and found that the fox must have pulled at the circle of wire until the join broke, but most amazingly, it had bent the metal lock onthe cage. To bend the lock the fox would have had to forcibly rip the door off with it's teeth, and it would have needed great strength to do this.
Immediately I returned to Ernie,and checked her over. Ernie was shaken, and she was extremely lucky (and /or clever) to have escaped. However, she was feeling very insecure on her own, and allowed me to hold her in my arms for much longer than she would usually. She was traumatized by her ordeal, and I was worried about how she'd cope for the night on her own, even considering bringing her indoors so she wouldn't be alone.
Amazingly, about an hour later, we found White Tara in a garden nearby. Nearly all of Tara's tail feathers had been pulled out by the fox, but otherwise she was perfectly OK. We caught her and put her with Ernie, and they seemed glad of each others' company, if a little confused.
Below is the last picture of Henny Penny, taken during mid-May.
Here is a picture of HennyPenny's last egg, which I have blown and kept.
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On 30th May, another hen was bought to keep hen numbers up. The new bird is a laying Partridge Brahma, and is featured in the 'June 1998' section.
To Flock Diary 2001 - January, February and March 2001 / April and May 2001
To Flock Diary 2000 - January 2000 / February, March, April 2000 / May 2000 / June 2000 / Stroud Show 1st July 2000 / July 2000 / August 2000 / Painswick Show 13th August 2000 / September 2000 / October, November & December 2000
To Flock Diary 1999 - January 1999 / February 1999 / March , April 1999 / May , June 1999 / Stroud Show 1999 / July 1999 / August 1999 / September 1999 / October 1999 / November 1999 / December 1999
To Flock Diary 1997 & 1998 - August to December 1997 / January, February and March 1998 / April 1998 / May 1998 / June 1998 / July 1998 / August 1998 / September 1998 / October 1998 - Part One / October 1998 - Part Two / November 1998 - Part One / November 1998 - Part Two / December 1998