New Flock of Fabric Chickens.............

 

 

I have made a new flock of Chickens. I made some for my nieces for Easter, as they love chickens! real ones and fabric!!

 

 This time I made larger ones for doorstops, as well smaller ones for paper weights. Theses have double becks, so it looks like they are chatting. Every time I make these I seem to add different bits, I'm thinking the next ones may have wings!!!!

 

So welcome to the new flock!!!!!!!!!!! There are lots.....

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoy the new flock.

Thanks for stopping by .. see you soon..

 

Keep sewing ..........

 

The Gang of Three

Well as some of you know I have been away from the cabin for a few days and kept the gang in their run. This has not been going well...

It starts like this..........

I go to let the girls out in the morning at 6am. Some days this is not early enough. Betty is kicking the door and banging on the window to get out, because it is time for her to lay her egg. Now she can and does sometimes lay in her house, but mostly she likes to lay in the cabin, next to the radiator.

Other days they are fast a sleep and don't want to wake until 7am. Alright for some, I have been up since 6am. I am beginning to understand who gets the lay in and it is not me.......

They have breakfast, layers mash ( chicken food), meal worms, sunflower heart, porridge and toast for Daisy, Corn on the cob for Dotty and Betty . Lots of variety. Bowl of clean water and sometimes for Betty if I have some, Cornflakes with milk.

After we have spent some time in the cabin, I go digging with them in the garden, to find some worms. Daisy is very quick at finding the worms with Betty being the slowest. And by golly she gets cross and starts pecking Daisy on the head. When this happens I try to split them up. Dotty in the mean time just gets on with it.

When I went for my Cupcake and Sugarcraft Course I had to leave at 7am, which meant I was up at 5am to get myself ready and then let the girls out at 6am. Before I went I cleaned them out and filled their run with Ivy as they love to peck this. So I tied lots to the sides of their run and added fresh water ( this is done daily). 

Betty and Dotty both thought I was putting them back to bed as it was still dark at 7am, but finally went in. But Daisy...... well she was not having any of it. Refusing to follow me down to her house and run, I tried to bribe her with Cheese,this did not work but Betty loved it. I then tried her with a whole corn on the cob, but she still refused to move. Dotty had that and loved pecking at it. Then I tried porridge with warm milk, Daisy loves this on a cold morning, but still refused and hid under the Ivy. Well time was getting on so I had no choice but to go in and get her out and what a noise she made, for someone so small she can wake the dead. Anyone would have thought she was being attacked by a fox!
Once they were locked away nicely in their run, with enough food for a party, off I went. One last look round to make sure they were fine as I locked up the cabin.. Daisy was staring back at me, frowning!!!!!
The next day the girls woke at 6am and Daisy refused to talk to me, usually she is very vocal, but that day she just gave me that look, "You left me all day and then locked us up late". Dotty was very quiet also. Both would not eat their toast, which I did think was strange.
Then Betty came into the cabin, having laid her egg in the hen house and well she stood in front of my chair and went for it crowing at the top of her voice, which at 6 in the morning when everything outside is very still and quiet, was loud. And if that was not good enough she proceeded to walk round the garden making all the noises possible for a chicken very loudly.
I can honestly say I have never been told off like that before and what made it worse was I felt I was being told off.

All day they followed me around and Betty was constantly disagreeing with every thing I did. It was not until 4pm just before bed did Daisy and Dotty forgive me. They jumped up on my lap the pair of them and roosted down and tucked their heads under their wings and fell to sleep....... only for 15 minutes. So I let them stay up until 5pm as I felt better that they had forgiven me.

Then I left the cabin to go to the Dickensian Christmas in Rochester, this time I was leaving at 11am which was not as bad as when I put them in their run as it was light. But it was cold and the ground was frosted and very hard. So out came the fork and I dug the run over. The girls went in their run with enough food for a party. They had a large tray of layers mash, cheese; lots of cheese, meal worms, porridge, corn on the cob, 2 lettuces and a bowl of rice and spaghetti. Betty loves rice. Daisy and Dotty love spaghetti as well as Betty. After locking them up , I checked they were OK and left for the day. This time I had someone to lock them up at 4.30pm once they had gone to bed.

 

 

I let them out at 6am and Betty and Daisy wanted to lay their eggs at the same time so there was a big disagreement on who was going first. Betty got into the box of straw first, Daisy got in and started to push her out, but Betty pushed back. Then Daisy got on to the chair opposite mine and then went for it, She crowed and grumbled and squawked and squawked, until Betty could not concentrate any more or had enough of Daisy telling everyone that would listen it was her turn to lay her egg first.She got out of the box of straw and let Daisy get in and lay her egg.  Once Daisy was finished Dotty decided she would just like to sit in the box of straw as it was nice and warm after Daisy had finished. Dotty laid her egg in the hen house so she was "chilled". But Betty was not impressed and decided she would get Dotty out by sitting on her, that did not work so she tried pushing her out of the box. That did not work either. So Betty stood right in front of her and crowed, grumbled and squawked just like Daisy. This carried on until Dotty had enough and got out of the box grumbling. Betty laid her egg and the rest of the day went well......... So I thought.

 

Now everywhere I go they all follow, when I leave the cabin to put the washing out, they follow, I walk back in they follow, I use the bathroom they follow and stand outside. If I am too long they start to get unsettled and Daisy starts her worry cry and this takes along time for her to calm down. She will not let you out of her sight, which is OK when its just one, but when they all start it takes a little longer to move around as I am herding three girls around instead of one.

 

This is going to be interesting when in go Christmas Shopping, perhaps they should ask Father Christmas for their own computer or iphones so we can keep in touch on Skype when I am shopping.........

 

Thanks for stopping by... see you soon........


Merry Christmas.

Dotty.

Hello everyone, sorry I have not been here for a few days. Dotty has been under the weather since Thursday. At first I thought it was just a little chill as Wednesday night was icy because of the snow, (which the girls don't like). But when Dotty did not improve on Friday I was getting a bit worried.

Dotty has been very quiet and not moving around much. She has spent most of the last three days sitting on my lap / shoulder going to sleep.  Dotty has been eating and drinking, which has been very positive but I was worried about this constant sleeping, especially on my lap.

When any of the girls are ill, they all just sleep on my lap, its their way of telling me that they are not feeling well, I think.......... As usually they never sit still. And Dotty has never been ill, so I was abit concerned.

Daisy has been very worried and would not leave her side, while Betty has been telling everyone very loudly that there is sometime wrong. So our three days have been a bit noisy.

I think it is due to her change over of egg laying. The girls need 14 hours of day light to keep their eggs flowing but now it winter they are up at 6.30 - 7am and off to bed by 4-4.30pm, which is just not enough day light hours. All free range chickens have this problem but I decided Sunday night that if Dotty did not come out of her house with a skip in her step she was off to the Doctors' (Vets) as I could not go through other day worrying. Also Daisy needed to be put at rest as she was worrying more that me. And Betty was heading for a sore throat with all her crowing.

So I let them out at 6.45am and Dotty came out first chatting and running to her box of straw in the cabin, settled down for half an hour, but has not laid an egg today. Though she is feeling much better, running around the garden eating everything she can find, anyone would think she has not been fed for a week but she seems alot better.

I'm going to keep an eye on her for a few more days, just in case. Daisy is a lot calmer and Betty has gone back to her normal self. Today we have had words about sharing breakfast and lunch......... we will see how dinner goes. At the moment she is sharing the corn on the cob!!!!!!

Oh the snow lasted one day!!!!! At least we can say it snowed this year... If we are lucky we may have some for Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by...... see you soon.

Meet the Gang of Three. Girls from the Cabin

Meet the Gang.

We have Daisy, Betty and Dotty. These are my three chickens. They live in the garden in a nice little chicken house by night and by day they live in the cabin.
Our day starts at 6am in the winter or 5.45 am in the summer. In the summer it could be earlier. This means no sleeping in.

 Betty

They are funny little chickens, Betty is the smallest and very bossy. She will peck her sisters if they get too near her food, sharing is a bit of a problem at times for Betty because the food is also Daisy's and Dotty's. I do explain this to Betty daily and we are getting there. Betty is first out the Hen House and first in the cabin in to the box of straw under the table to start the process of getting ready to lay her egg. Some days this happens within minutes other days it could be hours. All depends on the time of year. While she is in the process she will go though her nesting ritual, which means Betty will walk around the cabin/ garden picking up straw, leaves, twigs anything in her way and throw them over her shoulder. Its quite funny to watch, she can be a drama queen at times. If Daisy or Dotty get in the box of straw before Betty has finished with it she will stand in front of the box and crow at the top of her voice and if that does not work, she just climbs in and pushes them out even if it means she sits on their heads in the process. Share can be Betty's biggest problem.!!!!!!!

Dotty

Dotty is larger than Betty and is our pin up girl. Dotty is always cleaning her feathers, making herself look nice. But don't be fooled Dotty can be very mischievous, if Dotty wants to go somewhere Dotty goes!!!!!!!  she is always jumping up and over things, going into places she should not be in. The grass is always greener where she should not be. Then when you find her and try to bring her back she looks at you as if butter would not melt. Lately she has decided to sit on my shoulder when we are in the cabin. I could be sewing, reading, cutting out material or just passing the time of day, Dotty will jump up onto my arm then proceed to walk up and sit on my shoulder or stand what ever takes her fancy as long as she is higher that her sisters. Now and again I will get a peck on the head to let me know I have done something wrong like moved without telling her what I was doing.

Daisy

Daisy is the youngest and smaller that Dotty but gets an ear full from Betty. Daisy is first in of a nighttime as she loves to sleep near the door, which Betty and Dotty hate. As every night they try to push her out of the way in to the middle of the perch so they can sleep there but Daisy stands her ground and pushes back. And wins every night.
Daisy is the most vocal of all my girls. She talks from the time she gets up to the time she goes to bed. Just as well really because I talk to them all day too, probably where she gets it from. Daisy loves toast in the morning, with proper butter, none of this "you think its butter, or tastes like butter," she's not fooled and will tell you so if you try to fool her. Some days she is partial to a bit of jam but during honey season and extracting, well if she could get her head in the bucket she would, she loves honey........

Daisy is a bit like Betty when it comes to laying her eggs, if someone is in the box of straw they will not be there for long, Daisy goes full steam ahead and kicks you out. She will sit on you and if that does not work she will push you over the side. No love lost when I comes to Daisy and laying her egg, "needs must an all... girl's got a job to do" and Daisy will do the job.

Being the youngest she is a little unsure of things and not a lover of change. Her big sister Peggy used to look after her alot but Peggy died this year and Daisy missed her terribly, well we all did and still do. She has good days and not so good days. I have become Daisy's surrogate big sister and she is my little one and we do feel sad together when we miss Peggy. But time is a good healer so they say. Anyway Daisy follows me everywhere and I mean everywhere if she could come shopping she would.

This is Peggy on the back of the chair. We love you Peggy R.I.P


Well they all would Betty, Daisy and  Dotty are very nosey if shopping bags are left on the floor for too long( we are talking 10 seconds max) their heads, followed by their bodies go in to see what you have brought them!!!! They think all shopping food, clothes, material, anything really is theirs. Then if they can't eat it, then its yours....... Chicken logic "if I can't eat it, forget it!!!!!"

Now you have met the gang, well some of the gang. You are still to met Bear my black fluffy by winter cat.

See you soon for more adventures, as every day is different in the cabin. Thanks for popping by ......