Visit from Aidan

 Lovely to see him after so long. Previous time was before covid…

We used him for slave labour helping cut down 2 trees and build a shed!

We did also feed him well and have fun times seeing friends and going to the market (plus the supermarket a few times which is exciting in a foreign country…)

All this and more ;)

He came down and returned on the overnight train from Paris

It amazes me every time walking across the tracks!

Chicken hatches chicks

We always have a couple of chickens go broody in Spring, unfortunately they are not always successful. Mostly I think because the area they are in is quite damp. This one picked a dry spot in the sun. I had to put a cage over her though otherwise the other chickens keep pushing her off the nest and eggs get broken - another reason for the general lack of success…

I have seen six, which is probably all of them, but not 100% sure yet. Well done chicken!

Now we have the challenging job of moving her and them somewhere a bit safer. She is in a quite small cage and in places they can pop under the side - because the ground is uneven, they are then too stupid to get back under as they forget where they came out and try to head straight for her. She isn’t impressed with the idea of being picked up, so still trying to come up with a cunning plan…

Silkie eggs have hatched

A few days before they hatch, the chick pips internally - pecks through the internal membrane in to the air cell in the egg. This one is about 8 days of incubation and the air cell (bright bit at the top) is still quite small, by the time the egg hatches it will be 1/3 of the egg approx.

The chick then spends some time absorbing remaining fluid from the egg white before externally pipping (pecking through the shell). It then rests some more during which time it absorbs the yolk, which will sustain it for first few days of life until it learns to eat and drink.

At this point (since before the internal pip) it is positioned with its head under its wing, it straightens out and ‘unzips’ by pecking round the shell. All this pecking is done with a special egg tooth.

When it is free it dries out and fluffs up to something you wouldn’t believe had fitted in the egg only moments ago! 

The whole process from internal pip takes around 3 days. Amazing!

Last day of (paid) work for a while

I have been very lucky to work remotely for a UK company for the past year. Corona made it possible! Nice to get some benefit from it.

But today was my last day. People are getting back in to the office 2 days a week, and we are keen to get on with renovating our house which hasn’t progressed at all for a few years.

We finally have agreed the floor plan (and laminated a copy to encourage NO MORE CHANGES)

We will start with the upstairs and the living room and progress from there…

It was sad saying goodbye to the lovely people I worked with, though quite strange never having met any of them in person. But looking forward to time not spent at a desk…