Day 13. Oh happy days, Choo Choos up a tree

Mo is overjoyed. That so and so chicken has at last decided not to try to hatch eggs she hasn't got and has gone to roost in the wood. Peace returns and more importantly he has got his bed back. When he emerged this morning he had suffered badly, with at least 2 hits. A quick check around the grounds, looked after the girls, had a bite and then a nice long dust bath. The girls complained that they thought the dust bath should have been his first port of call.

Now that Choo Choo has vacated, egg production is back up to speed with 9 provided today. Bob the Ride On Mower has been back in for a trim, the suns been shining, Gastons secured and the crows haven't been in stealing all the food. Mo's been wandering around singing "Feeling Good" (the Muse version of course, he cant do Nina Simone).

So if its so good why oh why has one of the Beryls decided that the grass is greener elsewhere. Earlier today WETF HQ got a call from the French, "One of your girls is in the field". Turns out chased by a dog and had taken refuge in a thicket. She was recovered and placed back in the orchard with a few stern words and reminded that its not safe out there. A little later shes seen again, at the gate, sizing it up. A quick flap and she up, over and onto the driveway. From there she off around the front,out onto the street and, without pausing or looking, straight across the road. Chickens don't do road safety!

Fortunately Swaton High Street is similar to the sky at the moment, empty. "Odd Job" is out in a flash and calls her back. She slinks over to the pavement and crouches.

"Crouches", whats that all about then? I'm glad you asked. The "crouch" is a sort of "Hello, how are you?" in chicken speak and is undertaken so other, larger chickens, can pat them on the back by way of a return greeting.

Shes patted, scooped up and returned to the orchard, again.

Chickens do not respect fence lines, if it can be seen, it must be investigated and the presence of a four foot fence is no real obstacle. This is dealt with in the old fashioned manner of a feather clip. The errant chicken is grasped gently around the body, the left wing is stretched out and the trailing edge of the flight feathers are cut off. Its like a hair cut, no pain but it prevents balanced directional flight. Then all the other Beryls are rounded up, if one can fly over the fence, they all can. They too have their left wing clipped. The tree living girl friends retreat up a tree, avoiding the situation and cackle.

So now your asking "why the left wing?". I thought you were. The left wing is clipped on each because if you do a right on some and a left on the others they will pair off, hold hands, flap in unison and get over the fence. As they say "simples"

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