School shut!

[Guest55]

Oh poor you! Hugs ...

[Amber]

Fox killed our favourite chicken this morning.

Oh I am so sorry. That happened to us a couple of years ago (RIP Chloe). My favourite one, Holly, a really weak little ex-batt, just fell over and died and I wept buckets as I buried her. Sympathies, really x

[Sally-Anne]

Very sad, Marylou.

A neighbour of ours had chickens at one point, and I grew quite fond of them while chasing them round our garden to re-capture them. I felt sure one of them was laughing at me. Or the fishing net. Or possibly the combination of both?

[Marylou]

Thanks, folks. This one really had become a pet. We'd been keeping her indoors at night as she had been ill and was then rejected (i.e. beaten up) by the others when we tried to return her to the coop. So she lived in our utility room in an old laundry basket lined with paper and cat litter. We were even teaching her to talk, a bit like a parrot! She spent the whole day in the garden in all weathers (her choice!), but didn't have the protection of the run as the others do. I suppose we just got a bit complacent. I actually saw the fox but was too late. I know it's nature and all that but doesn't mean you have to like it.

Edited to add - sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread with a sad tale about a much loved talking hen! It was just one more tribulation on a bad day which included driving well over twenty miles in driving snow as a gibbering wreck!

[ahap]

There was a similar incident at one point. We moved to a new area due to my father's job and we had a Cockerel and a few hens. The Mongoose took them.

[KS10]

Well, the school made the right decision yesterday. The students were dismissed at 2.15 and DS's journey home was like any other day. The story is that they had already made a large quantity of fish and chips and they could not allow it to go to waste. That's what DS says anyway. And I have to agree.

[Marylou]

The Mongoose took them.

At least we don't have mongooses (mongeese? ?) to contend with! Oh well at least she had a happy life, but still .

Well, the school made the right decision yesterday. The students were dismissed at 2.15 and DS's journey home was like any other day. The story is that they had already made a large quantity of fish and chips and they could not allow it to go to waste. That's what DS says anyway. And I have to agree.

My DS was looking forward to fish and chips as well, but I don't think they would have even started cooking it by the time the decision was made to close the school. Next time there's a severe weather warning and I'm in two minds whether or not to send the children in, I'm just going to go with my instinct and keep them home. Yesterday's journey back was a nightmare, and all for an hour of lessons.

[ahap]

At last we got a bit of snow. But it isn't that much. School weren't closed early here, Dd had her after school club as well, but DS's afternoon football club was cancelled.

[pheasantchick]

Sorry to hear about the hen.

What's the bird cake recipe? It would be great to make them with the boys.

[Amber]

What's the bird cake recipe? It would be great to make them with the boys.

Well it's not an exact science, but you need some lard, or maybe that solid sunflower fat will do - melt it in a pan and just add any of the following: porridge oats, any dried fruit (sultanas are great for thrushes), nuts, suet, old cereal, leftover cooked rice, potato or pasta, some wholemeal or granary breadcrumbs but not too much, apple, biscuit or cake crumbs (old is fine), coconut, small amount of grated cheese - whatever you have that birds might eat. Mix it up (smells horrid because of the lard) and then put it into a tin. Leave it to set a bit and then use a wooden spoon to break it up as you put it out.

My worst predator story involves a nest of black woodpeckers which we had watched fledge in Norway - they nested in a tree right opposite our house. A pine marten came and dragged them out of the nest one by one. The children were hysterical but there was nothing we could do. I now tell them they are really lucky to have seen either of those creatures, especially close up.