Charles

I was still in a quandry last week as to what to do about Camilla / Charles so I called the breeder and left a message. When my call was returned, I began to explain the problem only to be told:  “We’re a bit all over the place at the moment. We only had the funeral today…”

I apologised profusely for my dreadful timing.  I mentioned something about calling me back when it was convenient fully realizing that was a non-starter so I needed another plan.

I called by the neighbours who told me several weeks ago that they were trying to breed their own chicks and were looking for fertilized eggs.   However, although there was no one home, I did notice a particularly fine looking Welsummer cockerel strutting his stuff round the field so I suspected that they couldn’t accommodate another cockerel.

Time for inspiration so I did what everyone does now when they have a problem and Googled it. Apparently as long as you collect the eggs every day – which we do -  and put them straight in the fridge -  we have one going spare in the garage – then the eggs can’t develop as they need to be incubated within a certain length of time. Hurrah! The threat of being overrun with chicks has been averted! The cockerel is also there to protect the hens, alerting them to potential danger and putting himself in the way of predators, something that resonates with us after losing several birds in a short space of time.

So Charles, formerly known as Camilla, has had a few cockle-doodle-doos now.

He’s starting to take his responsibilities seriously, making sure that the girls are safely in the coop before he goes in himself.

It also makes sense of a few other events. Cilla, our Black Orpington that we also thought may be a Cyril, took an instant dislike to the Rhode Islands when we brought them home, although as s/he was taken in a puff of feather two days after they were all let out of the coop, there was no real opportunity for confrontation. I’m also beginning to wonder if that’s  how Limpy, Charles’ “sister”, became limpy as they were practically identical. Ah well, we’ll never know but we are a bit wiser about hen-keeping now.

As for the garden, I haven’t done a tap. For a long time. I need to sit down with pencil and graph paper and devise a long-term strategy underpinned by a tactical approach that will ensure we have enough colour and produce to provide interest in the coming year. Sounds just the sort of thing to keep me occupied if the weather over the next few days is going to be as bad as the forecast predicts. Or I could just knit and watch ‘Come Dine With Me’ instead.