Sunday 21 August 2011

New family members...

....Meet The Yicks as I call them. I think 'chickens' morphed into 'chicks' which morphed into 'yicks'.





Are they not loverly ladies?
The orange one is a Lohman and is called Oliver Foxy and the black speckledy one is GoGo Sausage.


Lets hope they do not meet with a sticky end. My track record of Chicken Husbandry is poor. I've had a fair few chickens over the past two years and despite lovingly caring for them things out side of my control have thwarted my little menagerie.



Two died naturally and I found them in the coop 'asleep' but stiff and molded to the shape of their resting place.

One escaped.

Two were got at by Rosie the mad dog we used to have who now lives at Granny and Poppa's where she is much happier. She had leader of the pack issues here. Something to do with the garden being her territory and our house being a small area within. Big long story about how crackers the hound is....

Six were savaged by a fox, he took off with two of them, left two scattered about the coop and left two alive but in a real state. I had to shoot them. IT WAS AWFUL. Actually it does make a funny story as I must have looked totally comical in a t shirt, knickers and wellies brandishing a large shot gun. Actually if I can get my physical gestures I usually use to tell the story into words it's worth a post all of it's own. It always raises mighty chortles. Which is odd when you think the story is about having to swiftly put the poor girls out of their awful pain. *

The eggs are teeny at the moment.
See how I had to fill the egg cup with salt to hold it?

It's taken me 18 months to feel brave enough to get more Yicks. This time if I am up all night with sick children and up all day too, when I go to bed before dusk, I will say to Mr C "Don't forget to put the rubbish out and put the Yicks to bed" and then Mr Fox wont get them.

Apparently male wee keeps foxes away, so having tried to stop my boys from tiddling willy nilly in the garden for the past year I am now going to encourage them to spray all over the chicken enclosure. But not on the actual chicken house or the Yicks themselves...although that really would safe guard them. Food for thought.

We got the girls before going to Spain and my neighbours looked after them. This was a bit of a sneaky plan as my neighbour really wants chickens but her husband thinks they are too much hard work. So I said I'd get some before going away so he could see how easy they are. They are getting chickens in the Spring apparently. At least that's what he told me when I dropped of these flap jacks as a thank you.





Blogger is still being difficult and not allowing me to upload a banner directly to my blog, it's says I have surpassed my upload quota. I'm having to link to photobucket. It's the only way I can do it. I know I haven't exceeded my upload quota, I can't have. I have only been blogging a little while compared to others and I have few photo's by comparison. Very frustrating.

Ms. Mildred (thank you, I can't email you back as you are anonymous, so I'm thanking you here and hoping you see this) left me a comment the other day saying that my banner takes forever to load and fills the whole screen. Is this the case for all of you who visit me? I've viewed my blog a couple of times from other computers and it looked ok on them, but I wonder is it slow and big for lots of people? I'd be so grateful if you'd tell me.

I want to have a change but if blogger is still being difficult I may have to stick with the roses, I just hope that they are a normal size for most of you. When I view my blog I can see the roses and my blog post title all on the same screen.

Oh I am glad to have posted today. You see I have lost my get up and go a bit of late. I've returned from holiday and haven't got back into the swing of things. The boys are in destruction mode and I am struggling to keep on top of the house work. They are up stairs now, in Big's room, cackling and chanting "Heave Ho!" I just know I'll go up there in a minute and find they have stripped the bed again! Little rat bags. 

Very little is going right first time. I have made a snood which is way too big and needs frogging. I have embroidered a cardi and then cut a hole in it when snipping out the label. Food is being cooked and then ruined as I'm getting the timings all wrong. The washing, both dirty and clean, seems to be multiplying quicker than I can deal with it. I really shouldn't be on here at all. So I'm going now....and I'll see you all soon with a crafty post and a little holiday blurb even though I only took 3 photographs.

xxx

ps please let me know about my banner. I'll get it sorted/or give up and then I'll stop bleating on and on boringly about it.

*edited to add. I weighed up my options. a) leave them to slowly die of horrid injuries. b) call my neighbour to help me c) go on you tube to see how to wring a chickens neck d) pick them up and run them over e) drive 6 miles to the nearest vets having got dressed and bundled the boys in the car which would have taken over half an hour even at speed f) or shoot them. Shooting them was going to be the quickest way. There was no saving them. They were so broken I'm still astonished they were alive.  I really hope I haven't upset or offended anyone here.

40 comments:

  1. Lovely "yicks"! I'd love to have some chickens but our garden is just too tiny. Re your banner, well, yes it is rather big, and on our laptop it does fill the whole screen so I have to scroll down (also the font "jumps" about while it's loading) Can't really offer any advice though as I'm on Typepad so a bit clueless about Blogger. Hope you manage to get it sorted soon, though.
    Nice to see you back
    R x

    ReplyDelete
  2. On my wider than average screen everything looks just fine. You could download your banner in a smaller size and I have started doing that also with the photos I place. They will still look the same on your page but they won't take up as much 'room' so to speak. (so instead of a 10mb picture you will have a 156kb or something like that) Just 'resize'...
    Looking good from here and i love your naming of the Yicks! :-)
    Marjan

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Yicks are lovely - I'm sure the wee will protect them (that'll make a great story when the boys are 18 and bringing a girlfriend to tea!!). I'm sorry to hear that things are getting on top of you at the moment - is there any chance that things will get better when school starts in September or does that bring a chaos all of its own? Take care xx
    P.S. On my screen (one of those silly, new widescreen things) the banner takes up quite a bit of room - I can see the banner, the date and the tippy tops of the tall letters of the post title but it's easy to scroll down to the post...I was also going to suggest the same as cowroad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Have never really thought about banners the way others are doing.....not at prob for me at my end.
    The Yicks are cute, although I could never muster the courage to have any as don't like their smell or their poo. And not a massive fan of eggs.
    But when they are cute and yellow and fluffy, I melt!!!
    Just laughed at your comment on my post today.
    Ha ha re Mr C!
    Not surprised he has a crush on my sis, who doesn't?!! Yesterday we walked through the village high street and a Lamborghini drove past, stopping the the traffic lights. Anna and I stopped to look at a shop window just as a load of blokes were walking down on their way to a local music fest.
    They'd clocked the fancy car (I couldn't see the fuss myself, not at all into cars as you know) but literally stopped in their tracks when Anna walked past and they all, salivated and totally forgot about the car!!!
    Makes me laugh as she never notices the male attention. Ever.
    Know the feeling re coming back from hols. I had post holiday blues for a few days but pulled myself together. Only just on top of the washing today though, been back nearly a week!!!
    Hope you had fun, did you see Rah?
    x x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well on my laptop your banner & blog loads just fine! All present, all correct & where it should be :) I'm so envious of your yicks! How I am longing for them right now........OH has promised I can finally have some when we move, if we ever sell this god damn house in Essex we will be back in Somerset, bliss! Don't feel guilty for doing something that you like to do, such as blogging....doing & allowing ourselves to do something we enjoy and that is just for us gives us the boost to keep going on with the crap and daily crappy chores! Sounds to me you are doing incredibly well considering you have 3 very young boys!!! Look at what you are achieving! More than I did with two young girls!! Don't worry about the house, the children won't be young for very long and you'll soon reclaim it :)

    Take care,

    Jo x x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bless the Yicks!! We had hens and ducks and then after two years of No Trouble Mr Fox came in broad daylight, I hadn't the heart to get any more after that.

    Some people (men) would pay good money for tales of women in wellies and knickers brandishing a firearm!!

    Your banner is pretty big but its not slow to load on my elderly laptop - send me that pic again if you want me to tweak it, I found out how to change the colours when I was playing the other day so I might be able to drain some of the yellow out of it.

    S x

    ReplyDelete
  7. I so get the lack of getting things done, it feels a little like trying to run in a swimming pool, lots of effort but you don't get very far. Any bets it is only you worrying about everything and no one else has noticed. School hols can have weird effect on everything, and although sometimes it is nice not to have the tie, by the end of the hols it is nice to get some routine back in. Hens are great, we don't have any despite having a farm, but my s-in-law does and they are so relaxing to listen to. I really enjoy reading your blog and don't have any probs with the banner, seems odd it is different for different people, I know nothing, but it isn't to do with text size is it and people reading on a different setting, not sure if this makes sense, but when you have the different size 'A's on the bottom of the page........probably waffling......

    ReplyDelete
  8. Our baby Yicks come first of September! Joy! Fun and funny post. :) Glad I am not alone in the laundry department, the biggest thorn in my side...really!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello treasure, nice to hear from you! It's hard to get into the swing of things after a lovely holiday, take it easy lady!

    I couldn't keep chickens, they give me the heebies a bit. There is no way in the world I could pick one up. No way in the world. Also, I'd get too upset at their deaths. We had a pigeon nesting in our garden that I got quite fond of (hate pigeons) and it was attacked early one morning by something (not sure what). We went outside and it was hanging upside down from the bush with a hole right through it, feathers everywhere and dripping blood all over the patio. It was a proper crime scene, hideous. The egg she was sitting on had been carried away and dropped so there was an almost 'ready' (!) little baby pigeon splayed on the patio too. Hideous. I would love to hear the story of you in the knickers and wellies with a shotgun... that's mad lady stuff. (Am also impressed that you even have a shotgun and know how to use it.)

    Hope you get your mojo back soon. Look after yourself...
    Nicki xx

    PS have you tried looping the snood around your neck twice so it's really massive?

    PPS Your banner is fine on my laptop - it used to be massive and take ages to load but seems OK now.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your new Yicks look really pretty! I hope they will be more lucky than the ladies before them. Can't imagine how it is to have foxes around...... I am a real city girl :-)!

    Hope you had some delicious eggs this morning. Happy weekend,

    Madelief x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, GRRR! I wanted to thank you for the thank you, so now I have. I wanted to do it UNanonymously, but when I try to post under my google account, I get a page telling me I don't have permission to view that page. So maybe after all, all these problems are on my end?? SIGH! That's just the way things are going for me lately (OOH, so pitiful, I know!)

    At any rate, I am glad at the end of the day we can all get to your posts sooner or later! Hoping you get everything sorted out to your satisfaction, including the safety of the Yicks!

    Best,
    ms.mildred
    thisisnotapostcard@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good evening Cuckoo! Hope you had a really lovely holidy, can't wait to here about it. Thank you so so much for your lovely email with all the 'holiday-ing with baby' tips. It was so appreciated, but I've been rubbish and haven't gotten back to you to say thank you. I too am finding it a bit hard to keep up with things.. and I only have 1! Goodness knows how I'll manage with any more! haha

    Your very brave getting some more chickens after all of the drama from the last load. Even though it's a very sad story, I did laugh out loud at the thought of you in your knickers with a shot gun. Surely you must have blown them to smithereens!? The poor second chicken that got to watch the first one come to an end! haha Oh no.. now I feel guilty for laughing about it..!

    Ashley xxx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh forgot to say about the banner... yes, I'm afraid on my laptop it takes up the whole screen and takes a good while to load.. although maybe I just have a small screen..!?

    Ashley xxx

    ReplyDelete
  14. your banner works for me, i had no idea there was a limit on photos's but then i don't know much about anything :)
    re your chicks i have visions of betty draper from madmen stood in her fab 60's nightie shooting doves with a fag hanging out of her mouth
    (i tried putting a link on but it didnt work, try google images if you haven't seen it)
    x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your banner is just super for me, hon. I've got an ipad and it loads up just fine.
    Am very envious of your Yicks (although not the whole shooting story- am impressed you can handle a gun, though!!) I'd love to have chooks, but my garden is far too teensy-tiny.
    I remember once seeing a telly programme (think it was a River Cottage thing) and that Hugh Fernlish-Wittingburyishness (or something) was saying that Foxies don't like the smell of humans, so he was getting some hair-sweepings from the local hairdresser, putting them into tights and hanging them around the chookie pen. It worked for him!
    Sounds bonkers.
    Anyhoo, have a good week!
    Xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your banner works fine for me, and I have read your blog on a couple of different computers, and has always been normal sized.
    sounds like you have the same luck with yicks as I do with cats, sad face.
    We have gone through so many cats, and I am starting to think I am just bad luck for cats. My daughter wants another one, but I am just a bit over death at the moment, so am saying no
    Love Jane's image of you as Betty Draper.
    Please be kind to yourself

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello, awww what a lot to comment on. I have to say first that although your banner is large i can view it all fine on my laptop. Well done you on getting some more chickens i really don't know how you managed to shoot the others i know i couldn't have done it but you have to be cruel to be kind. I hope these new ones bring you and your lovely children hours of fun and many lovely eggs. I hope you get back and feel on top again real soon. take lots of care, dee xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. I had never thought about the size of the banner before. It does take up the whole page and I can't see the blog title. But I have never seen this as a problem. It doesn't take long to load. It may have something to do with what Internet browser we use. I use Internet Explorer.

    Don't worry about the mess - one day at a time! It's the holidays so you are fighting a losing battle. Plenty of time to get it back in some order when they go back to school. Sorry that your things have not been going right, life is just like that sometimes isn't it. Well, it's time for things to get better. And they will. You'll see :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Your banner loads fine for me and I'm on an iPad...

    Laughing so much at the thought of you in your knickers with a shotgun!
    I've got 6 chooks and love them to bits.. We may be moving to the country this year so planning to expand the menagerie a bit more..

    Glad you've posted, was having Cuckoo withdrawals, but hoping life smoothes over a bit for you!

    Xx

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yicks, yicks I'm in heaven, I want some more too but not where I am living now :( not allowed. Sorry for the 'one line' turning into a novel I did rabbit on a bit, hope things look brighter today for you, you need a little fairy to come in and whisk it all away for you.
    Try this application: http://www.fookes.com/products.php
    Scroll down to the bottom and download the free version, I use it on my blog and it is great, I have a file called blog photos and just pop them in there. Not sure about your header tho' which takes up my whole screen on my laptop btw, but it doesn't worry me, I love the roses. Oh my giddy aunty, I can just see you in your wellies etc brandishing a gun, I had to put a chook out of its misery once, I chopped it's head off, I thought I was going to be sick or pass out after I did it, but my hubby couldn't do it and I couldn't stand seeing it like it was poor thing. Thank goodness I never felt like that when I was pulling little carrots out of the ground or pulling beans off the bush, do they squeal in pain I wonder?
    xx Sandi

    ReplyDelete
  21. On my computer screen your banner takes up about 3/4 of the space and I can just read the post title. Another quirky thing happens when your font loads. I see the whole title for about half a beat then the font shifts and the word Land drops off. I just blamed my getting older computer for the problem!
    Good luck with this lot of Yicks. I would like to have chooks because we go through eggs like they are going out of fashion. BUT I am a bit funny about the sharp beaky parts!
    xXx Helen

    ReplyDelete
  22. Morning,
    I have no trouble loading up the banner!
    Fee had mentioned your chicken story to me which made me laugh first time, but second time all over again. Mainly at options c) and d). Sorry, so horrible it's funny (if you know what I mean).
    The Yicks look delightful,
    Nelly xxx

    ReplyDelete
  23. I have no problems loading your page either. I think it probably depends on the type of computer and broadband speed being used.

    Have you tried your blog on other browsers? I had trouble loading several websites, and when I tried on another browser they worked fine. So I had to restore all settings and empty cache, cookies etc. I'm no techie but might help, as it is something that is not affecting others blogs.

    Love the Yicks. I would love some. One day, but I cannot do 'pets' at this stage in my life. The kids are desperate to get a cat or dog, but Mr H and I are last minute people and like to just pack up at a moments notice, bundle the bears in the car and just go away. I hate having to plan in advance and sort out pet care. We have a hamster and some stick insects and that is as far as I go.

    Sorry your mojo has gone walk about since your hols. I feel like that today. Just got back from the best weekend away for such a long while (exactly one of those last minute decisions!) , and I already feel cruddy and cant be bothered with anything, especially my blog. I HATE washing, the crappiest job EVER!

    Right, will go moan to myself over a mountain of it!

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Yicks are lovely and great names too! My house is a mess (as always) but I think that's what makes it a home! Can definately sympathise with the washing and my ironing pile is now the size of a small continent - I just shove it under a throw when ma-in-law visits! Hope you're enjoying the sunshine and I still mess up flapjacks!
    Jo x

    ReplyDelete
  25. Love the yicks! A good friend of mine just got 4 of them and we spent all afternoon watching them peck and play. I think you did the right thing with the poor injured girls. xJosie
    PS. Your banner looks fine on my PC and isn't slow at all.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Overwhelming yick envy! That's all I can manage to write as it is difficult to see the keys though these green eyes. xx

    ReplyDelete
  27. Banner looks fine to me and loads up pretty quickly on my mac. Best to go with the post hols muddle I think! I used to feel there was no way to get on top of it all til the boys were back in the usual routine. Try not to be hard on yourself about it, as far as I can see never ending washing is just one of life's facts! x

    ReplyDelete
  28. WOAH! You are one tough chick (no pun intended, really!!) to put those chicks out of their misery. Honestly, I was in the military for crying out loud and I don't even remember how to shoot a gun. I think I would have cried and cried, waiting for my husband to get home to do the dirty work for me. You're lucky you're resourceful! Good luck with the new "yicks!" We are getting chickens soon, too. I'm so excited!

    Yes, your banner is gi-normous on my computer, but it's never had any trouble loading. Have you tried uploading a photo to fotoflexr and creating a header on that software? Try like maybe 800 width and 200 height and see what happens. Then you make sure you don't click "shrink to fit" when you're putting the banner on your blog. let me know if any of this makes sense. There might be a better way for me to explain it.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hello! My first time here, I've just been following the hen story over from Mrs Bobobun. I just found all the going into mourning over dead hens too traumatic and now we have free range eggs to buy from the next door farmer so I've no reason to go back there!
    My first thought when I arrived was what a gorgeous banner by the way!
    Penny (Planet Penny)

    ReplyDelete
  30. hi, lovely yicks me dear would love to have some but like homebird couldnt pick them up all that flapping and feathers ohh makes me shudder x your banner is fine on my computer as well , oh yes sorry but yes can see mary poppins in you and like i said also kate winslet x scarily it was that long ago charlotte now 15 and god its hard work now xx

    ReplyDelete
  31. Cute gals, Cuckoo! I hope they find a way of dodging the perils of chickendom! You absolutely did the right thing...bang bang and poor chicks are out of their misery. Nothing worse than animals being left to suffer. Totally relating to the whole laundry thing...see my last post xxx

    ReplyDelete
  32. PS - LOVE that Sandi thinks we could be sisters, HUGE compliment; you're my blog crush :-)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Your banner looks fine to me. What is the obsession with stripping the beds - mine have been at it all holidays too. It drives me crazy (maybe that's why they do it?). Sorry to hear nothing is going right for you since you got back from hols... hope things buck up soon xx

    ReplyDelete
  34. 33 comments! This is insanity I tell you and I hope you won't feel obliged to reply to me! Anyway, just to say your banner has always come up quite big for me, fills most of the screen, but is looking a bit smaller of late. Pretty roses anyway.

    I do get nervous laughter about your shooting chickens story, because there is the comical element but I know it was the right thing to do at the time. I think you are dead brave to be honest. At least you didn't pull a pigeon's head off like my dear husband.

    Me and Gem had such a lovely time today. Hope we can do something all together soon, possibly without poo-y children?? Mwah. Me love you long time xxx

    ReplyDelete
  35. Love the yicks!lol ,Wish I knew more about headers so I could sort out mine,yours loads fine with me ,but is large like mine, hope that makes sense?juliexxxx

    ReplyDelete
  36. Your Yicks are lovely! I pray they will live a good LONG happy life, producing plenty of eggs for you. Although your chicken story was sad,even upsetting for someone like me, I admire that you did the most human thing. Sometimes we are put in a situation where we must do something, rather unpleasant but necessary.
    Im so behind on catching up in blogland... work has certainly held me back! :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. You make me laugh out loud! Gogo Sausage might be the best name ever.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I have changed something in my settings. Can you tell me if I am still a 'no-reply' blogger? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  39. I am very jealous of your Knit Club, just so you know. What a beautiful way to connect with others!

    Your banner is big for my computer... I have to scroll down a bit before I can see your first post, but my internet has had no problem loading it. So that is maybe a plus? Grrrrr Blogger! I have been having odd issues with it as well.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I appreciated your sweet comments ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hello there! I have really missed visiting your blog since I was away on holiday - so I'm having a large cuppa now, and going through all the posts I've missed. Just wanted to let you know that I don't have a prob with your banner - it's big but loads up just beautifully. I hope you've found your 'get up and go' after feeling a bit flat. Ignore the housework and watch some trashy tv - always works for me!!! Take care. Leah xx

    ReplyDelete

I L♡VE your comments. Thank you ever so for taking the time. I do try to get back to everyone but I am rather scatty and I have these 3 big distractions....(and I'm just generally a bit rubbish lately, so please don't feel obliged to leave a note) Sorry about the word verification too, too much spam.