Shampoo and set madam?

Pixie needed a wash so out with the hose and some dog shampoo. She didn't seem to mind much and we certainly removed a lot of the hair and muck from her neck and mane.

Then we looked at Bouncer and thought 'why not', so he had the beauty parlour treatment as well. Of course as soon as they were out in the field they rolled in all the mud.
We installed an electric fence in the field up the road before we brought them home for the wash, and it was working fine. Keith turned it off, climbed over and 'discharged' it. Bearing in mind that I am shorter than him and do not find it so easy to get over, I also 'discharged' it when fetching water and on returning, only to find that Keith, had in fact, forgotten to turn it off! OUCH! It definitely works.

The geese have their own shed now, down by the veg plot, away from the poor harassed ducks and chickens. Not a very pretty shed but will do the job.

The chicks are now out in the field in the Eglu meeting the other birds through the wire. There was a lot of interest at first but now it's more about the Ducks drilling around the edges and the chickens seeing what food they have.

Keith candled the first lot of the remaining eggs tonight and all seems well. The second lot will be done tomorrow and they should start hatching Wednesday.

Egg count for last week -
Chickens - 41
Ducks - 17
I think the duck eggs have been stolen by rats, and certainly after only getting two a day, after Keith dispatched one last night, I had four this morning. So their poor showing is forgiven.

Thieves in the mealworm bucket!

Pecky has cheered up thank goodness. We have a theory that she has been replaced as top hen and was sulking. She had a bath yesterday, her bottom was not very clean. Dunking a hen in a sink of warm water isn't as hard as you might think, they seem to enjoy it. (Although I do keep a firm hand on them and make sure the doors are closed, just in case!)