PA Chickens' Blog # 14 - the blog is back!

Devoted Followers,

Following a lengthy break, the PA Chicken's blog is back!

Our last post was in July. So, time for a whopping update:

• The girls had a lovely summer holiday... and half term, and Christmas!
• Bog was accidentally stolen by another school! Our girls spent the summer with some other chickens at the farm, and when another school came to get their hens, they picked her by mistake! She may be big and reddish-brown, like most chickens, but we thought it was very sad that this other (mystery) school couldn't identify their own hens! In replacement, we got Shaniqua and Nugget
• Shaniqua's stay with us was cut short by her sudden sex-change. When she began crowing, much like Ghee last year, she had to go before the neighbours complained. Miss Coles has visited her recently and she (sorry, he) is looking very happy (and handsome/masculine)
• Nugget is still with us, thankfully. She has suffered with an over-active salivary gland (very rare in chickens, according to the vet) which has caused a large swelling on her face. Despite this she is still happy enough, and one of our best layers. She lays whoppers, in fact.
• Allan-Oreo had a funny December; she was 'broody' meaning that she kept wanting to lay eggs, even though she didn't need to. She refused to come out of the nest box, even to eat, for quite a while! Luckily she has snapped out of it.
• Omelette and Monkey are the same lovely chickens - no major health or behavioural issues, and plentty of eggs.
• And Hotwings is now... HUGE. She is the biggest hen anyone could ever imagine. We love her.

More exciting news to follow.

PA Chicken's Blog # 13 - Foxy Special

Our chickens are well, and coping much better with the monsoons and heatwaves than we are.

Our foxes seem even better.

The foxes who live next to our girls' coop are seen more and more regularly. Some observations:

• There is a larger one, and two smaller ones.
• They all like jumping about in the long grass
• One of the smaller ones is possibly part albino - its fur is much paler (creamy white?). It also very shortt (It seems to have the same sized head, body, and tail as the others, but has much shorter legs. When Miss Coles first saw it, she thought it was a cross between a fox and a ferret)
• One of the orange ones seems to like sleeping at the entrance to the den, right next to the coop. He/she gets very scared when you go over to feed the chickens, and bolts down the hole.
• Actually, they are all pretty scared, and hard to get close to.
• The chickens, meanwhile, are all totally unafraid of their neighbours.

Miss Coles has spent several mornings/evenings lately creeping about like the next David Attenborough (or possibly Bill Oddie) trying to catch  the foxes on film...

She will let you all know when something interesting happens.

PA chicken's blog #12

Hello all (three of you)

Our new chickens have names.

Introducing...

• Allan-Oreo (many thanks to 7AWI and 12MIN)
• Hotwings (many thanks to 12QIS)

Hotwings is growing fast - her feet are even losing their fluff.

AllanOreo is still small, fluffyfooted and black.

Omelette, Monkey, and Bog are keeping the new girls at the bottom of the pecking order - but are not bullying them to shocking levels.

All chickens are happy and healthy... (and looking forward to the holidays)

PA Chicken's Blog #11 - New Chooks

Paddington Academy has recently welcomed two new hens to its' coop.

Bog, Omelette and Monkey have been joined by two younger hens, who are (although fully feathered) very small, cheeping a lot, and very, very cute. They also have fluffy/extra feathered feet (see pictures). They will start laying eggs in a few months.

These two new hens  are still a little scared of the bigger hens, but otherwise seem to be settling in very well. The light brown one with black spots is currently called 'chicken 1' and the black one is currently called 'chicken 2'.

Their names will be picked at random on the 28th of June. Suggestions from students should be sent via form tutors, and suggestions from any random readers out there could be left as comments on this post. Silly ones will obviously be deleted.

PA Chickens Blog #10 RIP (Crusty Special Edition)

Hello regular readers (Namely, Miss Chan, Mr Innis, and Mr Jones)

Sadly, Crusty left this world this week, and made her way to the big chicken coop in the sky. She died on Tuesday, after a period of illness.

Crusty was a good chicken. She was friendly, easy to handle, and, generally, she was a good egg.

Crusty came to Paddington in September 2010, after spending her early years at a battery farm. At the battery farm, she would have been squashed into a small area with thousands of other chickens, and been very unhappy. PA was a wonderful change for Crusty, and she was able to retire here in peace. She soon became used to attention, and came to enjoy seeing people, instead of being scared.

Her retirement here was a very happy one. She liked people. She was also the only chicken to be successfully hypnotised, to date. It is sad that she is gone, but at least she's had a full and happy time at Paddington Academy.

The other chickens are still pecking about as normal... They are not showing signs of sadness (although they could be a little sad on the inside!)

Crusty is pictured below with her friends. (From left to right, Omelette, Ghee (now in Vauxhall), Crusty, Bog, and Monkey)

PA Chicken's Blog #9

The girls are laying more than ever, down in the PA farm. It seems the warm weather, and a fake plastic egg placed in their nestbox, have stimulated mass production. Well done, Monkey, Omelette, and Bog.

Crusty has been unwell this week, and has even needed to be separated from the others, to avoid possible germ-spreading. She may be weakened by the heat, as she is older than the others (having spent her early years in a battery farm). However, she is looking better, and we think she will pull through.

Finally, the girls would like to thank all the Staff Chicken Team (and the odd Farm Squad members) who have helped with their care over the rainy/monsoon season. They would also like to thank the many egg-buyers who support their indusrty, and Mr Jones, for supporting their blog.

PA Chickens Blog #8 - The Chickens are Back

The girls are back.

They had a lovely holiday at Vauxhall City Farm, where they apparently had a very emotional reunion with Ghee, our departed rooster.

Our PA chickens are now settled back in and enjoying the greenery growing around their coop.