Yesterday Marmite came out of her broody spell just as Vanilla went broody. Marmite had been broody for twelve days. It really does seem that as one girl comes out of a broody spell the next girl goes broody and we seem destined to have two broody girls at a time.
The worrying thing is having Vanilla go broody again while a bigger girl is broody. Twice I have found Vanilla in the same nest box as Ebony and I have moved Vanilla to a different nest box. I really don’t want a repeat of what happened with Flame and Vanilla so I am making sure that they stay apart.
Vanilla had laid eleven eggs in sixteen days and had just laid for six days in a row before going broody. Smoke went broody after laying eight days in a row. It seems that when these girls lay for a spell without taking a day off it sends them broody.
I have found that when I lift both girls for a break from the nest box Vanilla stays out for longer than Ebony so I am hoping that she will come out of it more quickly.
In other news we have seen slow worms in the garden over the last few days. We first saw a large one on our patio but I didn’t photograph it as it looked injured. I think a cat may have got at it and it was slow so we feared that it wasn’t going to live much longer.
Yesterday after a rain shower there was a big slow worm on the path. I went indoors for my camera but when I returned it’s head was disappearing under a geranium. I lifted the leaf to try to get a better photo but it was gone in a flash.
A little later there was a slightly smaller slow worm on the same bit of the path but this time when I returned with my camera it had gone so I only have one not very good photo.
Slow worm on the path
We had a day of light showers and sun shine and a few rainbows. At the end of the day there was the best rainbow of the day.
Rainbow at the end of the day
The garden is desperate for rain but there was barely enough to wet the ground. Oh well, I suppose it is better than nothing. It gave my husband a day off from watering the allotment as our other friends are away this week.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Hope she comes out of it soon: they are determined, aren’t they!
It’s only the second day today but Vanilla has been staying out longer when I take her out of the nest box. Because of this I have taken her out more frequently to see if I can get her through this quickly this time. She looks cross and yet she isn’t pecking me this time whereas last time she was constantly pecking me. I wonder if she is mellowing a bit.
How nice to have slow worms in the garden, I have not seen one in our garden for a few years.
We see them every year at about this time and of varying sizes so I think we have a healthy colony living in our garden. We are always pleased to see them.