This weekend we had my eldest son, Steve and his lovely bride to be in three weeks time, to stay for part of the weekend.
It was the first time they had seen the newest girls, Toffee and Emerald, and Peaches and Barley as they live in Cambridge and with wedding plans on the go haven’t had time to come down recently. It was also the first time they had seen the run since it’s been extended.
They said that my photos don’t do it justice and the newest girls were all more attractive than the photos show and the run is bigger and more interesting than the photos show.
That’s probably because it’s impossible to photograph the whole run with my, quite basic, camera and lack of skills.
Steve did say that I should leave the roof panels open when it rains as the run had got very dry during the hot weather and that I should also probably add some top soil. With constant poop picking the level of the soil had gone down quite a bit.
I took this on board and decided to leave the roof panels open last night when usually I would close them overnight.
We woke up at five o’clock to an almighty storm with crashes of thunder and heavy rain. At six o’clock I couldn’t hold back any longer and went out to close the panels. There was a lot of water.
The thunder and rain continued for three and a half hours. I have never known thunder go on so long but we are in a valley so we think the storm was trapped.
However as it is so hot at the moment that the run had dried out again by lunch time. On my way home before lunch I called in at a garden centre and they had five and a half litre bags of topsoil on offer at three bags for twelve pounds so I decided to buy them.
I tried lifting them and soon realised that I couldn’t manage. I got someone at the garden centre to put them in my van for me.
Back home my husband and I managed between us to get them on the sack truck and pull them one at a time to the top of the garden.
We got them into the run and emptied them. No wonder they were so heavy as the first bag of soil was damp but the next two were really wet.
I was going to spread the soil but my husband said we should leave it in heaps and let the girls have the fun of spreading it.
Some top soil for the run
The girls scratch around in it
It is soon spread out
I think it was probably a bit disappointing as there were no bugs in it so we dug up the soil and wood chip that has been scratched outside of the run and dumped that on top of the top soil.
This gave out to a frenzy of happy scratching and pecking and soon all the soil had been levelled for us. This also means the surface is damp for now which should be good for scratching in and help keep it cooler.
I think the girls appreciated it.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
The run really does look a lot better in real life!
There was no need to close the panels. Next time just leave it and let the water soak into the soil. You worry too much about it turning into a swamp, but it’s not going to happen in an instant: it happens when there is an extended period of wet weather and the ground becomes saturated.
I think I will do a post on the run and photograph it in sections and add measurements to give a better idea of it.
I did let it get rained on for an hour but it was torrential and all the girls were huddled together under the big bush.
I know, and it dried out completely in a couple of hours. If the ground is that dry it’s impossible to have enough rain in a night to make it into a swamp. Also, even if it does get a bit soggy it will dry out by the end of the day.
You should just leave the panels open until it becomes too wet, so that you can see how much of a problem it really is. I don’t think it will ever get too wet in the summer.
I don’t think adding measurements helps picture how cool the run is. Maybe next time I come down I’ll help you make a video.
The top soil that we added was really wet so the ground is still wet a day later. The extended part of the run still has wet patches too so I am not bothered at the moment. There are now only a few dry patches for dust bathing.
It would be good to do a video some time but for now I have taken lots of photo and will do a post later about the run.
I think a video of your girls would be great… Another string to your bow.
Your photos are great but does not show the antics they get up to.
Talking of dry earth .. Our allotment is bone dry . It is watered every single morning for an hour and within an hour you would not have thought it ! You only have to dig down a couple of inches and it is like it has never been watered .
I don’t know how to do video but Steve may be able to show me.
Wow, that must make the allotment hard work. Our garden doesn’t seem too bad. The recent storm gave everything a soaking and there is very little bare earth so I think that helps.
It’s surprising how three bags of wet top soil have kept it damp in the run. The topsoil hasn’t dried out yet which is probably quite nice for the girls.
I vaguely know how to do a Video but I bet once he has showed you ,you won’t be able to stop LOL
I am not great at technology and I know you are much more technical than I am. I have already been learning some new things recently though. Most people would find this stuff basic, I know, but for me it is a constant learning curve.
Steve has just shown me how to make links on my blog, how to do the pages on the side panel and how to put titles on the text on the pages.
Most people already know this stuff but I am still learning. I have a way to go but a few years ago I never would have thought that I would be able to write a blog.
You are more technical than you think. Not every one can take such great photos like yours …I can’t.
It’s more luck than judgement. Steve is amazed I get good photos at all. I just take a lot and some are good.
Sometimes I take one photo and it is good. Sometimes I take ten and they are rubbish.
When I did the post on Emerald looking in the cabinet, the first set of photos I took, every single one was blurred. I went back and did it again a few days later and stood further back from her and repeated the photos and every one was good.
I take a lot of photos and have a lot of rubbish but that’s how I get some good ones.
You should see how she takes pictures. I’m always surprised that she gets so many good ones because her technique is …unique?
She somehow takes pictures without even looking at the camera. The surprising thing is that she actually gets some amazing shots, so it obviously works for her!
Thank you Steve. I am at this moment working on my next post about the run.
I think the most surprising shot I got was of one of the chicks in flight and it wasn’t blurred!
Being both short sighted (most of my life) and long sighted (in recent years) doesn’t help matters. That is why I developed the point and click method and hope for the best. If you take enough shots some will be good and instinct seems to guide me.
If you’re short sighted and long sighted, what exactly can you see?
The middle bit!
It is frustrating because I have always been used to wearing contact lenses or glasses for the short sightedness but now I can no longer read anything without another pair of glasses. It drives me nuts!
Constantly struggling to read things now. I have two pairs of glasses in my bag all the time and constantly get my glasses out in the super market to read labels.
I do the thing of holding things close and then far away (arms length) trying to see, But I do feel eternally grateful for glasses of both sort because without them, what would I see!
It does make me value any sight that I have and really feel for those with less sight. I am impaired (as are most people my age I guess) but I manage and I am so
glad of what I do have and am so aware of how it must be for people that can’t see at all, so am truly grateful to just carry on in my own peculiar way.
Probably not the answer you may have expected but the worse my sight gets, the more grateful I am for what I have and for the wonderful aid that glasses bring. Without them I wouldn’t be able to do the things that I do.
I guess it comes to us all in time but I am just so glad that with two pairs of glasses I can still get do what I want to do. I still feel lucky.
I also leave my roof panels open when it rains as I feel it comes with numerous fantastic benefits. Congrats on the wedding by the way!
I have left the panels open a few times when it has rained recently. It is good to give the girls some wet and dry soil. The main advantage of panels is not having a bog when it’s wet for ages.
Thanks for the wedding congrats. It was a lovely day.