Author Archives: Michael

Wakey wakey

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Michael

For the fourth successive day (possibly the fifth, but we didn’t think to look on their first morning here), all four chickens emerged first thing in strict pecking order – first Pearl and Vi, then a pause, then Queenie, and … Continue reading →

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Shake those tailfeathers!

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Michael

(aka Pearl and Queenie caught in a high wind)

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Featherpecking chickens

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Michael

If only the luckless film crew in Cannibal Holocaust had brought along supplies of this anti-cannibalism spray, they might have lived to tell the tale. But they didn’t. When I posted this on Facebook, my friend Mike Strick pointed out … Continue reading →

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One of us?

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Michael

The chickens haven’t quite got used to us entering the pen yet – do you think this would make a difference? (Entirely coincidentally, the film from which this still was taken, Jan Švankmajer’s Conspirators of Pleasure, is getting its British … Continue reading →

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The naughty step

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Michael

Pearl (bottom left) is on the poultry equivalent of the naughty step (actually a sub-pen made from chicken wire and bricks) in an attempt to stop her bullying poor Ida (top right), who’s seizing the opportunity to have a drink. … Continue reading →

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The pecking order

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Michael

We woke up to a vivid illustration of where the phrase “the pecking order” originally came from, which was reinforced throughout the day. Pearl, the biggest and meanest, is firmly at the top, then Vi, Queenie and finally poor little … Continue reading →

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They’re here!

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Michael

…and here’s a truly terrible iPhone photo to mark the occasion: Clockwise from top left they’re Vi, Ida, Pearl and Queenie, transported in two cardboard boxes by car from a farm somewhere between Chichester and Havant, and there was a … Continue reading →

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