With the rain of yesterday over, I went down to the allotment this morning to see how the plot had faired after yet more rain. I'm not hopeful that we'll be able to start off any of our crops for another two to three weeks as it will take at least that long for the plot to drain.
Upon my arrival, I found Geoff busy dragging his chicken food bins across to our main coop. He rang us last week to ask if we could take on his two girls. Of course, I said yes and today they moved into the Main Coop with Flora, Polly, Rey and Dotty. To say Polly took exception to the new arrivals was an understatement. She launched herself at one of Geoff's girls and would not stop. Credit to Geoff's girl, she stood her ground and gave a snood as she got. Worried that they would cause each other serious damage, I tried intervening. Swooping down, I grabbed Polly and tucked her under my arm. Polly took extreme exception to her time out and shrieked her disapproval for a full minute before giving up. I carried her around the coop with me for a while before letting her go with stern words about behaving herself. The second I turned my back to check on Geoff's other hen who was wisely perched on the top of a food bin, I hear squawking. Polly had yet again launched herself at Geoff's girl. This time, as I ran towards them, Dotty joined the frey. Two against one is an absolute guarantee of injury. Using a mix of hands and feet, I broke it up, picking up Geoff's girl and plonking her on a perch out of harms way.
The next ten minutes in the coop was extremely tense. I watched Polly like a hawk. Then I had an idea - if I dug over a section of the coop, it would distract them and allow the new girls a break. Flora and Dotty were instantly interested in my digging, immediately scoffing any worms or tasty looking morsels. Their enthusiasm was infectious and soon Polly and Rey joined in. This gave Geoff's girls enough space to hide in the Nest House to recover. With things temporarily quiet, I walked up to the main path and had a chat with Geoff.
As normal, we put the world to rights and chatted to those who were busy beavering away on their plots. It's always lovely to see the site busy after a damp, dark winter. Cliff and several others got busy shifting a greenhouse frame. Definitely amusing seeing a greenhouse frame seemingly floating along - I had to do a double take!
Peering into the Main Coop, I saw Polly, Rey, Flora and Dotty scratching away, making contented chicken noises as they worked methodically through the soil. No sign of the new girls in the run so I opened up the Nest House. They were hiding in the nest box. I don't blame them!
Over in the New Coop, Mavis is still ruling supreme with the other four terrified of her. Thankfully, there is no pecking or fighting, just chasing. I think I spotted an alliance forming between Foxy and Mavis although I suspect this is entirely self-preservation on Foxy's side. I refilled their water and watched them for a while but there was no drama.
Leaving everyone to settle down, I wandered back to the main path. As I got to the top of my plot, I was greeted by a very enthusiastic and happy Dolly. I made a fuss of her and she was very keen to have her paw shaken. Going over to Cliff's shed, I found her ball and spent a hilarious ten minutes playing fetch with her. She is such a gorgeous dog, so beautifully friendly and if Cliff would let me keep her, I would!
Promising Dolly I would play fetch with her tomorrow, I headed home pondering what names to give our new girls.
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