Picked up a good tip from my visit to Bob Flowerdew’s: to use moss raked from the lawn to line nestboxes for the hens. No sooner installed, both girls have enjoyed the new nest materials to such an extent that they’ve both gone broody. I haven’t installed any fertile eggs, they are a little young for maternal duties, and I don’t need to extend my flock till next year. I tried for a while to distract them to no avail, so I’ve dusted them for bugs and left them to get on with it.
Grumpily fluffed up and grumbling, they’ve stayed put now for nearly three weeks, allowing me to lift them out every day for a quick meal, a squawk, a flap, a long drink and a horrid mess before stalking back to the nest. Next hurdle will be to get them back to normal. Ploys include lots of excitement at the bottom of the garden, digging a new bed and more practically, the closing of the nesting area. I have missed their eggs and their company, and singing the Cheeky girls song with Ludo.