Perked up

When I produced a bunch of grapes and a slice of bread however, she soon perked up and seemed back to her old self. Inside her nextbox, where she had been sitting were two of the hottest eggs I have ever come across! (we threw them out). Kiev has still been spending a lot of time in the coop but she has at least been out a few times over the past couple of days.

Extraction of Kiev

Alan bravely donned a pair of gardening glove and some long sleeves and entered Stalag Chicken with great resolve. I went and got the camera.

We had been warned that Kiev might not be very happy about her eviction but in the event, she took it very well. Not a sound, Alan placed her on the floor and she just lay there, a bit heeled over to one side, looking not very happy. She was quite a sorry sight in fact.

Chicken Guru

We consulted our Chicken Guru concerning what to do about the indolent Kiev and her hermit like tendencies. The advice came over the telephone via a 'translator/interpreter' and as such was subject to substantial 'interference' along the lines of "you should ring her neck" and/or "drop-kick her over the fence". Eventually a more tempered response (much more in keeping with our Chicken Guru) came. We were to extract Kiev manually from the nest box...............Hmmmm, I decided to wait until Alan returned home from work!

Spring chicken, spring clean

It was time to clean the chooks out today but Kiev showed no signs of budging from her nest box. When we started to remove things from around her, Leia decided she would show some solidarity and join Kiev inside the coop (even though it was mid-day!). As you can see from the picture, Leia was perching in her preferred position. You can tell it is her preferred position by the huge pile of poo underneath where she sits!

Sitting Kiev

Kiev has been sitting in the middle nest box in the coop for the past 4 or 5 days. I haven't seen her come out at all, not even to eat or drink. She's a big girl and obviously has some reserves but am starting to wonder how long she can keep this up. I have heard about birds getting broody, have no idea what sets them off but she seems determined to stay in there. She's actually quite sociable while she's in there, Abi has been stroking her and says she keeps 'burping', this is a sort of snoring noise that Kiev is making when she is stroked. She seems perfectly happy and looks fine, she's just not coming out! Must consult chicken Guru's.