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Margaid

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:-)99 Is it just my computer or is everyone hibernating? I wouldn't blame you if you were but I miss your chat, advice and humour. Someone please put me out of my misery and post something!
 
I was just about to ask the same thing as I came on to the site!
You're probably the person with the most news, Margaid - how are all your new cats settling in?
 
Still here Margaid, but busy pre-Brexit. Sick chicken walking around beside me, French residence permit (done, but system to change soon), French driving licence (applied for), French van registration (number plates to fit), French health insurance (completed yesterday), French firearms pass (big job started) and perhaps a French passport (considering) are all 'in progress'. Then there are the jobs round the house- new chicken enclosure still not built as the weather is awful.

There will be a big backlash here with many people resident without declaration and are now too late- we are making sure we are not caught up in it.
 
We tend to forget that beurocracy in other countries is just as cumbersome as it is here. At least we have now opened a register for EU nationals here and, at the last moment, made it free. God knows how it will all end up but it’s fun watching the political games that are being played.
The materials for my new henhouse roof arrived last week. Never used powder coated galvanised iron before but it looks nice and should see me out. It will have to wait till July though when chicken breeding permits such a major operation. And a cost of £965 requires a bit of belt tightening!
Our community goose pie night is looming. A super abundance of over-wintering Grey Lag Geese makes this a seasonal delight here and an occasion of much merriment in this long, cold season.
My dog, despite being 8yo still skips about like a young’un.
The local bird club newsletter arrived today and made for good reading. An increase in kittiwake and razorbills breeding in 2018 and three new breeding species. Sparrow hawks reared four chicks in a copse on the main island and short eared owls reared a single chick. This latter one is remarkable because it’s main prey species, the vole, is not found here.
Somewhat sadder is the fact that despite warning signs at one location about otters crossing speeding motorists killed four in 2018. Having never owned a car in my life I have somewhat mixed feelings about private car ownership anyway and this does nothing to sway my opinions.
Some time back I put on a picture of a snowy owl that visited but three or four have visited this year so we hope that this may be a prelude to its return as a breeding species. Even more exciting was a visiting White Tailed Sea Eagle. It is over 100 years since they were driven to extinction here. Hopefully in these post Victorian times shooting with a camera has superseded shooting with a gun.
So that’s about it, newswise, but looking forward to the coming chicken breeding season. I always buy something from eBay just to play with and no doubt I will this year too. I love Orloffs for their absence of combs and wattles but they are rubbish layers. Maybe Spangled Orloff x Speckled Sussex will pep them up a bit.
And I need a son from one particular ewe this year. Last year she birthed three daughters but I’ve given her a good talking to with a reference to mint sauce so hoping for a son this year.
So that’s it!
 
That's sad news about the otters. I saw my first otters whilst on holiday in Norfolk a fortnight ago. OH has seen a few. A few have moved onto the Hawk and Owl trust reserve at Sculthorpe Moor near Fakenham and we saw four frolicking in front of one of the hides.
Great news on the Short eared Owls raising a chick and hope you get resident White tailed Eagles soon when OH described them as flying barn doors, I thought that was an exaggeration until I saw one WOW.
Around here our Tawny Owls are paired up and gone quiet, the Kestrels are staking out their favourite tree and Peregrines are being very territorial over their pylon
Car passed it's MOT in spite of a headlight going the night before (sods law) Why is it so difficult to replace a bulb these days, I had to remove the bumper and a bit of panelling to pop in a bulb which took seconds to put in
 
Thanks for starting this thread, Margaid; I'd been wondering the same myself yesterday!

All's quiet here in Kent. We had our first smattering of snow this morning, but the rain happily put paid to that. No eggs yet though...

The house next door is currently empty (we've a farmer's field the other side), so I'm half debating getting a cockerel while we can. Then again, the next neighbours might object?? I'm not sure whether "getting one while there's no-one to object" is really a good argument, but a utility white leghorn cock could give me (well Holly, at least) some decent fertile white leghorn eggs for the next time Hope (light Sussex) goes broody...

Ho hum. What does everyone else think?
 
Icemaiden said:
Ho hum. What does everyone else think?
Click to expand...

Why not? A cockerel would welcome any borrowed time on offer and as long as you keep an eye on and react to any future concerns...
 
I'm still here and have done one little post in the last few days. Growers still growing and couple of eggs yesterday, also my Lottie (Silkie) has not stopped laying. In 2 days time I have utility white Leghorns hatching I was so pleased with the other girls, I sent for 6 more, hoping to hatch at least on more girl
 
Still here too! My four girls are still laying, although now over two years old. I had planned on despatching them at the end of 2018, and doing a big clean and then getting a new batch in the Spring. I hate to despatch them while they are still producing well and so fit and healthy though! The two cats are well, but as always, driving me nuts! I'm in the throes of visits to my Solicitor and GP, because I'm drawing up an Enduring Power of Attorney - hope dau never needs it, but better to have it and never need it, than need it and not have it! So far, it's involved initial visit to Solicitor and very lengthy questioning by her (she said she has to prove on paper that I had full capacity, knew exactly what was involved and what it all meant etc. because by the time, if ever, it was needed, she herself could be dead or have in her turn lost capacity, and not able to vouch for mine at the time of doing up the POA!). Next step, another appointment to go through the draft POA, and I have to bring the proposed attorney with me, and then the solicitor sends notice to the "Notice Parties", so that someone else knows what I'm doing. And if ever the poa is being registered, they will be notified, and can object if they feel it's not necessary. And then I and the proposed Attorney have to go to my GP so that she can quiz me and fill in a form certifying that I'm in full possession of my faculties, understand what I'm doing, and not being coerced. And again, if ever the POA is being registered, a doctor will have to be involved again to certify that I have indeed lost mental capacity. All very complicated (and expensive!) but better to have it done. It was so awkward in many ways because I didn't have POA for my husband, and yet, not nearly as awkward for us as it could have been because we had a joint Bank Account,and all our bills were paid online from that - and our Bank was very understanding. Some are not. So I decided to close the barn door in case that particular horse bolts in the future! :lol: :lol:

Other than all that, I've been babysitting, and pottering around. I've ( :oops: :oops: ) become a bit of a diva! I had a voucher to have my nails done before Christmas. I'd never in my life had my nails done professionally, and indeed, never bothered much with them. But off I went, and had a manicure and shellac polish, which lasted beautifully for two weeks. Then one nail chipped, and back to the salon I went to have the polish removed - and I couldn't resist! I had them redone! :lol: So I had nice nails for another two weeks. After a month of having nice nails - I found I've gotten used to it! So this time, when one chipped, I removed the shellac (and that's a pain, isn't it?!) and thought I'd just leave the nails bare for a while. But - I couldn't stand it!! :o :o I just hated the sight of naked nails! So I did them myself, with just a treatment base and ordinary polish. Don't know how long it will last, but now, I'm taking care of them. Cuticle oil every morning and evening, and hand cream!! And I haven't used a fingernail as a screwdriver even once! 0:-) 0:-)

But right now, I'm off to put the girls in to the run for the night. It's mild here at the moment (about 9C) but has gone dark this afternoon, so probably rain on the way!
 
Very sensible Lady A. When the m in law went into a care home for the last weeks of her life, after being in hospital for couple of weeks OH suddenly started to panic that if her mum hung on for longer than 12 weeks we would suddenly need to find care home fees and had no way of managing her affairs. She had spoken to mum about it years before but got a no way Jose response.
I have been trying to get my parents to sort something out in case either of them become incapable of managing their affairs, dad is already incapable of coping with bills and he has never let my mum handle anything on that lines. Strangely mum has understood completely about smart meters and having monthly direct debits, dad just refuses to even attempt to understand it so I do have all the bills e mailed to me now.
OH after dealing with her mums affairs asked me if my parents had a will, which I wasn't sure about, so I did ask and got told it was none of my business, they are just old school and deem these things private, luckily mum took me aside and said they have.
You don't know whats around the corner, a friend of ours her husband has developed a rapid dementia and within 6 months he is incapable of recognizing his wife or parents, he is in his early 50's. To make matters worse she is coping with both her parents with dementia.
Now LadyA you have given me an idea, perhaps I should do my nails, look good on the bus wouldn't it. We had an Alice band with a heart on it left on a bus, I think that is a must for Valentines day
 
The two bantams haven't laid anything, think I'll have to move them on in the spring. The growers from June are pumping the eggs out, couldn't have asked for more. They're goldline hybrids. The green egg layer has stopped laying again but the maran chips in most days.
 
Having started this I think I had better contribute! I have been hen-less for over five years but maybe when the divorce is finally done and dusted I can think about chickens again.

Marigold mentioned cats - well the sole survivor of my three black kittens was killed on January 6th crossing the road 100 yards from my front door on his way home having been missing for four weeks. At least I know what happened to him and that he was killed instantly. The house had been feeling strange for a couple of weeks and the knowledge that he was dead just made it worse, so on Friday 11th Jan I went to one of our local privately run cat rescue centres. They always seem to have older cats that no-one wants, and they are also quite often black. The website had several "pairs" of black cats, or a black cat with one of a different colour so I was fairly sure there would be cats who came to me.

To cut a long story short I came home with a 6 year old brother and sister, he's ginger and white and she is a Calico Tortie (tortoiseshell but with white fur as well). Pickle and Misty. Then there is Oscar, a nine year old black male and his pen-mate Smokey who is a very elegant grey female who is about 2 years old. The first three are neutered but I don't know about Smokey because the council had asked for her to be collected from a house from which the tenants had done a runner after trashing the place, so I have no history. I don't want to have her flank shaved in order to look for the scar as she has such a lovely coat so I'll just have to watch her and see if she shows any signs of coming into season.

I have a dowsing pendulum which can be very accurate - it was correct about Mischief being uninjured and returning home. The last time I interrogated it he would still have been alive. So I asked whether Smokey was spayed and it indicated that she was spayed when she was six months old. If it's wrong and I end up with a litter of kittens it won't be much of a problem as kittens aren't difficult to rehome - then she'll be spayed!

Having four adult cats is very different from having three kittens. They all need lots of cuddles, which suits me and Smokey is particularly "demanding" but she comes to greet me when I come home. Four adult cats using litter trays (have to keep them in for a couple more days) means more clearing up than the kittens although I haven't had the "accidents" that happened with the kittens. At the moment they are still in two camps - upstairs cats and downstairs cats. Pickle comes downstairs a lot and that's when we get a bit of hissing and growling; Misty comes down to use the litter tray and several times has come three quarters of the way downstairs, but any movement, even from me, sends her rushing back upstairs. She spends a lot of time asleep on my bed during the day and usually sleeps next to my pillow or on it, behind my head, at night. Pickle tends to sleep at the end of the bed. At the moment I'm providing food upstairs but Pickle will come and eat in the kitchen. Smokey has ventured upstairs much more than Oscar has but potentially she then has two lots of hissing to contend with. It's not quite two weeks so I can't expect total harmony just yet.

They are all very affectionate and also very different. Oscar and Smokey were micro-chipped last week, partly because the outer cat-flap reads the chip to open the door but also for identification purposes if they get lost. The vet commented on how calm they were - I'd have hollered if someone stuck a needle that size in me! I couldn't even watch the vet do it. We discovered that Oscar's back teeth were badly affected by tartar and his gums were quite red, so yesterday he had an extensive and EXPENSIVE scale and polish but at least they didn't have to take any teeth out. I think he has a few missing but that doesn't stop him from almost biting my fingers off when I offer him cooked chicken!

Talking of biting, I mad a mistake on Sunday. I went to see my sister and was over two hours later than I had intended, getting home again. Smokey obviously thought she'd been abandoned again and really gave me the cold shoulder. On Monday, I had a long telephone conversation with my sister and although Smokey was on my knee and I was stroking her I obviously wasn't giving her enough attention as she suddenly nipped the end of my nose! So that's one lesson learnt. Hopefully she will eventually feel more secure.

It is very rewarding watching them become steadily more confident. Smokey goes through the inner cat-flaps with ease; Pickle struggles a bit because he's a bit podgy and has shorter legs. I'm hoping that means Misty can use one too but I think Oscar will need some lessons. Smokey was the first to play with a toy but Oscar has now become very possessive about one particular toy. Including the semi-feral cats at my previous home, I've had 15 cats and none of them have show any interest in cat-nip. Smokey quite likes it but Misty and Pickle love it. I've come across Pickle on the half landing a few time with one of the cat-nip toys - apparently totally spaced out!

Time for Oscar's chicken and painkiller/anti-inflammatory drug. If I can work out how to do it I'll post photos!
 
Oh, they are gorgeous!! And well done for taking in older rescues! And if Smokey was neutered at six months, there wouldn't be a scar to see, even if you shaved her flank, so she'd be baldy for nothing! My little Toria was neutered at about four-five months - as soon as she reached a good enough size, my vet neutered her, and my tomcat. I was worried about her pulling stitches, as she's an extremely lively nutcase tortie, but the vet said there wouldn't be any on the outside. And there was just the tiniest line, like a small scratch, visible on her flank. Such a neat job, I was amazed, because my other female cats had been older, and had kittens (last one, they had to abort three huge kittens, as the mum cat was only six months old, and it was her second litter! She wouldn't have survived, and as it was, two litters at that age had affected her own growth. But she was pregnant when she strayed in, and became pregnant again within a couple of weeks of giving birth, while still nursing her kittens!). So, anyway, those were bigger operations, with stitches on the outside. The last cat, because of having to take the kittens, she had a huge line of stitches right down her tummy, but fortunately, she was way too weak and ill to pull at them. She'd been eating three large tins of cat food a day here, and I discovered the neighbouring farmer's wife had been feeding her as well - but with growing kittens inside, and feeding her litter, and trying to grow to adulthood herself, she was skeletally thin once the kittens had been removed. It affected her. For the rest of her life (she died at 10) she was obsessive about food, but didn't grow to adult size. She was stumpy-legged and fat!

When will you be doing introductions? You could do it gradually from now, but putting bedding the others have been sleeping on in the room with each set, if you follow, so they can get accustomed to each other's scents without conflict, and then maybe exchange a bit of each other's cat litter. There's bound to be some hissing, but nice if yu can minimise it! I had to rehome one lovely female cat that turned up here some years ago. would have loved to add her to the household, but although my tom at the time was fine with her, my female would just attack her on sight, so the poor cat lived in the trees outside (mine couldn't climb!) and only came down to feed, when mine was safely indoors! The two I have now have been together since they were a few weeks old and although they play fight quite aggressively at times, they are devoted to each other.
 
They've all been together since I brought them home Lady A. I decided I would see how they interacted and only separate them if there were problems.
There haven't been any fights, just the occasional hiss, growl or staring each other out, so I decided to let them get on with it and sort out the hierarchy.

I do feed the upstairs cats upstairs but Pickle is downstairs quite a lot. Smokey has come upstairs several times in the last two days - she's realised that is where I am. Oscar came up last night for a while - he tends to ignore Pickle hissing at him anyway. The two litter trays are side by side and they all use them.

Oscar and Smokey had been at the rescue since the beginning of November and December respectively. Pickle seems to be more or less OK but Misty was obviously very traumatised - in the rescue she was hiding behind the beds in the sleeping quarters and was difficult to get into the carrier. They had been taken to the rescue the previous Saturday because the owner couldn't take them to her rental property. So six years with one owner, six days in the rescue and then home here. She is still timid about coming downstairs when the others are about but she comes down to use the litter tray.

Oscar was trying to kill a toy this morning; there was quite a repertoire of funny little noises as he bit it, threw it and tried to disembowel it. He's still on painkillers but obviously feels fine!
 
Margaid said:
They've all been together since I brought them home Lady A. I decided I would see how they interacted and only separate them if there were problems.
There haven't been any fights, just the occasional hiss, growl or staring each other out, so I decided to let them get on with it and sort out the hierarchy.

I do feed the upstairs cats upstairs but Pickle is downstairs quite a lot. Smokey has come upstairs several times in the last two days - she's realised that is where I am. Oscar came up last night for a while - he tends to ignore Pickle hissing at him anyway. The two litter trays are side by side and they all use them.

Oscar and Smokey had been at the rescue since the beginning of November and December respectively. Pickle seems to be more or less OK but Misty was obviously very traumatised - in the rescue she was hiding behind the beds in the sleeping quarters and was difficult to get into the carrier. They had been taken to the rescue the previous Saturday because the owner couldn't take them to her rental property. So six years with one owner, six days in the rescue and then home here. She is still timid about coming downstairs when the others are about but she comes down to use the litter tray.

Oscar was trying to kill a toy this morning; there was quite a repertoire of funny little noises as he bit it, threw it and tried to disembowel it. He's still on painkillers but obviously feels fine!
Click to expand...

They do react differently to catnip, don't they? My tom, Atticus, ends up drooling all over the floor, but catnip toys do at least make him a bit livlier for a while! He's a lazy lump! Toria, on the other hand, just loves toys, catnip or no. Even a scrap of paper, throw it, and she'll be happy to chase it! I limit their catnip toys, they usually just get them for an hour or so every day. My two are special needs, so can't go outside at all. Makes for a lot of cleaning up cat hair! I don't allow them in the bedrooms though, and I have no carpets, so that helps! I couldn't sleep with them in the bedroom. They seem to have fun & games half the night, racing up and down the hallway, playing in their tunnel etc. And Toria, being tortie, if she wants attention, she just gives little bites! Or when she's settling down for a doze, she can't seem to help giving a little nibble...! :roll: I certainly wouldn't want to have her biting me during the night!
 
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