Frozen Chicken

Yesterday when I fed the chickens their breakfast they were all out and about and seemed fine. I had a busy morning shopping, getting my hair cut and generally catching up with everything that needed doing outside the village, (the roads were passable at last) and didn't get back to the farm until early afternoon. When I went out to check for eggs and give the chickens their tea I opened the nesting box lid and found poor little Molly sat on her own with a blue comb and looking absolutely frozen.

I can only assume she went straight back to bed after breakfast and sat there all day on her own getting colder and colder. I quickly cuddled her up in my fleece and brought her into the house, she sat without moving whilst I lay the dog towel on the floor and then sat on it whilst I went and got the cat basket from the cupboard (I didn't want the dogs and cats to bother her while she couldn't move).

By the time LH had got in from work, a couple of hours later, her comb was turning red again and she seemed able to move a bit better.

My relief was immense, she is my favourite chicken, I know you shouldn't have favourites but she is such a character. She is nosy, noisy and likes to be the first to run and greet me and have a cuddle. She has funny stumpy little feathers, unlike the others who all have lovely white silky feathers, in fact if you didn't know better you would assume she was an ex-battery hen instead of a free-ranger.

As you can see from the pictures she is much brighter this morning, and after a breakfast of her favourite nuts and seeds she went back to sleep looking much redder of comb and more fluffed up of feather.

As you can see she had to fight Rosy, the Jack Russell for her breakfast but she got her fair share in the end.

It's lovely to see here on the farm that our animals all get on so well with each other, at the moment Molly is asleep with her head under her wing with Rosy on one side and Archie the cat fast asleep on the bench above her.

If she was a wild bird he would have had her for lunch without a second thought, because he knows her he is very gentle, quite amazing.

The snow is falling heavily here today and all the thawing of the last couple of days might never have happened, I have rung LH at work to advise him to get home early if he can, as soon the farm track will be impassable again.

We are keeping warm and cosy, the cats, the dogs, my indoor chicken and me.

Sue xx