I've got a crook chook!

Poppy the very old hen is not too well. She appears to have an impacted crop, it is huge and swollen, far more than normal, she is quite blue around the wattles and is sitting hunched up and looking sorry for herself. This is quite odd and even more odd is the fact that she did not even bother to come out and free range with the others in safety as the dog next door is away in kennels at the moment.

The picture shows Ronnie, Roxy and Peggy tidying up the spilt dove feed at the base of the bungalow cote. I have forced some olive oil and water into Poppy's throat and have massaged the same every few hours, she still looks a funny colour but the crop is a lot less distended after four hours of therapy. I am quite glad as the next step would be a bit drastic and involves the use of a scalpel blade and then superglue. Apparently farmers do it all the time and the chickens never feel a thing...how do they know, speak chicken do they? She is a sorry sight at the best of times, being four years old she is quite old in human years, but she is a nice friendly wee thing and will live out her days with me if she remains well. She laid her last egg some time ago so is a bit of a sponger but we don't mind! From free ranger to freeloader!

Bit of excitement down at Moonzie this week, some rapscallions pinched a Land Rover from a nearby town and dumped it on our track after removing all the good bits. If only we had a Landy we too could have had some spares before the police took it away. Mind you it was fingerprinted and DNA taken so perhaps it might not have been a wise move.

Off to check on Old Miss Poppy, fingers crossed.