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A beautiful little ginger and white banded girl called Hebe chose me today! We were reccomended to a petshop locally who have a wonderful hamster breeder and, as I went and sat by the cage chatting to them (how mad am I!?), one little girl came up and pressed her nose up against the corner of the cage nearest me and sat for over 5 minutes listening to me ramble on. She seems very confident to be handles and is currently crashed out, having spent over an hour exploring her huge new cage and generally enjoying all the space and activities. Will post pictures when we get her out again, hopefully tomorrow afternoon! But I still miss Hilda!

We survived yesterday. The chickens are back outside and the cages are cleaned ready for tonight. The highest ever temperature so far in the kitchen of 25.5C which means there is a fan blowing air across the back of the fridge to keep the element cool, otherwise it goes into overheat and stops working. Picture for @Daphne. Whilst Portia isn't actually on the dog in this early one, she's still pretty brave to get that close to a terrier. After today, the temperatures begin to fall back to the seasonal average of 30C with an increasing chance of rain. Looking forward to that!

I can thoroughly recommend whatever variant I have right now. Tired for 2 days, stuffed sinuses and light cough. Just have to spend another 2 days as a hermit in my house, before I get to roam free again, according to the health ministry. As long as I’m symptom free for at least 24 hours I can go out again Friday.

How’s Hebe doing?

They need to be separate and at ground level. As said, when they hatch they won't be able to climb steps. As you are, nature will take its course and the chicks will hatch and be unable to get back to security when they tumble down the steps to feed. It's not nature to hatch in a nest up steps, they would normally chose a secure bush and nest beneath it. So you need to create a secure area at ground level. That is, secure from rats and the other chickens who will eat the chicks given the chance. Very tidy setup you have there. You will need to keep the chicks separate for at least 12 weeks and the mother needs to return to the flock at 6 weeks. Rearing is the hard part; hatching is easy.

Is she separated from your other hens? You would be better off giving her separate ground floor housing. The young chicks won’t be able to get back up the ladder for weeks.

The chick we’ve named Plum. Hopefully a girl so we can keep her. Plum taught me so much when I was a newbie

He has now matured and is defending his flock. Just stay away from him. The only way to have a tame cockerel is to pick them up EVERY day from a CHICK and you haven't done that. You can't tame his behaviour and don't even try to re-home him because you will give someone no option but to despatch him. He's your problem so don't pass it on. Just keep your distance and never get between him and his hens and never touch him on the back. A water pistol will keep him at bay. Eventually he will calm down if you don't threaten him. Especially when his hens start to moult and are not laying. But he is doing his natural job and defending his flock so don't fault him for that; he's just being a cockerel. DO NOT let your children anywhere near him. He's not a cuddly hen and perhaps you should have left the girls to it, accepting that there will be fights but at least they won't be seriously damaged. We have the same problem, but we stay well away and let him do his thing and protect his girls. Believe me when I tell you that our cockerel is at least twice the size of yours and is extremely dangerous and I have the scars to prove it. So there is no such thing as a cockerel whisperer, but a hen whisperer perhaps? In the meantime Portia is happy in her cage in the bathroom. She came out this morning and tried to crow for the first time in 9 ½ years: happy hen. Just to add we rescued Frankie (an exceptional Gold laced Wyandotte) from the cockerel pen because he was so beaten up that he had his head through the chicken wire to survive. He was eternally grateful. If anyone came anywhere near us he went for them. So we were his flock.

Found our lovely Hilda dead in her cage on Sunday morning, snuggled up in her bed. Must have been very quick as we heard her bumbling around, as usual the evening before and she had been up to the cage door to see up that morning. Only 22 months old but she had been 'slowing down' for a couple of weeks but still bright eye and happy to come out. Totally not ready for this so soon.

Surprise! Who knew this was still a thing??? It only took me 2,5 years!