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My millefleur girls are very special to me. They're special because they were the ladies which introduced me to the realities of hen keeping. I spent many weeks researching chickens, and the best way in which to keep them. Once Mabel and Maude arrived, I had to put all of my theoretical knowledge to the test. Every time one of them sneezed, I panicked and thought: myco. Every time one or other of them snaffled a stray knicker feather, I thought: calcium deficiency. Now, experience has taught me that a hen that sneezes might be doing so because she stuck her beak in something unsavoury, and that feather snaffling is sometimes done just because they don't yet know the difference between each other and food. Me and my mille's have been on a journey together, that thankfully they have survived.

Both girls are currently going through their moult. Typically, they spend the first half of said moult feeling rather rubbish. As the old plumage falls out and the new quills push through their skin, they are obviously in some discomfort. I always ensure that the flock is given supplements during moulting season. It takes considerable energy to grow new feathers, and this is a prime time for illnesses. Luckily, my mighty mille's have survived this first stage with nary a sniffle. They are now in to the emerging pattern phase.

The picture at the top of my blog is of Mabel when she was in her first year. Post moult, she became a lot whiter and more matronly looking. So I am watching her with interest as the new feathers begin to emerge. She is much happier in herself, and has decided to randomly thunder up the garden towards the new chicks, causing them to scatter in amusing ways. Once satisfied with their terror, she boks happily to herself. I can already see that her markings are going to be even whiter than last year. Do hens lose feather pigment as they age, I wonder? Will Mabel eventually be as white as Hilda and demand a blue rinse?

Maude is spending oodles of time dustbathing. I wonder if the new feather growth is itchy, and this is her way of scratching. Maude emerged from her moult last year stunningly beautiful. I very much hope that we have a similair effect this year.

The other girls will moult in turn, but it's not nearly as exciting as seeing what the mille's will do. A single colour hen will moult and grow back single colour feathers. A patterned hen, though, could surprise you. Not with corporate advertising on their backside, granted, but still. There are possibilities.

They should be displaying their latest creations within a fortnight.

The Final Straight

So, now I find myself on day 14 with my pekin frizzle eggs. All chicks are alove and (literally) kicking at this stage, so I am quietly thrilled. However, anything could happen between now and hatch day, so I am learning the truth of the old adage about chicken counting. Still, just in case I do have chicks by next weekend, I have to be prepared.

This weekend I will be organising the brooder in the garage. I'm undecided just yet on whether to use the wooden box I used for Purdy and Celia as babies, or whether to put any resulting fluff balls in one of the childrens old plastic toy boxes. Regardless, the heat lamp will have to be set up and some non-slip flooring installed. I have a chick drinker, which I have been reliably informed needs to be filled with marbles to protect against any drownings. I need to pick up some medicated chick crumb to protect against cocciodosis, and then I should be all set.

The chicks were always going to be housed in the garage, yet a slight complication has put a spanner in the works. We are having two entire bathrooms delivered next week, and they will also need to be stored in the garage. I'm not quite sure how this will work yet, beyond envisioning the chicks living in the bath. We shall see.

The main flock have been most put out by the wet weather. Bad tempered pecking is on the up, and the silkies have taken to gobbling like deranged turkeys at the sky. A nightingales song it is not. Mabel is randomly flattening underlings, apparently more out of boredom than anything else (Actually, while I've mentioned Mabel, it seems that she has become a bit of a pin up. Several of my twitter pals are currently incubating millefleur pekin eggs based on her magnificence. She would expect nothing less).

The next week should be very interesting.

Mabel Gets A Make Over

Now that the girls have mostly lost their old plumage, they are busy growing their winter fashions. Maude looks much the same, a lovely caramel colour dotted with black and white. She has begun to preen and strut again, obviously thinking that she looks like the cats pyjamas. Mabel is going through a more radical image change.

The tips of a millefleur pekin's feathers are supposed to be white, so it's no great surprise that the first burst of quills have left Mabel looking like she's been through a bad shock. Her head is almost completely white, as is her chest. All indications are that she will have a lot more white in her markings than she has had previously. The others eye her with suspicion. Who is this new, pale leader? Mabel herself seems to spend a remarkable amount of time preening her new wing feathers, as if she can't quite believe that these odd coloured feathers belong to her.

She has, however, returned to flattening the others periodically, just to remind them who's boss.