The broody chaos reached a crescendo today: the words ‘headless’, ‘rushing’, ‘chicken' and ‘around’ are MORE than apt! In no particular order we have had:

• Pear the duck being ousted again by the Indian Game and so going off in a huff, then when she tried to get back into the stable, being chased off by the Red Leghorn cross. After four failed attempts we intervened. Jack physically held the Indian Game, David kept the Red Leghorn at bay and slowly and nervously Pear found her way back. We then spent a careful hour re-sorting her nesting accommodation so she is now inside a mini-house with a door which we can shut! The plan is to shut her in at night and some of the day to stop the others annoying her, letting her out for a feed, a drink and a poo when the coast is clear!!
• THE Indian Game (again) trying to oust a fellow Indian Game off ‘her’ eggs – (which are the five from 12 ‘bought-in’ Indian Game eggs) – in the process an egg was cracked and the chick squashed. We are now down to four out of twelve eggs!!! Grrghhhh.
• Queenie being ousted from her eggs by our Hedgerow Broody and her chicks as they had decided that Queenie’s nest was a great place to sleep for the night. We ‘persuaded' her otherwise.
• Napoleona deciding to join his two ‘sitting’ wives (Napoleona and Katherine) in the pig arc- lovely and romantic and all that but not so great when TWO eggs got crushed… Both sets of turkey eggs are now together as Napoleona kept leaving her set to join Katherine so we decided to put them all in one nest – as the first set hatch we will then remove the resulting poults and one of the two adults to look after them, keeping our fingers crossed the other will stay to finish incubating the rest!!
• And our dates must be wrong as no sign of pipping in any of Queenie’s eggs (Exchequer and Marans) nor the remaining four IG eggs

The cute picture of the chick is to remind us that it is all worth it in the end really!!!