Well, hello everyone. How you doing? I realised yesterday that it has been an entire week since I've last blogged - and for an unplanned absence that's quite a long time for me. In truth, I don't have nor want to offer any excuse as to why I haven't; life has simply run away with me and I don't understand where on earth the time has gone. Funny how life bites you in the arse sometimes, isn't it?

I've got 101 things that I need to blog about, but until I know where to start I thought I would show you our new additions to the family. They're actually my dad's chickens, and he's had them for just short of two weeks now. However, seeing as I live with my parents, I've been helping to look after them so I enjoy them just the same! As you will have already figured out I'm sure from the title, these girls are ex-battery hens and as such do not look their best, as you can see. Telling the hens apart is quite a challenge, but at the moment Myrtle (the lightest coloured hen), is looking in the worst shape, with barely any feathers on her wings or chest. Doris is missing pretty much all of her feathers on the front of her neck, and she along with Henrietta appears to have been debeaked. Their debeaking will have been because they will have picked fights with other hens when they were in the battery farm, and the farmers feel that it is necessary to do so. Yet, they only peck at each other when they are in stressful conditions, which they had spent all of their life in, and have yet to peck at each other since moving into their new home.

Generally speaking, however, they're not looking as bad as we had expected and they're already showing signs of improvement. Their combs, almost blanched white when my dad first got them, are slowly turning redder as they are being exposed to sunlight - something that they had never seen nor felt before. Their feathers are starting to come though already and they're steadily gaining weight. Also, they're picking up on their natural instincts and a couple of them are starting to go to "bed" at dusk without being ushered inside, and as of today have started taking dust baths to clean themselves. We're also getting a fresh supply of eggs every single day - always a bonus and they taste fantastic!

It turns out that chickens make fantastic pets, and are intelligent and distinctive animals to keep. All of them have developed a personality and have established the pecking order, and it's very entertaining to watch them go about their daily business. Myrtle, for example, is definitely the boss and is the most confident. She will willingly climb onto my lap for a treat and races across the run when you shake the bag! Sybil is next in line, she will come to you with a bit of coaxing but is still a little wary. Doris is quite feisty and has already escaped once (Don't ask!), and Henrietta, despite being the biggest, is actually quite timid and shy. I think that they make a good group and will bring out the best in each other, much like how my two dogs Holly and Zak do. None of them have fallen out yet either, which is good news.

The next time I take some photographs of the hens will be when they're looking a bit healthier and more normal, and will update again then - but in the meantime, they will probably be making regular appearances on my Instagram so if you're interested, follow me on there (Subtle hint).

Normal blogging - whatever that is to me these days - will resume early next week. I have some exciting posts to share with you, including an afternoon with Cohorted, trying out the new menu at Pizza Express, the Tour de France in Yorkshire and much more besides! I also need to get around to giving this blog an overhaul, which I've been meaning to do for weeks - so much to do, so little time...