Bruno not looking her best

Nobody has told Bruno that her feathers are not waterproof. He remains a hysterical little girl at times, and continually relies on Barbie-Q the little Silkie for reassurance.

As soon as Henrietta, (OK she does bully her given the chance) or Ken go near her she runs around squawking just as I imagine a headless chicken would do. However there is no doubting her flying and climbing abilities when she believes she is under threat, which she believes is 60% of the time. Ken never bothers her and Barbie Q protects her from her own shadow.

Bruno's typical day is as follows: I open the Eglu between, 05.30-06.00 in the morning, Bruno is always found to be sleeping in the nest box and is the last one out following Barbie Q. More often than not, I will lift him out of the coop, give him a stroke and fuss, then carry him out to the enclosure and place him in the nesting box within the compost bin coop. Bruno is then joined by Barbie, they both forage about within the enclosure. If one of us is about, they are allowed out of the enclosure. Bruno does not leave Barbie Q's sight unless it is to run, climb or fly away when startled. At these times she will head towards the Eglu coop.

When she is not fleeing her own and others shadows she will be in the nest box or snuggle under Barbie Q. Her other favourite past time is sunbathing. Maybe she thinks she is still a chick and suffering from separation anxiety. Duane believes her demeanour is because she is the only white chicken. The grandchildren, Jack, Emily and Annabell believe it is because she is the 'baby' and gets scared easily and needs to be protected. Heidi moo, our youngest granddaughter, looks ,says 'chickens' and then points, giggles and laughs at her.

After spending the day, fleeing, flying foraging, sleeping and sunbathing, Bruno will make her way back to the coop, she goes to bed early, usually by 18.00. Barbie Q has to go in with her and will sit with her until she settles. If Barbie Q decides she wants to slip out for a quick drink or bite to eat when she is on 'guard duty' Bruno will squawk her displeasure.

Then comes the moment that I guess Bruno probably hates most, Henrietta, going to bed. This remains a supervised activity. Ken will enter the run and coop, pop his head through the door, step in, take his position and settle. Not so with Henrietta, everyone has to know she is not happy with Bruno and rules the roost. She will be the last one to go to bed, choosing to have last minute feasts before going in and out of the run (just to see if we are watching I think). Then she clucks and chicken moans with disapproval before putting her head into the coop. I think this is chicken psychological warfare. This is repeated a few times before she enters the coop, once inside there is a bit of moving about and much continued moaning from Henrietta. I will open the hatch to check she is not having a surreptitious peck at Bruno. Time out for her if she is caught doing this (More on Henrietta in another blog) . The chickens all move about to allow Henrietta to have whatever is her chosen place and within minutes they have settled.

It always reminds me of when the children would have sleep overs and you would have to go and 'have words' and wait at the bottom of the stairs and listen to ensure they are settling. Needless to say in the morning, Bruno has the prized position is always snuggled in the nesting box in the morning. So starts another day in the life of Bruno. One of the positive aspects of Bruno's demeanor is that a solution may be to by a white Silkie or another Sultan. To date, I am not sure if my Silkie eggs are going to hatch. That is another blog....

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