16 April

The hens safely grazed again today, after their breakfast of white rice, stale bread and floury apple.  These hens have not shown the enthusiasm for rice that the Rhode Island Reds used to show, which Simon put down to culture rather than nature, having experimented with throwing them pieces of pear yesterday and getting them quite passionate about pear through the effects, he thought, of competition, which fits my experience with the peas as well.  This morning though the hens took to the rice with alacrity, so I wondered whether perhaps it was just black rice they didn’t care for, and perhaps the Rhode Island Reds may not have particularly cared for black rice either, had they been offered it.  Though it could also be that I am feeding them a little less after wondering whether Maude had got too heavy to fly up to the perch.  She was down on the roof of the inner hen-house, underneath the perch, when I looked last night as well, so I made sure it had a nice thick layer of pine shavings on it today for her to sleep on.  Maude did quite well in the bush today, and deserved to as my most attentive hen.  She was the first to follow me into the bush, but when she saw the others weren’t coming she hurried back over the bridge leaving me to turn over logs rather pointlessly.  Eventually I was able to persuade Wilma to join me, and as soon as Maude saw she wouldn’t be alone with me in the bush she hurried back to find herself two well-earned worms, a spider and a large number of little hopping things.  Mabel and Goldie eventually came over too (Goldie's moment of lameness really was just a moment, she's been racing around like anything, as have they all, gamboling you could even say) but the early birds had already got the worms and before long Mabel gave up and lead the whole flock back over the bridge and up to the lawn.