Bluebell and Pepper.

If you have been reading this blog all the way through, then you will know that we got Ady some chickens after he had his colon cancer.
He has always wanted chicken at home . He always had chickens at his parents before, many moons ago.
We went off and bought Ingo, Snowy, Bluebell and Pepper.
Ingo decided that she was going to be a right bossy old boot and also be very broody, so we sent her off to our friends to be as broody as she liked, and they wanted some chicks, so that was good.
Snowy was quite a poorly chicken and so she died last year, bless her and that left us with Bluebell and Pepper.
Cyril, our black cat, would spend all day sitting in the garden with them, just watching and keeping guard. He would never let any other cat who came to visit, anywhere near them! They were his girls.

Ady would spend loads of time fiddling about with them and pinching food out of my cupboards for them cos they had eaten my entire garden up. They always knew when Ady was about and would follow him to the bottom of the garden when he went to turn the fish bubbles on, hoping for a few meal worms and fish flakes.
Ady would spend a lot of time, just sitting outside with them and enjoying them.

Bluebell and Pepper were very much part of the family. We even made an area on my allotment so they could come for a day trip in the cat basket when I was going down there.
Even the neighbours enjoyed hearing them chatter away while they were sitting in their gardens.

Last Monday, Ady went out with his friend for the day and said that he would be back late which meant I was on fish and chicken duty.
That evening, they went off to bed, so I nipped out and turned off the fish and fed them, checked the chickens were tucked up in bed, said “Goodnight girls” and thought no more of it.

Steph was first up the next morning. Whoever is first up, always lets the chickens out and gives them their corn. They then stay in their run until Ady gets up later to let them into the garden.
They have been such brilliant therapy for him.
Steph came running upstairs all panicked saying “Mum, mum, the chickens have gone...dad, dad!!”
Well, my immediate thought was that I hadn’t shut them in properly and they had wandered off so I thought “Bugger, shit and bollocks, now I’m in really big trouble”

Our poor poor girls, Mr Fox had been to visit in the night and eaten them. All he left was feathers and blood. Poor girls. Poor Ady. He is absolutely gutted....really gutted.

The girls had a house with the nesting box jutting out. It had removable floors so you could clean it properly and that bloody fox had pushed the floor up where they were sleeping, they must have fallen out, and he killed them..bastard.

At the moment, Ady is feeling very low. Those girls meant the world to him and now every time he goes into the garden, his two girls are not there anymore, following him around singing their little songs.

I have told Ady that if he continues to feel so low, then I am taking him to the doctors. Ady told his friends up the garage what I had said, and they replied “Why, has he got some chickens then?”
Anyway, his friends at the garage happen to know of a woman who has some Bantams or Silkies, I forget which, which are in an incubator at the moment and he can have some when they are ready, so that has cheered Ady up a bit.
I went to pick Steph up from a friend’s house that evening and we were talking about it and how the fox had got in.
She suggested that we put some catches on the inside that you have to slide around to take the flooring off, from the inside. “What a good idea” I said, and went home to tell Ady.

Well, I got home to find Ady in the garden with lots of bits of wood, hammer, nails and a tube of no nails.
The chicken house looked more like a scene for Tom and Jerry!
He had stuck the flooring with no nails and hammered it all down with nails too, and put bits of wood around to stop the fox from getting anywhere near. “That’ll stop the little bastard” he said.
The remaining feathers and blood have been cleaned away and the run has been cleaned out , ready for some more chickens.
Ady is absolutely lost without them and says randomly throughout the day “ I’m bloody gutted I am...just gutted”

Rest In Peace Bluebell and Pepper, and I hope your death wasn’t too awful, you poor girls. Find Julia, she will look after you both.