A page for random post about the Chalk family dogs and chickens and perhaps occasionally human famil
A quick update on Angel, the little hen we rescued in such a poor state in June. She was so pale and tiny and underweight when she arrived that I wasn't even sure she would survive or thrive but she's a real little fighter and is looking so much better. Still a way to go but well feathered and doing really well - always the first in line for any treats!
Maisie and Chip on their holidays in Welsh Wales. They were very excited because they'd never peed on a real castle before.
Just an observation, but if your Golden Retriever is terrorising three tiny dogs who actually don't want to play with a wildly bouncy dog who's the size of a small horse, yelling (from a distance) 'get over here' in an angry voice is probably not an effective recall strategy. I doubt your dog has been trained to respond to that particular cue, and just repeating it several times with 'NOW' at the end of it is unlikely to achieve much 🙄
Poor little Strudel is nervous anyway around bigger dogs, he's been doing really well but this morning ended up lying on the ground shaking with fear with this b****y dog relentlessly running in circles round him and jumping over him, so I guess that's us back to square one 😢 Even Maisie and Chip who are usually pretty confident with other dogs were upset by this one.
Owner's response, naturally, was 'he's only playing'. True, but entirely missing the point 😡😡😡
If you go down to the woods today - or other days this week - you might well encounter this scary little gang. Some assorted pictures from our lovely cool, shady walks at Stanton Waters and Wickwater Woods, we are so lucky in this weather to have these places available.
One of the best things about getting new rescue hens is seeing all the 'firsts' in their lives as they start to enjoy treats and exploring. One of the very best things is when they figure out the dust bath - it took my new girls a while but they absolutely LOVE it now, it's rare not to see at least one of them in there and sometimes all four manage to fit in together.
I know dust bathing is a practical thing - it helps dislodge parasites and cleans the feather of excess preen-oil but it's impossible to see them rolling and scratching so enthusiastically and not think that they also just enjoy it!
Happy 6th Gotcha Day Chip - just as nutty as when you arrived but the sweetest natured little dog ever, lovely with people, dogs and other animals. Love you to bits (Micro) Chip ❤
Strudel loves his bed, only breakfast will tempt him out from his blanket 🥰
Happy gotcha day Maisie Floof, I can't believe it's been four years. She must be 12yrs + now but for an older girl she's still full of beans and is so very loved as part of our little family. 🥰
This pathetic little scrap is Angel, she's been here a week, before that she was in a cage somewhere producing cheap eggs.
The picture doesn't really show it but Angel is tiny, even allowing for the lack of feathering I've never seen such a small hen. The picture also doesn't show that most of her body is completely bald, she has no feathers at all on her back and bottom and few on her neck and body.
Angel is still laying an egg every day, as that is what she's been bred to do, despite the drain on her physical resources that she's ill equipped to bear. I'm not sure how she will do longer term but she is a little fighter and has done absolutely nothing but eat since she got here, so I really hope she can gain some weight and condition and maybe even some feathers. We'll do our very best for her - and whatever happens I am absolutely sure that the last week has been the best week of her life.
I absolutely get it that times are hard and people are struggling, but please think of Angel and all those like her and if you are able then be prepared to to pay a little more for your eggs so chickens can have better welfare standards.
Playtime at The Field of Fun and Freedom this morning, it was only the second time we have visited this field so lots of sniffing and exploring going on.
I hadn't realised until this visit that the field supports Food Fairies for Street Dogs & Cats, an organisation supporting rescue dogs and cats here and abroad. I will dig out some items for their donations bin next time we go!
My four new girls are here and I'm completely smitten. They are ex-caged hens, I'd forgotten how pale and tatty they are at first but I'm looking forward to seeing them colour up and get their pretty feathers over the next few months.
They are amazing little creatures, first thing this morning they were in a colony cage with around 80 chickens and not much more space than an A4 piece of paper each, this afternoon they are exploring, dust bathing, preening, eating (.....and eating and eating) and drinking as though they have lived here forever.
No names yet, I have two names in mind but may need to enlist the help of my nieces little girls to choose the other two.
Another shady woodland walk today, this time at Wickwater Woods. It's a lovely place for dogs, one of my happy places to take them.
I feel so lucky to have this little group of dogs, they have come to us from different places at different ages and all with some trauma in their backgrounds but they have gelled into a lovely little family who are all so sweet with each other, I love them to bits
We had a lovely cool, shady walk yesterday at Stanton Waters Woodland Walks, perfect in this hot weather. The dogs have been a bit confined over the last few days with walks being restricted to late evening so it was lovely to have an hour's gentle pottering under the trees.
I very sadly lost Esmerelda, my last chicken, about 10 days ago. I have been saying for some time that after 10 years of looking after chickens I needed a break and when Esmerelda went I wouldn't get more, but in the event I wasn't prepared for how sad my empty garden and chicken run would feel, I was very torn.
I decided the rational thing to do was to make a list if the pros and cons of getting more chickens, as below. Seeing this the conclusion was obvious.
I am very excited to have reserved four little rescue ex-caged hens from BHWT to pick up on 17th June 😁
There is about a 1 degree temperature difference between Chip needing her snuggly Equafleece jumper and Maisie being too hot. Early this morning briefly hit the sweet spot where they were both comfortable 😆
David assures me the dogs NEVER get cheese when he's cooking. The dogs tell me otherwise 😎😆
Chip may be tiny but she's also the greediest dog I've ever owned. She finds many things delicious, apparently including the small piles of flour that she found in the field and ate before I cottoned on to what she was doing.
She sends her apologies to members of the local running club who are probably still aimlessly wandering the fields of Cricklade because she ate their route markers 😱
When I see my dogs in their coats with their little harness rings sticking up it reminds me of some sort of fairground game. I feel I should have a long stick with a hook on the end to lift them in and out of the car 😆😅
We had a very enjoyable first visit to The Field of Fun and Freedom this morning, the dogs loved having a new place to explore.
We are very lucky to have quite a selection of secure dog spaces in easy reach. Although our dogs get plenty of off-lead time on our normal daily walks it's a different sort of freedom to be able to let them run and explore without having to worry about keeping them together or keeping them close, it's lovely to just be able to 'let them go' a couple of times a week and know they are safe.
Sadly we lost Tilly chicken today, she hasn't been 'right' for a few days and the vet could feel a tumour in her abdomen so we had to let her go, fly high little girl 🥲🌈
It's even worse because Tilly was one of just two elderly chickens. After keeping chickens for 10 years I've sadly decided for various reasons not to get more, so poor Esmerelda is now on her own and is moping in a corner looking sad without her friend, I hope it will get easier for her 🥲
I feel like such a bad mum, every morning I share a corner of my toast with the dogs, but this morning I was thinking about something else and absent-mindedly ate the last piece then looked down to see this 😲😆
Luckily sprats seemed to be an acceptable alternative and made up for the disappointment 😊
Strudel The Magnificent has made us smile (and sometimes laugh) every single day for a whole year. Happy first Gotcha Day Strudel 🥰🥳
Tired Wawas, It's been a busy day 🥰
Our walk in the fields this morning. Chip and Strudel reached the end of the known universe and had no idea what to do next 😂
The dogs loved having my daughters here for a few days over Christmas, they are going to be sad when Amy goes home this evening.
Maisie and Strudel clearly consider me to be entirely responsible for this morning's disgusting weather and are following me around trying to stare me into doing something about it 🙄
OK, so apparently the system is that Maisie is a Very Good Girl letting me put her eye drops in and then everybody gets a reward 🤔
I sometimes almost suspect I'm being manipulated..... 😆😅
This morning Suki fulfilled her lifelong ambition and caught a mouse in the woods. She's been insufferably proud of herself ever since 😆
(RIP poor little field mouse 😢)
I had a memory come up today of my old lurcher boy, Taz, he was such a sweet, happy boy and a complete goofball despite his regal appearance. I'll never forget him doing retrieves in training class:
Everybody else:
• Throw out wooden dumbbell with dog sitting calmly beside them,
• Cue the retrieve,
• Dog trots out, picks up dumbbell, trots back,
• Dog sits and present dumbbell to owner
Me and Taz:
• I throw out lightweight plastic dumbbell while hanging on to Taz’s harness for dear life to stop him zooming straight after it,
• Release the harness and cue the retrieve (a bit of a formality tbh as he’d already gone)
• Taz zooms off at full lurcher running speed, grabs the dumbbell and throws it in the air a few times just because he can (hence the lightweight toy, he would have been lethal with anything heavy), catches it and does several honorary full speed laps of the hall to make sure everybody could see how clever he is
• Returns to me and finishes with beautifully controlled sit and present as though none of the intervening mad bits have happened
We may have been rubbish at 'training' but I‘m sure we had the most fun 😆
Maisie has been transformed by her buster collar into a mini snow plough 😂😆
Maisie update - Thanks again for the good wishes and kind comments. Maisie is doing OK but still needs hourly eye drops day and night and is on 9 different medications so they are keeping her in again tonight. Poor little thing must be wondering what is happening to her 😢
However she has apparently eaten everything they have offered her and hasn't nommed any vets (yet...🫤 ).
I am hoping the meds will be reduced to 4 hourly so she can come home tomorrow. I'll make the most of a full night's sleep tonight, it may be the last for a while!
Maisie says thank you for the good wishes
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when My Animals and Other Family posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Three weeks from arrival and Strudel-Noodle-Doodle, aka Strudel-Bug aka Strudel the Magnificent seems to have settled in amazingly quickly and decided this is home 🥰 He has (heaven help us 😆) adopted Chip as his role model and follows her everywhere, probably because he's figured out that Chip is most likely to lead him to food 😂 He's such an enthusiastic little dog, he loves his walks and his dinners and his cuddles. He may have a dodgy heart, dodgy knees and no teeth but none of that holds him back even slightly. Naturally we love him to bits already ❤️
Strudel gumming his toys into submission. God I love this little guy, he's only been here since Monday but he's just walked in and stolen our hearts.
Poppy is hiding. She's not very good at it 🤣❤
Suki and foster dog Frank off exploring at Wickwater Woods this morning. Such a lovely safe space for the dogs and the birdsong is wonderful 😁
So that's why my herbs keep disappearing.....
Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?
